Being Organized really does help!!!??

Wow! this year is off and running to a great start. It's been crazy, I don't think i'm doing anything that different from my first year of teaching, but what a difference - subtle changes yet highly effective. I've set up a couple routines - 1st off I'm keeping classroom discipline short and sweet. Work smart not harder. It goes - warning, moved/Sent out then SSD (ssd is removed for the rest of the lesson and sent to senior administration). Sounds harsh but when you set the bar high - kids will test the boundaries and then get on with it. Also you've got to crack the whip with british kids. I've only sent two kids to SSD thus far so it's been effective. My other big saviour on discipline is phoning the parents. I hate doing it, but every kid this year who's been sent out I've phoned home after school. Last Tuesday I phoned 13 parents after school... this week only 3 in total!!!! yippeeee! Lastly, i've been tracking all bad behaviour (any kids sent out or getting detentions with me for forgetting their recorders) in my Discipline log. This I use as proof when explaining to parents why their child was sent out of my lessons and tracks any repetitive behaviour.

On the good side, i've been planning a lot of games and competitions into my lessons. This gives students something to aim towards for the last 15 mins of the lesson and I achieve so much more in the beginning of the lesson than I was during entire lessons last year. I guess this goes with the saying "getting more bees with sugar than vinegar". I've also established routines for entering and exiting the classroom. I've found this really asserts your authority as a classroom teacher otherwise students start and finish lessons in a free for all. I guess the more organized you get the less stress you feel in this profession. I haven't lost my cool on a class yet and haven't had to freak out to get a group under control :D I must be doing something right!!!

Our school is tearing down one building and then building our new school site in its place including the playing field in front. Here's a picture from my office window of the construction sight looked like at the beginning of the school year and after the first week of construction... Crazy eh???

I'm sure there will be major curve balls on their way this year of teaching but this first month back has sure been nice. Luckily enough the brits don't know much about baseball... so maybe there won't be as many curve balls as anticipated??? lol