As I was speaking to a seminary teacher of the phone, trying to resolve a download problem, she let it ship that the Old Testament was her first year teaching and that we had experienced discipline problems with several of her male students. I could relate to her; my first year of teaching was as a Thanksgiving replacement for a teacher (former bishop and high counselor) who threw in the towel on a rowdy bunch of seniors. Seniors who had their way all fours years and were not about to change for me or anyone else.
I did the only thing I knew how to do; Norm Setting. Read this article (Norm Setting, Making Expectations Clear)to see how it’s done. It worked for me; granted, we did have to review the agreements several times that first week, but eventually, even the other students helped me reign in several of the most disruptive ones. Norm setting really works if you stick with it.
When is the ideal time to do norm setting? In your parents meeting that kicks off the school year! Then everyone invested in your students success; they themselves, their parents, and you are there to establish what is acceptable behavior, what is not, and what appropriate consequences should follow. Then there are no surprises during the school year if you have to call in a parent or priesthood leader for help. Read this article (Conducting a Successful Parent Meeting) for how to conduct a good parent meeting, inserting a step for norm setting following the outline in that article.
