How to Calm Naughty Children According to Teachers
Throwing a party with your child’s friends sounds great in theory, but working with an extra five (six? Eight? A dozen?) Kids requires a special skill set – the very kind teachers the teacher has at their best.
The next time you have to drive a group of violent children, ask yourself, “What would the teacher do?” Here are some suggestions from experts.
Give the kids a job
“(Give) the kids something to do so they have a purpose,” says Melanie Stanley, who has been a teacher for ten years. She points to something as simple as lining up to calm the group down. “Their goal right now is to get in line. It makes them feel important, like, “Okay, I get it. I can write a line. “
The technique works well when directions are simple and quick.
Stanley said she gave each of her five-year-old students a job every week for the past school year, with the electrician turning the lights on and off, and the chairwoman putting in any chairs she left behind.
“It changed my cool community because they all felt needed and important,” she says. “They are willing to help, and they can do it, and it makes them feel more confident.”
Give the kids a place
Stanley also points out the importance of giving the kids room, especially if you’re trying to bring the group together: tell them to sit on the carpet or make a rope circle and keep them in the circle.
“(If) they have a place to go, they know, ‘I need to stay in this area,’ Stanley says.
Break up the group
Angela Watson, teacher of The Cornerstone For Teachers, shares 10 tips for reassuring kids who have just come from recess. Try this when the group is running down the street and it’s time for cake and ice cream: Let a few kids walk inside at a time. Watson writes:
“Rather than forcing 30 overexcited students to rush into the classroom at the same time, create a calm, controlled atmosphere from the moment they step over the threshold, allowing them to enter and settle in small groups. Stand in the doorway and let the first five children in, pause for a few seconds until the area around your hooks clears, then let the next five children in, and so on. “
Call and answer
Fifth grade teacher Keith Patterson loves to use the call and answer technique in her class, and you can use it at home as soon as the kids arrive.
It’s like playing with Marco Polo by the pool: she tells the group that she will sing the beginning of a song or a promotional jingle, and the group should respond with the next line.
Watson lists 50 different calling and answering techniques , covering everything from rhyming (hocus pocus … time to focus!) And movie quotes (ad infinitum … and more!) To songs (stop … collaborate and listen!) And sound. effects (flat tire … shhhhh!)
“Explain to them that when you do this, they need to listen to instructions,” says Patterson, who has taught for 13 years and lives in Springhill, Tennessee. “Practice when they first get there. If you can get their attention, it will be the most important thing. “