Kaitlin+Watkins

Kaitlin Watkins


 * Just as the class begins a quiet activity (a 10 minute writing) a student, the same one who’s done this several times this week, gets up and sharpens his pencil. **

I would choose to let this go during the class period. It is not a battle that I would want to fight at this time. I do not want to be a teacher who obsesses over every little thing. This is a little thing. I do not want to interrupt my other students who are on task and completing the quiet activity. I do not believe in calling students out publicly over small things like this. I think that it causes the student unnecessary embarrassment. Instead, I would call the student over after class to have a private conversation with them. I would ask the student to start sharpening their pencil before class. They have not been prepared for the class the past few days and it is causing them to miss out on important learning activities. I would let them know it is not a huge issue but it does need to stop. Hopefully, this would address the problem in subtle but firm way.

[I agree! -RR]


 * Three students continually talk during class, and then insist they aren’t talking. **

To me, this is a major issue. It would be something that I want to address immediately. The students are talking during my time which is disrupting the entire class. It is not fair for the same three students to be distracting the students who want to learn. Also, if the students are talking, then it is very unlikely that they are listening to my instructions. I would tell the students that they are not to argue with me because I have continuously seen them talking during my teaching time.

The first thing that I would try to do to fix the problem is separate the three students. I would give them assigned seats away from each other. If they aren’t sitting together, then they cannot be chattering throughout class together. If the talking continued, I would do two different things. I would write them a referral. This would let the administrator know what was going on in my classroom. The second thing that I would do would be to call home and talk to each of their parents. I would let the parents know what was going on in my classroom. I would explain the situation and how their child was talking constantly. I would ask the parents for their suggestions as to what I could do to stop this problem. If none of these solutions work, I would go to my administrator and ask for the administrator’s suggestions as to how to address this problem further. I would follow the school procedures for further punishment.

[Proximity often works wonders. See my comments on Laurel Goldberg's response to this issue. -RR]