How to Shut It Down
Post date: Jun 20, 2016 9:46:08 PM
From Lauren Clarke-Mason
In the spirit of Ms. Viola Swamp from the book Miss Nelson is Missing, shutting it down is a way to get an unruly class to begin to make better choices. In the book, the kindly Miss Nelson dons a wig and makeup to become the mean Ms. Viola Swamp to help her students realize that they would prefer to be well-behaved and have a nice teacher.
Lauren’s Shut it Down Steps:
- Make copies. Lots of copies of work that they are able to do independently. What they are doing is not the focus right now, it’s building the habit of working in a focused, productive manner. Have enough worksheets that students can be busy for your entire class period if necessary.
- Stern greeting. Stand at the power position right by the door. Send a clear signal from arrival that you mean business and that this isn’t a typical day of class.
- Give the speech. “When you are able to do ___, we will go back to our regular plan. Until that time, we will be practicing our ability to work quietly and productively with these worksheets.” Don’t forget to explain the consequence: If not able to get work done, the next consequence is to lose recess.
- Present the other option. The alternate plan is to have a fun activity for the kids that are well-behaved and boring worksheets for the rest. After you see calm and quiet work for a decent amount of time, you can present an alternative task. This is teacher-led and the teacher selects which students are eligible to participate, based on how calmly and quietly they have been working.
- Cull the herd. Select the good students to join you in the engaging activity. Let the unruly students stick with the worksheets. “It looks like Jacob is ready to join us.”
- No second chances. If you’re called up to the fun activity and can’t stick with it, then it’s back to the worksheets for you. No wiggling. Stick to your guns.
- How long? One hour might be enough for students to get the message. It might take a week. Miss Nelson was gone for a month before her class learned to behave.
- Reflect on the process. After everyone has been able to resume typical classroom behavior, it’s important to reflect with the class. Pull students together for a class meeting. Ask, “Why did we need to shut down for a while? What behaviors of the class made the shutdown necessary and what behaviors helped us end it?” Having the students identify and name challenging behaviors without naming students will help the group reflect on their choices in the future.
