Generating good will in your middle school students-Classroom Management Tip

Don't we all like to be recognized for our good work?

Middle School children are no different.

They can make your life awesome, or they can make it awful.

It's up to us.

Recently, one of my chorus students came up to me and said, "Mr. X will not let us sneeze in our class.  He is so mean."

Wow.  

If we tell a middle school child he or she cannot sneeze in class, they are going to sneeze 10 times more just to work our nerves.  Or maybe they won't sneeze...maybe they will make some other noise and "pass it around".  

It'll get ugly really fast.

So, when they get obnoxious, and they will...after all, they are 12...I try to either handle it with humor, use proximity or talk one-on-one to the child who is clearly in need of attention from his peers and/or me to help move toward behavior resolutions...which I'll discuss in a future blog post.  

We need the children in our corner.  

One of the ways I work to generate good will from my students is to send THEM good will.

I use Remind.com to communicate with my students via their cell phones.  Twice a month, I send notices to them called "Shout outs".
I list the names of the children to whom I want to give a "shout out" so that I can congratulate them on good deeds, hard work or other things I viewed as exceptional recently. 

The kids love it, and it means the world to them.  

The kids who don't receive a shout out begin striving to receive one, and the good karma snowballs.

Here is a small sample:

Shout outs for this week in Chorus….

Eli Wiederholt and Spencer Payne

You earned my greatest respect this week when you did the right thing. I know the right thing wasn’t easy for you to do, but you did it.  I noticed and so will others in your future.  When we sing on March 22, know that I appreciate you.   It wasn’t convenient…but it was right.   I always respected you.  Now, I respect you even more. 

Anna Albright:

For reaching for your potential and for not being afraid to put your self on the line. 

Hanna B.

Second shout out in a row because you represented the entire HMS chorus today with professionalism when you sang for the rising 6^th graders.  You impacted the future of the HMS chorus with your passion, talent and dedication.  The fifth graders who watched will want to be you.  At the same time, you performed callbacks and you came 100% prepared…all while sick with a cold…and not making excuses.  Just doing it.  That’s the real stuff.  Thank you.  Can’t wait to see where the universe takes you.

…and to all 45 of you who prepared callbacks and sacrificed time and energy to get ready.  Keep shooting for your goals.

Have a great weekend.

For more classroom management ideas, go to the search bar of my blog and type "Classroom management".  You can do the same on my YouTube Channel.

Have a great week!

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