For this blog entry you are going to be asked to review a classroom management plan taken from the Charles book.
As we have noted from the literature this is one of the most significant areas in mentoring new teachers. As such, triangulating the question of classroom management would certainly be an aspect of the profession an effective mentor teacher would be capable & willing to impart.
I would like you to do the following:
1. Read your assigned chapter (they are less than 20 pages).
2. As you read I would like you to think about what classroom management advice suggestions, protocols might help a new teacher you have been assigned to. As always, consider the context of where you teach, demographics, school climate/culture...
3. Blog---your blog should spell out your answer to number 2. Be sure spell out the author and name of your classroom management plan. Finally, what are your personal perceptions of this plan? How does your thinking and approach to the CM plan compare to the one you read about?
Keep all posts within this post.
Barbara Coloroso's Inner Discipline
ReplyDelete-Treat students with respect because they are worth it
-Give them power and responsability
-Teachers help students to develop inner discipline and become good decision makers
-Use reasonable consequences for behavior which invite constructive student responses
Good discipline shows students what they have done wrong, has them assume ownership, gives them ways to solve the problem, and leaves their dignity intact.
Consequences are associated with rules-natural or reasonable
Misbehavior falls into three categories-
-mistakes-somple errors
-mischief-intentional misbehavior-goofing off
-mayhem-serious misbehavior
-three R's for guidance
-restitution-repair the damage
-resolution-identifying and correcting whatever caused the misbehavior
-reconcilitation-healing relationships
Develop rules for the classroom that are reasonable, simple, valuable, and practical.
I really like the concept of this management plan. It says that all students are special-I believe this and that they were made in God's image. Students should be respected.
I also like that students should be responsable for their behavior. They need to own up to it and solve the problems that come along with poor behavior. Consequences are a big part of poor choices.
Difficulties with this strategy involve time and appropriate consequences. This strategy takes a lot of time to work through with a student which there are other students in the classroom. It is nice when consequences come naturally but it is difficult with certain behaviors to discern between discipline and punishment.
Overview of Glasser’s Noncoercive Discipline
ReplyDeleteProblem: Many students today are not willing to make an effort to learn and are content to do low-quality schoolwork or even none at all.
Remedy: Meet students’ basic needs, quality of schoolwork and self-evaluation must replace boring requirements, and teachers must move towards quality teaching.
Students’ Needs:
We must provide instruction, support, and other conditions in the classroom that meet students’ basic needs: survival, belonging, power, fun, and freedom.
Quality Schoolwork / Self-Evaluation:
Schools should be a place where students learn useful information and learn it well. Students should be able to explain why the material they learned is valuable, and how and where it can be used. It is reasonable to ask students to assess the quality of their own efforts.
Quality Teaching:
Teachers should strive to: provide a warm, supportive classroom climate; ask students to do useful work; ask students to do the best they can; ask students to evaluate work they have done and improve it; and help students see that quality work makes them feel good.
Boss Teachers versus Lead Teachers:
Boss Teachers – set the tasks and standards for learning, talk rather than demonstrate, grade work without involving students, and use coercion when students resist.
Lead Teachers – realize that genuine motivation to learn must arise within students, realize that their task in teaching is to use any tactic to help students learn, provide support and encouragement but do not coerce, intimidate, or punish.
Effect of Quality of Teaching on Discipline:
-teachers who are leaders avoid the trap of becoming adversaries of their students.
-teachers should aid students in solving their problems, not punish them.
As a result, teachers will foster quality of learning and at the same time reduce discipline problems to a minimum.
I believe Glasser’s approach would work well at any grade level. Fortunately, I think most of us already do many of the strategies Glasser suggested. It’s important for teachers to provide quality education that is both meaningful and fun. I feel that being a lead teacher is definitely more effective than those teachers who are considered "bossy". We should always strive to help students make correct decisions, provide support and encouragement, and to not rely on punishments.
Linda Albert's Cooperative Discipline
ReplyDelete-a way of helping students achieve their goal of belonging in the class, which in turn reduces their amount of misbehaviors
-shapes the goal of classroom discipline: helping students learn to choose responsible behavior
-The 3 C's: helping students see themselves as capable, connected with others, and contributing members of class
-Capability: "I-can level." Focus on understanding making mistakes is okay, build confidence by comparing student's work to his or her past efforts, make learning tangible, recognize achievement
-Connect: maintain positive relationships with peers and teachers; use the 5A's: acceptance, attention, appreciation, affirmation, affection
-Contribute: encourage students to share opinions/ideas, make contributions to the school, work to protect the environment, help other students
-establish a code of conduct which specifies how everyone is supposed to behave and interact (not like rules)
-involve students and parents as partners
-when dealing with confrontations 1. focus on the behavior, not the student 2. take charge of negative emotions 3. avoid escalating the situation 4. discuss misbehavior later 5. allow students to save face
-can be put into effect at any time
I like many parts of Albert's management plan because it afffirmed many techniques I am using everyday in my class and that I see other colleagues using as well. I let my students know that they are capable of meeting my expectations through a variety of strategies outlined in this chapter. I feel that a lot of teachers use these methods not knowing that it is the cooperative discipline plan.
Fredric Jones - Positive Classroom Discipline
ReplyDeleteJones emphasised the importance of nonverbal communication and also to support the students ability for self control.
He had 5 skill clusters:
1.Classroom Sturcture to Discourage Misbehavior
room arragnement - big walk ways to get around to all the students while working indiviually
classroom rules - general - few in number and broad guidlines - specific - describe procedures and routines that need to be complete
classroom chores - forms a sense of responsibility in the students
opening routines - have what Jones called "bell work" (seat work) when the students arrive
2. Limit Setting Through Body Language
proper breathing - stay calm in all situations, 2 deep breaths before dealing with misbehaving student
eye contact - students making noise pause in lesson and make eye contact with that student
physical proximity - misbehaving student teacher stands by student and the behavior will cease
body carriage - posture and body carriage can communicate authority
facial expression - students can tell by your face if you are enjoying what you are doing and that can make or break your lesson
3. Say, See Do Teaching
Giving students information in small chunks and then do an activity with that information - keeps their attention better than giving them all the information and then doing the activity
4. Responsibility Training Through Incentive Systems
Grandma's Rule - students do what is asked first and then can be rewarded
Student responsibility - students show responsibility by doing what is asked of them they should be rewarded with encouragement or incentives
Genuine incentives - incentives that all students want or can attain - examples are art, viewing a film, having time to pursue personal interests or playing a learning game
Preferred Activity Time (PAT) - time allotted for activities that are incentives
Educational Value - activities should be of educational value Elem. - P.E., art, music, drama, construction activities or being read to by the teacher M.S and H.S - team games, class discussion on special topic or watching a performance by class mates
Group Concern - motivates all students to keep on task, behave well and complete assigned work
Ease of Implementation - make the incentive easy to implement
Omission Training - when one student is losing PAT for the class the teacher can work with that child to earn PAT for himself or the class
Backup system - arrangements intended to be used if there is one student not having acceptable behavior - quietly talk to student - loss of privilege, staying after school or parent conf. - trip to office, in or out of school suspension
5. Providing Efficient Help to Individual Students - three steps to acheive this
*organization of the room as to give the teacher easy access to all students
*using graphic organizers for the students to refer to before asking for help
*minimumize the amount of time with each student(should spend 10-20 sec) - something the student did correct - straightforward prompt to get student moving - leave immediately Jones calls this "Be positive, be brief, be gone"
I like the positive form of discipline in the classroom. I think that so many of us get hung up on the negative that we forget about the positive. Some of his strategies I have already been using but would really like to work on the body language, eye contact and few others. I think as a mentor teacher I would share these strategies with my mentee. They may choose to use some or all of them.
Positive Discipline in the Classroom - Nelson, Lott and Glenn
ReplyDelete*put faith in student's ability to control themselves, cooperate, be responsible and be dignified
*everyone (teacher and students) is involved in resolving problems
*create classrooms free of humiliation
If there is acceptance, dignity, respect and encouragement, discipline problems are minor. Students need to see that they are able, important, and in control of their own lives. Teachers need to show that they care about their students by showing an interest in them, talking with them, being encouraging, and give them opportunities to develop life skills. There is a huge emphasis on whole-class meetings where everyone participates, there is a group resolution of problems, and win/win solutions are found.
They talk about the 'significant seven' -
Three empowering perceptions - I can do this, I belong here, I can control what happens to me
Four essential skills - intrapersonal (knowing themselves), interpersonal (working with others), strategic (being flexible, adaptable, and responsible), and judgmental skill (using own wisdom to evaluate situations)
Students need to be able to express themselves without worrying about success and failure. They need to have others listen to them and take them seriously. They need to be able to make mistakes in a safe way and take responsibility from those mistakes in order to learn from them. This helps them give up a 'victim' (the teacher is out to get me) mentality for an accountability (I didn't do my homework so I got a failing grade) mentality.
Format for class meetings -- form a circle, practice compliments and appreciation, create an agenda (teacher and students together, not a teacher-driven agenda), develop communication skills with I-statements, learn about separate realities (everyone has a different point of view), recognize four reasons why people may do things (attention seeking, power, revenge, or giving up), practice role playing and brainstorming, focus on non-punitive solutions (three Rs - related to wrong doing, respectful of them as people, and reasonable)
Look beyond the consequences for ways to keep the problem from occurring at all (or again) -- involve the students in these solutions so that they are responsible, focus on the future instead of the past, don't 'add on' punishments, and plan solutions in advance
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This makes a lot of logical sense. If students feel like they had a hand in the decisions that were made and the consequences for misdeeds, they're more likely to acknowledge that it was their responsibility rather than blaming the teacher. This is going to lead to a much healthier classroom environment where there's mutual respect and caring rather than a lot of anger and blame flying around. I think that a good number of teachers use part of this plan in creating class rules together at the start of the year, as well as working with students to decide what the consequences for breaking rules will be. I also see this in the elementary school in discussions held with children after there is misbehavior when a teacher (or the principal) will ask the child what they should have done differently and what they WILL do differently if the same thing happens later. Personally, I tell my students after they break a rule that I'm disappointed in what they did today but tomorrow can be a different day. When they come in the next day, I'll greet them with 'Let's make today a wonderful day.' or something similar to remind them that they were going to work harder to follow all the classroom rules without drawing attention to whatever the misdeed was with something like 'you did X yesterday and I don't want to see it today.' I wouldn't like it if someone said that to me so I definitely don't want to say it to my students!
This whole plan reminded me of what Drew said today about respect -- it seems like if you respect your students, this plan would come naturally.
Thomas Gordon's Discipline as Self Control (Chapter 6)
ReplyDeleteGordon proposes that children should not be punished nor rewarded for their behavior in order to not affect their self-esteem and for them to monitor their own behaviors. Gordon suggests that students should create the classroom rules and that when there is a perceived problem that there are steps that should be taken.
1. The person affected must be identified. If someone is singing in the classroom, who is the one bothered by it? If no one, then it is not a problem.
2. Prevent the behavior. This may be through movement in the classroom or having areas in the room for different activities. If you are a neat person and painting is considered messy to you then maybe there should be only one table set up for this activity or maybe you need to limit the supplies available.
3. Give an I-message that states the behavior, how you feel and possible solutions.
Gordon does not believe in addressing the behavior through correcting or imparting your own views. He suggests that the person be asked thier feelings and what they see as a way to make the situation better. No one is to be confronted or have blame pointed in any direction. He believes that rewards can be seen as punishments for those that do not receive them and can be seen as punishments for those who usually earn them but for some reason to not get the next reward. Punishment/reprimand is seen as a ticket to the students not trying in the future and more inappropriate behaviors to surface.
He suggests three skill clusters in promote postive behaviors.
Cluster One: Confrontive Skills
1. Modifying the environment
2. Sending I-messages regularly
3. Shifting gears (changing your body language from an assertive posture to and listening/understanding posture.
4. Using the no-lose method of conflict resolution
Cluster Two: Helping Skills
1. Using listening skills (passive listening, acknowledgment responses, door openers (Do you need to talk?), active listening)
2. Avoiding communication roadblocks (giving orders, preaching, advising, questioning, praising, reasuring, etc.)
Cluster Three: Preventative Skills
1. Using preventive I-messages
2. Setting rules collaboratively
3. Using participative classroom management (i.e. let student help with seating arrangements, class rules, pick activities, etc.)
As part of the participative classroom, Gordon recommends using problem solving to make decisions. There are six steps which are:
1. Identify and define the problem or situation
2. Generate alternatives
3. Evaluate the alternative suggestions
4. Make the decision
5. Implement the solution or decision
6. Conduct a follow-up evaluation
In my opinion, it is worth a try however I wondered about things like homework. If the student does not do the assignment, and we discuss why and come up with a solution to that child doing it in the future, it still does not get today's work completed. If the teacher is to have a child complete the work at recess that would be a punishment according to Gordon. I think that there are situations where there is no negotiation, and that is where I differ from Gordon's viewpoint. Many of his ideas I currently implement in my classroom already, but as time keeps get used by curriculur expectations the time that is needed for all of the talking about behavior is gone. This model does have many valid points that worth incorporating.
Chapter 3: Lee and Marlene Canter's Assertive Discipline
ReplyDeleteThe Canter's main focus was to establish and maintain a classroom climate that meet students needs and manage behavior appropriately. Therefore, students learn what is intended. The Canters believe classroom management is a high priority, but they understand that it is a tool to accomplish educations true goal, which is student learning.
The Canters' Assertive Discipline model is the first to explain students' and teachers' needs and rights. In order for good discipline to occurr there must be; a solid foundation of trust and respect, model good behavior, establish a discipline plan and teach it, establish a discipline hierarchy, positive recognition, redirecting behavior, and the teacher must invoke consequences.
The Canters' understand that they have had some criticizm that Assertive Discipline is to harsh, but they fundamentally believe that students must be taught in an atmosphere of respect, trust, and support, how to behave responsibly.
Chapter 9: Richard Curwin and Allen Mendler’s Discipline with Dignity.
ReplyDeleteThe focus of the chapter is to establish a classroom discipline upon a basis of dignity and hope. By looking at discipline from this perspective we can hopefully reclaim students destined to fail in school because of their misbehavior. This method can help find long-term solutions to problems of misbehavior, including violence.
Overall it is discipline based on preserving dignity and restoring hope.
The authors determined that the behavior of difficult-to-manage students can be improved by providing interesting lessons on topics of personal relevance that permit active involvement and lead to competencies that students value. Typically, students who are difficult to manage have little or no motivation to learn what is ordinarily taught in school, and they have little compassion or concern for others.
Dignity refers to respect for life and for oneself. Students with chronic behavior problems see themselves as losers and have stopped trying to gain acceptance in normal ways. In order to maintain a sense of dignity, they tell themselves it is better to stop trying than to keep on failing, and this it is better to be recognized as a troublemaker than to be seen as stupid. It feels better to misbehave than to follow rules that provide no payoff.
“Ask yourself, if you got a 56 on an important test, what would make you feel better
about failing? Telling your friends, “I studied hard and was just too stupid to pass.”
Or “It was a stupid test anyway, and besides I hate that dumb class and that boring
teacher.”
The authors suggest that sometimes students are taken out of the very situation in which they might learn to behave responsibly and therefore are not given the opportunity to succeed.
“No one would tell a batter who was struggling at the plate that he could not participate
In batting practice until he improved. No one would tell a poor reader that he could
not look at any books until his reading improved. In the same way, no student can
learn how to play in a playground by being removed from the playground, or how to
learn time management skills by being told when to schedule everything. Learning
responsibility requires participation.”
Behaviorally at-risk students have lost hope that education will serve them and we must restore that hope. These students have the same general needs and interests as others, but have seen so much failure that they have turned to resistance and misbehavior in order to bolster there egos.
Teachers should base their discipline efforts upon the following principles…
1. Dealing with a student behavior is an important part of teaching
2. Always treat students with dignity.
3. Good discipline must not interfere with student motivation.
4. Responsibility is more important than obedience.
In order to motivate students the authors suggest that lessons should have personal importance and relevance to the students, it should set up authentic learning goals, involve students actively in lessons, give students opportunities to take risks and make decisions without fear of failure, show your genuine energy and interest in the topics being studied, make class activities an event for all to look forward to.
The authors claim to produce a change in 25-50% of out-of-control students.
I really like the authors approach to discipline. I’m not sure I really believe the success rate they claim to have, but reading this article really gives an incite into much of the assumed apathy seen at the high school. Their discipline approach is very similar to many things I try to do. I really liked the part about capturing their interest and making each lesson relevant and meaningful, but also pointing out that the student must attain success for them to continue to work and behave in an expected way.