Whenever you get a large group of students together there is bound to be a normal amount of noise. It is important to understand that the anticipation of gathering with friends set many students on hyper-mode. Before a planned assembly it is a good idea to anticipate what might cause an eruption so that energies can be channeled elsewhere.
It is crucial that as a teacher and/or administrator that any negative conduct is considered a symptom of something that deserves attention and not as a personal affront.
Assemblies can be called for many different reasons and some of the causes may be considered a “high intensity” time, for example before a big tournament, before holidays, before lunch, or at times of conflict between groups of students or students and faculty. When these “high intensity” times are happening an adjustment may need to be made to the tolerance level for noise.
Set a Proper Tone
It is helpful to establish a proper tone by starting the assembly with something that demands respect; singing the national anthem or saying the pledge of allegiance. It can also help if all the props for the assembly are already in place before the students enter, that way there will be no delays that may cause the students to revert to social time.
Before the assembly starts teachers can assign helper roles to students that might be considered a potential disrupters. They could pass out leaflets, control traffic, or lead students to their seats. Involve some of the more disruptive students in helping to plan activities that rotate around the assembly. Reinforce any positive behavior that you notice in the potentially disruptive student. Thanks Jerry for being so positive today and helping.
Seating Disruptive Students
Seat students that you feel will most likely disrupt next to teachers or other authority figures. Offer rewards for the students who behave during the auditorium. This can be done before or after, our class was so good at the assembly today that we are having an extended recess .
Sometimes it may be necessary to completely remove disruptors from assemblies. It is good to have a plan in place for when this happens. Taking away the privilege of attending assemblies may help the student realize that his or her conduct affects the group’s effectiveness.
Care must be taken that the child is not denied something he or she needs the most. For example if the assembly is on afterschool jobs and this student desperately needs a job, try to find a way to include the student. If this is not possible, once the debt is paid, forget the incident.
Be Careful with Punishment
We all make mistakes and punishing a student throughout the year for one mistake is never good practice. If a student must be removed during the assembly best practice would be to ignore the student or act immediately following the warning. For example: Joey, please report to the office immediately and see me directly after the assembly.
Any time there is potential to embarrass a student risk is involved and the atmosphere is loaded with potential repercussions. Even though school personnel are trained to observe does not mean something should be done about every observation.
Having mock assemblies, if possible, with a class of students is good practice. This can be walking the class to the auditorium at the beginning of the year and pointing out the different areas. This will make the class more at ease when a real assembly is called.
Make sure the assembly provides information that is worthwhile for your particular class. If you find it is something you do not feel will merit losing class time for, ask an administrator if it is possible to sit this one out. If that is not possible, or if you feel uncomfortable asking, find a way to make it valuable, ask the class to write a short essay on what they learned, draw a diagram of the seating, or write a list of every new word they heard.
Assemblies are part of most school years and are often looked forward to by students as well as teachers. Using a few strategies and a little common sense will make them pleasant for all.
References:
- Glasser, William. Schools without Failure. New York. Harper & Row 1969
- Kounin, Jacob. Discipline and Group Management in Classrooms. New York. Holt, Rinehart , and Winston. 1970
Brenda Gargus - Brenda Gargus has a Masters' degree in Psychology and an undergraduate degree in Education. She has taught for 29 years in a variety of ...
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