Respect

Yesterday a girl stayed after algebra to get some extra help with her other math class. At my school, some 8th graders take the regular 8th grade math and then take algebra class as an elective at the end of the day.  When I got the job, I assumed the algebra class would be 15 students or so, 20 at most.  When I got there, however, there were close to 30 students.  Nearly every student in my 8th grade math class is also in algebra, which means they get to have me for an hour and 48 minutes every day; which is really great for building relationships and math understanding, but really bad for attention spans.  It is middle school, after all.

I have had to hold them after the bell several times because of the general noise level in the classroom.  I frequently have to ask them for their attention or ask people to stop talking, which is distracting for me and for other students.  The girl who stayed after class yesterday put it this way: "It's like, it totally makes sense when you are explaining something, then I get distracted by what other people are saying, and I look up and I'm totally lost."  The talking isn't just disrespectful to me, but it prevents other students from learning.  I don't really care too much about being disrespected (again, it's middle school), but I really get pissed when I see a girl working hard to understand something, who is frustrated because she isn't able to learn due to her peers' behavior.

I decided that I would address each of my classes today with a reminder about talking out of turn.  I think it is important not to patronize or talk down to students, so I try to be as honest as I can about everything.  Classroom rules are no exception.  I don't allow you to talk to your friends at all times because it makes it difficult for other people to learn.  It's not all about you - your actions affect other people.  I told them that their parents and people in the community pay money every day for them to come to school.  Wouldn't it be a shame if they wasted all that time and money because they couldn't stop chatting for long enough to learn something? 

Students talk because they crave interaction and attention.  If you've ever been to a professional development or meeting with teachers, you know that they are some of the worst culprits for talking out of turn, too.  It's hypocritical to pretend like you never talk out of turn, and that students are terrible children because they talk out of turn.  If you were in your own class, how well-behaved would you really be?

I admit to students that I was not a perfect kid.  I don't expect them to be perfect, either.  But I try to teach them every day that their actions have consequences, and that they should consider those consequences before they act.  Telling a kid why he needs to stop talking is a much more effective behavior management strategy than just giving him a referral or sending him to the office.

I know that I will have to tell the kids to stop talking and quiet down tomorrow.  I'll have to tell them every day.  But I'm teaching them a lesson besides math and science - and it's honestly a more important lesson.  I'm going to manage my classroom the same way I would want to be taught: honestly.