Need advice from all my preggo teacher buddies!

CarSaidYes · December 2014

So I have this class of 38 6th graders! Who talk and talk and talk and talk. I can't get anything done and I refuse to raise my voice and yell and scream and stress myself out. I cut off bathroom passes and water breaks. Ive kept them 2 min after the bell (it's the last period of the day) and today I'm just beside myself because I'm so freaking stressed out from that class. I've called home (urban school!) and the parents give the teacher no support at all. So I've even given up on that. I'm suppose to have a para/assistant but she's been out and isn't returning anytime soon because she has to have surgery. Any advice?

rella22 · December 2014

Ouch! A little more details..what kind of class is it? Study hall or are you actually trying to educate these kids?

CarSaidYes · December 2014

It's a writing class because we bombed our state writing exam last year. So we are trying to be proactive and teach these kids how to write a bombass essay.

lebradford · December 2014

Wow. 38 6th graders?! Honestly, I think especially without parent support, that's even harder.

The only thing I can even really think of is to explicitly review expectations and try to build in time for kids to work in groups, talk briefly with partners, etc. I think middle school kids really need to be social more than they need to learn academics (I know that's not what we need for them!) so if you can build that into lessons that could be a really good thing.

Good luck!

lebradford · December 2014

38 kids in a writing class?! That's even worse!

rella22 · December 2014

omg @lebradford‌ I was just thinking the same thing!! In addition to it being an urban school....God bless you!!

I agree with lebradford tho...as much group activity as you can do...and maybe play some music? I always find music kind of encourages concentration...even if it's just on the song! I would definitely just brainstorm (or Google) a million group (fun) writing activities...with things that interest them....

good luck =/

pblge · December 2014

Good lord. I have no idea how you deal with this. Kudos to you ladies who teach the younger people!!!

starlightgator · December 2014

How awful! I also have a class of 6th graders and they're the worst ones. Behavior is still stuck in 5th grade or worse. They stress me out too beyond belief. I teach TV production and they should be focused on producing the show. But, they get easily off track (about every 2 minutes). I wish I had advice but even after teaching for 17 years, I'm stumped. But, please know that you're not alone and there are many of us struggling along with you.

Canuck13 · December 2014

I teach 7th and 8th grade, but I can't even fathom that many students at once :S Poor you! I also refuse to yell or raise my voice, so I have had to do a lot of waiting for some classes. Usually I'll just calmly say, "I can wait...but I don't know if we'll make it out of here on time today if we can't finish this lesson..." Then the kids self-monitor and tell each other to be quiet. If something like that won't work, maybe you can try keeping track of detention time on the board...every time you have to wait for them to stop talking, they owe you that many minutes after school. Then you MUST follow through so they know you mean business. If they make it through the period without losing any time, maybe reserve the last ten minutes for free time/to chat with friends. Good luck!

ladyteach0505 · December 2014

38...38?!!!

Ahhhhhhhhh! I have one pretty awful class this year but with 24.

Honestly, this one class does a lot of seat work because they can't handle fun things. My opinion is that my first job is to teach them the basics. When they have a basic understanding of those things then they move on to projects and group work. One class totally handles it and we have fun. But the other class doesn't and so I keep things very basic. They are not entitled to being entertained- something many of them don't understand because they've been raised to believe that all day every day should be entertaining.

They seem to "get" that's how it is now and it's squelched some behaviors.

CarSaidYes · December 2014

It's seriously out of control. I'm thinking about saying F the data and book work for 8th period it is. I'm seriously over them. I tell them the rules all the time, referrals don't work and I'm sorry they are not worth my stressing during my pregnancy. That's where I am at. Thanks for all the advice and for listening to me complain

poohniki · December 2014

Sorry I didn't see this sooner. We use a star system at work (I teach 6th grade- my largest class is 32 with 10 special education students- in an urban area)
Students can earn activities based on how many of these foil stars they get. We give them out for like the first two who become quiet, if going over a worksheet two questions will be worth a star and whoever gets called on for those gets them. We also keep extra work that is challenging that can be completed for a star- and if my special education students give me their best they get a star that day. Only rule is that they can't ask for a star.
Our prizes are like- first 15 with 15 stars can have a movie day after school (sometimes allow to bring a friend) and its a running total. They never wipe out- so those who don't have as many try really hard to catch up. Hopefully something like that works. I always find they behave better for the opportunity of a reward than the threat of a punishment. Good luck

Sunny B · December 2014

Holy Moly that's a lot of students in one class. I think you got great advice. I think that group work would be awesome. I'd start the new semester fresh with a fresh set of expectations. Come in laying down the law. I teach writing as well

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Need advice from all my preggo teacher buddies!

Me: 26 (IC/PCOS-2000mg of Metformin daily)

DH: 27 (SA results were great minus the slightly low morphology)

Started dating DH in 2002 at 14 years old

Married on 03.01.2014

Officially TTC since April 2014

January 2013- Surprise BFP, m/c at 6 weeks, D&C 2 Weeks later

April 2014- First RE appointment

July 2014- IUI#1-Canx due to scar tissue and polyps. TI with the help of Ovidrel. BFN

Re: Need advice from all my preggo teacher buddies!

Me: 26 (IC/PCOS-2000mg of Metformin daily)

DH: 27 (SA results were great minus the slightly low morphology)

Started dating DH in 2002 at 14 years old

Married on 03.01.2014

Officially TTC since April 2014

January 2013- Surprise BFP, m/c at 6 weeks, D&C 2 Weeks later

April 2014- First RE appointment

July 2014- IUI#1-Canx due to scar tissue and polyps. TI with the help of Ovidrel. BFN

Me: 26 (IC/PCOS-2000mg of Metformin daily)

DH: 27 (SA results were great minus the slightly low morphology)

Started dating DH in 2002 at 14 years old

Married on 03.01.2014

Officially TTC since April 2014

January 2013- Surprise BFP, m/c at 6 weeks, D&C 2 Weeks later

April 2014- First RE appointment

July 2014- IUI#1-Canx due to scar tissue and polyps. TI with the help of Ovidrel. BFN

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