Classroom Management

Classroom Management

Mitzi HobackESU 4

Give one, Get one

• Think about an example of good classroom management that you have observed in the classroom. Jot it down on a note card.

• When the music begins, stand up and find someone at a different table. Share your tip. Jot down your partner’s idea.

• Swap tips with one other partner.

Essential Questions

• What will I do to establish or maintain classroom rules and procedures?

• What will I do to recognize and acknowledge adherence and lack of adherence to classroom rules and procedures?

• What will I do to establish and maintain effective relationships with students?

• What will I do to communicate high expectations for all students?

Have you seen any of these behaviors in the classroom?

• Disruptive and/or off-task behavior• Evidence of insubordination• Covert (or overt) power struggles

(including teacher-student, student-student, and student-class)

• Demonstration of the need for certain students to take control, draw attention to themselves, and receive negative psychological “pay-offs”

Instructional Design Question 6:

What will I do to establish or maintain classroom rules and procedures?

The First Days Are Critical

What you do on the first days of school will determine your success or failure for the rest of the school year. You will either win or lose your class on the first days

of school.Wong & Wong, 1998

The effective teacher…

invests time in teaching discipline and procedures, knowing

that this will be repaid multifold in the

effective use of class time.Wong

Classroom Rules

• Decided in advance• 3-5• Clearly communicated• Minimal student involvement

The First Days of SchoolRead pp. 145 -149

• Highlight the important ideas

• Round robin sharing, one idea at a time

“The number one problem in the classroom is not

discipline; it is the lack of procedures and routines.”

(Wong & Wong, 1998).

The Difference Between Discipline and Procedures

• Discipline: Has penalties and rewards.

• Procedures: Have no penalties or rewards.

• Discipline: Concerns how students behave.

• Procedures: Concern how things are done. Wong and Wong, 1998

Identify Behaviors, Procedures, & Routines to Teach

• Entering the room• How to volunteer a response• Asking to leave the room (restroom, etc.)• Transitions• Getting ready to leave & orderly dismissal

– Organizing personal workspace– Making sure items get home– Recording assignments in assignment notebook

• Others? Involve students in this brainstorming stage!

Front Load Expected Behaviors

• “If you want it, teach it.”

• Teach vs. Tell

• Proactive vs. reactive approach

• Student self-control vs. constant teacher

control

• Prioritize, teach 2-3 most important per week until all have been taught

(Sharer, Anastasio, & Perry, 2007, p. 47)

Teach Expected Behaviors:Five Steps for Getting Kids Ready

1. Brainstorm the expectations; determine and teach the content.

2. Model the behavior.

3. Practice the behavior.

4. Reinforce the behavior.

5. Re-teach the behavior.

(Sharer, Anastasio, & Perry, 2007, p. 47)

“If you want it,

teach it.”

6. What will I do to establish or maintain classroom rules and

procedures?• Action Step 1: Organize the classroom for

effective teaching and learning.

• Action Step 2: Establish a small set of rules and procedures.

• Action Step 3: Interact with students about classroom rules and procedures.

• Action Step 4: Periodically review rules and procedures, making changes as necessary.

• Action Step 5: Use classroom meetings.

More information on these Action Steps can be found on pp.

121-130 of The Art and Science

of Teaching

Instructional Design Question 7:

What will I do to recognize and acknowledge adherence and lack of adherence to classroom rules and procedures?

7. What will I do to recognize and acknowledge adherence and lack of adherence to classroom

rules and procedures?• Action Step 1: Use simple verbal and non-verbal

acknowledgment.

• Action Step 2: Use tangible recognition when appropriate.

• Action Step 3: Involve the home in recognition of positive student behavior.

• Action Step 4: Be “with it.”

• Action Step 5: Use direct-cost consequences.

• Action Step 6: Use group contingency.

• Action Step 7: Use home contingency.

• Action Step 8: Have a strategy for high-intensity situations.

• Action Step 9: Design an overall plan for disciplinary problems.

Rules…

• Are used to set limits• Are necessary for school to be safe• Give students a sense of security• Must have consequences (penalties)– Positive– Negative

Scan pp. 155 – 158 of The First Days of School

• In one or two sentences, summarize your plans for consequences in your classroom

Quick-Write

Criteria for Teaching and Reteaching Behaviors

• Be consistent

• Be dispassionate

• Be professional – approach student privately– never use sarcasm or ridicule

• Follow up appropriately

(Sharer, Anastasio, & Perry, 2007, p. 54)

Confront the behavior not the person.

Withitness• “aware of what is happening in all parts of the

classroom at all times by continuously scanning the classroom”

• “the disposition of the teacher to quickly and accurately identify…potential problem behavior and to act on it immediately”

(Kounin, 1983; Brophy, 1996, in Marzano, 2003, p. 67)

FocusNumber of Studies /Subjects

Average Effect Size

Percentile Decrease in Disruptions

Withitness 3 / 426 -1.417 42

In Other Words…

• Management By Walking Around (MBWA)

• “On your feet, not on your seat.”

• Constant monitoring

(Sharer, Anastasio, & Perry, 2007, p. 54)

What does withitness look like?

• What recognizable, replicable behaviors do “with it” teachers exhibit?

• Think-Pair-Share

More information on these Action

Steps can be found on pp.

136-148 of The Art and Science

of Teaching

Have you observed this?

• Students’ lack of self-direction and self-regulation

• Students’ display of an “I can’t do this…” attitude and mentality

• Inability of students to see connections between their actions and related consequences

• Passivity: “Tell me what to do—and I’ll do it, but that’s all…”

Instructional Design Question 8:

What will I do to establish and maintain effective relationships with students?

“They don’t care how much you know until they

know how much you care.”

What Does the Research Say? (I)

• Two key components help teachers to establish and maintain positive relationships with students: (a) the extent to which the teacher gives students the sense that he or she is providing guidance and control behaviorally and academically; and (b) the extent to which the teacher provides a sense that the class is a team devoted to the well being of all participants.

• In effect, the teacher communicates: “You can count on me to provide clear direction in terms of your learning and behavior,” plus “We are a team here and succeed or fail as a team…I have a stake in the success of each of you.”

What Does the Research Say? (II)

• Marzano confirms that many behavioral problems ultimately boil down to a breakdown in teacher-student relationships. Sheets and Gay (1996) state: “The causes of many classroom behaviors labeled and punished as rule infractions are, in fact, problems of students and teachers relating to one another interpersonally.”

• Two key research-based factors dominate the literature (Wubbels & Levy, 1993): (a) appropriate amount of dominance (clarity of purpose and strong guidance) and (b) whether teacher shows an appropriate amount of cooperation.

What Does the Research Say? (III)

• Cooperation involves demonstrating concern for each student and building a sense of community within the classroom. Wubbels (et al., 1999) emphasizes that teachers must be sensitive to how their actions are being interpreted—or could potentially be misinterpreted—by students.

• Factors that contribute to a sense of cooperation include joking, smiling, and communicating enthusiasm.

• Marzano also stresses the power of emotional objectivity in promoting healthy student-teacher relationships. Successful teachers avoid overreacting to student behaviors and do not take them personally.

8. What will I do to establish and maintain effective relationships with

students?• Action Step 1: Know something about each student.

• Action Step 2: Engage in behaviors that indicate affection for each student.

• Action Step 3: Bring student interests into the content and personalized learning activities.

• Action Step 4: Engage in physical behaviors that communicate interest in students.

• Action Step 5: Use humor when appropriate.

• Action Step 6: Consistently enforce positive and negative consequences.

• Action Step 7: Project a sense of emotional objectivity.

• Action Step 8: Maintain a cool exterior.

Jigsaw Action Steps

• Number 1-6. Each person reads the corresponding Action Step on pp. 154-161

• As you read, highlight ideas that you want to implement in your classroom

• You have 3 minutes• Share your highlighted ideas with your

group• You have 8 minutes

Effective Classroom Management

iii. Maintaining effective teacher-student relationships

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>High Dominance High SubmissionClarity of purpose,

Lack of clarity, strong guidance

purpose, or direction<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>

High Cooperation High OppositionConcern for needs

Active antagonism,

of others, team memberthwart others’ goals

Emotional Objectivity

• Acting as if the following statements are true:

–“I take nothing that occurs in this classroom personally.”–“Nothing can alter my calm demeanor.”or

Mastering the art of little discernable reaction.

Self-Reflection

• Consider the relationships you want to have with your students and behaviors you should use to communicate concern and cooperation as well as guidance and control.

• Design an action step for this section: What will you do with the strategies and ideas presented for this design question as you begin the school year?

You add value to people when you value them.

--John Maxwell

Instructional Design Question 9:

What will I do to communicate high expectations for all students?

E Effort-based ability is the belief that all students can do

rigorous academic work at high standards, even if they are far

behind academically and need a significant amount of time to catch up. Educators who carry this belief into their practice are not unrealistic about the obstacles they and their

students face. They simply have not given up.

Jonathan Saphier

What Does Research Tell Us About High Expectations?

• An extensive body of research confirms the relationship between teacher expectations and student achievement and high v. under-achievement.

• Changing teacher behavior that comes with low expectations can significantly improve achievement.

• Two major categories stand out when analyzing how teachers communicate expectations: (a) affective tone and (b) quality of interactions with students.

Research on Affective Tone

Brophy (1983) and others suggest that:

1. Teachers praise “lows” less frequently than “highs” for success.

2. Teachers set lows farther away.

3. Teachers are less friendly with low-achieving students, including smiling less and using friendly non-verbal behaviors less.

4. Teachers give lows less eye contact and non-verbal communication of attention and responsiveness, such as learning forward and using positive head nodding.

Research on Quality Interactions with Students

Brophy (1983) and others suggest that:

1. Teachers wait less time for “lows” to answer questions and call on “lows” less frequently to answer questions.

2. Teachers give lows answers or call on someone else to answer a question as opposed to trying to delve into the logic underlying the answer or improve on the answers of lows.

3. Teachers give lows briefer and less informative feedback on their responses.

4. Teachers fail to give lows feedback for public responses.

5. Teachers generally demand less from lows.

6. Teachers make less use of effective but time-consuming instructional methods with lows when instructional time is running out.

Douglas Reeves says that 40 years of research have shown that “when teachers and administrators

expect more, they get more; when they expect less, they get less.”

Do all teachers have high expectations for students?

• Great teachers have high expectations for students

• Even the worst teachers have high expectations for students

• The variable is what teachers expect of themselves

If you want to raise expectations of your students, you first have to raise

your expectations of yourself.

Never Work Harder Than Your StudentsRobyn R. Jackson (2009)

9. What will I do to communicate high expectations for all students?

• Action Step 1: Identify your expectation levels for students.

• Action Step 2: Identify differential treatment of low-expectancy students.

• Action Step 3: Make sure low-expectancy students receive verbal and non-verbal indications that they are valued and respected.

• Action Step 4: Ask questions of low-expectancy students.

• Action Step 5: When low-expectancy students do not answer a question correctly or completely, stay with them.

Action Step 1:

Identify your expectation levels for students.

Top Four Sources of Expectations About New Students

Dusek & Gail (1983)

• Cumulative folder (previous info about students)

• Social class• Physical attractiveness• Race

Action Step 2:

Identify differential treatment of low-expectancy students.

Teacher Behaviors Associated with Low Expectancy Students

Affective Tone:• Making less eye contact.• Smiling less• Making less physical contact or maintaining less

proximity• Engaging in less playful or light dialogue

Quality of Interactions:• Calling on them less• Asking them less-challenging questions• Not delving into their questions as deeply• Rewarding them for less-rigorous responses

Action Step 3:

Make sure low-expectancy students receive verbal and non-verbal indications that they are

valued and respected.

Enhancing Verbal and Non-Verbal Indicators of Value and Respect

• Make eye contact with target students frequently.

• Smile at the target students at appropriate times.

• On occasion, make appropriate physical contact, such as putting a hand on the target student’s shoulder.

• Maintain a proximity to target students that communicate interest but does not violate personal space.

• When appropriate, engage in playful dialogue with the target students.

Action Step 4:

Ask questions of low-expectancy students.

Improving Questioning

• When students ask their own questions, address each student’s question as much as possible.

• Employ a system of calling on students who have not raised their hands.

• Make a special note of low-expectancy students, checking off in the grade book every time they are asked and respond to a question.

• Systematically ask low-expectancy students challenging questions, helping students develop confidence they can handle difficult questions.

Action Step 5:

When low-expectancy students don’t answer a question correctly or completely, stay with them.

Strategies for “Staying With” Students

• Demonstrate gratitude for students’ responses.

• Don’t allow negative comments from other students.

• Point out what is correct and incorrect about students’ responses.

• Restate the question.

• Provide ways to temporarily let students off the hook.

Self-Reflection• Consider (a) How will you communicate

high expectations for all students? (b) How will your behavior communicate that you expect all students to succeed?

• Design an action step for this section: What will you do with the strategies and ideas presented for this design question as you begin the school year?

Whatever you are, be a good one.

--Abraham Lincoln