Con-sis-sten-cy

My roommates and I still joke about the training we attended as 1st years in JPS. There were just so many comments that seemed so obvious to us that the other attendees were so proud of. One in particular was from a lady who thought the best way to voice her position on being consistent with your discipline was to just repeat the word broken down into fragments. "Con-sis-sten-cy....you've got to be consistent in the classroom"....I thought it was quite humorous, but everyone else in the classroom thought it deserved applause and affirmation. "Oh yeah baby, you have got to be consistent". Anyways, even after joking about that lady's comments I do agree with how important it is to stay consistent with your policies and procedures.

For this particular assignment we were supposed to try and enforce all of your consequences for two weeks straight and see what the results were. The results are a more efficient classroom. However, you get a more tired teacher. It was so mentally taxing to keep up with ALL of them, and then call home at night. I think it would be extremely beneficial if so much of your energy at the first of the year was spent on being consistent with all of your discipline. I mean every little thing. Candy, gum-chewing, talking out of turn....nothing is out of bounds. If you broke the rule, it's not sliding. It just gets so much more tiring to have to try and enforce these things at the mid-point of the year; especially because you are so tired. It does work though.

Classroom Mgmt. Changes

Like a lot of people, there are so many things that I wish I could change from how I started the year with my classroom management. I was extremely timid at first to lay down the law and be consistent, and it has cost me in the long run. I've fought hard to get my classroom management at a pretty high functioning level. I think the students know how much I like them though, and sometimes they definitely use that against me. I wish I would've just started the year as a strict, zero-tolerance teacher who will call your mom at the drop of a hat. You know that as soon as you step into Coach Taylor's classroom, "he don't play". Like I said earlier though, I've had a string of good behavior days; however, I still have a few bad days thrown in every now and then, and I firmly believe, that is because they know my weaknesses. It is just so hard sometimes to remain consistent in your discipline. I've been the type of teacher that if we have a string of good days, I'll be a little more leniant as to how I crack down on misbehavior. I forget that I still must be consistent on assigning a consequence with each misbehavior. That is the biggest thing that I wish I would do a better job of. I also need to stay in better contact with the parents of my students. It's so uncomfortable at times, but I think it works in the long run. So in conclusion, I still think I'm doing pretty well with my management, but I think you definitely have an advantage in how aggressive you are at the start of the year and what kind of tone you set for your classroom.