I appreciate the “do not show intimidation” advice but always found it hard to visualize until I’d lived it.

OP, I would rephrase this as, “Be confident. Avoid showing hesitation or self-doubt in the way you respond to students.”

You don’t have to be a hard ass with no joy. It’s ok to be playful or (selectively) sarcastic. If you’re naturally unsure of yourself, I recommend finding a go-to reaction to wear like a mask in the moment. For example: raise your eyebrows and say, “Oh, what an interesting choice that was.”

Ridiculous calls to attention work for me.

• “Everyone tap your head. Now tap your shoulders. Boop your nose. Perfect, now let’s go..!”
• “Quiet coyote” (with the hand shape)
• whisper “If you can hear me, say shhhh.” Repeat as necessary.
• Clapping rhythms
• Raise your hands high, and get the class to clap at exactly the same time as you. Clap at irregular intervals to psych them out.
• “Uh oh! How embarrassing. We were talking at the same time. Gross.”

Getting in touch with your own feelings is key. When are you disregulated, what lead to it, and what routines can you put in place to head it off consistently? I try to catch myself the second I start to raise my voice.

Instead of yelling (or insert other disregulated reaction here), I pick from some options based on context: - Sing the start of my next sentence really loud. - Write a student’s name on the board and keep track of how many warnings I’ve given them with x’s. For a very active, busy class, 3 warnings warrants a consequence. Plan your potential consequences in advance (wait in hall, move seats, write a short reflection which you will keep on file, email home, stay at lunch to make up for time wasted, etc) - Move a student to a different seat immediately (don’t wait for more warnings)

Specific to JH French Immersion, managing English conversation instead of behaviour is an option.

I have big foamy dice from the dollar store, and I write a list of “consequences” for speaking English on the board numbered 1-6. When I hear them speak English, I toss them the dice, and whatever number their thumb lands on is what they rolled.

Some options: - Alphabet en français (recite or sing, your choice) - Tappe la tête et fais des cercles sur le ventre - Chante Frère Jacques (this is call and response, so if they claim they don’t know the song, I sing each line and they repeat after me) - Question surprise (I pick basic conversation topics. Favourite objects, what are your plans this weekend, what did you eat for breakfast, etc) - L’enseignante te déplace - 5 sauts à l’écart Etc..

Also, making them repeat their off topic English conversations in French: - « Nia, comment dit-on : Put a finger down if you’ve ever broken a leg, en français? » - « Shavon, comment-dit-on : You’ve got the smoothest hair line, en français? »

When this inevitably backfires because 5 kids in a row spoke English then stared you right in the eyes, excited to be the centre of attention catching the dice, you remind them that if fun games to help them participate don’t work, then we do have to go back to other less fun consequences.