Classroom & Behavior Management Dawn Wetherell KMIS CTC What is Classroom Management? In The First Days of School, Harry Wong states, “Classroom management is the practices and procedures that allow teachers to teach and students to learn.” Classroom Management Teacher’s Role Instructional Strategies Discipline Procedures & Routines The Ideal Teacher: According to Julia G. Thompson, author of Discipline Survival Kit for the Secondary Teacher The Teacher-Student Relationship 1. Show interest in your students 2. Knowledge of your subject matter. 1. Class control 1. What does this mean? From First-Year Teacher’s Survival Kit, by Julia G. Dressing Appropriately • According to Harry Wong, “We are walking, talking advertisements for who we are.” • Educators should dress for respect, credibility, acceptance, and authority. Effective Instruction Movement is the key • Quick access to any student at any time • Be comfortable moving around your room • Being in close proximity to a misbehaving student deters bad behavior Effective Time Management Curbs Discipline Problems • More engaged a student is the better he behaves • Students tend to be more distracted during these 3 phases of instruction: » The beginning of class » Transitions » The end of class Ideas for the Beginning of Class • It is ESSENTIAL that the students have an activity to complete as soon as the bell rings. • Take roll while the students are working on the assignment. • Have your students: – Create a test question. – Illustrate important information. – Scan the day’s reading assignment. – Take a mini-quiz. – Draw a cartoon. – Summarize the previous day’s topic. According to Julia G. Thompson, author of Discipline Survival Kit for the Secondary Teacher Ending Class Without Chaos • The end of class should be as More ideas to try from structured as the Julia G. Thompson: beginning. – Rapid-fire drills • Closing exercises – Predict the next will provide a lesson constructive review – Review homework directions of the day’s lesson. – Show a relevant • Be sure that you cartoon dismiss the – Play a game for students and not bonus points the bell. An Effective Discipline Plan 3 most important student behaviors to teach on the first days of school are: – Discipline – Procedures – Routines “If you do not have a plan, you are planning to fail.” From The First Days of School, by Harry Wong Your Discipline Plan Class Rules Abide by the Rule Positive Consequences: Break the Rule Negative Consequences: REWARDS PENALTIES The Rules About Rules • Wong writes, “The function of a rule is to prevent or encourage behavior by clearly stating student expectations.” General Rules: Specific Rules: Respect others. Be in class on time. Be polite and helpful. Keep your hands, feet, and objects to yourself. What are the advantages and disadvantages to both? Creating Your Class Rules • • • • Only have 3 to 5 rules Have students help create rules. State rules positively. Make the rules easy for you and your students to remember. POST these in your classroom. • Be able to enforce the rules consistently. • Remember: – Rules deal with behavior, not procedures. Discuss how to do this. Rewards • Harry Wong emphasizes, “The best reward is the satisfaction of a job well done.” • Some examples include: » Praise » A note home (Good News Cards) » Student of the day, week, or month » Tangible rewards » Work posted » Certificates of Honor » Coupons Penalties •KMIS follows the established PBIS procedures. Enlist Parent Support • Make positive parent contact before you need their assistance with a problem. • Contact parents as soon as you see a change in their child’s behavior patterns. • Parents can be one of your biggest allies in managing the student’s behavior. Procedures and Routines • Harry Wong writes in The First Days of School, “The number one problem in the classroom is not discipline; it is the lack of procedures and routines.” • Wong also states, “A procedure is simply a method or process for how things are to be done in a classroom.” • Procedures answer the question, “What do I do when…?” What are Routines? Routines are something that is done at the same time in the same way every day (or on any regular schedule). Importance of routines: • Help manage behaviors. • Provide predictability. • Provide structure. • Provide steps toward a specific goal. Classroom Procedures That Must Become Routine: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Beginning of a period. Do students know what to do? Quieting a class. Do students know how you will quiet them down? Students seeking help. Do students know how to get your attention? Movement of students and papers. Do students know how to move about the room and pass papers in? End of period. Do students know who or what will dismiss them at the end of the period? From The First Days of School, by Harry Wong Procedures to Consider • Entering the classroom • Getting to work immediately • End of class dismissal • Participating in class discussions • Changing groups • Turning in papers • When you finish early • Asking a question • Responding to fire, severe weather, and tornado drills • Leaving the classroom • When visitors arrive • Keeping a notebook • Interruptions • Getting classroom materials From The First Days of School, by Harry Wong You Must Teach Procedures! EXPLAIN REHEARSE REINFORCE 4 Actions That Helped Me and Will Help You Too! • Maintain a professional relationship with students and fellow colleagues. • Be fair and consistent with students regardless of who they are. • Use class time wisely to avoid misbehaviors. • Take an interest in students’ extracurricular activities. Behavior Management – – – – enticement guidance direction positive recognition • praise • thanks • rewards. • Discipline results in: – change for the better – motivation – compliance – cooperation – production – positive bonds. DISCIPLINE IS NOT • an iron-handed approach: – controlling – demeaning – berating – punitive – coercive. • Attempts to force compliance result in: – superficial compliance – alienation – less motivation – resistance. Consistency Consistency = predictability – Inconsistency promotes the belief that rules aren’t really important. – Consistency helps students see the value of appropriate behavior. – Students may start to “gamble” if consequences are delivered inconsistently. – Avoid threats or promises you cannot or will not keep. The human brain automatically ignores the negative word: “stop, not, no.” Do not think of a pink toad! Skills and Practices Plan to ignore. Ignore: “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” Effective ignoring Attention sustains behavior, positive and negative. Teachers attend to negative behavior twelve times more frequently than they attend to positive behavior Use proximity praise for youngsters near them who are doing the correct thing Use proximity control with younger students who are avoiding work or attempting to gain something besides attention Skills and Practices Address negative behavior that cannot be ignored Attend to people exhibiting positive behavior first Pause State the rule Ask for a solution “Take care of it” Wait Reinforce the positive behavior Skills and Practices Attention is one reason children act out. A soggy potato chip is better than no potato chip. If you’ve never had a crisp potato chip, you don’t know the difference. Skills and Practices Offer choices. Think “win-win.” Redirect attention to a desired activity Offer an activity that teaches or measures the same skill, but through a different activity, in a different setting, or at a different time. Everybody works harder on activities they have chosen and in which they are vested. – Avoid “if-then” ultimatums; try “when-then” contingencies. Skills and Practices Pick your battles. Ask yourself, “What’s the worst thing that will happen if….” Ask yourself, “What’s the best thing that will happen if…” Skills and Practices Avoid power struggles. Power struggles result when children are given “win-lose” scenarios, i.e. “I win; you lose.” Skills and Practices • Giving and Getting Respect – Set up kids for success • • • • • • • Establish routines. Use proactive cooperation. Discuss behavioral expectations before an activity. Give hints and cues to help them be successful. Catch them being good. Recognize effort, not success. Point out progress. Skills and Practices Evaluate before you speak. – “Will my action help or hurt the situation?” – “Will my action help the child become a better problem-solver?” – Avoid judgment statements. – Address the behavior, not the character of the child. – Ask leading questions which help the child determine what is right and wrong and help him make a better decision. – “Will my action help the child gain self-control?” Skills and Practices Offer only choices you intend for them to have and which they are likely to choose. Avoid: “Do you want a to go to the office?” “Are you ready to begin work?” Instead: “You have the opportunity to make some choices here. What have most of your classmates chosen to do in this situation? Do you think that’s a choice that would end well for you right now? Great! Shall we get started?” “When everyone gets out their book, then we’ll be able to get started.” Make sure you can deliver what you promise. Offer choices when the child is in a position to make good choices. Few people make good choices during the middle of a “crisis.” Skills and Practices Make yourself available. You must be trusted and respected before relationships can develop and lasting change take place. Make a leading statement, then wait for the child to approach you. “You seem upset about something. Let me know when you’re ready to talk about it.” “We need to talk about what happened in class today. Think about it for a few minutes, then we’ll talk.” Skills and Practices Listen. Really listen. Listening does not mean talking. Reflect. “I hear you saying…” “That really made you angry.” Know when to probe and when to wait. Silence is a valuable listening tool. Help explore options vs. giving advice. “Some people would….Do you think that could work for you next time?” Strategies – Help misbehaving children learn new and better ways: • • • • • • • Talk TO them, not AT them. Keep your voice at conversational level. Avoid lecturing. Exhibit self-control. Seek win-win solutions. Point out the positive, then the negative. Separate the behavior from the kid. – Like the youngster; dislike the behavior. • Sandwich constructive criticism between compliments. Strategies for Active Students Provide opportunities for physical movement. – Ask fidgety students to erase the blackboard, run errands, distribute materials. – Build physical activities into the daily schedule. – Use something besides withholding recess as negative consequences. – Discussion: Name other ideas. Mottoes to live by Every day is a new day. Everybody starts with a clean slate. Never ever personalize anything a child says or does. Mottoes to live by “Equitable,” “fair,” “just” does not always mean “the same.” Evaluate each child’s needs and capabilities. I have better personal and interpersonal skills than children do. I will choose and use more effective tools than those chosen by the unskilled people in my realm of influence. Questions? Resources Classroom Management, Kimberly Dyan Hoy, Pendleton High School Dr. Thomas McIntyre www.behavioradvisor.com Thomas.McIntyre@Hunter.CUNY.edu