How to regain control of your first grade classroom

1. First thing in the morning, sit them in a circle. Act very sad and distant. Be aloof.
2. In an uncharacteristically quiet voice, tell them that something (long pause) has happened that is not OK (insert another uncomfortable pause here). "Some students"(deep, purposeful stare at guilty parties) "have decided that they have their own set of rules and don't have to follow the same rules as everyone else".
3. Proceed with the "I am the teacher, you are the student. If I tell you to come to the carpet, I mean now. Not whenever you are finished with your project or done talking to your friend. I mean NOW. As in now".
4. Remind them that they don't get to question your judgment. You do, afterall, have a plan that they maybe, just maybe, have not yet been privy to.
5. Point out that you have already passed first grade, and none of them have. As of yet. I usually say something along the lines of, "you can't even drive a car. Or use an ATM card. You are lucky someone gave you a library card".

If your first grade class is out of control, try these tips. You just may find yourself back in the driver's seat.

yakity yak don't talk back

Today:
-was the 124th day of school.
-started off rainy, and stayed that way.
-my students completely forgot what respect looks like. As well as how to follow simple directions.
-brought a concerned parent and principal into my classroom during the latter part of the day, when students and teacher had both sufficiently lost their minds. The child who was being observed? Well, she waited until her parent and the principal left to resume crawling on the carpet, wandering the room, and defying basic directions. Purposeful? Very.
-I hated my job.

It's 8 o'clock. I have taken a Simply Sleep and put myself on time-out. I need to finish making corrections to report cards, I need to get started on conference slips, I need to get a move-on on learning plans. But more than anything, I need a fresh start. And the good news is that I get one tomorrow :-).

Today:
-is over!

In my classroom, my students have been learning to create mental images while listening to a text. I have been reading stories and poems to them while they sit with their eyes closed, picturing the scenes in their minds to record later. Yesterday, after reading a poem about a dolphin and a poem about a raccoon, I sent my students back to their desks to illustrate their images. Logan stopped me and looked up at me with his huge blue eyes. I thought he was about to ask me for help or for a drink of water, but instead he said, very seriously, "I saw a beautiful scene for you! I wanted to take a picture of it, but my mom didn't have a camera with her. The sun was setting and there were trees with no leaves and, and, it was beautiful...". This is the same student who told me, "Teacher, you are beautiful in my heart". To know that he was outside of my classroom and saw a beautiful image and somehow connected it to me touched me profoundly. I'm not sure if it was the art lesson on bare trees, the picture of a sunset I have up on the board, our practice with mental images, or something totally beyond me, but he saw something beautiful and wanted to capture it for me. Amazing.