Catechists Know-How February 2009

Controlling your Classroom

By Mary Lou Rosien

I had the pleasure of substituting for the third grade catechist last week.

I usually work with the older kids, so this was a refreshing experience. I had forgotten how inquisitive this age group is. They are honest, and energetic! They are also wiggly, full of questions (many that have nothing to do with the subject at hand) and a little hard to control.

I was blessed to have the help of another catechist, who saw the size of the class I had just volunteered to take on, and recognized that it might be a little hard for me to manage all those third graders by myself! Thanks, Mrs.
R.

This experience made me think about the different things we can do to keep our classrooms under control.

Find a Mrs. R.! Having aids in the classroom really helps. If there is not an abundance of adults, consider using teens to fill this spot. Most churches do require that their catechists and aids have attended a ‘Creating a Safe Environment’ seminar before working with students. Offering this class several times a year to build a volunteer and substitute base is a great idea.
Walk around the class. I find this technique helpful when working with little kids or young adults. Walking near a child who is talking to others or is distracted can help bring them back into focus without saying a word.
Putting your hand on a child’s desk. Especially today, when the rules on any physical contact between student and teacher are very strict, touching the child’s desk can give them the nonverbal message that you are paying attention to them and that you care about them.
When a child has their hand up frequently tell them how much you appreciate their questions then gently remind them that the child in the front hasn’t asked anything yet and you want to give everyone a chance to ask a question. This way the child is acknowledged and appreciated without monopolizing the class time. Another idea is to ask the child how many questions they have (they will often volunteer this, “I have three
questions…”) and ask them to pick the most interesting one. This empowers the child while limiting the possibility of having one child controlling all the classroom time.
Encourage the shy ones. I like to make a point of commenting to the parent in front of the child what a good question they asked. The beaming smile from the parent and the child is the confirmation that the child will take a chance again and speak up in class.

I encourage all of you to switch places with another teacher once in awhile.

It presents a wonderful chance to see what another class was like, how another age group interacts and, for me, it was just the jump start I needed to fire up my love of teaching the faith. Many blessings.

Read our helpful online parish columns, updated monthly! Read Mary Lou's February column, "Spiritual Bank Accounts," here»

Mary Lou Rosien writes from her home in North Chili, NY. She is the author of Managing Stress with the Help of your Catholic Faith (OSV Publishing). Write to her at mrosien@rochester.rr.com.