Dear Patty,

I just wanted to offer some truly solid help with an unruly classroom. I was an 8th grade teacher in the inner city of Port Arthur, Texas (where I'm from). Each class had a block schedule of 1 hour and 30 minutes with 28 to 33 students per class. The large amount of students that came from juvenile detention, were given to me because I was a male teacher. With very little help from both the administration and the school board by way of discipline, I had to think about what could I do that would show these kids that this is my classroom, and not theirs. My first week of my first year went just as you describing in your posting. Every day from that point on for the next 4 years went by so much easier by using what the kids want to your advantage. It is TIME!!! You see, after trying to get louder than they were and stressing myself, I learned that they fed off of that. My assistant principals were not doing anything to help, so the kids were not troubled by a referral. So, the following Monday, I pulled a chair in front of the classroom and sat there for 3 minutes without saying a word and just staring at them. As the minutes ticked away, they became deathly quiet. As it became quiet, I smiled at them and said, "This is how it is going to be in my classroom! And to make sure it stays my classroom, I have instituted the Minute Rule." This is the Minute Rule: Every single infraction, from talking when they were not supposed to, chewing gum, mp3's, passing notes, were marked as one minute on a special little section on my chalkboard right next to my clock. For every mark that went in that section, every single one of them had to stay in my classroom for one minute past the bell. Now, I can assure you that the marks never went past 3 because they all realized that it means that they only had 2 minutes left to visit with whomever they wanted to visit and still get to the next class on time. I also found that the more vocal students would actually take over the discipline for me by way of making sure that the others would not disrupt my teaching. It is truly amazing to this day, that something so simple work so well with such difficult students. Then as time went on, I could add reinforcements for good behavior. The result was that I could then focus on creative lessons as opposed to battling them for control of my own classroom, not to mention, doing remarkably better on their scores. I miss all the students, even my toughest ones. Unfortunately, due to the unbelievable mountain of paperwork that the administration forced upon the teachers, I felt that I didn't want to be a teacher and a secretary, so I went back to college to get a Instrumentation and Electrical degree. I live now in Louisiana, and sometimes think that I may return to the classroom. Like you, I have always struggled with anxiety, depression, and panic attacks which made it difficult sometimes. But, after taking control of "my" classroom, the rest of the time was so much better. If you love teaching, then you should not have to suffer in "your" classroom. You just take away the things that the students want and if they don't comply, then they will suffer. It is what I call "Tough Love". Well, I hope I didn't bore you to death, and also that this will help you. With the lack of support from administration and some parents, you need tactics to help you not only control the class, but to only open the way for true learning. Please take care of yourself and Merry Christmas,

David (NewDawnFades)