Thread: Frustrated because I can't control my class!

Wow, not only does your class not listen to you, but most of them are foreign. Not being able to communicate properly with the parents is a major problem. So, I take it the principal does not help much? Somewhere along the line the kids lost or never had respect for you as an authority figure. The principal should be doing something about this, if this is going on every day!

I love the note home to the parents from the child idea. They could write it in Spanish so the parents knew what the note said. Do you have any classroom that you can send these problem kids to? Perhaps a few days in a separate classroom (like ISS in high school) would teach them to mind. I would keep on them, persistence is the only thing that will help.

I am so sorry that you are struggling so much. I hope by now you've found a solution or perhaps changed schools to one with a more supportive administration. The only thing I can tell you is some advice that I've gotten: don't yell. The louder you are, the louder they become.

I know that in my high school class I have a signal that means, and the students know it means, "absolutely NO noise whatsoever will be tolerated." With me it's turning off the overhead lights three times. On the third time, the talking and moving about must have stopped. Another thing I tried once that worked well was to have one specific colored bean bag. Only the one holding the bean bag could be talking or answering. Sometimes I kept my hands on the bean bag for a long time.

I'm late to this thread but hope I can add a little something to help. Firstly, I don't think you should try to be something in the classroom that you are not (intimidating or whatever.) One of the key qualities of a good teacher is authenticity. Second - some classes are simply dsyfunctional, and once this is established it's hard to pull it back. You may just have to ride out the year and try to stay same! Lastly, and related to the good advice to not shout and Catherine's message just above this: I once did an entire class period without speech. Changing the focus seemed to help and I learned to incorporate signals much as Catherine has. Clapping hands three times for an activity to end and so on.