Teaching Tykes: The Pitfall of Rewarding Sad Choices and How to Fix the Problem

So, I was released on Sunday from being a primary teacher.  BUT, I'll still be posting gospel teaching tips each Tuesday that I can get around to it and you may see lesson helps every now and then since my DH was not released.  This week, though, we'll just talk about some gospel teaching tips as we have Stake Conference and my DH doesn't have to teach on Sunday.

Before I start, though, I want you to know that I still want to hear from you!!!  If you're having issues and want some advice, I am more than willing to try and help you out if you're at your wits end!  Just email me and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can!  Hope to hear from you soon!!!

Think this is wishful thinking?  It doesn't have to be!

 Ooookay, so that said, I want to talk about a pet peeve of mine--when people reward sad choices in others.  It's a pitfall.  It will make bad behavior worse.  It ruins trust you may have had with other class members and creates a chaotic atmosphere.  In conclusion, it is extremely counter productive.

If you'd like an example, then I will give you one.  Let's say that you have a child in your class that will not sit in their chair and continually gets up and tries to run out of the room.  This is neither appropriate nor safe.  What do you do?  You could just allow the child to leave the room and do whatever it is they want to.  Doing this shows the child that they are in control and don't have to follow the rules.  You could even take it one step further and allow them to participate in something fun that technically you should have chosen another child who was behaving appropriately to do.  This tells the other children in your class that sad choices are what gets them attention and that this is the behavior you'll reward.  End result to these inappropriate responses?  Extremely dysfunctional class times with inappropriate behavior from all the children present.  You've taught the kids that you are not in control and that they can do whatever they want to and that you will reward sad choices.  Counter productive to what you should be teaching them.  I'm not saying to never choose that child to participate.  I'm saying that they will have to give you a large amount of time behaving appropriately before you will reward their behavior.  This is part of teaching children the repentance process as well.

So, what should you do instead?  The appropriate response would be to continually instruct the child to sit in their chair and help them to it if needed.  If there is a rule that you have to act nicely to be called on to participate, this child should not be chosen.  If they throw a fit, remind them that if they want to be chosen to participate, they need to make happy choices.  The result?  The child who was behaving inappropriately understands that there are rules and boundaries in your class.  They will push the limits a few more times but you need to be consistent.  They will see that no matter what, there is structure in your class and that they can count on it to be a safe environment.  The other students who behave appropriately will be rewarded accordingly and will continue to act in a safe and orderly manner. 

Okay, have I made myself clear? ;)  What happens when you reward sad choices?  MORE sad choices.  What happens when you have expectations and reward happy choices?  MORE happy choices and an orderly classroom. 

Where did I learn this?  From the scriptures--"Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence." 2 Nephi 1:20.  The Lord rewards us when we make good/happy choices.  He does not reward poor/sad choices.  Period.  No exceptions.  No excuses.  We CAN do it.  So can the children in our class--but we have to have expectations before this can happen.  YOU can do it!  I hope you take the time to think about this and how you can utilize it in your homes/callings/lives.  I know that you will be happier if you do!  See you again soon! :)

Teaching Tykes: Kindness Matters

Welcome to the first official week of Teaching Tykes! ;)  I hope that these posts will help you as you teach Primary each week--it's a really hard calling!

This week's lesson is Primary 2: Lesson 28: I Can Be Kind.  The purpose of this lesson is to teach the children in your class that they can be kind to others.

Here's an aside--have you noticed how many times Church publications say that people CAN do things?  I think that sometimes we think that somethings are too hard.  But guess what?!  YOU CAN!  Heavenly Father sent us here because He knows that we CAN return to Him!  Just a little motivational pep talk... :)

So, how do we, as teachers, show the importance of being kind to others?  Obviously you've all just said aloud or in your smart brains that it is by example!  I have a few tips that may help you in your quest to become more kind.

Ignore sad choices.  This is really hard.  Sometimes I think that we feel that we have to continually correct the children we teach.  May I offer an alternative?  Praise the GOOD/HAPPY choices!  If you find that your class is so out of control that you cannot even think straight, find the ONE thing that ONE of the children is doing correctly and be completely over the top with your praise.  Children are people pleasers.  They want to be praised.  Let me give you a personal example.

One week, our class was out of control (not completely, just fidgeting , not listening, etc.)  One child was sitting quietly.  Although I knew she wasn't technically listening to the lesson, she was sitting nicely (which is one of our class rules).  I stopped the lesson (nobody was listening, anyway) and immediately praised this little girl for her happy choice.  Here's how my praise went (name changed), "Oh, Lisa!!!  I am SOOOOOO happy that you are sitting quietly in our chair!  You are following the class rule so perfectly!  I am SOOOOOO grateful that you are trying to be a reverent example for your classmates!  Thank you SOOOOOO much, Lisa!  I just LOVE having you in my class--it's SOOOOO nice to have such a good example for all my friends to follow!" 

Over the top?  You betcha!  Did it make a difference?  Completely.  As I praised this little girl, each child realized what they were doing wrong and stopped.  As they did, I would say things such as, "Oh, and now Jack is sitting nicely, too!  Thank you Jack!  Oh, and look, Mary is following the rules now, too!  I am so glad the my friends all know how to make happy choices!  Now we'll be able to finish our wonderful lesson!"

I was kind.  I didn't FEEL kind inside--I was a bit upset and impatient in my brain.  What I WANTED to do was go on a rant about how we'd been repeating the class rules at the beginning of class for the past 4 months and that these children should know what was expected by now.  But, I chose to show kindness.  And it made all the difference in the world.

Be aware of your tone and volume of voice and the words you say.  Now, you can't always ignore sad choices.  When a child starts to hurt themself or others around them, correcting must be made--and quickly.  BUT, you will be much more successful with children if you use an even but firm tone of voice.  Shrieking at them or using an angry tone to tell them "NO!" will not help as much as taking the child aside (this is why I am such a HUGE advocate of team teaching) and calmly telling them what they SHOULD be doing before offering correction.  Here's an example that I've made up (although it's probably happened sometime during my work with children) that could help you.

Jason is angry.  He doesn't want to be at Primary and he is mad that you've "made him" come to class.  He has been acting out throughout the lesson and you've been doing your best to ignore him and praise the good you see in the other children.  Because he is not getting the attention he wants, Jason kicks Emily in the shin as hard as he can.  PAUSE.  Take a mental deep breath.  Take Jason out into the hall and explain that feet are for walking.  They can help us swim.  They can help us run quickly.  Feet are NOT for hurting our friends.  It is okay to be angry about things that we cannot change.  BUT, it is NOT okay for us to use that anger to hurt our friends or to make it hard for our friends to learn.  Give Jason a warning that the next time he kicks, he will have to go and spend time with a member of the Primary Presidency and that you might have to talk to his mom and dad about it if he makes another sad choice that hurts his friends.  Jason returns to class.  He is sullen for the rest of the lesson, but there are no more incidents of violence.

You may think this was a failure.  Jason was still mad and probably didn't get anything out of the lesson.  You may have weeks of this behavior.  But do you know something?  When you are consistent, the children realize it, know what to expect, and will rise to your expectations.  I promise that if you are consistent with your discipline in your classroom and that if you do so in a kind manner that you will see a change.  Eventually, Jason will become your greatest classroom helper and will LOVE you more than any other teacher he's had.  All because you showed kindness during disciplinary action.

And a tidbit on volume--if the kids get loud, you need to get soft.  YOU are the example of what is expected in your class.  If the children are so loud that you cannot teach and nobody is learning, take a break from teaching and play "If you can hear me."  This game goes a little like this (in a whisper tone), "If you can hear me, touch your nose.  Thank you, Kathy, for touching your nose!  If you can hear me, touch your ear.  Thank you, Julie!  You are listening!  If you can hear me, touch your toes.  Oh, Jason and Robert, thank you for joining us!" Continue this until all the children are showing that they are listening and then end by saying, "If you can hear me, fold your arms.  Thank you all for listening!  We are ready to finish our wonderful lesson!"  This especially works with younger children, but some of the older children may need something similar to help them be more reverent.

Be a team player.  This is hard for me.  I tend to want to just do things MY way because I know that they work and that I will maintain a reverent atmosphere if I just do things myself.  I'm working on it.  And it is HARD FOR ME.  You might be the exact opposite.  You might allow other adults to take care of all the issues that you have with the children in your class.  You and I need to find middle ground, friend!

Teamwork is important in the work of God.  We cannot do all things by ourselves. We need others.  We learn from them, gain different perspectives about things, and learn to get along with others.  All of these attitudes are important in the building of Zion.  When we show the children in our class that we want to be a team player and help those around us, they realize that kindness can persevere even in the wake of upheaval.  Because, let's face it.  There ARE those weeks.  And you know who needs more help working with children because they are unsure of themselves.  Always be willing to help.  And help WILLINGLY and KINDLY.  It's a work in process.  We don't get along with everyone.  BUT, we should always treat others kindly--especially when children are watching us.  And, believe me.  They ARE watching us.

So, that's my two cents for the week!  Hopefully these things help.  I did have a question--would videos on how to implement some of these things help?  Because I am a visual learner and need to see how things are done before I can really utilize them.  Let me know--I can look into trying to make some.

Let's get to the lesson helps!  Find the printable helps HERE.  And now I'll share how I'll be teaching this lesson:

*We didn't have time to color our picture this last week, and so I challenged the children to bring back a picture of them sharing in some way.  If any of the children do this, I will have them share it with us at the beginning of the lesson.

*Since I don't have cut-outs, I will use the ones that the church has--they're in my printable file. :)

*Since we have a large class and a small room, we won't be able to do the role play.  SO, we'll share a church video on the story and have a "pop quiz" about it by doing an activity on the board where we have the picture of the person on one side and what they did on the other.  I will have the children tell me where to draw the lines to.  These are in the printable helps.

*We will sing "Kindness Begins With Me" as our closing song.  This will help reinforce the point of the lesson.

*As a "just in case there is time" effort, I'll have pictures of different people (in the printable helps) and the children can choose one and tell how they can be kind to that person.

That's all for me this week!!! I hope that these things are helping you be more successful as a Primary teacher!  Have a restful Sabbath! :)

Class Rules Template

 

A sweet reader asked me if I had a template of my class rules for CTR 4 & 5.  Nope, I didn't!  BUT, I've made one that you are able to use, if you'd like it!  I hope it helps you!  Find the rules template HERE! AND, just in case you missed it, HERE are my Classroom Management tips complied using Church handbooks and materials.  Have a restful Sabbath! :)

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

 My DH and I will not be teaching the lesson this week.  We are going to his family's ward as we have a new nephew to be blessed!  We are so excited to meet little Hyrum!  Even though we won't be there, I have decided to make up the lesson helps anyway--you never know when you'll need them again! ;)

This week's lesson in the Primary 2 Manual is Lesson 22: Blessed Are the Peacemakers.  Before we being, I'd like to share some thoughts on practical application of this lesson for US as the Primary teacher.

I'm going to preface my remarks by saying: PRIMARY TEACHER/NURSERY LEADER is (in my opinion) one of the most important callings in the church.  YOU are teaching the future leaders of the church gospel principles.  You may think they're not really listening, but they are.  YOU have a great capacity to teach them what is true and of eternal importance.  Never think of yourself as "just a Primary teacher/Nursery leader." You are creating spiritual experiences that will last a lifetime and effect the eternities.

That said, let's just tell the truth about teaching primary.  It can be really hard!  You are teaching a group of kids that you may or may not know and that all have extremely different personalities.  I know that every week we have some type of problem arise.  It's not usually a catastrophe, just something that doesn't go as I've planned.  It also seems that the more important the lesson, the more Satan tries to drive the Spirit away.  He does this by maybe giving you a not so nice thought in your head as you wake up on Sunday morning.  Or creating the feeling that you just cannot go and teach those rowdy children one more week.  Or by making YOU feel out of control, which makes you feel that you have no control over your class.

These are all lies.  You were set apart to teach these children and "...with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)  You can set the tone in your class and have the capacity to do so in a Christlike manner, because that is what God expects and we know that God will NEVER give us a commandment, "save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7)

So, how do you become a peacemaker in your classroom?  I believe that a peacemaker is simply a follower of Christ--peace was what He taught, and that is what we are called to teach.  I also believe that no matter your situation, being a teacher of the gospel in any capacity will be the most important calling you have.  I have a few tips that I have learned the *hard* way over my years in working with children and youth at church that may help you in your pursuit of becoming a better teacher.  Remember, these are MY opinions--I will try to back them up with scripture and prophetic council, but these are personal lessons that I have learned.  I'm sure that YOU will learn many other lessons through your experiences that benefit you personally, too!

1. Understand the importance of your calling.  Pres. J. Reuben Clark once said, "As teachers you stand upon the highest peak in education, for what teaching can compare in priceless value and in far-reaching effect with that which deals with man as he was in the eternity of yesterday, as he is in the mortality of today, and as he will be in the forever of tomorrow. Not only time but eternity is your field."  The things that we teach each week are of eternal importance.  Therefore, our calling is one of eternal importance.  Even as I write that, tears come to my eyes and I feel the truth of those statements.  These children may come from homes where the gospel is not truly taught.  We have the opportunity to teach them the importance of the gospel and that happiness can come from it.  Happiness.  For eternity.  THAT is what we will teach--what is more important than that?  NEVER feel that as a Primary teacher or Nursery leader that you are "not as important" as the Primary President or the Relief Society President.  All callings come from the Lord and are equally important.  So don't forget--YOU MATTER.  Your words each week have the ability to teach a future leader of the church--you may be teaching a future prophet.  Never forget that.

2. Prepare your lessons each week with the guidance of the Spirit.  No calling will be successful unless you prepare.  Preparation should start well before Sunday morning.  Before Saturday night, as well.  I begins by spiritually preparing yourself DAILY through personal and family prayer, scripture study, and staying worthy to receive promptings from the Holy Ghost.  Preparation for your actual lesson should start as far in advance as you feel you need to be successful.  For me, this means reading the lesson for the following week each Sunday (after I've taught the lesson that day--I get confused if I read too many lessons at once!), pondering it for the next few days, discussing it with my DH (teaching partner), praying to know how to teach the children in MY class the principles it contains, and finally preparing the lesson helps around the middle of the week.  When I receive more guidance about how the Lord would have me teach, I always change my lesson accordingly.  Sometimes this happens DURING the lesson.  And if you are prepared, this is okay!  Preparation also takes away any fears we may have about fulfilling our calling--no matter what calling we have! Doctrine & Covenants 38:30 promises us, "if ye are prepared ye shall not fear."  So, what is the key to overcoming fear?  All together now "PREPARATION!!!"

3. Focus on what you're good at and work on things you may not be as good at.  We all have talents--there is literally not one of us who has nothing to give.  You know the parable of the talents.  If we work on the talents we have, more can be given to us as we need them!  A short story from personal experience--I have never been one to think that I am "good" at anything.  I had wonderful youth leaders who realized my potential and, along with my parents, supported me.  When I graduated from high school, my Young Women president was called to be the Relief Society president in my home ward.  I was going to the local singles ward at the time and didn't really think anything of it.  When I got married a few short years later, I returned to my home ward.  I was given two callings--Ward & Primary music leader.  I loved it!  I was over the moon--I was going to school for music education and this really made me happy!  Until one day I was released from Primary.  And I had to go back to Relief Society.  I have always had a hard time going to Relief Society, and so this was really hard for me.  I was sullen many weeks and didn't want to participate.  Because the Lord had called my former YW president to be the RS president, she knew me and what I needed.  She gave me a visiting teaching route that included herself and one of her counselors.  I soon got to know them personally and came to love them, appreciate their service, and learned to love all the sisters in the RS of our ward.  Shortly after this, I was called to be the first counselor in the Relief Society and work with these two amazing women and to be in charge of the teaching in the RS.  I had only 1 teacher called, and had to teach the women (many years older and wiser than myself) each week.  I was paralyzed with fear when this was told to me.  But under the guidance of these two sisters (who I still to this day literally feel are sisters to me), I found that I had an aptitude for teaching the gospel.  Because of the love and care that they showed me, I gained confidence in my ability to do so.  These sisters will never truly know how this has effected my life because there is nothing I could do to repay the debt that I owe them.  Because of the righteous example of these sisters, my desire to work on my talents increased and my confidence in the Lord was strengthened.  Because of them, I have been able to serve in any calling that I have been giving with an ability beyond my own.  I will always be grateful to them and to the Lord for that experience.  President James E. Faust said, "The Lord has a great work for each of us to do. You may wonder how this can be. You may feel that there is nothing special or superior about you or your ability. . . .The Lord can do remarkable miracles with a person of ordinary ability who is humble, faithful, and diligent in serving the Lord and seeks to improve himself. This is because God is the ultimate source of power."  Amen to that.  If we truly humble ourselves and recognize that everything we have comes from God, He will be able to give us all that we need to accomplish what He has asked of us.

4. Love the people you serve.  This is so very important.  It is easy to find that you have "favorites."  I used to think this was just natural.  To this day I still have some children that I consider "favorites" but I have also found that as I truly get to know those I serve, I love each of them as children of God.  The prophet Joseph Smith once said, "Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand, and watch over them with tenderness. When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what
power it has over my mind, while the opposite course has a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind."  You can never love someone that you do not show love towards.  Find other ways to serve those you teach outside of church.  When I was the Beehive counselor in Young Women, I would call my girls to see how they were doing, find out their interests and talk to them about them, and send little cards to them in the mail.  As a primary teacher, I have decided to take one or two of my children each week for about an hour and spend time with them.  We will make a craft and play and just talk about them.  I've also found it very helpful to talk to parents about their children.  They know what things help and/or are not effective when teaching their child.  Getting to know someone and understanding where they come from is a sure fire way to be able to look past behaviors and see eternal potentials.  Petty things will no longer matter once you truly get to know someone as a child of God.

5. Teach correct principles with the guidance of the Holy Ghost.  This is SO IMPORTANT in any calling or teaching capacity you will have in the church.  I have found that when teaching a lesson, the best way to invite the spirit of contention is to use opinions too much or to use non-church materials.  I have found that the best way to keep the Spirit in a lesson is to teach directly from the lesson and to support lesson material with other church approved material.  That poem by e.e. cummings might be nice and meaningful to you, but it's not exactly doctrine.  Make sure that you use church materials--I promise that there is more than enough out there to supplement your lessons with!  These will always invite the Holy Ghost--the true teacher of truth.  Elder Dallin H. Oaks has told us, "If we have the Spirit of the Lord to guide us, we can teach any person, no matter how well educated, any place in the world. The Lord knows more than any of us, and if we are his servants, acting under his Spirit, he can deliver his message of salvation to each and every soul."

6. Invite all that you teach to be involved in and responsible for their own learning.  This is quite hard to do with a group of 4 & 5 year olds who each learn differently.  Luckily for us, the church has given us many resources to use to help us when preparing our lessons.  I have found, too, that asking questions is the best way to make children responsible for their own learning.  If I notice that a child hasn't participated, I may ask them specifically how they feel about what we are talking about.  If they don't want to answer, I do not make them. Instead, I call on another child that may really want to answer.  95% of the time, the first child I asked will think it through while the second child is responding and will want to answer after the second child is done.  I don't usually do this with adults because I don't want to offend them, but when you work with children and have a loving basis with them, they generally don't feel threatened when you "call them out" in a loving way.  From Teaching, No Greater Call, "Each of us is responsible to learn the gospel through diligent effort. We are also privileged at various times to serve as teachers—to inspire and help others in their responsibility to learn the gospel. We render this important service by doing all we can to: 1. Awaken and hold the interest of those we teach. 2. Encourage their active participation in lessons. 3. Show them how to live according to the truths they learn. We are to do these things with love and by the power of the Spirit. This means that we should focus not so much on our performance as on how well we help others learn the gospel diligently and live it faithfully."

7. Do not become involved in family disputes.  This is the last one and most important lesson that I've learned as a teacher.  This one I learned while working with the youth.  Many youth want to use their leaders as allies against their parents.  I am here to tell you that NO GOOD will come of this.  PARENTS have the responsibility to raise their children, not leaders.  If a child or youth comes to you with a problem in general, ALWAYS encourage them to go and talk to the other person involved.  If it's with another youth at church, offer to be a non-side-taking referee, but never just believe what you have been told until you hear both sides of the story.  If the problem is with a parent or sibling, encourage them to talk to the person involved.  The only time I would ever intervene is if I suspect abuse, and in this case I would call SRS with my concerns and leave it at that.  Never think that you know better than a parent when it comes to raising a child.

Hopefully these tips help you.  They are all things I wish I'd known when I was first a Primary teacher!  If you want more information on helping with reverence in your class, see my previous post here.  Hopefully these tips can also help you be able to magnify your calling to the best of your abilities when you adapt them to your personal situation.

Now onto the lesson!  I've come up with some ways that I would teach this lesson for my class and, even though I'm not teaching this lesson, I will share them with you and maybe you can use them!

*I would use my happy/sad faces sticks (more info here) instead of the printout in the manual when singing the opening song.  Since they are always in my bag, this is just easier for me!

*I would use the pictures in my file of families doing enjoyable things, turn them over, and have the children take turns choosing them and telling me what kinds of a choice it was (happy or sad) using their happy/sad face stick.

*My DH likes to take "field trips" and so instead of showing the picture of the Sermon on the Mount, we would take the children to the large painting of it in the meetinghouse, sit on the floor in front of it, and discuss this portion of the lesson there.  My DH likes to do this so that the children realize they can be more aware of their surroundings and also so that they can share what they learned with their parents when they see that visual reminder in the church building.

*I would use the situation strips in my lesson helps and have the children take turns choosing one and telling me how they would resolve the situation.  I like to do a lot of things that utilize turn taking so that children can learn sportsmanship in a gospel environment and then carry it into their sports venues.

I hope these ideas help you out with your lesson! :)  If you'd like a copy of my lesson helps, download them by clicking here.  I hope you have a restful Sabbath!

I Can Be Reverent

It's Primary time again!  This week's lesson in the Primary 2 Manual is Lesson 21: I Can Be Reverent.

Now, I don't  know about YOU, but our little ones have quite a hard time being reverent at times!  Before I share some thoughts on the lesson, I thought I share some tips on how to help your class be more reverent.  I'm not an "expert," but I am the oldest of 9 children, have had 13 foster children, and work with children who have special needs as my job.  These tips are all things I utilize in my classroom and have found work at least 95% of the time.  If you have any additional tips, please leave them in the comments--they'll be greatly appreciated!  These tips will be mainly for class/lesson time, but they could be utilized at other times when appropriate, as well.

1. Set Rules.  Make sure that the rules are age appropriate and that there aren't too many for younger children to remember.  For my nursery class, I only had one rule: Make happy choices.  If a child didn't know what a happy choice was compared to a sad choice, I had a multitude of opportunities to help that child understand what they were and when they made them.  Currently, my DH and I teach the 4 &5 year olds.  We have 4 rules.  They are sit nicely, use a quiet voice, raise your hand if you want to speak, and wait to be called on before talking.  We have visuals for these rules and they are displayed during class time through the whole lesson.  We also occasionally use these during sharing/singing time as a visual reminder of what behavior is expected.

2. Ignore bad/incorrect behaviors and praise those who follow the rules.  For example, if little Jimmy blurts out answers continually, ignore the behavior and praise Lily for raising her hand and ask her to share her thoughts.  If Jimmy realizes his mistake and raises his hand while Lily is responding, make sure to thank him for raising his hand after Lily is done and ask if he would like to respond to the question as well.  If Jimmy continues to blurt out while others are trying to talk, remind him of the rule.  If his sad choices continue, have a presidency member come and take Jimmy for a walk to talk about classroom behavior.  Make sure to praise the children in your class after doing something spectacular, like having a good sharing/singing time or walking reverently down the hall to class.  NEVER point out poor behavior by singling out a specific child's actions to the class.  This only shows the child that you are not worried about their feelings and that they cannot trust you to love them no matter what.  With older children, ask to speak to them after class, take them into the hall if you have a team teacher, or pop by their home during the week after making an appointment with their parents so that you can all talk about the problem.  Show the child that THEY can be in control of their actions by you being in control of YOUR actions.  You're the example in your classroom.  Your behavior will be the behavior the children mirror during class time.  Be aware of your behavior in the hallway while at church and after church meetings are over.  If you expect the children in your class to be reverent in the hallway, your behavior must be consistent as well.  The "status" of the building doesn't change because classes are over.  It is still the house of the Lord.

3. Avoid taking children to their parents as much as possible.  Some of you might think this is "mean" or "impossible" for some of the children in your class.  I really feel that parents need to know that their children can learn to be away from them and trust other adults.  Each of us was called by the Lord to teach these children, and He is counting on us to help the child AND their parents in the callings they hold.  Utilize your Primary presidency members for severe behaviors.  Take the criers into the hall and explain that mommy and/or daddy have a job to do in their calling and that the child's job is to be in class.  Reassure them that mommy and/or daddy will come and get them as soon as the class is over.  Let the children in your class know you love them by praising the good you see in them.  Make sure when a child is picked up by their parents that you either say something positive about their behavior or else say nothing and tell the child that you will see them next week and that you're looking forward to seeing them again.  The children will see that you won't "tell on them" to their parents and will begin to trust you more, and their parents will appreciate the positivity you show!

4. Keep in mind that kids are kids.  Don't expect them to be adults!  If you get into class from sharing/singing time and the children are a bit out of control, sing a wiggle song.  My favorite is Roll Your Hands (CS #274) because it can be done while the children sit in their seats, but they still get to move around.  If singing isn't your strong suit, have a quick "stretch time" where you model a few simple stretches for the children to mimic.  Have a "sharing time" at the beginning of class where each child (if they choose to) can come to the front of the class and share something from their week.  Not only does this cut down on talking out and unrelated comments, but they are also practicing public speaking skills!

5. Utilize music in your lesson times.  The Church has given us amazing songs that will help teach the children in your class basic gospel principles.  When used appropriately, music can invite the spirit into your classroom even more than the spoken word.  Use the songs in your lessons.  Think about having an opening song.  Practice the Primary Program songs while the children color at the end of the lesson.  Never underestimate the power of music.  If you are uncomfortable singing, check out a CD player and the Children's Songs on CD from the library of download them from the Church's website and use them.  You may even want to have them playing softly in the background as you teach a lesson.  You will see a HUGE difference in the reverence that will come when you use music more in your classroom.

6. Speak softly.  Don't carry a large stick. ;)  When the children in your class start to get loud, you need to get quiet.  YOU are the example of the behavior that is appropriate in your classroom.  When our class gets too loud, I stop talking, wait about 15-20 second, and then say somethings quietly.  It's usually a direction such as, "If you can hear me, touch your nose."  I continue by saying things like, "If you can hear me, touch your head.  If you can hear me, turn your voice off.  If you can hear me, fold your arms."  Because of the verbal direction coupled with different physical acts, the children calm down quicker and are more willing to "do as I'm doing" because I'm talking to the group, not individual children.

7. Learn how to utilize what I call "strategic seating."  My DH and I realized about 5 minutes into our current calling that we had some children that should NEVER sit together. Rather than do "assigned seats," we decided to make name tags and put magnets on the back.  We have the children stand to the side while we place the names strategically on the chairs, telling them to pay attention so they can see where THEIR name is.  Not only does this cut down on the behavior issues, it helps the children to recognize their name.  It's worked so well in our class time that we now also use this during sharing/singing time.  The children have a choice when it's time to go to class. I can carry their name tag to class for them, or if they can show me they can do it reverently, they can carry their name tag down the hall.  This has cut down behaviors during the entire 2 hours that we have the children and makes things OH SO much more pleasant!

That's all for now.  Hopefully you've found this information helpful!  If I come up with more classroom management tips, I'll post them later!

Now, let's get to the actual lesson, shall we?  Primary 2: Lesson 21: I Can Be Reverent.

I've made a few modifications to the lesson based on the needs of the children in our class.  Here's a short list of what I'm planning:

*Instead of making the body parts on the print out in the lesson, I'm going to make popsicle sticks with the words of each body part on it, have the children take turns choosing one,  and ask them to show the class what they need to do with that body part.  It'll kind of be like a "do as I'm doing" game.

*I'll be using my happy/sad sticks with the children during the teacher presentation and giving examples of reverent and irreverent behavior.  They'll tell me whether it's a happy or sad choice by showing the correct side of the stick.  I'll use the big happy/sad stick while they use their small ones.  I keep these in my bag at all times and use the happy/sad choices game any time we have  a lot of time left at the end of the class.  I've included these in the file--just print the happy faces onto yellow paper and the sad faces onto blue paper to save your color ink. ;)

*I will be using Enrichment Activities #2 & #3.  For #2, I'll use the pictures in my file, lay them face down on our table, and have them take turns choosing one.  For #3, I'll use the strips from my file and have them choose one at a time and show the appropriate behavior.

I hope that you find my lesson helps, well, helpful!  You can download them by clicking here.  Have a restful Sabbath! :)