Classroom Management

Conditions for Praise

1. Authenticity. 2. Specificity. 3. Immediacy. 4. Cleanliness (no other motive than gratitude - no "however"). 5. Privacy (should not cause embarrassment).

Non-Coercive Response to Inappropriate or Derogatory Language

1. Avoid taking the remarks personally 2. Respond to the behavior in a professional manner 3. Don't let your emotions override your behavior management skills Do not ask the student why he said what he did—just acknowledge that he chose to break a rule or behave inappropriately. Dismiss the incident as quickly as possible and resume class work. Have the student repeat the consequence and then carry it out. Put the incident out of your mind as quickly as possible and resume class work with a pleasant and cheerful tone in your voice. Remain calm and do not draw more attention to the improper behavior.

Four Principles of Behavior

1. Behavior is largely a product of its immediate environment. 2. Behavior is strengthened or weakened by consequences. 3. Behavior ultimately responds better to positive consequences. 4. Only the course of future behavior reveals whether a behavior has been punished or reinforced.

Five Skills of Effective Classroom Management

1. Get and Keep Students on Task 2. Increase positive interactions 3. Teach expectations. 4. Manage Unwanted Behavior 5. Avoid Traps

(Skill) Get and Keep Students on Task

1. Greet each student at the door. 2. Use a starter activity. 2a. Review expectations for the class. Write the schedule on the board. Introduce yourself. 3. Manage behavior by walking around. 4. Quickly get students/class back on task. 5. Have a plan for students who finish early. 6. Minimize transition time.

Non-Coercive Response to Refusal to Do Work

1. Positively praise students who are on task 2. Give positive encouragement for the student to continue doing the task 3. Acknowledge the student's feelings 4. Restate your expectations for the activity 5. Restate the consequences if the activity is not completed Note: Many times students may refuse to work simply because they don't understand the task. Students would rather appear bad than stupid. "You're right, Daniela, I can't make you complete this task. I can, however, expect you to have it completed before you leave for lunch. If it is not finished by then, you will have to take it home and work on it. I also expect you to remain quiet and not disrupt the other students who are choosing to complete the assignment at this time."

Pattern for Responding to Consequential Inappropriate Behavior

1. Stop the inappropriate behavior. 2. Redirect the student to an appropriate behavior, which is usually back on task

When students fail to meet expectations ...

1.) Turn attention away from the noncompliant student and towards a compliant student 2.) Acknowledge the appropriate behavior and accurate answer

Class Expectations

As sub, try to model expectations of the permanent teacher. Try to determine the classroom rules and strategies used by the permanent teacher to get the attention of the class. These may be in the lesson plans or posted somewhere in the classroom. You can also ask students about the procedures they are used to. Be sure to find out the permanent teacher's expectations about mp3 players and cell phones and follow them, even if you don't agree. Be prepared to set your own expectations if you can't figure out what the permanent teacher usually does.

Non-Coercive Strategies: Use Assertive Statements

Be assertive so students don't feel they can manipulate your decisions and authority. Giving instructive statements that also assert what students need to do is a great way to show what you expect from them.

(Skill) Increase Positive Interactions

Be on lookout for students meeting expectations. Behavior given the most attention will be the most abundant. Enhance appropriate behavior. Catch them being good. 98% of appropriate behavior is unrecognized. *We usually just ignore inappropriate behavior.* Positive interactions should outweigh negative interactions 8:1! If done, classroom will feel safer.

(Skill) Teach Expectations

Before instruction begins, students should know exactly what is expected of them. Rather than just tell the students, both class expectations and procedural expectations should be explained, demonstrated and role played, such as through a skit.

Respond to inappropriate behaviors without coercion

Coercion: forcing compliance using threats and punishments Coercion only makes students want to escape or to punish the coercer. No sacrcasm or mocking, either.

Consequential vs. Inconsequential Behavior

Consequential: Damaging to the learning environment. Persistent and disruptive. Physically or verbally abusive. Inconsequential: Not damaging to the learning environment (but still may be annoying)

Sending students to the school office

Effective teachers gain more respect from students when they handle behavior problems in the classroom. Be careful of the message that you might be conveying when you send students to the principal's office. Of course, students engaged in any behavior that affects student safety, such as fighting, should be sent to the principal's office.

When students finish early ...

Even good students may behave inappropriately. Need set of activities that are fun and constructive. Minimize transition to follow-up activity by: placing materials on desks/writing instructions on board/setting out material for each access while students are working on first activity,

Non-Coercive Strategies: Reevaluate the Situation

If a group of students will not stop talking, step back and see if you can figure out why they are talking. Perhaps they do not understand the assignment and need more instruction from you, or you could even restructure the assignment to allow students to work in small groups.

Non-Coercive Response to Fighting

If you see two students yelling at each other or poised for a fight, make sure to respond quickly and decisively. Do not hesitate to get help from another teacher if needed. Aggressive behavior can usually be extinguished by a firm command as you move toward the problem saying, "Stop right now and take a seat quietly against the wall." Students will most likely respond to your calm, authoritative voice combined with an instructive statement. If students are engaged physically, you must act quickly and with authority. Tell them to step back away from each other immediately. Do not get angry, excited, or show a lot of emotion—because this can inflame an already tense situation. Do not place yourself between students to try to stop the engagement, as this can be very dangerous for you. Instead focus on giving clear instructions and send for help.

Non-Coercive Strategies: State the Facts

In some situations, stating the facts motivates students to behave appropriately. For example, if you suspect students aren't sitting in the right seats, tell them that you are writing a list, based on the seating chart, that you will leave for the permanent teacher of students who are working and on task.

Examples of Negative Interactions

Mentioning only mistakes. Overt anger. Accusing/blaming students. Shouting. Giving no opportunity to speak. Insults. Unwelcome physical contact. Lack of fairness. Bossiness. Unpleasantness and unfriendliness. Lack of understanding. Profanity.

When older students question/challenge expectations ...

Our responsibility as teachers is to not be reactive, harsh, defensive, or argumentative. Reactive responses are typically coercive and, as Dr. Sidman has so clearly observed, it's that kind of response that drives wedges between students and schools. When students are defiant, overly assertive, and challenging, we find that in the great majority of instances, if the teacher is calm and proactively invites an acceptable response, students will respond appropriately—typically requiring no more than two or three invitations to respond to the teacher. Avoid power contests!

(Skill) Manage Unwanted Behavior

Pick your battles. Be aware of inconsequential behavior vs. consequential behavior. When you do respond, respond in a non-coercive way.

Examples of Positive Interactions

Positive feedback. Compliments. Smiling. Giving specific examples during praise. Eye contact. Calm tone. Offers to help. Playful joking. Fairness. Explaning why/how/what. Concern. Enthusiasm. Politeness. Getting right to the point. Appropriate physical contact.

Greet students at the door.

Professionalism. Opportunity to direct to starter activity.

Dealing with Inconsequential Behavior

Purposefully ignore inconsequential but inappropriate behavior while recognizing appropriate behavior (nod, smile, etc.) with positive reinforcement. Must be convincing in your ignoring - no eye rolls, sighs, etc. You may need to look for approximations of appropriate behavior to get the ball rolling.

Responding to behavior

Respond positively to appropriate behavior. Remember that inappropriate is not necessarily the same as bad. Remember that giving attention to inappropriate behavior may end up reinforcing that behavior.

The Sarcasm Trap

Sarcasm is common, but you don't know how a student will respond to it. When a teacher resorts to sarcasm by belittling or making fun of students, it destroys the positive classroom environment and may prompt students to lash out with inappropriate remarks of their own. The use of sarcasm suggests that teacher does not know any better way of interacting and sets the stage for similar negative interactions between students themselves. Avoid the sarcasm trap by communicating with students in a positive way.

Starter activity

Sets tone. Immediate engagement. Allows time for housekeeping tasks. When done, set up/introduce rest of session. Keeping students on task is easier than getting them to return to task.

Non-Coercive Response to Threats

Should a student threaten you or another student, the most important thing to do is stay calm and emotionally detached so you can evaluate and manage the situation professionally. Ignoring the student will probably evoke more threats and perhaps even aggression. Responding with threats of your own may accelerate the confrontation. Instead, acknowledge the threat calmly and direct the student to begin something constructive. If you feel that you or any of the students are in danger of physical harm, stay calm and immediately call or send someone to the office to get help. After help has arrived and the situation is under control, document the event by recording what happened prior to the threat, what you said and did, what the student said and did, as well as the actions of anyone else involved in the situation.

Non-Coercive Strategies: Talk to Student 1:1

Six steps: Do these privately and quietly. Strategy works with all ages. 1. Say something positive to the student or class. 2. Briefly describe the problem behavior. 3. Describe the desired alternative behavior. 4. Give a reason why the new behavior is more desirable. 5. Check for understanding. 6. Provide positive feedback.

Non-Coercive Strategies: Acknowledge and Restate Expectations

Some students may vocally express negative opinions, inappropriate views, and frustrations. Verbally acknowledging a student's comment validates him as a person and often diffuses an emotionally charged situation. Phrases such as "I can tell that you..." or "It is obvious that..." can be used to acknowledge what the student said without getting emotionally involved yourself. Transition words such as "however" and "nevertheless" bring the dialogue back to restating the expected behavior. "I can see you are not very interested in this topic, but I need you to construct a timeline for the industrial revolution. It needs to be done by the end of class, so I'll come check on you in a minute or two to see how you're doing."

The Criticism Trap

Students need and respond to attention, and that attention may reinforce both appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. The criticism trap is attending too much to inappropriate behaviors. You'll end up encouraging that behavior. Seek 8 positive interactions for every negative interaction with a student.

Procedural Expectations

Students need four things in order to successfully meet the expectations you establish: what it is they are supposed to do, how they are expected to do it, where the necessary tools are, how much time they have to complete the task. Explain by teacher, restated by student, even demonstrated. Question students to be sure expectations are understood. Model the behavior yourself.

Risk-Free Response Opportunities

Suppose you asked a question expecting a correct response, but for whatever reason the student didn't give the right answer. In such situations, don't dwell on the failure of the student or the incorrect answer. Instead, direct the question and the class' attention to another student who you think knows the answer. Once the question has been answered correctly, come back to the original student and ask the question again, allowing her to echo the correct response. This makes the experience a success for the student. But only return if the mistake was genuine. If the original student gave an inappropriate response on purpose, it's best to ignore it and move on, providing positive reinforcement to the correct response.

When the entire class is off-task ...

Task that demands focus/concentration. Whisper strategy (speak quietly).

The Common Sense Trap

The common sense trap is where common sense, reasoning, or logic is used to try and persuade students to change their behavior. This strategy is ineffective because students don't learn anything new and are not offered a reasonable incentive to change their behavior. Avoid the common sense trap by creating a positive environment where there are incentives to change and where positive consequences reinforce that change.

The Physical and Verbal Force Trap

The use of physical or verbal force is absolutely inappropriate. Physical force as a behavior management tool is not only unproductive and inappropriate—in many states it is also illegal. Avoid the physical and verbal force trap by concentrating on restating the expectations in a proactive way. Then, have the student restate and demonstrate the expectation. Keep your cool, count to ten, walk to the other side of the room—do whatever it takes to keep from resorting to force.

The Questioning Trap

There are three reasons why questioning students about inappropriate behavior is usually unproductive. 1. You want students to change the behavior, not just talk about it. 2. One question usually leads to more questions that simply waste learning time. 3. As you question a student about an inappropriate behavior, you are actually calling attention to and reinforcing the behavior you want to eliminate. Avoid the questioning trap by not asking students about their inappropriate behavior unless you really need the information to redirect the behavior. A better approach is to restate the expected behavior, make sure they understand the expectation, then positively reinforce the expected behavior. "What do you need to be working on right now?" "Thanks for working on that. I'll come back soon to see how you're doing."

Non-Coercive Strategies: I Understand

There are two words that can stop most protests from any student and let you take control of the situation. These words are "I understand." Keep quietly and politely repeating that you understand them, but then continue to state the expectations for the activity. "I understand that is how you feel, however, these are the expectations for today." "I understand you feel that way, however, I am the teacher today and you are expected to follow my directions." "I hear you, but you will need to have it completed for class tomorrow."

The Despair and Pleading Trap

There will be days when nothing you do seems to work. As tempting as it may be to confide your feelings of inadequacy and frustration to the students and plead for their help in solving the problem, don't do it! Teachers often become their own worst enemies when they communicate to students that they feel incapable of managing the classroom, and often the inappropriate behavior will accelerate rather than diminish. Avoid the despair and pleading trap by having a good offense. Come to the classroom prepared with several classroom management strategies. For some classes, positive verbal reinforcement will be enough. In others, you may need to introduce tangible reinforcers such as point systems, end of the day drawings, or special awards. When you find that one strategy is not working with an individual or class, don't be afraid to try something else.

Seven Discipline Traps

These are ineffective for getting students back on task (our main goal). 1. The Criticism Trap 2. The Common Sense Trap 3. The Questioning Trap 4. The Sarcasm Trap 5. The Despair and Pleading Trap 6. The Threat Trap 7. The Physical and Verbal Force Trap

Student Advice for Us

Trust us. Be fair to everyone. Punish only the troublemakers. Make learning fun. Give us our assignment and let us go to work. Allow study time in class. Show concern and be willing to help with assignments. If I raise my hand, do not ignore me. You can be both strict and nice. Do not shout. Be straightforward with us. Be organized. Speak quietly and be patient. Give us something to work toward. Leave your personal life at home. Think positively of every student. Speak clearly. Be reasonable in your expectations. Have a sense of humor. Follow through with promises and consequences.

Manage by Walking Around

Used to encourage on-task behavior and to monitor progress. RANDOM pattern. Ack/reinforce appropriate behavior, manage off-task behavior via proximity. This could be when teachers have the most positive interactions with students!

Non-Coercive Strategies: Consequences

When possible, consequences should be a natural outcome or directly related to the behavior. Consequences should be administered quickly and quietly without getting emotionally involved. All consequences should be reasonable, appropriate, and in accordance with district or school guidelines and policies. Students need to know, in advance, what they can expect as a result of their behavior (both positive and negative) so they can make informed choices about how to behave. Consequences should also be communicated to students as predetermined outcomes of behavior rather than threats. Therefore, you will want to go over these consequences before students start the activity. Assign consequences to an individual student rather than punishing the whole group. Avoid giving that student unneeded attention. Should be familiar with the student handbook and the formal school-level consequences for issues.

The Threat Trap

When teachers resort to making threats, they are just one step beyond despair and pleading on the scale of helplessness and the majority of threats are either unreasonable or unenforceable. If you fall into this trap out of frustration, you are communicating to students that you are at a loss of what to do. Avoid the threat trap by planning ahead. The best way to avoid frustrating situations is to formulate and state both expectations and appropriate consequences in advance. Then reinforce appropriate student behavior and follow through with consequences.

Have students restate expectations

You should never repeat an expectation a student already knows. Question the students regarding expectations instead to ensure they are the ones to repeat them. One phrase that many teachers use is, "What do you need to be doing right now?"

Don't disrespect your own expectations ...

by violating them (e.g. calling on students who didn't raise hand if you expect students to raise hands)

When you can't think of an appropriate way to respond and feel overwhelmed with the urge to react in a negative manner, ...

don't do anything! Unless what you are about to say or do has a high probability for making things better, it is better to do nothing at all.