Classroom Management

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “classroom management”?

Poll Everywhere

Historical Meaning of Classroom Control In 1800’s – Classroom discipline In 1930’s – Highly permissive In 1950’s – Back to discipline 1947 Training Video Today – Classroom management

Some Models Skinner – Behaviour modification Canter – Assertive discipline Dreikurs – Logical consequences Albert – Cooperative discipline Glasser – Reality therapy Ginott – Communication model Kounin – Withitness Coloroso – Inner discipline Kohn – Motivation from the inside out

Burrhus Frederic Skinner ( ) Psychologist Institutions – University of Minnesota – Indiana University – Harvard University Known for behaviour analysis – Operant conditioning – Radical behaviourism – Verbal Behaviour – Operant conditioning chamber

Some Models Skinner – Behaviour modification Canter – Assertive discipline Dreikurs – Logical consequences Albert – Cooperative discipline Glasser – Reality therapy Ginott – Communication model Kounin – Withitness Coloroso – Inner discipline Kohn – Motivation from the inside out Responsive Classrooms – Setting expectations

Barbara Coloroso Kids are Worth It

Alfie Kohn "It's bad news if students are motivated to get A's“ Alfie Kohn vs Dwight Schrute

Alfie Kohn Quotations “The real alternative to being Number One is not being Number Two; it is dispensing with rankings altogether” “It doesn’t matter how motivated students are; what matters is how students are motivated” “Rewards and punishments are not opposites at all; they are two sides of the same coin. And it is a coin that does not buy very much” “Children learn how to make good decisions by making decisions, not by following directions” “The value of a book about dealing with children is inversely proportional to the number of times it contains the word behavior. When our primary focus is on discrete behaviors, we end up ignoring the whole child.”

William Glasser (1925- ) American psychiatrist Developer of reality therapy and choice theory Focus on personal choice, personal responsibility and personal transformation Theories have been applied to broader social issues, such as education, management, and marriage Potential detriments caused by psychiatry in its traditional form Advocated the consideration of mental health as a public health issue

William Glasser (1925- ) People need to meet the basic needs of love and finding self- worth – success comes with giving and receiving love throughout one’s life Schools are responsible for helping students to fill these needs – Schools provide a loving atmosphere – Knowledge and ability to think required to achieve the feeling of self worth – These needs must be met so that students can find an identity for themselves Students who fail to meet these needs will not find their identity, will suffer, withdraw from society, be lonely and frustrated

William Glasser – Choice Theory Love and Belonging Power Freedom Fun Survival

Seven Deadly Habits 1.Criticizing 2.Blaming 3.Complaining 4.Nagging 5.Threatening 6.Punishing 7.Bribing, rewarding to control

Seven Caring Habits 1.Supporting 2.Encouraging 3.Listening 4.Accepting 5.Trusting 6.Respecting 7.Negotiating differences

Seven Caring Replace Seven Deadly Habits Habits 1.Supporting 2.Encouraging 3.Listening 4.Accepting 5.Trusting 6.Respecting 7.Negotiating differences 1.Criticizing 2.Blaming 3.Complaining 4.Nagging 5.Threatening 6.Punishing 7.Bribing, rewarding to control

Activity What can teachers do to help students meet their needs for: – Love and Belonging? – Power? – Freedom? – Fun? – Survival?

Reality Therapy Focus on the present Avoid discussing symptoms and complaints Focus on what one can do directly - act and think Avoid criticizing, blaming or complaining Excuses stand directly in the way Make specific, workable plans Be patient and supportive

Restitution If a student’s behaviour falls outside the agreed upon expectations, then a LOGICAL consequence follows Consequences are made up collaboratively by the teacher and the student(s)

Help Students Make Choices What is it that the student wants? What is the student doing now to get what he/she wants? Is that working for him/her? What is the students’ plan to get what he/she wants?

Corrective Language Use positive words (do rather than don’t) – “Hands up without calling out” – “Jenn and Lance, this way and listening. Thanks” Use simple descriptors – “There’s paper on the floor”

Corrective Language Use language of choice – “Yes, you can go when I’ve finished this problem/story” Use inclusive language when giving group instructions – “in our class, we use hands up without calling out”. Then look for a hand up. “Yes, Lyndon, what’s your question”.

Karen Rogers – English Teacher 8 Keys of Excellence

Developing Your Own Approach No approach is effective with all students at all times Your response will depend upon – Your personality – Your value system – Your beliefs about children What’s important to you?

Activity Individually identify your top 10 techniques for classroom management Compare with Paul Pedota’s “Top 10”

Top 10 List for Classroom Management 10. Develop a philosophy of "we" rather than "I" and use a personal approach in working with students 9. Class rules should be reasonable, fair, equitable, and used in a consistent manner 8. Your actions, words, and deeds should model the behavior that you expect from your students 7. Remember self-esteem is as important for adolescences as it is for you-avoid sarcasm or actions that belittle an individual in front of classmates

Top 10 List for Classroom Management 6. Be proactive. Move around the room and keep your eyes moving 5. Before you speak, get everyone's attention and say what you mean and mean what you say 4. Keep parents informed. Parent involvement will support your role as a teacher

Top 10 List for Classroom Management 3. Always give students hope-make them feel that they can accomplish anything. 2. Treat your students as you yourself would like to be treated. 1. Be yourself. Do not be an imitation of someone else. Success will follow if you allow your own personality to show.

Scenario 1 You are teaching a grade 11 social studies class and you have arranged for a guest speaker to come and speak to your students. During the presentation, you are sitting at the back of the room, and you notice two students texting back and forth to one another, giggling occasionally. Other students notice this giggling and are trying to figure out what they are doing. You are embarrassed that your students would do this during a guest speaker’s presentation. You want to stop the girls before the presenter notices, but you don’t want to make a scene. Could you have done something differently in your planning to avoid this situation? If so, what? What would you do now?

Scenario 2 You are teaching grade 9 math and doing a review of adding fractions. Joey and Jason are sitting at the back of the class talking and laughing, making it difficult for you to continue with the lesson. You say, “Joey and Jason, stop talking and get back on task.” They ignore you and continue, getting even louder. At this point, all the students are watching you to see what you will do. You walk to the back of the room and say, “Stop it or I’ll be splitting you up for the rest of the semester.” They quiet down a bit, but as you walk back to the front of the class, you hear Jason mutter under his breath, “Whatever, man. If you didn’t teach us grade 4 math maybe we’d pay attention.” Could you have done something differently in your planning to avoid this situation? If so, what? What would you do now?

Scenario 3 You are teaching Grade 10 English language arts and you are doing Writer’s Workshop with the 32 students in your class. This means that in the first 10 minutes of class you gave students an activity to generate ideas for writing, and then students have 30 minutes to write independently on whatever topic they wish, using whatever genre they choose. Then at the end of class, students will have 5 minutes to share their writing with a partner. During the 30 minutes of writing, about 25 students are on task, but about 7 or 8 students are doodling, walking around the classroom, talking to a friend, listening to their ipod, etc. As a teacher, you are trying to provide choice for your students and allowing them the freedom to write what they want, but it’s obvious that many are not engaged in their writing. The noise level of the class is getting very high and more students are becoming distracted. Could you have done something differently in your planning to avoid this situation? If so, what? What would you do now?

Scenario 4 You are teaching Grade 11 Native Studies and have planned a jigsaw activity for your students. You have divided the students into 5 “expert groups” and have given each “expert group” an article to read and they have to prepare a summary to share with the other students. As you mill around the classroom, you see that one group is off task, they are not reading their article, they are telling stories a big party of the weekend, and no one in the group seems to be directing them towards the goal of completing this summary. You are very concerned about this because when you jigsaw and these students don’t have the summary prepared, it will affect all members of the class. Could you have done something differently in your planning to avoid this situation? If so, what? What would you do now?

Scenario 5 On the first day of class, you want to spend some time getting to know your students in Grade 10 science. You decide to play “Two Truths and a Lie.” You demonstrate to students and tell them 3 things about yourself—two of them are true and one of them is a lie. You then have the students guess which one is a lie. Then you ask the students to get out a piece of paper and write down 3 statements about themselves—two of them should be true and one of them is a lie. Students furiously start writing and you are pleased how things are going. The students seem really engaged. Then you ask for volunteers to present. A few students volunteer and read their statements to the class. Then, Bruce asks to read his statements. He reads, “I am originally from California. I can do a double flip on a trampoline. I had a threesome last night.” Could you have done something differently in your planning to avoid this situation? If so, what? What would you do now?