March Madness

     When I say March Madness, I'm not talking about basketball, though here in Indiana, almost everyone is! I'm talking about the month of March in the classroom. It becomes a bit crazy. It's been a long winter and the students are tired of being cooped up inside. Truthfully, we teachers are tired, too. We made it through the first round of ISTEP+ and personally, I just wanted to collapse when it was over. We had been reviewing writing skills pretty hard; then it was time to get back to the literature and reading skills. After Christmas break, we finally hit our stride. Until the first of March, things were humming along nicely. Our agreed-upon discipline plan seemed to be working. Occasionally I asked someone to leave the room, but after that, everyone else would settle in to work. During ISTEP, the students showed sincere effort. For weeks, I had been talking about the importance of the test. I reminded them that the test is not the most important thing, but that it does matter and they needed to do their best. In the past, I've heard 7th graders say, "It's just a stupid test," and I wanted to combat that attitude early on. The 22 students who tested in my room all seemed to be serious and work hard. (Well, most. One student "finished" his essay in 10 minutes during a 55-minute testing session. According to state requirements, I could only remind him to double check his work and then require that he sit quietly. As I glanced at his test, I saw that he had only written about 4 lines in messy handwriting. The test booklet allowed 2 complete lined pages for the essay!) I had no behavior issues during the test, few instances of students appearing to "blow off" the test, and I felt good about their efforts. But when the test was over, the zoo was open for business, and we still had 4 weeks until spring break!
     I decided this was a good time to lighten up. We had been working very hard. The first week after the test, I scheduled 15 minutes of quiet reading time every day. During this time, as long as the class was behaving, I let them sit or lay on the floor or move to sit by a friend. For some reason, sitting under a table is a more comfortable place for some 7th graders to read than their desk! For the assignment, I schedule lots of in-class work time and allow students to work with a partner of their choice. When the room gets too loud, I remind them to use their "12-inch voices," meaning only a person within one foot of you can hear you. Students who don't stay on task are sent to their desk to work alone--the worst punishment in the world! Because of the training we've been practicing all year, most of these times are manageable and fairly productive, as long as I keep circulating. I don't assign very much homework these days--at least not without allowing enough work time that most students could finish the work in class if they get down to business. And on Fridays, if the students have been working that week, we spend the last few minutes having "talk and tech time." They get to bring in their smart phones, MP3 players and handheld game systems to use for the last 10 minutes of the class period. This reward is the most effective tool I've found!