1. The Six Pillar Educator
Unit on Classroom Management

2. Enhancing the Impact of Your Teaching
Our commitment to the “growth mindset” and the notion that “you don’t have to be sick to get better” led us to identify specific strategies and techniques that will provide every teacher with the tools to get improve the management of your class.
This unit will help you to increase the effectiveness of your teaching by suggesting classroom management strategies that will allow you to create an environment conducive to learning.

3. Classroom Management
This unit is designed enhance a teacher’s classroom management skills by sharing:
Key concepts associated with managing an effective classroom
Specific techniques and strategies to help “The Six Pillar Educator” be more effective in managing a classroom where student involvement and cooperation in all classroom activities is fostered that ensures there is a productive leaning environment.
Your classroom is yours and you will ultimately decide how you want to manage it.

4. Classroom Management
Research confirms that learning outcomes can be substantially enhanced when the teacher creates a classroom atmosphere where maximum focus is placed on individual learning.
A Six Pillar Educator creates an orderly, safe setting that engages, encourages and challenges students to learn.
The Six Pillar Educator realizes that subject matter expertise and even exceptional teaching techniques can not produce optimum results if the context of the learning is not fully conducive to learning.

5. “The best lesson plans in the world won’t succeed if student misbehavior hamstrings an educator’s attempts to teach. Good classroom management practices are vital to creating an environment where students can learn.” - Dave Foley, from the Introduction to the UCCH

6. Goals of Six Pillar Classroom Management
Establish and sustain an orderly environment so students can engage in meaningful academic learning
Enhance student social and moral growth.
Some times it feels like we are herding cats.
Evertson and Weinstein (2006)

7. Components of a Six Pillar Classroom
Orderly
Safe
Engaging
Encouraging
Challenging

8. An Exemplary Classroom is Orderly
Students sense an organized structure
Disruptive of distracting behavior is eliminated
Disruptions and distractions that do occur are dealt with promptly, firmly and respectfully
The classroom is organized in a manner that encourages order, participation, independence, and continuous learning.
Is consistent, has good follow-through, and follow-up with students
Communicates expectations often while constantly reinforcing expected behaviors

9. An Exemplary Classroom is Safe
Students feel physically safe
Students feel emotionally safe – willing to take risks without fear of peer or teacher embarrassment
There is a small number of meaningful rules that are clearly understood by students.

10. An Exemplary Classroom is Engaging
Students are involved as active participants in their own education
Students cooperate with the teacher and each other willingly so that everyone learns
Classroom management strategies are appropriate to the environment and needs of the students.
Student work is displayed throughout the classroom and behavior and learning reinforcers are visible throughout the room.

11. An Exemplary Classroom is Encouraging
Interactions with students are positive and reinforce the importance of student success
Students receive constant positive reinforcement for doing their best work and to be their best self.
The teacher is able to know and effectively relate to his/her student in a way that establishes rapport and trust
The teacher strives to separate unacceptable behavior from student as a person
The teacher knows student’s interests/likes/dislikes

12. An Exemplary Classroom is Challenging
The teacher spends an appropriate amount of time at the beginning of the school year establishing the culture and climate for positive acceptable behavior
High expectations are established and monitored for student’s continuous improvement
Frequent assessment of student progress and multiple opportunities for improvement

13. Values Choices Behavior
Identify and instill beliefs and attitudes that drive good choices
Choices
Develop ability to identify and achieve best possible result
Behavior
Desirable conduct consistent with Six Pillars of Character
Reinforce use of alternative instructional techniques – video (more memorable and more inspirational)
Vital concept 1: all behavior is the result of choices
Actions are the result of choices
Attitudes are the result of choices
Choices create consequences
Each change in attitude or actions creates different consequences
Vital concept 2: Choices of attitudes and actions are determined by values
Our choices reveal our values

14. Techniques and Strategies in Creating a Six Pillar Classroom
Components of a Six Pillar Classroom
Orderly
Safe
Engaging
Encouraging
Challenging

15. Good teaching is like gardening.
Classroom Management
Research confirms that learning outcomes can be substantially enhanced when the teacher creates a classroom atmosphere where maximum focus is placed on individual learning.
A Six Pillar Educator creates an orderly, safe setting that engages, encourages and challenges students to learn.
The Six Pillar Educator realizes that subject matter expertise and even exceptional teaching techniques can not produce optimum results if the context of the learning is not fully conducive to learning.
The best lesson plans in the world won’t succeed if student misbehavior hamstrings an educator’s attempts to teach. Good classroom management practices are vital to creating an environment where students can learn.”
- Dave Foley, from the Introduction to the UCCH
Good teaching is like gardening.
The most important part of the activity is preparation of the soil so that plants can grow.
The rest is about providing daily nutrients (lessons) and removing the weeds (incorrect information or behavior)

16. Using the Six Pillars of Character, you have the foundation for an orderly classroom
Be a positive adult model who is caring, firm, consistent and fair.
Reach consensus about expectations that can be conveyed to students.
Establish firm limits to unacceptable behavior.
Ensure students recognize inappropriate behaviors when they see them.
Embed the values of trustworthiness respect, responsibility fairness, caring, and citizenship into your classroom rules and procedures.
Set classroom rules cooperatively as student involvement gives ownerships and is seen as an invitation for students to describe the class they would like to have.

17. Be specific in your expectations for appropriate behaviors
General
Show respect for others.
Use kind words.
Be friendly.
Care about your classmates.
Specific
Follow the rules. Take care of our belonging and help others take care of theirs.
Only positive comments about others – no name-calling, starting rumors, or teasing people about personal characteristics or weaknesses.
Be a good friend by listening, sharing, and learning more about your classmates.
Make sure everyone is included in games, lunch, and other activities. Help a classmate if he or she is struggling.

18. Orderly Classroom Interventions
Avoid reacting personally (such as shouting, challenging, becoming agitated)
Maintain calmness, respect and detachment (teacher modeling role)
Pause and focus on the student behavior (“That language…”
Design individual contract with student that addresses the problem behavior
Conference with the parent(s), describe situation and appreciate support that parent gives to help understand and resolve problem
“Think time” strategy - remove student to another teacher’s classroom, provide a “Six Pillar” debriefing form: what pillar was violated? what behavior do you need to display upon return?

19. Pillar Intervention Debriefing Form
How did your violation of a Pillar of Character get you in trouble?
How do you feel about being held accountable for your actions?
What effect did your behavior have on yourself and others?
How do your classes help you to reach your educational and personal goals?
What can you do to build a better relationship with your teacher? (Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring or Citizenship)
Who are the people in your life affected by the decisions you make and how are they affected?
What could you have done differently in this situation to have kept it from happening?
How can you show to your classmates and teachers that you care about your class(es) and your progress in it (them)?
How will you show your teacher that you are trustworthy and willing to take responsibility for your actions in class?

20. An Exemplary Classroom is Safe
Students feel physically safe
Students feel emotionally safe – willing to take risks without fear of peer or teacher embarrassment
There is a small number of meaningful rules that are clearly understood by students.

21. Specific Things you Can Do to Have a Safe Classroom
Create a culture of kindness by encouraging pro-social behavior.
Emphasize that inclusion is the standard in your school.
Expect students to understand that they treat each other with respect, kindness, and empathy in all communications and actions.
Help students develop a sense of responsibility toward their class and schoolmates.
Enable students to share the responsibility for holding all class members accountable to agreed-upon rules for their safety
Have students take responsibility for their own actions.
Teach students how to be good to one another, how to cooperate, how to defend someone who is being picked on and how to stand up for what is right.

22. An Exemplary Classroom is Engaging
Students are involved as active participants in their own education
Students cooperate with the teacher and each other willingly so that everyone learns
Classroom management strategies are appropriate to the environment and needs of the students.
Student work is displayed throughout the classroom and behavior and learning reinforcers are visible throughout the room.

23. Specific Things you Can Do to Have an Engaging Classroom
Provide a productive learning environment that promotes a positive classroom atmosphere
Non-Verbal Cuing can be effective to show the class that the noise level is too high.
Tell the students up-front what is your cue, and use it as needed.
Cues can also be facial expressions, body posture and hand signals.
Focusing
Teach positively and show enthusiasm. Passion is contagious.
Operate with a sense of purpose in the classroom.
Be sure you have the attention of everyone in your classroom before you start a lesson. Don’t attempt to teach over the talk of students who are not paying attention.

24. Engaging Classroom
Meet students at the door as they come into class and saying hello to each child, making sure to use his or her name first.
“Good morning, class!” – when students are greeted by an adult, it takes less time to complete morning routines and get first lesson started.
Attribute ownership of ideas to the student who originated them “Carleta has just added to Cristobal’s idea by saying that…”
Talk informally with students before, during and after class about their interests
Be aware of and commenting on important events in students’ lives
Compliment students on important achievements in and out of school

25. Creating an Engaging Classroom Community
Relationship with Adults
Initiate behaviors that let students know they are respected and cared about
Remembering details about a student’s life
“Knowing my sister’s name”
Writing notes to students
Visiting their homes
Holding private conversations
Asking students what they think and listening to the answers

26. Creating an Engaging Classroom Community
Relationship between and among students
Interdependence and cooperation
Respect for different points of view
Listening to what others say; reflecting back what they hear
Learning about one another
Understanding and accepting how others feel
Students’ relationship to the what and how of their learning
Class meetings can be context for generation of questions to pursue in the next unit of study.
Cooperative learning processes help build positive relationships between different groups of students.
Real-life, everyday problems serve to connect students to the curriculum.

27. An Exemplary Classroom is Encouraging
Interactions with students are positive and reinforce the importance of student success
Students receive constant positive reinforcement for doing their best work and to be their best self.
The teacher is able to know and effectively relate to his/her student in a way that establishes rapport and trust
The teacher strives to separate unacceptable behavior from student as a person
The teacher knows student’s interests/likes/dislikes

28. Specific Things you Can Do to Have an Encouraging Classroom
Develop a connection – a relationship with students
Verbalize descriptions of behaviors and never make value judgments about individuals or place labels (good or bad)
Use a variety of techniques to keep students interested and involved including experiential activities and vicarious experiences of stories told orally by book, video or movie.
Minimize the power differential in everyday communication. Sitting behind a desk or standing behind a podium can send the message that you want to create some distance between yourself and the students. Get down to their level when working with them.

29. Encouraging Classroom
Encourage students to be part of classroom discussions
Provide appropriate “wait time.”
Emphasize right parts of wrong answers
Restate or rephrase the question or give hints and clues
Provide the answer and ask for elaboration
Give appropriate teacher praise (public vs. private) that focuses on accomplishment and effort. Praise should be: Contingent, Specific, Sincere, Varied
Maintain at least 4 to 1 positive to negative responses
Promote recognition by displaying student work, awarding certificates, verbal encouragement, giving of stickers for improvement or conduct.
Reported in Classroom Management that Works
Always say what you mean, and mean what you say…but don’t say it in a mean way.” Nicholas Long
Let’s do a quick review of “effective praise.” In order to be effective, Brophy found that praise should meet the following four criteria:
Contingent. The praise statement should be related to a behavior or performance that the teacher has requested. For example, “I like the way you raised your hand before speaking” is not nearly as effective as, “Your answer caused me to think. Can you say more about why you believe the answer is __________?”
Specific. Generalities like “That was a great answer” or “You’re doing a good job today” don’t give students specific feedback. In what way are they doing a great job? Be sure to let them know, for example, “I noticed that when Jody said something to you during the lesson, you ignored her and resisted the urge to answer. That shows really good self-control. I appreciate your efforts to keep the class focused on what we are learning.”
Sincere. Praise statements must be sincere and believable if they are to be effective. If you say, “great job” to a run-of-the-mill answer, on what are you judging greatness? If you don’t mean it, don’t say it; students know when you’re just trying to be nice.
Varied. Don’t use the same words over and over. Try to vary the praise statements that you make. They are more interesting that way…and more educational.
“She listens to me” -- so listen to your students
“He thinks I’m important” - so make your students feel important
“She talks with me” - so talk with students, engage them in real and personal conversations that show you care
“Learning is fun with him” – so find ways to introduce fun into the classroom and your interactions with students

30. An Exemplary Classroom is Challenging
High expectations are established and monitored for student’s continuous improvement
Understand, believe in and employ core strategies to motivate students to learn: I can do it and it’s worth it
Teachers explain and exemplify the “effort belief” to students.
Not all students realize the importance of believing in effort.
Implication is that teachers should explain and exemplify the “effort belief” to students.
Students can learn to change their beliefs to an emphasis on effort
Students who were taught about the relationship between effort and achievement increased their achievement more than students who were taught techniques for time management and comprehension of new material.

31. Never say “I can’t”
Say “I can’t yet.”
Students will not invest the effort required to learn new material or change behavior unless they believe two things:
It’s worth it
It’s worth the effort
What I will get is more valuable than what if give up?
I can do it

32. Motivation and Effort
Praising the persistence of students and the strategies they have used to overcome an obstacle, we reinforce a “growth mindset” — one where students feel energized and knowledgeable about how to get beyond problems.
A “fixed mindset” praises intelligence (“You’re so smart for getting that project done quickly”). Students tend to want to look “smart,” value that image more than learning, want to do easier work or might cheat to avoid making mistakes. Making mistakes is not part of their self-image. They believe it may make them look not smart.

33. Recommendations for Classroom Practice
Students need to be taught that effort can improve achievement.
Share personal examples of times you have succeeded because you did not give up
Share examples of well-known athletes and others who succeeded mainly because they did not give up
Have students share personal examples of times they succeeded because they did not give up.
Have students chart effort and achievement as this will reveal patterns and help students see the connection between the two.

34. Motivation and Effort
In giving feedback to students use this guideline: “describe or question.” Here are examples of praise that develops more of a “growth” mindset:
It’s impressive that you did two drafts of that essay. What made you want to put that extra effort into it?
You worked on that project for the entire period without getting distracted, just focusing on doing the best job you could. That’s great!
How were you able to come up with such an interesting opening to the essay?
To a student who might be facing behavior challenges: You were really focused on classwork today. Can you tell me what you did or thought to help yourself not get distracted? It would give me some ideas that I could suggest to other students.

35. Motivation and Effort
Doing a simple 15-minute writing activity three to five times during a school year can result in long-lasting academic benefits.
Having students write about values that are important to them develops resiliency and a greater sense of self-worth resulting in them working harder and getting less discouraged by setbacks. Geoffrey L. Cohen

36. Strategies to Teach a “Growth Mindset”
Students are given the Six Pillars of Character.” They are asked to circle the one that is most important to them.
They are then asked to think about a specific time when the circled pillar was important and write a few sentences about it: When was that time? Why was it important to you then?
Finally, students are given three phrases:
“This value has influenced my life.”
“In general, I try to live up to this value.”
“This value is an important part of who I am.”
They are asked to write one of five ratings next to each one — Very Strongly Agree, Strongly Agree, Agree, Strongly Disagree, or Very Strongly Disagree
Students can then share their responses in small groups or with the entire class.

37. Think, Pair, and Share
What are the most important elements?
What are the common barriers or student behaviors that act against having an environment conducive to learning?
What specific strategies can you use to prevent or deal effectively with these behaviors?
Orderly Classroom
Safe Classroom
Engaging Classroom
Encouraging Classroom
Challenging Classroom

38. ACTIVITY
If students were asked as to what the classroom rules should be, what do you think they would say?
The Six Pillars of Character should provide both content and structure for the rules of your classroom. Divide into 6 groups with a pillar of character assigned to each. Determine a set of classroom rules for the pillar.

39. Behavior Scenarios
How you handle misbehaviors will matter in your stress level and that of the class.
Nearly 8 in 10 teachers say they could teach more effectively if they didn’t have to spend so much time dealing with disruptive students.
From a 2004 study conducted by a New York based public policy research organization, Public Agenda
Activity will include using a number of behavior scenarios

40. Think about
Can you identify specific situations where you developed a special connection with a student?
What factors created that connection
Could you do this with more students or the class as a whole?
How are positive relationships developed and maintained?
What makes for a “difficult”’ relationship with a student? Focus on positive and replicate, not negative
What can you do to establish positive relationships with all students in your class?
ACTIVITY
Teacher-student relationships are critical to the success of the two other aspects of classroom management – rules and procedures and disciplinary interventions
To build good relationships, let students know you are in control of the class and are willing and able to lead
Communicate appropriate levels of cooperation and convey the message that you are interested in the concerns of students as individuals and as a class
Make a special effort to build positive relationships with high need students