Classroom Update

As promised last week, I have rearranged my classroom into rows - all students with a clear view of the whiteboard in the front of the room. On Tuesday, things were better all day, but fell apart at 3:00. (The last 15 minutes of my day are consistently the worst.) On Wednesday, again all day was good and again things wanted to fall apart at the end of the day, but I spent the last 15 minutes calmly repeating "Our mouths are closed, our bottoms are in our chairs and our binders (where they record homework) are open" non-stop until it was time to leave. I praised them profusely for following directions. Thursday, I didn't have to repeat it constantly, just when someone would start to talk. By Friday, the whole day was going smoothly. I have faced my darkest fear (truly - I have intense nightmares about losing control of my class) and overcome it. Once again we are spending our time learning instead of battling each other. It is a good thing.