Welcome back to another brand new school year. Before we give you more great strategies, we want to tell you again about our brand new website www.tlc-sems.com.  TLC is the leader in Classroom Management and Student Motivation seminars.  Look at the seminar schedule to find one in your area!  We are so exicted to be working with the Teacher Learning Center.  Make sure you register soon for a Fall seminar as the rooms are already filling up!

The end of August and early September are often seen as a new beginning for educators.  This is usually a joyous time (not quite as joyous as May or June), filled with energy and expectation.  All things are still possible.  It is also a time to set up routines and establish order in your classroom.  Students need predictable classroom routines.  This newsletter will focus on the importance of routines, and explain a few ways to make sure they don't get stale.

It is very easy for routines to lose power and meaning over time.  I used to wait quietly for my 7th grade students to stop talking.  At first it took about a minute for them to notice me standing there.  They generally quieted down.  However, within about three weeks, it would have been possible for me to stand there for a year, and they never would have noticed.  The strategy quickly got old.

We recommend having five or six different strategies to get students to quiet down, line up, hand in papers or put their things away.  When one stops working, rotate to another.  When the list is complete, begin the rotation again, or seek brand new strategies.  Here are some examples of how to ask for quiet in your class:

   1.  Tell students to close their eyes.  By closing the eyes the ears become much more sensitive.  It is almost impossible to listen and talk at the same time, and mouths naturally close with the eyes.  In school we always tell kids to open their eyes and shut their mouths.  Try the opposite.

   2.  Use a student to help you.  Challenge your biggest talker (and leader) to help quiet the class down.  Say something like, "I'm guessing you can't get your friends to be quiet every day after lunch.  There's no way you have that much power over them!"  The leaders will try to prove you wrong.  Proving you wrong in this case gets the class quiet.  Exactly what you are seeking.

   3.  Raise your hand and ask the students to raise their hands as they stop talking.

   4.  Ask everyone to say "SHHH".

   5.  Tell the person next to you to "SHHH".

   6.  Divide the class into groups and have each group select a "shusher".  Ask the "shushers" to quiet their group.

Success Cards

A great way to start the year is to have students write success cards.  Ask each student to write on one side of a 5x7 note card, one thing a previous teacher did that helped him or her become successful in learning a lesson.  On the other side of the card ask the students to write something a teacher did that made it hard for them to learn.

   In both cases ask for specifics:
   Not so helpful: The teacher gave easy tests.
   More helpful:   I do better on multiple-choice questions than True/False
   More helpful:   I love working in groups with kids I know more than with those I am not close with.

Use these cards to design individualized lessons or differentiated instructional strategies to avoid danger spots.  Emphasize success driven activities for students who are displaying early signs of trouble.

Finally, be sure every routine you establish is allowed to contain some flexibility.  Routines are great.  But sometimes teachers need to deviate from the routine for the good of his or her class. 

We will keep the newsletters coming on a monthly basis.  Look for them around the first of every month.  Good luck and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Dr. Richard Curwin