Today, we have the second episode in Berit Gordon's year-long series for new, or newer, teachers here on the Heinemann Podcast. Berit is the author of the book, The Joyful Teacher: Strategies for Becoming the Teacher Every Student Deserves. In this episode, she'll explore tips for classroom management, specifically how to quickly deal with dysregulation so you can better maintain the tone and focus of your classroom.
Transcript
Berit Gordon:
Another thing that I hear from new teachers all the time is how to manage a classroom. And this is such an important goal because it's what can potentially exhaust them and make them not like teaching, and even not have a lot of affection for students who need to feel our unconditional acceptance. But when we are directing and redirecting students and having to give lots of reminders, it's hard to feel that and to show it. So of course in my book, I give a lot of strategies for how to get routines in place. But some really quick examples of some tips that I would offer to new teachers.
One is to say less, talk less. Very often we over explain, we say too much. And I know my students tune me out when I go in that direction. So an example is, if you have explicitly taught a routine, you've practiced it with students, they know the expectation is when they're still not following that you could give them silently put on their desk a pause card, they know what these are, you've introduced them and it just says, you're getting this card because I want you to take a minute and make a better choice.
And if you continue to make better choices the rest of class, I'll take the card away at the end of class clean slate. And if not, there will be a consequence, which I will tell you later. But what it does is it gives students the grace of taking a minute on their own without a confrontation and being called out publicly. And it also eliminates that potential power struggle or verbal conflict. Similarly, sometimes it helps to simply give a quick reminder and physically turn and walk away. You're not dismissing them, you're simply not inviting that conversation or again, potential conflict or power struggle. You're showing the good faith that you expect them to be able to do that.
Another quick tip I have for new teachers when it comes to managing a classroom is we can get really triggered. I know I get triggered. When students are dysregulated, I can feel dysregulated. And it is so hard to help a student become regulated and to comply with our expectations when we are not calm. So I've heard too like, "Calm yourself." How do I calm myself? I've got 25 kids and they're noisy and they're not listening. So a couple quick tips that I've tried that have helped me. One is put your tongue on the roof of your mouth for a few seconds. It can help regulate you. Count backwards from 100 and multiples of 8 for a little bit. Look out the window if you can at something far away just for a few seconds. It can help slow our heart rate and calm our breathing. So that then when we go to a student, our voice is steady and calm, and we're more likely to see them comply with our request.
And another quick tip I have for helping with management issues is to have a bag of heavy books that no one's actually using. And what you're going to do is when a student you can sense is becoming emotionally dysregulated and maybe they need a minute and you need a minute. What you're going to do is you're going to pretend you just got a text or an email asking for that bag of books with someone who's far away on the other side of the building, and you're going to go to that student and say, "Can you do me a big favor? So-and-so needs these books, could you bring them to her?" And you've already worked this out with the teacher on the other end of the school. And what's going to happen is that student is going to go carry something heavy and they're going to walk, and they're going to move their body, and that's going to help them regulate. They're going to get there and they're going to feel really helpful because that teacher's going to say, "Oh my gosh, you're a lifesaver. Thank you so much."
And then you also have bought yourself some time to not have an emotional reaction, but to be a little strategic. And you can even catch them in the hallway then. And instead of working something out in front of their friends where they might risk a little bit of embarrassment, you can quickly say, "Hey, do you want to switch seats for the rest of this activity?" Or whatever it is that you've worked out. So little moves like that. I want to help new teachers feel empowered again, that they have solutions that can work and to choose from.
Another one I like to share with new teachers because we know how much it matters to build relationships with students. And we hear that all the time. Build relationships, have rapport. But how do I do that? How do I do that in the midst of trying to get my curriculum started and to meet this pacing guide? So some of the strategies are really about granting yourself that space that you will catch up later on by taking the time you need to, to establish routines and relationships. But a quick move that I suggest is a few weeks or a month into teaching, look at your class rosters. Put a dot next to any student's name that you can say three things about that student that have nothing to do with academics.
And if you can put a dot next to everyone's name, you're good to go. But very often what will happen, is we'll have some students where we get to them and maybe we can say, "Well, I know they have a little sister. I know they play soccer, but I can't come up with a third thing. Maybe it's that I know they're not reading at grade level, but that's academic." So if I can't get to three things, what am I going to do? I'm going to commit to being able to put a dot next to their name in the coming weeks. And all that means is I'm going to pay a little more attention to that student. I'm going to ask them some more questions. And every time I've done this with a group of students, the students who went from no dot to a dot, their academic performance went up. But really it's because they felt seen by me.
I started noticing them more. And I like even using that sentence starter with them where I say, "I notice. I notice you really like the color purple. I notice you really like the Warrior Series and books. I notice you are friends with Athena. I notice." When they are noticed, when they feel seen, they engage more. They work with me more. But it really helps me catch those potential blind spots of students who very often are good at being a little invisible or off our radar, and they're the ones that I really want to help pull into the class community.
Edie:
Thanks for tuning in today. To learn more about Berit's work and read a full transcript, visit blog.heinemann.com, and for a 30% discount on all Heinemann professional books, use code PROFBKS30P.
About the Author
Berit Gordon brings many years of teaching experience in New York City schools as well as in the Dominican Republic to her literacy coaching work. She is a graduate and former instructor at Teachers College, Columbia University. Berit is the author of No More Fake Reading, which offers solutions for boosting stamina, joy, and skills among adolescent readers. Whether running workshops, leading literacy coaching sessions, or working in classrooms, Gordon strives to help students fall in love with reading and writing, and to lay the groundwork so they are experts at both for life. She lives with her family in Maplewood, New Jersey.
You can connect with her on her website at BeritGordon.com.
