Trapped Tuesday - The Trick of Problem Management

Teaching comes with some unique challenges for a new graduate. For me, the most overwhelming is the very idea of caring for at least twenty-five students at a time. In early childhood especially, this could mean:

• 5 children screaming, "How do you spell _____."
• 4 children lining up to show you their work.
• 3 children asking, "What do we do now?"
• 3 children either at the bathroom or wanting to go to the bathroom.
• 2 children working slowly at a difficult task.
• 1 child running around and distracting 4 more students.
• While 1 child quietly disappears into the bag area to see what other children have for lunch.

As a student teacher, there is the advantage of a second teacher, and maybe even a teacher's aide, helping. Then, we are introduced to the real world, where this is all left to us and each of the children is asking for attention, in one form or another. Although I have not been teaching independently for long, I have developed coping strategies of course. I will not help students spell, but encourage them to independently write the sounds they hear and make mistakes (today, we then used those mistakes to play a game, rewarding the risk-taking behaviour). I allow early finishers to work quietly on a familiar activity, such as quiet reading or a class maths game. The child doing nothing but distracting is given a responsibility.

Today, I discovered a problem with quick problem solving: it can undervalue or overlook the problem. I have been reflecting on a few 'difficult' students that I have had over the past couple of weeks and I noticed an interesting pattern. When I identify a problem, I tend to make two choices: either deal directly with the problem or identify the cause of the problem and eliminate it. Intellectually, I have always agreed that the second is the better option, and my behaviour plan reflects this. However, in order to keep the classroom operating smoothly, I had resorted to the quicker method of dealing directly with problems. Sometimes this works, but more often than not, the cause needs to be dealt with to prevent a recurrence. This is why I often find myself moving students after already warning them to stop distracting their neighbours.

Here's a second problem with quick problem solving: in its haste, it rushes over the relationship element of the problem. Students have a need to feel safe and respected, so is it reasonable to assume we can deal with behaviour without demonstrating our care and respect for each student? Developing even a basic relationship also enables us to understand them at some level, giving us insight into their behaviour and motivations.

The perfect illustration of these two points is found in my experience with a boy I taught recently. The day started well enough. He took his seat, responded to the roll call, gave his suggestions for the day as asked. Then I began my first activity and he refused to work with his original partner. I sat with him, talked to him about how he was feeling, and had him cooperate with me. As the day went on, the activities became more demanding, with more students demanding my attention, so I switched to 'quick problem solving mode.' As this boy continued to act up throughout the day, I began the simple "warn, record name, follow through on punishment." He did not respond to this and by the end of the day, he had no respect for me and refused to even talk to me. Lesson learned: while solving problems quickly, don't forget to develop relationships and identify the cause of the problem! Students need to feel respected themselves.

How do you deal with the demands for your attention? Do you find it has improved your problem solving strategies or caused you to question them?