Classroom Management

In my classroom on Wednesday there was a boy in the class who had some special emotional needs.  He has trouble processing emotion and has a language barrier- cannot understand complicated or long directions.  He needs precise and short answers and directions or he gets very overwhelmed, which often leads to anger.  On this particular day she warned me that he sometimes had trouble keeping his hands to himself and could have angry outbursts. 

He is not allowed to use pencil sharpeners in any of the classrooms because he doesn’t know when to stop.  He will stand there and sharpen a pencil, break of the tip, and sharpen it again for the entire period.  He was warned once by the teacher and he sat back down.  The next time it was more of a forceful warning and the boy got very angry.  Unable to process this he stomped across the room, yelled, and pounded his chest in frustration.  All of the kids got quiet and stared but for such a short time I know they must be used to his explosions.  Mrs. Garcia asked him to take a break in the hall and called the office.  I heard them talking to the boy and reinforcing his plan of action after class when he was calmed down.  They placed a stress ball in the desk called the “safe seat” for him to use when he gets overwhelmed and discussed taking breaks in the hall to get away from the other students. 

I thought it was handled well, but I also don’t have a ton of experience dealing with this kind of behavior.  In the end though I think he felt taken care of and hopefully in the future he will deal with his anger better.  Mrs. Garcia told me it has improved since he started seeing a counselor. 

I like the idea of the safe seat and I would definitely utilize it in my own classroom management.  On the first day of class I would go over all of my expectations and the progression of warnings and consequences.  I would create a poster and keep it on the wall with it all listed simply and clearly. 

                         I will…..

1.       Raise my hand when I have a question

2.      Speak kind words

3.      Keep my body to myself

4.      Help others

5.      Be safe

6.      Not distract my classmates

                                                Steps:

            1^st time- warning.  A green post-it note will be placed quietly infront of you.  If you do not understand what you were doing raise your hand and we can talk about it.

            2^nd time- Move to the safe seat.  You may be asked to fill out a think sheet.  Asking what you did wrong and how you can fix it next time.

            3^rd time-  Sent to the office.

 

                                Note:

The safe seat is not only a punishment.  It is called the safe seat because you can go there if you are feeling bothered, distracted, or just need to be alone.  Be responsible and move yourself there if you need too.  Warnings are not strictly given out in the above order.  If you are being very distracting or dangerous to other students I reserve the right to skip a warning.