I am having troubles keeping my class under control...?

I am teaching a 5-6 grade Sunday school class. The kids are disrespectful and have no manners. (I know they act this way in their confirmation class as well) I was actually warned about the class before I decided to take the ';job';. It isn't even a big class (the most has been 6 kids). But I need ideas on ways to control them! It's like they don't listen! I don't want to be super mean about it though, but I will result to that if I have to.


The kids are whiny- they were begging for food. They do annoying things that you tell them not too- like banging on the table.


The only idea I have so far is to make assigned seats and see if that helps.I am having troubles keeping my class under control...?
Giving them their own seats is a fabulous idea, make them alternate boy/girl and I always seat my class alphabetically. Give them something to do as soon as they walk in, on their desks. Try www.puzzlemaker.com to make wordsearches/puzzles etc. Then, tell them to be quiet, count down from 10, if they are talking and ignoring you, start a stopwatch and simply say, every second you are talking for, you will have to sit in silence at the end of class. Praise any child who is doing what you want, pref by name and ignore the others. It may take a few minutes to work intially, but it will soon sort them out.


Then, lots of short, enjoyable tasks and heap praise on them, esp the really naughty ones if they even do the slightest thing right! They'll get there in the end. If desperate, at the end of the class, produce a treat (apple, sticker, hard work certificate) and give to a few of them. This will be far more effective if you don't tell them you are going to do it, and do at random every now and then. or every week if you prefer.


Oh and don't forget to make them sit in silence for the number of seconds on the stopwatch, you can give it to a reliable student to check. If they talk, start the time again. It'll also make you look fab if their parents turn up and they are all silent and attentive!





If none of this works, post another question and I'll try and give some more advice :)I am having troubles keeping my class under control...?
Give praise to the students who are doing a nice job for you and compliment them in front of their parents and peers. You could also think about rewards for students who are behaving well. Instead of saying, ';don't bang on the table,'; find someone who is showing the behavior you want to see and say, ';thank you for not banging on the table, I appreciate your manners. Your parents would be proud (etc.).'; If you feel comfortable talking to their parents let parents know who is disrespectful. Hope this helps.
Let go.





Learn how to meditate and then you'll understand why you don't have control.





The Influential Teacher


http://theinfluentialteacher.com
I'd just get all sad and upset on them and make them feel bad.
I would try the assigned seats, and if that doesn't work, I would make them stay after class, and talk to their parents. Or you could embarrass them by asking them abunch of questions. Another thing you could do, is have some kind of reward system, one idea is you could cut out shapes, or animals or something for each student, write their name on it, and velcro 4 buttons on each of them. When they are bad, you make them go pull a button, and at the end of a period of time, whoever didnt loose any buttons gets some kind of reward.


Hope this helps!


Good Luck!
Hello I am an elementary teacher as well. I am in my third year and currently teaching a grade 4/5 class. I taught a grade 6 class my first year which were very disrespectful. Try using ridicule and sarcasm. It sounds mean, but it worked for me. Phrases such as ';what is the matter with you?'; or '; are you for real';? worked really well when students acted out on me. It caused their classmates to laugh at them and they thought twice about acting that way in the future. If you aren't the sarcastic type have tried phone calls home? I'm sure your principal would suppurt you.
Well, you should definitely have some sort of plan for dealing with this, complete with expectations and consequences for poor behavior. Assigned seats will solve some of your problems, but don't hesistate to change the seating arrangements if they don't behave. You may have to get mean with them a few times to let them know that you mean business. Kids will get away with whatever you let them. There are children who will respect you and won't try to get away with too much, but there will always be those who will try to take advantage of any loopholes in your rules. You can try to hold them after class on days when they've not obeyed the rules, or you can have individual conferences with students if there's a few students that have been causing most of the problems, or you can get in contact with parents if it's really getting out of hand. Make it clear that the type of behavior that they are exhibiting is not acceptable and try to redirect them to what they should be doing. This is where your plan comes into play. Make sure that the way you want to handle things in your classroom is spelled out in your plan, and that you use that as a guide for redirecting student behavior. Again, if all else fails, you can use the above methods, and if it really gets out of hand, contact the parents and your administrative staff (principal or pastor). I'm not sure what you've tried so far in terms of dealing with this, or how you are in front of your class, but I had the same problem, and I teach high school! Above all, stand your ground and don't give in when they whine for things (high school students do this too).