It was only October, and I already dreaded this 8th grade class intensely. Personalities clashed, kids annoyed each other, and I couldn’t find the vibe. I spent more time disciplining and moving seats and writing kids up than teaching lessons.

It was draining my soul.

I kept thinking, “I should know how to handle a class by now, I’ve been teaching all this time!” Massive imposter syndrome was taking over my brain.

My mental health suffered and I felt like the worst teacher. 

How could I stop this downward spiral? How could I change MY response to these kids, even if they stayed the same? Shouldn’t a group of 13-14 year olds not have such power over my mental health?

I was determined to find a way to break the negative cycle in my head. There had to be a way to turn it around, at least for my sake.

Shout-Out Board Experiment

One day, I had this idea.

I had a small white board in the back of the room that wasn’t being used for anything, and I decided to write “Shout Out’s” on the top and add the names of any kids who I felt should be recognized for something positive.

This would force me to start noticing positive moments, which I desperately needed.

For example, a student answered a question in Spanish - I quickly ran back to the board and add their name.

A student shared a pencil with another - I zipped back and added the name.

A student took good notes on the picture talk - their name went up. Students working well in L2 in a group - all their names went up!

Every time I did this, I felt lifted up. It drew my attention to the GOOD THINGS that were actually happening but drowned out by the negative few. I really was surprised how much better it made me feel.

Student Reaction

At first I think they my students thought I was being a dork - but to be fair, 8th graders think everything we do is dorky 😂. Soon, though, it caught FIRE 🔥.

I mean, kids WANTED their names up there!

More and more, kids were going out of their way to get recognized for positivity. There were times when kids ‘faked it’ - doing something insincerely positive to get mentioned. Other kids would most often call them out as fakers so it tended to self-correct. I protected the process and didn’t want it to lose its validity and impact.

One day a kid blurted out an impulsive negative comment to another student from across the room. Other kids started saying, “Hey, you know you're not gonna get a Shout Out for that one!” I prompted the blurter to go to the board and write something positive about the other student to correct the insult. I was blown away! IT WORKED. The sourness in the atmosphere vanished as the impulsive kid had been given a do-over and the relationship was restored.

A Coveted Class Job

Eventually kids wanted to go up and give Shout Outs for each other, and I assigned managing the Shout Out board as a class job. Since I had 5 sections of Spanish, each class wanted the job to decorate the title so I had them take turns with that. I ended up having the Shout-Out Board Manager position include:

• managing the markers and eraser set up

• keeping track of who gave shouts about whom and for what

I left the names up all week and every Friday afternoon took a picture of it. All my classes shared the one board, so they got excited to find friends’ names on there throughout the day.

Kids who didn’t even take my class came in to see the board! It never really lost it’s luster either as time went by, which sometimes happens.

The Shout-Out Board Changed ME

That class still needed many write-ups, calls home and there were days when fatigue just got the better of me.

But overall, the Shout-Out board changed ME.

It took my focus off the bad and shined the spotlight on the good.

I’d love to hear from you - have you ever felt like behavior management was just draining your soul and stealing all joy? How did you turn it around?

Give this Shout Out board a try and let me know how it goes!

Much love,

Catherine

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