Student comments

I was asked by a student yesterday why I have to be so strict. I have one major rule in my classroom, it covers all other rules set by the school, that rule is RESPECT. I expect my students to respect themselves, each other and me. I give them the same back as long as they give it to me, you know the Golden Rule.

Anyway~ back to me being strict. I ask that my student do their warm up activity in silence. It isn't ever something that is so hard they can't do it quietly at their desk. I usually have a Powerpoint presentation set up with a timer for 10 minutes, the length of time for the warm up activity. During that time I have started standing at the front of my classroom with my discipline plan and writing "learning choices" (that is what my school calls a consequence) on the discipline chart. It is during this time that my student raises his hand and asks me why I am so strict. I told him that if the class could be respectful and give me the ten minutes of quiet I have asked for during warm ups then I wouldn't be so strict at the start of class. He tells me that he is respectful. I told him I appreciated that and asked him to continue on with his warm up. Within 30 seconds he turns and talks to the kid next to him. Yep, I think he missed the point.

I will say that as long as I have been standing in front of the class with my chart I have had less noise at the start of class. Maybe in a couple of weeks I will have them trained.