Classroom Discipline

[Loaded]

Classroom discipline

The phrase ‘classroom discipline’ has for most teachers an immediate and clear meaning, but it is in fact quite a complex concept, and hard to define in words.

Consider these possible characteristics of the disciplined classroom:

1. Learning is taking place.

2. It is quiet.

3. The teacher is in control.

4. Teachers and students are cooperating smoothly.

5. Students are motivated.

6. The lesson is proceeding according to plan.

7. Teacher and students are aiming for the same objective.

8. The teacher has natural charismatic ‘authority’.

What important factors contribute to classroom discipline and are potentially within the control of, or influenced by, the teacher?

 Classroom management

 Methodology

 Interpersonal relationships

 Lesson planning

 Student motivation

Practical hints for teachers on classroom discipline:

1. Start by being firm with students: you can relax later.

2. Get silence before you start speaking to the class.

3. Know and use the students’ names (if possible).

4. Prepare lessons thoroughly and structure them firmly.

5. Be mobile: walk around the class.

6. Start the lesson with a ‘bang’ and sustain interest and curiosity.

7. Speak clearly.

8. Make sure your instructions are clear.

9. Have extra material prepared to cope with faster-working students.

10. Look at the class when speaking, and learn how to ‘scan’.

11. Make work appropriate (age, ability, cultural background).

12. Develop an effective questioning technique.

13. Develop the art of timing your lesson to fit the available period.

14. Vary your teaching techniques.

15. Anticipate discipline problems and act quickly.

16. Avoid confrontations.

17. Clarify fixed rules and standards, and be consistent in applying them.

18. Show yourself as supporter and helper to the students.

19. Don’t patronize students, treat them with respect.

20. Use humour constructively.

21. Choose topics and tasks that will activate students.

22. Be warm and friendly to the students.

[wangsuda]

That is one way to look at classroom discipline. I tend to look at it from a different perspective. For many new, inexperienced, or not formally trained teachers,the hardest thing to maintain is classroom discipline. A teacher can be prepared for class from now until Sunday and be extremely knowledgeable in his/her subject matter, but all is for naught if the class is completely uncontrollable. So how does a teacher go about setting up and maintaining class discipline?

The first step in maintaining classroom discipline is to find out exactly what the overall school disciplinary procedure is. Somewhere, a school should have a published discipline policy and you need to obtain it. This policy should clearly explain the school rules, and what punishments occur when these rules are broken. If your school does not have a rules/discipline policy, it is up to you to talk to an administrator and verbally get a list of rules (after all, you cannot “play the game” if you do not know the rules). Additionally, find out what sort of disciplinary actions you and the school can take when these rules are broken. Once you have the school rules, set up your own class rules (preferably ones that dovetail with the school rules). Explain the rules to your students and explain the punishments that go along with breaking the rules. If you are ambitious, you can set up a “first/second/third” offence policy. What ever you set up, please STICK BY YOUR POLICIES! Once you allow one exception to the rules, students will walk all over you. Let us now look at some common methods of maintaining classroom discipline. NOTE: Just because I write about them does NOT mean I endorse them. Personally, I do not believe in draconian methods of punishment. With that said, some teachers can use them effectively.

I. Draconian Methods of Classroom Discipline. Called this because they directly act upon the student, making them do some sort of physical action as a punishment for bad behavior.

A. Standing at attention. This is a simple method of classroom discipline. If a student breaks a rule, simply make him or her stand at attention for a set length of time.

B. Nose to the wall. A bit more harsh than standing at attention, this method of punishment requires a student not only to stand at attention BUT to hold a piece of paper against the classroom wall using his/her nose. Very humiliating, but can be effective for severe troublemakers.

II. Brownian Movement Methods of Discipline. Called this because you make the student or students move to various parts of the room.

A. The “dunce” chair. Have a desk in the front of your class. The offending student gets to sit in full-view isolation for a period of time. This method can work well for talkers.

B. Full class movement. Students like to sit with friends and talk. Break them up by assigning seats. Sitting by student number works well in maintaining a healthy and effective learning environment. If this does not work, seat your students in boy/girl alternates. For the younger grades, this can work wonders.

C. “Dumb and Dumber” Method of Discipline. It has been my experience that the students in need of the most discipline are those who are either failing of receiving a “courtesy pass” (a common grade here in LOS). Re-arrange the seats so that the lowest grades sit up front with you. The advantages of doing this is twofold: first, these students are less likely to cause trouble; and second, you can easily give them extra help.

III. Pavlovian Methods of Discipline. Yes, good old reward and punish!

A. Loads of homework – part one. The offending student receives extra homework or class work for every infraction of the rules. Eventually, the poor lad/lass is bogged down with extra work and soon learns (you hope) that good behavior means less work. If your little offender does not do the extra work, a simple call to the parents can work wonders.

B. Loads of homework – part two. If a student breaks a rule or is generally a pain, then load the class with extra work. Make sure the class knows who is responsible for the extra assignments. Hopefully, your class will be disciplining themselves in order to get out of extra work. Additionally, your little offender might receive a bit of “street justice” which is far more effective than anything you could do!

IV. Proximity Methods of Discipline. Go to where the trouble is!

A. Vocal. Many students tend to talk when you are talking. Fine, then put them on the spot. Personally call on the talker and ask him/her a question based on what you said. For me, I always ask, “What did I just say?” Yes, this causes embarrassment, but it does get students listening. Additionally, it can reinforce your lecture by having students repeat salient parts.

B. Physical. This is my favorite method of maintaining classroom discipline. When I see a troubled area of my classroom, I simply walk over there and teach from that section of the room. I will even get my students involved by having them make my whiteboard notes. We all know how shy students can be, especially at the younger ages; so, for me, this works the best. If a student in my “trouble area” does well at making my whiteboard notes or solving problems I give him/her, then I make sure the whole class knows what a good job that student did.

Remember, these are only brief suggestions designed to spark your own ideas in maintaining discipline in your class. Not all ideas work for all teachers or situations. Let’s face it; any class of over 50 students is next to impossible to discipline based on the numbers. The best you can hope for is to teach to the 10-20 students who want to learn, and hope that (maybe by osmosis?) the rest of the students learn something. The important things to remember are this: create a set of rules and enforce them; and create a discipline system that works for you and use it.

[Loaded]

Good suggestions Wangsuda

From my experience Thai schools often do not have a formal disciplinary code, or if they do its not in English, so they often deal with each incident as it happens with KriengJai (the parents) and face (student, school and teacher) strongly influencing the 'punishment'.

I've also found that a class 'contract' - my own classroom rules for students and teachers works well. We write as a class, agree, then sign. 'The students promise to...', 'The teacher promises to...' Of course very difficult to manage this with younger students or weak students.

I agree large heterogeneous classes are very difficult to manage and teach. Maybe a seperate thread for this discusion.

[Thaiboxer]

I was once a kids teacher; started with high school and then taught elementary and kindergarten here in Thailand. I was not an experienced teacher when I started, so I had to learn the hard way. I agree that discipline is so important to keep the learning process going (or even to get it started in the first place). One thing I discovered is that regardless of a solid disciplinary code (or lack of one) that it often comes down to how the kids are disciplined outside of school by their parents. Many Thai kids (especially boys) are spoiled brats and are allowed to get away with murder. This is compounded by the fact that us farang teachers often have FAR less political say in these situations and in the end, the kids win. This is one reason why, after two years, I got away from teaching kids and started teaching adults. This has its own challenges, but lack of motivation and disciplinary problems are not included in those challenges which makes the job much more pleasant. However, I also acknowledge that some folks just have a knack with the younger learners and are better suited to those jobs.

[wangsuda]

I've also found that a class 'contract' - my own classroom rules for students and teachers works well. We write as a class, agree, then sign. 'The students promise to...', 'The teacher promises to...' Of course very difficult to manage this with younger students or weak students.

I agree. class rules MUST be established IMMEDIATELY in order to insure class discipline. Let's face it, student behavior is based on nothing more than the rules teachers establish to govern students. For many teachers, these rules generally have one thing in common - they all begin with the word "NO.” The problem with this rationality is when a teachers states what cannot be done, no positive statement is made as to what will be done in a class - all negative rules do is highlight the bad. With this in mind, I have established a few rules highlighting positive, rather than negative, behaviors.

1. Be Respectful - many teachers have rules stating "no talking back," "no gum chewing," "no writing on desks.” Cannot all this negativity be summed up in one positive statement? Yes, it can, and that is what "be respectful" means. It also means more than just no talking, chewing, and destruction. It is a method of treating other students as well. If a student is respectful to his/her teacher, his/her fellow students, and the school's property, than you have a well-behaved student whose life is not governed by a list of "no's."

2. Be Informed — when a student walks into my class he/she needs to be ready for anything. Being informed is more than having homework completed; it includes reading (assigned material as well as outside material), classroom awareness (what are we doing, and where are we in the grand scheme of things), and news awareness (being aware of school, local, state, and national events). Being informed helps in literature interpretation, since many texts relate their stories to events that happened in Thailand or world history.

3. Be Prepared— like the Boy Scouts, a student should be prepared when s/he walks into my class. This preparedness is more than just having a pencil and some paper (although that is nice); it includes being ready for a changing classroom dynamic. Some days may include acting out scenes from the currently studied literature, working on group projects, demonstrating a knowledge base and understanding of material on assessment day, and/or anything my educationally directed mind thinks of. Being prepared for class allows a student to better prepare him/herself for the world.

4. Participate — a student can be as respectful, informed, and prepared as s/he can, and I will never know it unless the student opens his/her mouth in class. My classes are loud, for much learning and understanding comes through interaction between the students and me. One method of assessment I use is how a student responds, orally, to questions I pose to the class. Participation also includes reenactment of literature, drawing, reading aloud, sharing ideas, debate of topics and concepts, and anything else I can think of which brings learning and understanding more accessible to the student.

[Ijustwannateach]

Great thread guys - and nice to see you here again, Wangsuda.

[Loaded]

One thing I discovered is that regardless of a solid disciplinary code (or lack of one) that it often comes down to how the kids are disciplined outside of school by their parents. Many Thai kids (especially boys) are spoiled brats and are allowed to get away with murder. This is compounded by the fact that us farang teachers often have FAR less political say in these situations and in the end, the kids win.

A very Asian problem.

In many schools the person in a position of power does not respect/listen to the input of the farang teacher. This may be a cultural thing (phuyai/phulek relationships) or it may be that they have had negative experiences with farang teachers and now just write them off as a barely tolerable necessity. The farang teachers I've seen that are listened to all 'play the game' - wai the phuyai first, speak gently without emotion and listen respectfully before suggesting (NOT telling) what the phuyai should do.

The fat spoiled brat often has a fat spoiled mother and father who often have power and influence within the local thai society, hence the school often feels the need to placate these people. Never tried it myself but maybe a play-the-game face-to-face with the mother similar to the above where it's politely suggested that little Somchai although very clever/handsome/popular embarrasses (loss of face) his parents in class with his behaviour.

The culture here is very subtle, so any 'confrontation' between teacher and school/parent must be handled with tact and respect.

[Thaiboxer]

Good post Loaded! Many schools will brown nose the parents in order to promote the school and therefore make more money. I once worked for a school where the kids did terrible things (like cut a teacher's hair) and the director did nothing. In the end, many teachers become jaded by the whole thing which is one of the reasons for such a high turnover in the TEFL industry here. The old saying, "A happy teacher is a good teacher" should always be applied.

[aXIOM2001]

Good suggestions Wangsuda

From my experience Thai schools often do not have a formal disciplinary code, or if they do its not in English, so they often deal with each incident as it happens with KriengJai (the parents) and face (student, school and teacher) strongly influencing the 'punishment'.

I've also found that a class 'contract' - my own classroom rules for students and teachers works well. We write as a class, agree, then sign. 'The students promise to...', 'The teacher promises to...' Of course very difficult to manage this with younger students or weak students.

I agree large heterogeneous classes are very difficult to manage and teach. Maybe a seperate thread for this discusion.

...very salient concept. In my 44 years of teaching English in America, during the last fifteen I had the students to devise "Classroom Expectations" vs. "Classroom Rules." There were chiefly five of them which I shall stipulate in a separate thread. With this I used a reward system and a system of consequences if a student CHOSE NOT to do as required. The preceding plans made for a wholesome and positive 'classroom environment' of our "community of learners." eddwarm

[Turok]

Fellas:

After years of experience as a teacher I think you are all coming at this from the wrong angle. It is not discipline you need. It is a clear set of procedures and routines that children need to follow in your classroom. One of the best books that teachers should read is called "the First Days of School" by Harry Wong. Too many teachers forget to set up routines in the classroom. Once these procedures are stated, practiced and rehearsed over and over again classroom learning will take place. Too many teachers get right into teaching on tehe first day of school. That is a HUGE mistake. Establish your classroom routines. Getting materials, bathroom breaks, etc... I have taught in Thailand and my experience teaching in USA helped me. Its not the discipline. Students want to know what to do and how to do it. SImple things like a Procedure for Coming into a Classroom at the beginning of the day. Sharpening a pencil. And list the steps and post them. When a student misses a step correct immediately. And do this over and over again until it is routine. How can u expect a child to get it on the first try. I have seen some many teachers just set rules and expect children to follow them. It doesn't happen. Its the procedures in your classroom. I mean big corporations have these procedures also. Airlines are another one. They have trained us on how to come onto a plane and fasten your seat belt without them even telling you. It works. Yelling at students will not work. I suggest that some of you who talk about maintaining discipline look at the procedures in your classroom. Set them up and see how well it works. Give students time to master the routines in your classroom. Stop with the discipline and change yoru thinking. Get this book and apply it. It does work.

Turok

[mijan24]

This is interesting and positive maybe it should be Pinned?

[Loaded]

. Establish your classroom routines. Getting materials, bathroom breaks, etc... I have taught in Thailand and my experience teaching in USA helped me. Its not the discipline. Students want to know what to do and how to do it. SImple things like a Procedure for Coming into a Classroom at the beginning of the day. Sharpening a pencil. And list the steps and post them. When a student misses a step correct immediately. And do this over and over again until it is routine. How can u expect a child to get it on the first try. I have seen some many teachers just set rules and expect children to follow them. It doesn't happen.

Turok

I agree that this will help to make the students more secure in their learning environment, and less likely to deviate from expected behaviour.

What would you do if you were passed a class mid-semester that run riot because the previous teacher hadn't set out routines or boundaries of acceptable behaviour? How would you quickly get them into line? You only have 6 weeks to the end-of-year exams.

[Turok]

Loaded:

This is always a problem. Coming into a class half way through the year is very difficult and trying. Changing bad routines is difficult. 6 weeks is really a short time to change behavior. In my experience it takes almost 40 teaching days to get the procedures and routines to set in. That is almost 8 weeks of school. Yelling and threatening will not work. Along with procedures comes the discipline. But the students must have time to master the procedures. Occasionally a student will mess up and then an appropriate action is given out. But rarely in my experience has a child pushed it too far. They know what they did wrong. But u must lay out how things are done. And practice practice and practice. This is why the first few days of school are so important. This is the teachers chance to set things in motion for a successful school year. If it doesnt occur during this time you end up chasing the students all year. This has to be done from day one. Accepting a position in the middle of the year usually means that you don't have a week to just work with classroom procedures. These are not rules. Rules are not routines.

Order this book. It is like a turn key book to teaching. It will tell you how to do it and what to say and how to display things. It really works and makes teaching enjoyable. Children really do want to learn.

Turok

[wangsuda]

Fellas:

After years of experience as a teacher I think you are all coming at this from the wrong angle. It is not discipline you need. It is a clear set of procedures and routines that children need to follow in your classroom. One of the best books that teachers should read is called "the First Days of School" by Harry Wong. Too many teachers forget to set up routines in the classroom. Once these procedures are stated, practiced and rehearsed over and over again classroom learning will take place. Too many teachers get right into teaching on tehe first day of school. That is a HUGE mistake. Establish your classroom routines. Getting materials, bathroom breaks, etc... I have taught in Thailand and my experience teaching in USA helped me. Its not the discipline. Students want to know what to do and how to do it. SImple things like a Procedure for Coming into a Classroom at the beginning of the day. Sharpening a pencil. And list the steps and post them. When a student misses a step correct immediately. And do this over and over again until it is routine. How can u expect a child to get it on the first try. I have seen some many teachers just set rules and expect children to follow them. It doesn't happen. Its the procedures in your classroom. I mean big corporations have these procedures also. Airlines are another one. They have trained us on how to come onto a plane and fasten your seat belt without them even telling you. It works. Yelling at students will not work. I suggest that some of you who talk about maintaining discipline look at the procedures in your classroom. Set them up and see how well it works. Give students time to master the routines in your classroom. Stop with the discipline and change yoru thinking. Get this book and apply it. It does work.

Turok

For those interested, I am posting the ISBN number of "The First Days of School," as well as the titles and descriptions of other books that can aid you in becoming a better teacher.

1. “The Structure of Schooling,” by Richard Arum and Irenee R. Beattie (ISBN 0-7674-1070-X). An excellent source of various readings for those in the philosophical and sociological aspects of education. A good read for those in secondary and university education. Topics highlighted in this book include school stratification, class, race, and gender, student behavior, and adolescent subcultures.

2. “Building Classroom Discipline,” by C.M. Charles (ISBN 0-321-07691-5). An excellent analysis of the most popular classroom management philosophies. Included in this text are complete analyses of discipline philosophies and methods of practical applications for the classroom.

3. “The First Days of School,” by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong (ISBN 0-9629360-2-2). A collection of ideas, methodologies, and strategies for surviving the first week of school.

4. “So Much to Say,” edited by Christian J. Faltis and Paula Wolfe (ISBN 0-8077-3796-8). A collection of articles dealing with current research and applications in ESL/EFL education. Topics include curriculum planning, language literacy, and sheltered content teaching.

5. “Teaching Writing in Middle and Secondary Schools,” by Margot Iris Soven (ISBN 0-205-18897-4). If you teach writing in your class, then this book is a must. It covers the theory, research, and practice of teaching writing. Topics include teaching the writing process (includes grammar and sentence structure education), evaluating and responding to student writing, and designing writing assignments.

6. “Pathways to Understanding,” by Laura Lipton and Bruce Wellman (ISBN 0-9665022-0-5). This book explores the different methodologies of creating a learning-focused classroom through individual and group activities. It includes learning models for all levels of students and includes activities for English language learners.

[mark lamai]

loaded's initial post is very correct, though it seems a little academic.

unfortunately such a theory is impossible to put into practice in thai schools as a foreign teacher.

why?

from my experience in wealthier schools, the local temple school may be different.

1. as above, Thai students have very little or no respect for foreign teachers.

2. your job is to entertain, not teach.

3. the school itself has no repect for the foreign teachers.

4. the english program is simply an income generating tool for the school.

5. the students do not want to learn english, except the older 'katoeis'.

6. not being able to speak thai language, as most of us don't, means that the tools of reasoning and explanation are unavailable.

7. we cannot hit students with a cane like thai teachers can.

8. and many more!!

Tips for maintaining teacher sanity.

1. do not take the job seriously, if you do, you will go mad very quickly.

2. do not volunteer for anything.

3. keep a very very low profile.

4. do not try to teach and be disappointed when your classes become unmanageable.

5. DO have thorough lesson plans which will keep the little blighters busy for the whole lesson.

it doesn't have to have much to do with english, any games, art, activities are fine.

6. have a few foreign teacher friends who you can have a beer with and let out all your frustrations.

7. get drunk on saturday night, and the past week will seem a long way away.

its a crazy and kinda stupid job really.

take the money, however small, and run.

(C.V. I is fully qualified australian teacher and do teach thailand many time! but now holiday long time.)

[enuff said]

.

Hey. This is a blatant attempt to revive this thread. Good posts here and they should be continued.

Turok is exactly right. Classroom routine is 99% of dicipline.

Just throwing in the towel and calling them "monsters" isn't ethical or professional. There is a way and a method and a course of action for all dicipline problems. It is up to us to find it and impliment it.

And thank you wangsuda.

Let's try and keep this thread up where newbies can see it and more experienced teachers can add their ideas.

'nuff said

[Loaded]

Just throwing in the towel and calling them "monsters" isn't ethical or professional. There is a way and a method and a course of action for all dicipline problems. It is up to us to find it and impliment it.

Quote of the day.

This is the idea we need to get into new teachers heads.

[Thaiboxer]

A lot of what you should/should not do in terms of discipline depends on the age group you're teaching. Having taught kindergarten, elementary and high school, I would say that high school kids require the most extreme methods of discipline. I once worked with a guy who made a Mattayom boy crawl up on the floor and kiss his feet. I would have paid to see that

For me, the discipline part took so much energy and I finally figured out that teaching kids just isn't my cup of tea so I switched to adults. Now, I have no disciplinary problems and the students are motivated (another plus).

[Ijustwannateach]

Appearing so omniscient about what is happening in the classroom that the kids think you have the goods on them before they've done anything is a good idea. It takes a lot of work initially, but then you can lay off later. Some hints for this:

1. Have the kids' names learned by the end of the first week; if possible by the end of the first class. Not something everyone can do, and it gets harder with age.

2. Identify cheaters quickly and shame them with humour- I like to point out students who have the same outrageous wrong answers to problems. I try to make sure they understand that I consider copying a worse behavior than getting the wrong answer.

3. Break up troublemaking groups (by name) as you go. Make it clear that kids who can't pay attention in class because of who they're sitting near will lose the privilege to do so. Resist idiotic attempts to keep class seating uniform across all classes (a favourite of administration types); seating is one of your last lines of disciplinary control in the classroom.

4. Routine. Do something the same way at the beginning and end of classes. Do your best (even though there will always be unplanned problems) to make sure that there aren't any pauses or unfilled lulls in class. Try to involve the students as much as possible.

5. Activities. Some classes like them, some don't- if they do, you can just give them opening instructions, wind them up and let them go. Their desire to finish the activity becomes self-disciplining.

Keep it going!

"Steven"

[gburns57au]

Classroom discipline

The phrase ‘classroom discipline’ has for most teachers an immediate and clear meaning, but it is in fact quite a complex concept, and hard to define in words.

Consider these possible characteristics of the disciplined classroom:

1. Learning is taking place.

2. It is quiet.

3. The teacher is in control.

4. Teachers and students are cooperating smoothly.

5. Students are motivated.

6. The lesson is proceeding according to plan.

7. Teacher and students are aiming for the same objective.

8. The teacher has natural charismatic ‘authority’.

What important factors contribute to classroom discipline and are potentially within the control of, or influenced by, the teacher?

 Classroom management

 Methodology

 Interpersonal relationships

 Lesson planning

 Student motivation

Practical hints for teachers on classroom discipline:

1. Start by being firm with students: you can relax later.

2. Get silence before you start speaking to the class.

3. Know and use the students’ names (if possible).

4. Prepare lessons thoroughly and structure them firmly.

5. Be mobile: walk around the class.

6. Start the lesson with a ‘bang’ and sustain interest and curiosity.

7. Speak clearly.

8. Make sure your instructions are clear.

9. Have extra material prepared to cope with faster-working students.

10. Look at the class when speaking, and learn how to ‘scan’.

11. Make work appropriate (age, ability, cultural background).

12. Develop an effective questioning technique.

13. Develop the art of timing your lesson to fit the available period.

14. Vary your teaching techniques.

15. Anticipate discipline problems and act quickly.

16. Avoid confrontations.

17. Clarify fixed rules and standards, and be consistent in applying them.

18. Show yourself as supporter and helper to the students.

19. Don’t patronize students, treat them with respect.

20. Use humour constructively.

21. Choose topics and tasks that will activate students.

22. Be warm and friendly to the students.

Isnt a perfect world just great......

Kids are kids...there is no fixed methodology....treat them with a bit of respect and dignity...

[Ijustwannateach]

There may not be a fixed method that works best for each kid, but if there is not some fixed method for a *class* you can expect your happy days as a teacher to be numbered. Discipline, routine, and classroom management are paramount. It goes against all my instincts as a liberal to say so, but from a class teacher's point of view (especially teaching 30-40 kids at a time) the individual *must* take a backseat to the group; it's the only way things can work.

Some of the little darlings have had way too much "respect" already, too- if they are from rich homes, they may be minor tyrants over dozens of family employees. It shows more respect to such kids, I think, to show them that there are situations in which they must conform to the majority and respect their elders- it may be the only context in which they learn that before being let freely loose on a society which may hold a very different opinion of their importance, possibly with dangerous consequences.

"Steven"

[Rhys]

Write HONOR on the board in Thai and English... During testing. This has been effective.

[Sexy Beast]

if they are from rich homes, they may be minor tyrants over dozens of family employees. It shows more respect to such kids, I think, to show them that there are situations in which they must conform to the majority and respect their elders

Very true – when I worked with children who where from privileged back-grounds initially the way some of them spoke to the teachers was incredibly derogatory. So regulation was a big factor and highly encouraged in the lower grades. Children need routine and discipline without being too authoritarian.

S.B.

[pgs]

Fair go 'nuffsaid - all kids are monsters.

Little monsters go to monster school (akin to pre-school or playgroups).

Bigger monsters go to bigger schools.

My little nephew now answers to the name monster (monsatuh) and most of the family now refer to him this way - sort of an unofficial nick-name. Really, he's a great kid - major improvements over the time I've known him.

Each visit I assist in one of our local schools, the teachers & kids seem to look forward to it & I quite enjoy it. It is all done with the principal's blessing & joy. He likes my visits enough to take me out for lunch or dinner at least once per visit - that's on top of the 'staff outings' that seem to be arranged during those times.

I help the teachers with their English & help prepare the older students for their English tests. Last year I coached some for the big spelling contest in Chaiyaphum. For the students/teachers that are interested, my door is open to assist them.