Behaviour in class- wearing me down!

[Guest]

Hi I am an NQT in a reception class- majority girl heavy (20 girls, 10 boys).

 

The first half term was great- the "honeymoon period" lasted the entire half term.

 

Since we have returned back their behaviour overall has been getting worse and worse. I spent the first week back going over our class rules again, expectations of behaviour etc, and using the same consistent rewards and sanctions. It seems like the children have just become immune to the sanctions, they repeatedly don't follow class rules, rarely settle on the carpet, distract other children,shout out in the middle of carpet sessions, fidgeting, crawling around on the floor, talking, and just plain ignoring me! I use a tambourine to get their attention, count down from 5 or 10, and clap out rhythms that they repeat back to me. Lately I will get them quiet, begin to talk and the behaviour escalates straight back to how it was- I spent 15minutes this week DOING THE REGISTER after lunch time because they were that noisy and restless. It's really wearing me down- I feel I am constantly nagging and moaning at my class because whole-group sessions are near impossible with their current behaviour. We have 4 very challenging children- their behaviour has an impact on the rest of the class so we remove them whenever something happens (ranges from hitting another child/adult to screaming and shouting so loud we can't hear ourselves speak, running around the classroom when everyone else is on the carpet.) There are only 2 members of staff in the classroom and this is not going to change.

 

Has anyone got any suggestions on how to bring my class back down to the calm children who followed instructions before half term? I have had points where I have just wanted to burst into tears, feels like I am fighting a losing battle. I try my best to not raise my voice and shout- I change the tone of my voice and facial expression when I am "cross" but it appears they are immune to that too.

 

Many thanks

[Wildflowers]

Spending more time overall outside and/or moving, if possible.

[lashes2508]

noise slider - this has worked for us in preschool - explained that the noise level was getting too loud especially at snack time - we chose 1 as our very quiet voices - 10 as our very loud voice ( demonstrated this vocally) and the children decided that no 4 would be our normal talking voices . i am going to make a visual one, as at the moment i just say or sing ( that get their attention ) what number voice should we be using . We also sing 'are we listening' to quieten things down and as for register i sing a song as they gather their shape mats to sit on and just repeat the last line if they start to get noisy again.

'Are we ready, are we ready ,

sitting down sitting down

are we listening , we are listening ( the children repeat this back to me)

ssh don't make a sound , don't make a sound.

( to the tune of frere jacques)

you could also try fidget toys for those who find it really hard to sit still and maybe give a job to those with behaviour difficulties.

good luck , i really hope it improves for you

[Guest]

I have a puppet... this puppet enables me to reach the hardest of my children.

She is very shy and we have to talk in whispers or she withdraws back into the leaves. I use her for circle time/registration or anything that requires listening. She quite often talks to me and I then share with the others. she quite often claps when she sees children following instructions or whispers to me to tell them she is impressed. My children really love her (and so do i).

It is very hard when there are distracting behaviors in the class - it does impact on the rest!

[lashes2508]

WHAT A LOVELY PUPPET - WHATS HER NAME ??

[Susan]

That lovely puppet is available from Puppets by Post, I think.

If you can develop puppet skills, that will be a great addition to your teaching repertoire. I've always found it quite difficult .

[Guest]

Movement, give them the opportunity to put their energy to good use - squiggle whilst you wiggle, dough disco, wake up shake up. Short carpet times - remember the number of minutes of their age (4/5 mins plus one more minute will be max!) short, snappy bursts of teaching will hopefully keep them engaged in the learning.

[Guest]

Do you have a TA? could you split your carpet time into two smaller groups - make it more manageable? Would they respond to a bit of class competition? put them into groups and award the best groups for lining up, sitting for register, give a small sticker / prize at end of week for best team?

[Guest]

Lettuce is my puppets name :-)

[Guest]

http://www.spottygreenfrog.co.uk/Rabbit-in-Lettuce-Hide-Away-Puppet/p--776/?source=froogle&gclid=CO2chd7qgbsCFbMctAodCAkAXw

[finleysmaid]

can you think outside the box? if you need to do the register how could you engage them while doing it? what learning could they get from this? what is your learning objective for doing the register (im sure its not sitting still for 15 minutes!) can you hide hteir name cards in the garden....or get them to register on the white board....or group themselves in people starting with the same sound....or sing their names back to you in a funny voice.....or????????? have fun with it and they will too, try not to sweat the small stuff!

[Buttercuplincs]

Try playing calming music as the children come in. Also get them to answer the register in different ways.

[Guest]

Answering the register in different ways works well e.g. today everyone should answer the register which a piece of food but no one can say something someone else has said. Great for listening AND vocab!

Try and be over the top cheesy positive too, e.g.. "wow Bob you are listening so well, I can really see you looking at me' think 'American…have a nice day!' sorry if there are an Americans on this forum. It has to be genuine, Bob really does have to be sitting still but it works really well because children LOVE being told they are good/right. Keep praising all the children who copy Bob. It will take longer to start with but keep practising. If you can, catch a 'cool' child being good and praise them as THAT will have major impact!!!

It's really hard to stay positive when you feel bad that your class isn't behaving right but if necessary stop, take a deep breath, think about what to say next and then say rather than reacting emotionally.

Getting children to 'run' for a bit also helps with very fidgety children. Sometimes we ask an LSA to talk a child or two to run to the playground and back just to use up their energy. They get loads of time outside but these children need a few extra minutes.

Also consider your timetable and how long each session is.Is it right for YOUR class?

Hope that helps x