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Materials appearing here are copyrighted. With one exception, all rights are reserved. Readers
may reproduce only those pages marked “Reproducible.” Otherwise, no part of this book may
be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher.
To Leticia Rodriguez
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
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Table of Contents
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Table of Contents
Reproducibles
Beginning of the Day Routine Planning Worksheet 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Beginning of the Day Routine Planning Worksheet 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Beginning of the Day Routine Planning Worksheet 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Solution Tree ix
Acknowledgements
As with any book I have written over my career, this book would not have seen the light
of day without the assistance of many dedicated, supportive, and talented individuals.
To Jeff Jones, president of Solution Tree, thank you for believing in the value of my efforts
to assist educators. This book would not exist without your support.
To Rhonda Rieseberg, your input and feedback were invaluable to shaping this book. I
am deeply appreciative to you for all your efforts, and I look forward to working with you
again soon on my next project.
To Barbara, not only did you edit the manuscript, but you continue to light up my life!
Finally, to all the teachers I have had the honor to work with over the years, your dedica-
tion to our nation’s youth drives my efforts each day.
Solution Tree xi
About the Author
Lee Canter is the internationally recognized author of over 40 best-selling books for edu-
cators and the developer of acclaimed educational training programs, including Assertive
Discipline®, Succeeding With Difficult Students®, and Parents on Your Side®. The Assertive
Discipline program has been the gold standard in the field since it was first published in
1976.
Known as one of the most dynamic speakers and trainers in education today, Canter has
keynoted countless conferences and has been a frequent guest on noted television programs,
including The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, and Good Morning America. He and
his staff have trained over 1.5 million teachers.
In 1997 I sold my company, Canter and Associates, to Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc.
Finally, after flying more than one million miles and training more than one million teach-
ers all over the world, I felt it was time to retire. I moved to quaint and scenic Carmel-by-
the-Sea, California, to finally take life easy.
I wasn’t long into my retirement when I started to receive requests from educators for
help. The message was almost always the same:
“We’re under enormous pressure to raise academic achievement, but our efforts
are constantly stymied by a small group of students whose disruptive behavior
impacts the entire learning environment of the classroom.”
These educators needed a comprehensive, easy-to-use resource with a step-by-step
approach for creating a classroom environment that would promote academic success for
all students. Classroom Management for Academic Success was written to meet this need. In
writing this book, I took three distinct steps to make it comprehensive and practical.
First, I thoroughly reviewed the latest and best books in the field of classroom manage-
ment. It was vital that the concepts and strategies presented to teachers were, whenever
possible, validated as being effective by educational researchers.
Second, I observed and interviewed selected master teachers—teachers who have been
recognized by their peers as professionals who can effectively motivate their students. From
these master teachers, I collected the ideas and techniques that they believe are critical to
their classroom management success.
Finally, I took note when teachers told me that concepts and strategies in my previous
works made a difference in how they managed student behavior. I have included and further
developed these concepts in Classroom Management for Academic Success. In particular, I
have expanded the concepts in the three editions of Assertive Discipline: Positive Behavior
Solution Tree xv
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Management for Today’s Classroom and in Lee Canter’s Responsible Behavior Curriculum
Guide.
From Assertive Discipline, I build on the basic concepts of how a teacher’s expectations
impact his or her ability to motivate students to be successful. In addition, I elaborate on
the strategies needed to teach students responsible behavior through the use of a classroom
management plan.
From the Responsible Behavior Curriculum Guide, I adapt the concept of developing a
curriculum unit on responsible behavior that is taught at the beginning of the school year. I
also expand the concepts and strategies on how to effectively manage behavior in the count-
less activities of a school day.
So, my retirement was short-lived! I quickly realized I missed the honor and privilege
of working with so many talented teachers. For those who have encountered problems in
classroom management, I am grateful for the opportunity to write Classroom Management
for Academic Success to help you bring out the best in every one of your students.
xvi
Overview of Classroom Management for Academic Success
Part 1
Overview of Classroom
Management for Academic Success
Chapter 1
Classroom Management:
The Key to Improving Academic Performance
“How can I raise student test scores when I spend so much time just trying to
get the students to listen to me and follow my directions?”
“I can’t get through the new curriculum because my students are too disruptive
and inattentive.”
“Often the behavior of some students is so disruptive that learning stops in the
classroom.”
Do any of the statements above sound familiar? If so, you are not alone. In an era when
improving academic achievement is the number one priority for most teachers, many edu-
cators are shackled in their efforts by their inability to effectively manage the disruptive
behavior of one or more students.
Consider the following statistics:
• Seventy-seven percent of teachers admit that their teaching would be more effective
if they did not have to spend so much time dealing with disruptive students (Public
Agenda, 2004).
• Forty percent of teachers spend more time keeping order than teaching (Johnson,
2004).
• Fifty percent of teacher time is spent dealing with disruptive behavior in many class-
rooms in America and at all grade levels (Cotton, 1990; Walker, Colvin, & Ramsey,
1995).
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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
students (Good and Brophy, 2003; Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering, 2003). As a result, great
effort has been made toward improving the classroom skills of today’s teachers. The greater
part of these efforts has focused on providing teachers with more effective instructional strat-
egies and standards-based curriculum to facilitate student learning.
As important as it is to improve your ability to use more effective instructional strategies
and standards-based curriculum, one factor is significantly more critical to your ability to
improve student performance:
4
Classroom Management: The Key to Improving Academic Performance
Most teachers are trained in classroom management programs that research suggests
work with “compliant” students. Basically, compliant students are those who want to please
you. They respond quickly to your positive actions, discipline, or both. Typically, compliant
students make up approximately 80-90% of most classrooms (Curwin & Mendler, 1999;
Sugai, Horner, & Gresham, 2002).
What about the remaining 10-20%? These are students who, for countless reasons, are
noncompliant.
Your basic approaches to motivate noncompliant students to choose to behave are simply
not effective with them. Not being trained to successfully motivate these students to behave
appropriately has an enormous detrimental impact on any classroom. Consider this question:
You are not alone in knowing it only takes one disruptive student to monopolize your
time and impact the academic climate—your students know this as well (Walker, Ramsey,
& Gresham, 2004). A recent study shows that more than 40% of students believe that the
behavior of another student had hindered their academic performance (Gordon, 1999).
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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Yes, a small percentage of these teachers are uniquely gifted educators, but the vast
majority of teachers are simply ordinary educators who learn specific “attributes” for dealing
with students. These attributes enable these teachers to succeed with noncompliant students
who continue to challenge their colleagues.
Most importantly, research and experience clearly indicate any teacher who is moti-
vated has the potential to learn the characteristics of successful colleagues and dramati-
cally reduce the disruptive behavior in his or her classroom (Emmer, Sanford, Clements, &
Martin, 1982; Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering, 2003). Each year we work with thousands
of educators who use the insights they gain from studying effective classroom managers to
transform how they deal with students, reduce their frustration, and finally get their stu-
dents to be more successful than they ever thought possible.
They Teach Policies and Procedures at the Beginning of the School Year
The number one priority for these teachers is to systematically teach all students appro-
priate behavior for all classroom activities. This establishes an environment that promotes
academic success.
They Motivate All Students to Quickly Follow Directions and to Get and Stay
on Task
Effective teachers use research-validated management strategies designed to motivate all
students to quickly follow directions and get on task. These strategies include the following:
1. Clearly communicate expectations for how students are to successfully behave
throughout the day or period.
2. Provide positive feedback to students who meet the expectations.
3. Take corrective action with students who do not meet the expectations.
6
Classroom Management: The Key to Improving Academic Performance
Solution Tree 7
Empowering Beliefs and Expectations
Part 2
Transforming your classroom management efforts begins with a close look at your
expectations and beliefs. Why? The foundation of your ability to create a classroom envi-
ronment that promotes academic success rests on your beliefs and expectations regarding
your ability to influence student behavior.
In order to be an effective classroom manager, you need to have a high degree of effica-
cy—in other words, you must believe you can make a difference with all of your students
(Emmer & Hickman, 1991; Walker, Ramsey, & Gresham, 2004).
The core expectations and beliefs of effective teachers are reflected in the following
expectations and beliefs:
• “All of my students can behave appropriately.”
• “I can influence all of my students to choose to behave appropriately.”
• “It is okay to expect and demand all of my students to behave appropriately.”
The reality is that the vast majority of teachers who struggle with classroom manage-
ment issues have unreasonably low expectations regarding their ability to influence the
behavior of their noncompliant “problem” students (Canter & Canter, 1992). These teachers
typically undermine their own efforts by having the following disempowering expectations
and beliefs:
• “Some students have so many problems—emotional, behavioral, familial, and socio-
economic—that they cannot control their behavior.”
• “Because of student problems, I am unable to influence them to behave appropriately.”
• “It can be harmful to the students to expect and demand that they behave appropri-
ately.”
You have probably heard the axiom: “If you think you can or can’t, you’re right.” As tired as
most of us are of hearing this, there is much truth in the message. If you believe you can influ-
Solution Tree 11
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
ence students to behave successfully in your classroom, there will be a dramatically higher
probability that you will get positive results from the management strategies you use. On the
other hand, if you believe for any reason that you cannot influence students, your chance of
success is equally diminished no matter what management approach you try to use.
Instead of an esoteric discussion on the effect that teacher expectations and beliefs have
on their ability to influence students, I offer a dramatic example of the power of beliefs and
expectations that clearly illustrates the point.
A number of years ago, I was brought in to train the staff of a school with a
reputation for having the worst discipline problems in the district. The school’s
issues were so bad that the district had put it on their “under-performing”
school list and was seriously considering reassigning the administration and
most of the teachers and bringing in an intervention team to run the school.
The school was located in the lowest socioeconomic area of the district, with
more than 90% of the students on the free lunch program. The teachers reported
that many students were so troubled and had so many overwhelming problems
that the teachers believed there was no way to motivate the students to behave
in the classroom. In addition, many teachers were new to the profession and
simply did not feel capable of getting those “troubled, problem students” to
listen to them.
After I conducted a training session at the school, the teachers returned to their
classrooms and tried to apply the strategies they had learned. Though they had
success with some students, a core group of noncompliant students remained
out of control. These students would shout, run around the rooms, and openly
defy their teachers.
I was contacted again and given the grim update on many of the problems the
teachers faced. I agreed to return to the school to offer additional assistance.
As I typically do under these circumstances, I arranged to spend several hours
observing in classrooms to get a firsthand look at the problems before I worked
again with the teachers.
Considering what I had been told, I expected the worst and entered the building
with much trepidation. However, I was surprised by what I saw. In the first
classroom I entered, I observed students quietly following the teacher’s directions
and quickly getting and staying on task. Going from classroom to classroom, I
saw again and again calm, positive environments where teachers were teaching
and students were learning, free of disruptive behavior.
12
I Can Transform My Classroom Management Efforts
Feeling slightly bewildered, I met with the school’s staff later in the day. I began
the session by explaining that, given what I had been told, I was surprised at
the lack of problems I had observed in the classrooms.
To my chagrin, a teacher immediately spoke up and said, “You have not seen
an accurate picture of how bad the discipline problems really are. Today was
far from a typical day since the district’s evaluation team was in the school
again.” The principal then quickly apologized for having me come and observe
on this day, since he had forgotten it coincided with the return visit of the
evaluation team.
Confused by what I had just been told, I asked why my visit on that particular
day was such an issue. Another teacher quickly said, “You don’t realize the
importance of this visit. Our previous review was extremely negative and a
major issue was the lack of discipline in the classrooms. One more poor report
and the district may bring a team in to intervene in the running of this school.”
Other teachers spoke up, and their comments were summarized by one teacher
who stated, “We all met and decided we had to lay it on the line with the
students. We told them that the state accreditation team was going to be here
today and the future of the school depended upon receiving a positive report.
Thus, we all let the students know there was no way we were going to tolerate
any misbehavior. Without exception, every student was expected to do what he
or she was told to do during class without any talking out, disrupting, arguing,
or fighting. The bottom line is we let the students know that we meant business.”
As I listened to these comments, the proverbial lightbulb came on in my head! Here we
had the same teachers dealing with the same students with the same problems using the
same classroom management approach, yet the students behaved in a totally different man-
ner from one day to the next. What had changed? Nothing but the teachers’ expectations.
During the district evaluation team visit, these teachers believed it was critical that all
students behave appropriately, including those students with “problems.” Therefore, the
teachers thought it was okay to expect and insist that students act appropriately. The teachers
basically “raised the bar” for the type of behavior they expected. Lo and behold, the students
chose to behave! What became crystal clear to me was this:
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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Though the future of your school may not be on the line, something just as important
or more so is. Your future success and the success of your students is on the line until you
get in touch with the positive influence you really do have to motivate all of your students.
In the following chapters we will focus on why you and so many other teachers might
have negative expectations and disempowering beliefs regarding your ability to influence
the behavior of many of your students. Then we will examine how you can promote a posi-
tive academic atmosphere in your classroom by raising your expectations, developing a
high level of efficacy, and establishing a mind set that dramatically increases your ability to
motivate your students to engage in appropriate behavior.
14
Chapter 3
You cannot have high expectations of your ability to influence students unless
you sincerely believe students can control their behavior and do what is asked of them.
Unfortunately, all too many teachers believe that some students have such serious problems
that they cannot behave like their peers, no matter what classroom management strategies
are used (Canter & Canter, 1992).
In reality, you do have students who have significant problems. That is not the issue.
Here is the issue:
PROBLEM CATEGORIES
I suggest that if you objectively examine the actual impact most student problems have
on their ability to control their behavior, you will be surprised by what you will find. To help
you examine these issues, I have identified a number of problems that educators believe can
so adversely affect students as to keep them from behaving appropriately in school. As you
read each category, think about students you have had, or now have, in relation to the ques-
tions on how their problems actually affect their behavior.
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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Obviously, some of your students have emotional issues that can profoundly affect their
self-concept, attitudes, and responses. They may have experienced emotional neglect, trauma,
or both. As serious as the impact of these experiences are on students, the question continues
to be: Do these “emotional problems” prevent the student from being able to function appro-
priately in the classroom? Think about this as you ask yourself the following questions:
• How do the emotional problems of my students prevent them from doing what I
want them to do?
• Why do the problems they have only cause them to engage in certain behaviors such
as shouting out and having tantrums rather than other behaviors like fighting and
stealing?
• Why do some students with emotional problems behave well in class?
Inadequate Parenting
“Adam’s father is gone, and his mother can’t handle him. He runs the household,
and it is understandable that he is not going to listen to his teacher.”
The vast majority of educators believe that many student behavior problems can be
directly traced to dysfunctional home environments and the inadequate parenting that the
students received.
You may have students who come from home environments that have serious detrimen-
tal effects on their development, their attitude toward school, or both. Although this is true,
the issue we have to examine is the impact that inadequate parenting has on these students’
ability to do what you want them to do in the classroom. Ask yourself:
• What proof do I have that those students who have received inadequate parenting are
actually prevented from being able to do what I want them to do in the classroom?
• Why do some students from homes with the most dysfunctional parents have no
problems at all in the classroom?
• Why do some students from the “best” homes have serious behavior problems?
Poverty
“Andrea is from the Projects, and she has so much to deal with each day. How
can I expect her to come to class and act like the other students?”
Another common belief among educators is that you cannot expect too much from stu-
dents raised in difficult socioeconomic environments that include serious deprivations and
often violence and crime.
16
My Students Can Behave Appropriately
Although your students may be raised in poverty and may come from drug- and gang-
infested neighborhoods where they learn antisocial behavior, does being raised in a chal-
lenging environment prevent your students from doing what you want them to do? Consider
the following questions:
• Why do some students from disadvantaged socioeconomic areas listen to everything
I say and pose no disciplinary problems?
• Why do some students from high socioeconomic areas have behavior problems?
Special Education
“Janette has learning disabilities and has been labeled a ‘special ed’ student. I
cannot expect her to behave in my classroom.”
Most educators believe that special education students are different, and that many of
them have serious problems that make it difficult for them to behave appropriately in any
classroom, especially one designed for “regular education” students.
Special education students face real challenges in school. They may have learning or
behavioral issues that can make it more difficult for them to be successful in the classroom,
and some special education students have organic problems that affect their ability to con-
trol their behavior (see page 19 for more information). When you consider special education
students, think about the following questions:
• Do all special education students have behavior problems?
• How can I explain that sometimes the special education students in my class listen
to me when the regular education students do not?
• Why do some special education students behave in their special education classroom
but do not behave in my class?
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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Would the Students Behave Appropriately if the Principal Came Into the
Classroom to Observe?
Imagine what would happen if the principal sat down next to a “problem” student. Do
you think the student would quickly “shape up?” Your answer is probably yes—but why?
Most students immediately shape up when the principal enters the room because they do
not want to get into trouble.
What happens to the student’s lack of control that has resulted from “years of inadequate
parenting”? Is the principal the “magic pill” for ill behavior? If the student behaves when
the principal comes in, then the student is obviously in control of his or her own behavior.
18
My Students Can Behave Appropriately
her $50, she would behave, but I can’t be ‘paying off’ my students to get them to behave!” I
agree and am not advocating you take such inappropriate action.
Here is the point of this hypothetical question: If the student would choose to behave
for $50, is this student in control of his or her behavior? The answer is an obvious yes! This
student is making choices every day about whether or not to comply with your expectations.
Solution Tree 19
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
If you believe the students cannot behave, you will naturally lower your expectations
for behavior. In essence you are saying, “How can I expect them to behave like the other
students?” Unfortunately, the students will sense your lowered expectations and respond
accordingly—they will continue acting in inappropriate and disruptive ways (Rosenthal,
1974; Weinstein & McKowan, 1998).
If you believe a student’s problems prevent him or her from being able to behave, you
allow yourself to be a victim of the student’s circumstances. As a result, you choose to put
up with the frustration of dealing with the disruptive behavior.
The first step to raising your expectations is to recognize your belief that students can-
not control their behavior is basically misguided. The overwhelming majority of your stu-
dents—including those you consider noncompliant—can control their behavior. Therefore,
you have the potential to positively influence them to do so.
20
Chapter 4
Effective classroom managers not only believe that their students can behave appropri-
ately, but they also believe they have the ability to influence their students to choose to do
so. Again, these teachers have a positive sense of personal efficacy that is critical to their
success (Brophy, 1996).
At this point you may be thinking, “I recognize that students with problems can behave
in school, but I honestly feel I don’t have what it takes to get them to listen to me.” You are
disheartened with your lack of success with some students and feel it just may be your “lot in
life” to have to put up with students disrupting the learning environment in your classroom.
The following examples are typical occasions when most teachers raise the bar for stu-
dent behavior. As you read through the examples, think about your own experiences and
reflect on these questions:
• How have my students—especially those that I consider noncompliant—behaved on
these occasions?
• What does their behavior on these occasions say about my true potential to posi-
tively influence student behavior?
If you can influence the students to do what you want when a visitor is present, you can
influence them at other times as well.
22
I Can Influence My Students to Behave Appropriately
On days when you are sick, your words and actions sent a very
clear message to the students: “When I’m sick like I am today, I
won’t tolerate any misbehaving—no excuses!”
This is the most bizarre finding of my entire career: On days when teachers are sick, they
are usually effective classroom managers. In my seminars, I jokingly say that the way for
teachers to solve their behavior issues is to pretend to be sick the entire year!
The point again is this: If the students can behave on days you are sick, there is no reason
they cannot behave any other day.
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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
“When our visitor arrives, no disruptive behavior will be permitted. You will all
sit at your desks with your eyes on our guest when he is speaking. If you want
to talk, you will raise your hand and wait to be called upon.
“Because I don’t feel well today, I will not tolerate any disruptive behavior from
anyone. That means you will all follow each and every direction I give, the first
time I give it.”
You do not assume students know how you want them to behave. Instead you clearly let
the students know exactly what you want them to do, and how and when you want them
to do it.
24
Chapter 5
UNREALISTIC ASSUMPTIONS
Most teachers, especially those new to the profession, have serious qualms about “com-
ing on too strong” with their students. Teachers do not want to have to be “tough” all of
the time, as shown in the examples of special occasions in the last chapter. There are three
unrealistic assumptions among many educators that come from the pervasive belief that
being strict will have many detrimental effects:
1. Students will not like you.
2. Students can be psychologically harmed if you are too strict.
3. Students will never learn to manage their behavior if you “sit” on them all the time.
If you believe that having such high expectations every day will harm your students or
damage your relationship with them, let me assure you this will not happen. In fact, this
attitude actually undermines your ability to effectively manage your classroom. Upon closer
examination, you will see that this belief is unrealistic and without merit.
Solution Tree 25
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Let us look at what we are really talking about on those occasions when you have effec-
tively raised the bar. Are you asking students to be “little robots”—doing anything you
command whether or not it is in their best interest? Probably not. When you raise the bar,
what do you expect the students to do?
• Pay attention instead of talk when you are teaching.
• Do class work instead of disrupting the class.
• Get along with classmates instead of arguing and fighting.
These expectations are not too strict for any student. In fact, students want, need, and
appreciate such clear, firm direction. Research clearly indicates:
Students do not like or respect teachers who let them get away with misbehavior. The
foundation of student respect is based on the premise that you care enough about them
to make sure they behave in a manner that is in their best interest and the best interest
of others.
26
It Is Okay to Expect Appropriate Behavior
As a result, rather than setting limits on Tanya’s disruptive behavior, the teacher
simply tries to calm her down when she acts up. To the teacher’s dismay, the
other students soon start teasing Tanya about her inappropriate behavior and
angrily demand to know why Tanya is allowed to not do her work and act up
in class without consequences.
Though the teacher’s efforts in this example are well intentioned, allowing troubled stu-
dents to misbehave ultimately does much more harm than good. When you allow stu-
dents to disrupt, they will eventually have difficulty in school and be labeled as “behavior
problems.” Students like Tanya will soon not only have to deal with the burden of being a
neglected foster child, but will also experience other negative school experiences. She will
not get along with peers and will gain a reputation for her immature, disruptive behavior.
One of the greatest gifts you can give students is to let them know that you know, despite
their problems, that they can behave and can be successful in the classroom. These students
need you to show them through your words and actions that you have high expectations
for them and care enough to put the time and effort into making sure your expectations for
them are ultimately reached.
Will you run your classroom or will your students run it for you?
Solution Tree 27
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
If you do not believe it is okay to expect all of your students to meet your expectations
and do what they need to do on a daily basis, then your students will end up meeting their
own expectations and doing what they want to do. It is that simple!
28
Teach Responsible Behavior for Academic Success at the Beginning of the School Year
Part 3
Part One:
Conducting a Lesson on Appropriate Behavior
Establishing a classroom environment that promotes academic success for all students
begins the very first day of school. Effective teachers know that their number one priority is
to take the time and effort to systematically teach students their expectations for how they
are to successfully behave in all classroom activities (Evertson & Harris, 1997).
Why do effective teachers make this such a high priority? Consider the facts: Teachers
who systematically teach their students classroom policies and procedures at the beginning
of the year:
• Reduce disruptive behavior by 28% (Marzano et al., 2003)
• Increase time spent on instruction up to 1 hour per day (LaFleur, Witt, Naquin,
Harwell, & Gilbertson, 1998)
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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
In order to create a classroom environment that promotes academic success, you must
know how you want your students to behave during specific activities and situations. Then
you need to plan how you will teach them your behavioral expectations.
Effective teachers teach their students responsible behavior in the same manner as they
would any academic subject (Evertson & Harris, 1997). Though there is no one way to teach
appropriate behavior, the lessons of effective teachers typically follow a systematic format
that addresses the needs of the different learning styles of the students.
You will find suggested behaviors to teach for the most common instructional
and procedural activities in part 7, Managing Instructional Activities to Promote
Academic Success (see page 119), and part 8, Managing Procedures for Academic
Success (see page 157).
Teach a limited number of behaviors. Each activity should only have three or four
behaviors to learn. If there are more than four behaviors, students will have a difficult time
mastering the activity.
Behaviors should be observable. Whenever possible, the behavior should be something
you can see or hear, such as “Keep your hands to yourself, stay seated, and no talking.” Avoid
vague directions such as “Act appropriately” and “Be responsible.” The clearer the direction,
the more likely students will be to understand exactly what you want them to do.
Behaviors taught should include expectations regarding verbal behavior, movement,
and participation. More than 90% of disruptive behavior is related to inappropriate student
talking and movement and lack of student participation in the activity before them (Jones,
2000). Therefore, you need to specify the particular verbal behavior, level of movement, and
participation you expect from students (see chapter 8, The Behavior Management Cycle: Step
One—Effectively Communicate Explicit Directions, on page 49 for additional information).
32
Part One: Conducting a Lesson on Appropriate Behavior
For a day-by-day plan for scheduling your lessons, see chapter 7, Part Two: Create
and Use a Beginning of the Year Responsible Behavior Curriculum, on page 37.
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34
Part One: Conducting a Lesson on Appropriate Behavior
Have students model the behavior. In most lessons, you will want students to model the
appropriate behavior. For example:
“Let’s see how well some of you can act out what you’ve learned about working
independently.”
Designate three students.
“We’re going to pretend these three students are following directions, just like
I taught you.”
Address the three students by saying:
“Pretend you’re doing an assignment at your seat. Show us the things you
should do when you’re working independently.”
Some teachers find it helpful to have students briefly model the behaviors they do not
want to see. It can be fun to have students “ham it up” as they model what not to do. If you
have your students do this, be sure to end by having the students again model what you do
want to see. The contrast leaves no doubt about how they are and are not expected to behave.
Model the behavior yourself. Another approach is to do the modeling yourself. You can
easily model many situations. This approach is particularly useful with older students who
may not feel it is “cool” to model appropriate behavior. For example, you could easily model
both appropriate and inappropriate ways of coming into the classroom, using the pencil
sharpener, and cleaning up. You may want to ham it up, especially with the inappropriate
behavior. Students will love it.
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Signal understanding. Have students signal to you that they understand the
behavior.
“If you understand what to do when I give an independent work assignment,
give me a thumbs up. If you are unsure, give me a thumbs down.”
Have students explain directions in their own words:
“In your own words, tell me how I expect you to behave when I give an inde-
pendent work assignment.”
36
Chapter 7
Part Two:
Create and Use a Beginning of the Year
Responsible Behavior Curriculum
Developing a behavioral curriculum you introduce at the beginning of the school year
may be the single most important thing you can do to ensure student success throughout
the year. Quite literally, you will be teaching students how to be successful learners.
You would not consider trying to teach students an academic topic such as reading,
writing, or arithmetic without a curriculum to guide your efforts. The same is true when
teaching students what is arguably the most important topic of all: how to behave responsi-
bly during the many activities in a school day or period.
Solution Tree 37
Reproducible
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Part Two: Create and Use a Beginning of the Year Responsible Behavior Curriculum
Solution Tree 39
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40
Reproducible
Suggested Lessons
• Attention-Getting Signal, page 161
• Teacher-Directed Instruction, page 125
Suggested Lessons
• Classroom Rules, page 207
• Corrective Actions, page 213
• Positive Feedback, page 210
Suggested Lessons
• Individual Students Leaving Class to Go to the Restroom, page 230
• Using the Drinking Fountain, page 240
• Emergency Drills, page 186
Suggested Lessons
• End of the Day or Period Routine, page 195
• Lining up to Leave the Classroom, page 169
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Reproducible
DAY 2
Now you will begin prioritizing behavioral expectations for other activities. Be sure to review
all lessons taught the previous day to reinforce student learning.
topic: introduce your procedures for the beginning of the day or period
The first day is usually too hectic to teach this lesson. Teaching it on the second day is
very important. You will want to teach the initial procedures first and then add more
procedures on later days.
Suggested Lessons
• Entering the Classroom After Recess or Lunch, page 175
• Beginning of the Day or Period Routine, page 188
• Sharpening Pencils, page 224
Suggested Lessons
• Independent Work, page 138
• Distributing and Collecting Materials or Papers, page 181
• In-Seat Transitions, page 163
DAY 3
Review all lessons taught the previous 2 days as students engage in the activities again.
Suggested Lesson
• Whole-Class Discussion, page 130
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Reproducible
Suggested Lessons
• Using Materials on Bookshelves or in Cabinets, page 227
• Taking Care of Desks, Tables, and Chairs, page 238
Suggested Lesson
• Student Helpers, page 235
DAY 4
Review all of the lessons from the previous days as you repeat the activities. Focus new
lessons on key recurring activities that have not yet been covered.
Suggested Lessons
• Bringing Appropriate Materials to Class, page 218
• Making up Missed Work Due to Absence, page 221
• Late or Missing Assignments, page 232
DAY 5
By the fifth day, students will need a day of review. Instead of teaching new lessons, spend
the day reviewing those you have taught, especially those covered during the last 2 days.
DAY 6
The lessons suggested for the first days of school focus largely on individual student
responsibilities. Now you can begin to teach your expectations for more complex activities
where students need to demonstrate responsible behavior in situations with less teacher-
directed activity.
Suggested Lesson
• Working With a Partner, page 142
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Reproducible
DAY 7
Continue to review previous lessons. The topics that follow over the next few days should be
taught in the order shown to help students build skills that will enable them to be successful
in instructional settings that require more responsibility and self-management. Depending
on your own classroom situation, it may be appropriate to teach these lessons in future
weeks when the students are prepared for more independent activities.
topic: students work independently while the teacher is with a small group
By the fourth day, students should have learned how to work independently. You can
then introduce the much less structured situation in which the teacher works with a
small group while other students work independently at their seats.
Suggested Lesson
• Teacher Works With a Small Group While Other Students Work Independently, page 146
DAY 8
Review lessons from the previous 2 days, but also make sure that students continue to meet
the expectations taught during the first days of school.
Suggested Lesson
• Working in Groups, page 150
DAY 9
Review lessons from the previous day and continue teaching students how to work in
cooperative groups.
Suggested Lesson
• Working at Centers, page 153
DAY 10
Students will need a day of review. Determine which lessons need reinforcement and work
with students on improving their skills.
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Reproducible
Day____________________________________________________
List the lessons you plan to teach and the page on which each lesson begins.
Add any notes or reminders that will help you organize and teach the lesson.
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Reproducible
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The Behavior Management Cycle
Part 4
Teaching procedures and policies at the beginning of the year is the first step in laying
the foundation for a classroom environment that promotes academic success (Evertson &
Harris, 1997). Through this process, you will introduce your students to your expectations
for how they are to behave in the numerous activities in each school period or day.
Effective teachers recognize that the next step in creating a positive, disruption-free
classroom environment is to systematically reinforce the need for students to meet expec-
tations for appropriate behavior at all times in the classroom (Jones, 2000). The goal is to
minimize the time spent on disruptive, nonproductive student behavior and to maximize
the time spent on instruction.
Effective teachers know that in order to increase the time available for learning, they
must be able to motivate students to quickly follow directions and to get and stay on task.
The importance of all students following teacher directions cannot be underestimated.
What happens when you give directions to students—such as “Take out your books and
get to work without talking”—and some students start fooling around and talking? Do you
have behavior problems that will interfere with student learning? Of course you do.
On the other hand, if all students follow your directions by taking out their books and
getting to work, do you have behavior problems? Of course not. The fundamental impor-
tance of following teacher directions is that simple.
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50
The
The Behavior
Behavior Management
Management Cycle: StepOne—Effectively
CycleStep One—Effectively Communicate
Communicate Explicit
Explicit Directions
Directions
Vague Directions:
“I need everyone to pay attention.”
Explicit Directions:
“I need everyone’s attention. That means your eyes are on me, there is nothing
in your hands but your pencil, and no one is talking.”
Vague Directions:
“I want you to begin working with your partner on the questions on page 14.”
Explicit Directions:
“When I say GO, I want you to take out your workbooks and immediately
begin working with your partner on the questions on page 14. Use your indoor
voices.”
Realistic Expectations
Like many teachers, you may honestly believe that you should not have to constantly give
such explicit directions to your students. You may be thinking:
“I teach the students how I want them to behave at the beginning of the year
and that is all I should have to do.”
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“My students are old enough that they should know how to behave without me
having to direct them all the time.”
Since almost all of your students live up to your expectations—whether they simply
want to please you, are self-directed, or are compliant by nature—you come to believe that
your expectations are valid, right? No! The reality is that your expectations for what most
students need will likely not be effective with your noncompliant students. The following
scenario helps illustrate this point:
Stephen is a highly disruptive, noncompliant student. When the class is in
the middle of a journal writing assignment, he returns to the classroom after
working with the special education teacher. The teacher sees him at the door
and tells him, “Stephen, I want you to go to your seat and get to work on your
journal.” She turns to help another student with her assignment and soon
notices Stephen slowly walk toward his seat, poking and teasing several students
as he passes by them. He finally sits down and starts talking and fooling around
with the students around him. Stephen eventually starts working on his journal
for a second or two, but soon is back to talking with his classmates.
Completely frustrated, the teacher thinks to herself, “Oh no, there he goes
again. He should know how to behave by now. He simply wears me out!” Out
of patience, she says, “Stephen, cut it out. You know better than to act that way.
Either get to work or you’ll be sorry.”
Let’s dissect the directions the teacher gave Stephen and his response to them. This
process will help you understand why you must be explicit rather than vague when giving
instructions to noncompliant students.
The teacher’s directions to Stephen were:
• “Go to your seat.”
• “Get to work on your journal.”
Stephen’s response: Technically, he did “follow the directions.” He:
• Went to his seat
• Took out his journal and began to work
The problem was how he went to his seat and started work.
Since he was not told explicitly how to go to his seat with a directive statement such as
“Go directly to your seat without bothering any other students,” he chose how he wanted
to get there—by taking his time and provoking other students. The same is true for how he
52
The
The Behavior
Behavior Management
Management Cycle: StepOne—Effectively
CycleStep One—Effectively Communicate
Communicate Explicit
Explicit Directions
Directions
got to work. Again, he was not given explicit instructions about how to begin working so he
chose to accomplish the task with much talking and fooling around.
A major mistake teachers make with noncompliant students is to assume they know how
they are expected to behave, as most other students do. As shown in the previous scenario,
teachers who assume this often give vague directions that should be enough but simply are not.
The problem with giving vague directions to noncompliant students can be understood if
we consider the earlier discussion on how these students are different from their classmates.
When your directions are vague rather than explicit, noncompliant students often decide
that you are not clear on exactly what you want them to do, so they can try to do what they
want. As a result, these students will frequently test you by doing what they want and watch-
ing for your reaction.
To reduce your frustration with noncompliant students, you should recognize the fol-
lowing reality:
A final quick aside: When you make your directions more explicit, you will probably find
that many of your students benefit from your added specificity. Many students have various
learning issues. When you make your directions more specific, you will make it easier for
all of your students to succeed in your classroom.
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Verbal behavior. Up to 80% of the disruptive behavior of your students can be catego-
rized as one form or another of inappropriate verbal behavior (Jones, 2000). Thus, when-
ever you give directions to your students, you need to explicitly know and communicate
what verbal behavior is expected.
• “No talking.”
• “Use your ‘12-inch indoor voice.’”
• “Raise your hand and wait to be called on before you speak.”
Physical movement. Approximately 15% of the disruptive behavior of your students
involves inappropriate movement (Jones, 2000). Thus, the second area in which you need
to know and communicate what behavior you expect when you give directions relates to
student movement.
• “Stay in your seat.”
• “Walk—do not run.”
• “Go directly to your seat.”
Participation in activity. In most activities you ask students to engage in, you need to
know how you want them to participate in order to be successful. Thus, the third area in
which you need to know what behavior you expect is how you want students to participate
in the activity.
• “Get right to work.”
• “Do your own work.”
• “Take turns with your partner.”
Here are additional examples of explicit directions:
“I’m going to be going over the new math concepts I told you about. Everyone
needs to take out your math workbooks and turn to page 84. There is no need
for anyone to get out of their seat or to talk until I ask for questions.”
“It is time to line up for recess. Quietly put away all of your materials. When I
call your table, I want you to quietly push in your chair, walk directly to the end
of the line, and stand with your hands to yourself without talking.”
54
The
The Behavior
Behavior Management
Management Cycle: StepOne—Effectively
CycleStep One—Effectively Communicate
Communicate Explicit
Explicit Directions
Directions
Have the attention of all of your students. Make sure that all of your students pay atten-
tion whenever you give directions. This may be a challenge with noncompliant students.
Here are strategies that can enable you to get the attention of all of your students.
Verbal cues to get student attention. When you have students who tend not to pay atten-
tion when you give directions, one way to let them know you expect them to listen to and
follow your directions is to cue them by name. That is, when you give the directions, you cue
the noncompliant students to the fact that you expect them to follow your directions.
“I’m going to want everyone—including Jerome, Carlin, and Cheryl—to go
directly to your seat, take out the book, and immediately get to work without
talking.”
Physical clues to get student attention. You can also cue the students through your
physical actions. A great way to get your students’ attention when you are giving directions
is to simply stand by them when you are talking. Your proximity sends a clear message to
the students that you are aware of them and their behavior.
Another simple physical cue is to look at particular students and make eye contact while
delivering your directions. When you make eye contact with a student, you will have his
or her attention and the student will be more likely to listen to and follow your directions.
Model appropriate behavior. Another strategy to get and keep the attention of students
who tend to be off task is to have them model for the class how to follow your directions. As
the students are modeling, narrate what they are doing:
“I would like Carlin and Jerome to show everyone what they are to do next.”
The students begin to model how to follow the directions.
“Carlin and Jerome are walking directly to their seats. They are taking out their
books and getting right to work, and they’re doing all of this with no talking.
This is exactly what I want to see everyone do. That was excellent.”
Another benefit of having students model how to follow the directions is that you are
assured that these students will be able to follow the directions successfully.
Check for understanding. Whenever you give directions to students, it is important to
check to see if all the students understand the directions. Noncompliant students may often
also have learning issues that make it harder for them to comprehend your directions. You
can use various strategies to determine if students understand your directions:
Have students repeat back the directions. Call on students (particularly
students who have trouble following directions—when appropriate), and
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have them repeat back to you the behaviors they are expected to engage in
during the upcoming activity.
“I’m going to call on students and have them tell me one behavior I want to see
and hear when I tell you to go back to your seats.”
Have students signal understanding. Ask students to indicate if they do or
do not understand the directions.
“If you understand the directions, give me a thumbs up. If you don’t, give me
a thumbs down.”
Cue the students to start the activity. Often when you give directions to the students,
they will begin the activity before you are ready for them to do so. Be sure to always tell the
students when they should begin.
“I do not want anyone to start the activity until I say GO.”
56
Chapter 9
In the first step of the Behavior Management Cycle, you clearly communicate to students
the directions for how they are expected to behave. The next obvious question becomes:
How do you influence all of the students—especially those who have been noncompliant—
to quickly follow the directions and get on task?
REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
Most teachers I work with who struggle with classroom management issues sincerely
believe one or more of the following statements:
• “Students should just want to follow my directions because that is the right thing to do.”
• “I should not have to waste my time and energy doing anything to motivate my stu-
dents to follow directions.”
• “When I give directions, the students should follow them. If they don’t, I’ll just get after
them!”
In theory, I agree that all of your students should just follow your directions. In fact, this
belief is probably reinforced by the fact that most of your students simply follow your direc-
tions without any additional motivation on your part. The issue we are dealing with again
is that most of the students is obviously not the same as all of them.
If, from your point of view, you think students should simply follow your directions
without additional encouragement, will you be motivated to do more than simply give
directions? No, you will not. As you will see, the consequences of this belief will be negative
for you and your students.
What happens when you expect that students should simply follow your directions and
they do not? Let us look at a typical scenario in which you would give directions to your
students:
Solution Tree 57
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“When I say GO, I want everyone to go directly back to their seats, take out
their books, and get to work without any talking. Okay, ready, GO!”
Most of the students quickly comply, but a few as usual do not. Out of
frustration, you respond to those students:
“Steve, the direction was to go back to your seat—come on now. Marsha, I’ve
had it with you—get to work. It isn’t time to talk. Carlos, what’s wrong with
you? Stop fooling around. What is wrong with you kids? Why can’t you ever
just follow my directions?”
When you expect students to follow your directions and they do not, you will naturally
become upset and may tend to nag the students to do what you want. No one likes nagging.
You end up feeling like a “shrew” who is constantly harping on the students, and the stu-
dents do not like the negative tone that is set by your constant badgering.
There is another unintended consequence of expecting students to simply follow your
directions. If you expect that students should follow your directions, why bother putting in
any effort encouraging them to do so? Thus, you will rarely respond to students who comply
with your directions. In other words, you will basically ignore them.
What is the impact of ignoring students who follow your directions? You send a clear
message to your students: “If you want my attention, you will not get it by following my
directions. You will need to misbehave.” This message is particularly detrimental to those
students who have a hard time following your directions and may need your attention. You
may actually be reinforcing or motivating these students to do exactly what you do not want
them to do.
To reduce your frustration, set a more positive tone in the classroom, and motivate stu-
dents to do what you want, you need to reexamine your expectation that all students should
simply follow your directions. The reality is this:
You have noncompliant students who will not simply follow your
directions without additional encouragement and motivation to
do so.
The question then becomes: How can you effectively motivate them to do what you want?
BEHAVIORAL NARRATION
A key to motivating students to follow your directions is to give them effective positive
feedback.
58
The
The Behavior
Behavior Management
ManagementCycle: StepTwo—Using
CycleStep Two—Using Behavioral
Behavioral Narration
Narration
In over 30 years of working with teachers, the most effective type of positive feedback I
have observed is what I call behavioral narration. Here is how behavioral narration works:
When you finish giving directions to the students, you immediately monitor the class and
look for students who are complying. Then, in a voice loud enough for the class to hear, you
simply narrate, or describe, what you see them doing.
“When I say GO, I want everyone to go directly back to their seats, take out
their books, and immediately get to work—and I want you to do this without
talking. I’ll be looking for students who are following my directions. Ready,
GO!”
Behavioral narration:
“Mary is going directly back to her seat without talking. Meredith has taken
out her book and is already getting to work. Alberto has gone back to his seat,
taken out his book, and is working without talking.”
Since middle- and secondary-level students often do not want to be singled out by their
teachers for “being good,” with older students, you will want to narrate the behavior of
groups of students who are following your directions.
Behavioral narration:
“I see the students at table four are walking to their seats without talking.
Students at table three already have their books out. Students at table five are
working without talking.”
Why is this simple strategy such an effective motivator to help you influence all of your
students to follow your directions? Let us take a closer look at the benefits of using behav-
ioral narration.
Solution Tree 59
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60
The
The Behavior
Behavior Management
ManagementCycle: StepTwo—Using
CycleStep Two—Using Behavioral
Behavioral Narration
Narration
less about pleasing you. In fact, they may not want your approval. You have probably had the
experience of praising students for their appropriate behavior only to have them turn around
and do exactly what you did not want them to do. Praising students can often backfire.
Behavioral narration is descriptive. When you use behavioral narration, you simply ver-
balize what you are observing the students doing. For example:
“Tanya walked to her seat, took out her book, and is working without talking.”
By simply describing what you are seeing and hearing, you are giving positive, nonjudg-
mental recognition that can serve as a powerful motivator for most students.
Excessive praise sounds inauthentic. Praising students is a valuable tool you can use to
motivate them to do what you want. As the old saying goes, “One can get too much of a
good thing.” If you are constantly stating how much you like what the students are doing or
what a good job they have done or how proud you are of how they are behaving, eventually
several problems will develop. First, you will find yourself sounding so “syrupy sweet” that
you probably will not be able to stand it. Second, many students will eventually realize that
you praise everything students do. The value of your comments will diminish dramatically.
In contrast, behavioral narration is merely a description of on-task student behavior.
Given the matter-of-fact nature of behavioral narration, you will find you can use it con-
sistently without feeling phony. Even more important, students will not likely tire of your
positive comments and will continue to be motivated by them.
Behavioral narration demonstrates to your students that you are on top of their
behavior in a positive manner. A fundamental tenet of classroom management is that you,
the teacher, need to be able to consistently demonstrate to all of the students that you are
on top of what is going on in the classroom and are prepared to make sure students comply
with your directions. Why is this so important?
Students are always watching you to determine if they have to listen to you or can
choose to do what they want. The more they are convinced you are on top of what is going
on, the more likely they will be to choose to listen to your wishes as opposed to “doing
their own thing.”
Most teachers have been led to believe that the way to demonstrate that they are on top of
student behavior is to consistently monitor the classroom for students who are not following
directions and then to quickly and firmly respond to their off-task behavior. The problem
with this approach, as we have observed, is that teachers find themselves constantly having
to correct students with statements such as “Amy, don’t do that” and “Adrian, get to work.”
These kinds of statements will set a negative tone in a classroom.
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Here is the dilemma you face: How do you demonstrate to students you are on top of
their behavior without being negative? The answer to this question is another major benefit
of using behavioral narration.
Immediately after you give directions, actively monitor and clearly narrate the
behavior of students who are on task:
“I see Zach is going back to his seat and Josh is already getting to work and is
not talking.”
By monitoring and narrating behavior, you will send a clear message to all
students that you are aware of what is going on and definitely on top of how
they are behaving.
The consistent use of behavioral narration gives you the opportunity to demonstrate to
your students that you are on top of their behavior in a positive manner. This method not
only motivates students to follow your directions but begins to change the entire climate in
your classroom! The impact created when badgering stops and encouragement with positive
recognition begins cannot be underestimated.
62
The
The Behavior
Behavior Management
ManagementCycle: StepTwo—Using
CycleStep Two—Using Behavioral
Behavioral Narration
Narration
1997). By following this guideline, you will ensure two important and positive results. First,
you have sufficiently repeated the directions to ensure that all students understand them.
Second, you have let students know you are on top of their behavior.
Monitor students who have difficulty following directions. You will always need to
keep an eye on students who have difficulty following directions to determine if they are on
task. Doing this will enable you to accomplish two goals.
First, when you look at students—and especially when you make eye contact—you let
them know you are fully aware of their behavior. For most students, this eye contact will
increase the probability that they will do what you want.
Second, if you are monitoring a particular student’s behavior and he or she does follow
your directions, you will have an opportunity to narrate the behavior and that will further
motivate the student to behave appropriately.
Use behavioral narration before you correct student behavior. Some students may not
immediately comply when you give directions. Again, resist the temptation to correct their
behavior until you have narrated the behavior of three on-task students. This will only take
a few seconds and may be sufficient to positively cue the off-task students to get on task. The
next chapter addresses what you need to do if students still choose not to follow your direc-
tions—even after you have used behavioral narration.
There are obviously exceptions to the guideline to try behavioral narration before you
correct a student. For example, if a student becomes extremely disruptive by screaming out,
hitting another student, and so forth, you would not ignore this behavior to simply narrate
the on-task behavior of another student. When students are so disruptive that their behavior
interferes with the functioning of the classroom, you will have to immediately correct it.
Use behavioral narration as frequently as necessary. When you begin using behavioral
narration, use it every time you give your directions. Most teachers find that this simple
change in how they manage behavior has a dramatic effect on the classroom.
Over time you can phase out the frequency of how often you use behavioral narration.
The key criteria to determine the frequency that you use the strategy is directly related to
the level of off-task or disruptive behavior you encounter. As long as you have students who
do not follow directions, you need to continue using behavioral narration.
With some classes you can phase out the use of the strategy after a month or two, and
with others you may need to use behavioral narration the entire year.
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64
The
The Behavior
Behavior Management
ManagementCycle: StepTwo—Using
CycleStep Two—Using Behavioral
Behavioral Narration
Narration
• You are conducting a teacher-directed lesson with the class. Every time you
finish a point, you scan the class and narrate students who are engaged
in the lesson: “Will, Josh, and Estavan have their eyes on me, are paying
attention, and are not talking.”
• You are working with a small reading group while other students work inde-
pendently at their seats. As you finish reading with each student, you look
up, monitor the class, and narrate students who are staying on task: “Kishan,
Abdul, and Alana are still in their seats and are reading without talking.”
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A points-on-the-board system enables you to motivate older students to get and stay
on task. By combining behavioral narration with a points-on-the-board classwide reward
system, you can increase its effectiveness in controlling classroom discipline, especially with
older students.
If you teach adolescents, you may be thinking that most if not all of your students would
be embarrassed if you used behavioral narration to single them out for doing what you want.
The last thing any adolescent wants is to be seen as a “goody-goody” in front of peers.
The way around this dilemma is to make sure that when you single students out, you
make it clear to their classmates that they are earning points toward the class reward.
Students will not mind your narrating their appropriate behavior if they are helping their
classmates reach a reward that they all want.
A points-on-the-board reward system used with a little savvy can also be an invaluable
tool for motivating noncompliant students who have not responded to any strategy you have
tried in the past. The key to using this reward system to motivate these students is to make
sure you are constantly looking for them to be on task.
Whenever you spot these students following the directions, you immediately narrate
their behavior and give a point toward the class reward. As a result, these students will end
up earning more points for the class than other students! The impact of this can be dramatic.
As was stated, many adolescent students are not motivated by your recognition.
Therefore, the use of behavioral narration alone will rarely be effective. But when you make
sure that noncompliant students can earn more points than other students toward a reward
all students want, the class will soon catch on.
You will often find classmates will take these students aside and say, in effect, “The
teacher gives you points every time you follow directions. The more you follow directions,
the sooner we’ll get the class reward, so do follow directions!” We all know how powerful a
motivator this kind of peer pressure can be for adolescents.
Guidelines for using points on the board. The following basic guidelines will help you
effectively use a points-on-the-board classwide reward system.
Determine the class reward. Identify a reward that the students will want to earn. This
reward must meet two criteria: You must be comfortable having the students earn it, and
it must be a reward that students truly want and are willing to work for. Possible rewards
include:
• Extra free time
• Extra physical education time
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• Special activity
• Class party
• Skip a homework assignment
• Special treat like popcorn or another snack
• Listen to music in class
Make sure students earn the reward quickly. It is critical that you make sure that your
students earn the reward quickly. The number one reason this reward system fails to motivate
students is the teacher makes it too hard for students to earn a reward, and the students lose
interest in it. The appropriate time span students can wait to earn the reward varies by grade
level, so use the following guidelines for earning the reward to keep your students interested:
• Grades K–1 l day
• Grades 2–3 2 days to 1 week
• Grades 4–5 1 week
• Grades 6–8 1 to 2 weeks
After the class has earned a reward, identify the next class reward. As long as your stu-
dents need an extra incentive, continue using a classwide reward system to reinforce your
behavior management strategies.
Students need to earn points frequently throughout the period or day. For this reward
system to be motivating, students need to receive points on a constant basis while in class.
That means that you have to be constantly looking for students who are following your
directions, narrating their behavior, and giving out points. It may seem like it is a lot of
points that would interfere with your instruction, but as long as the goals are reasonable,
the more points you give, the quicker your behavior problems will diminish. Thus, if the
students earn 50 points a day and need to earn the reward in 3 days, for example, the point
goal for the reward is 150 points.
An important word of warning:
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All too often a frustrated teacher will take away class points because of the disruptive
behavior of some students. This can easily backfire by frustrating the students. A teacher
who has a particularly bad day could have the students end up owing points, not earning
points. If this happened, student motivation would drop considerably.
Establish a points corner in a prominent location. Determine a place on the board
where you will record points when students earn them. Make sure you can easily reach the
location. If appropriate, sometimes have students record the points when they are earned.
Systematically introduce the points-on-the-board reward system to the students. If
you decide to use a points-on-the-board reward system, be sure to carefully explain it to the
students in detail. Tell students why you are using the program, what reward they can earn,
and how they can earn it:
“I have an idea that I think can help everyone learn to follow directions and be
successful in this classroom. You have been constantly asking for more free time
during class. I have a way for everyone to earn 15 minutes of extra free time.
Here is how it works.
“Whenever I give directions, I will look for students who are following them.
When I see students following directions, I will recognize their behavior and
they will earn a point for the class that I will mark on the board. When the
class earns 100 points, you will get 15 extra minutes of free time at the end of
that day.
“The more I see students following directions, the more points you will get and
the quicker you will earn your extra free time.”
When you finish explaining the points-on-the-board system, encourage students to ask
questions to make sure they understand the details of how it will work.
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Chapter 10
When you have followed the first two steps of the Behavior Management Cycle—that
is, you have clearly given explicit directions and used behavioral narration—but continue
to have students who are off task or disruptive, you will need to implement the third step:
Take corrective action. Corrective actions—be they directive verbal statements or disciplin-
ary consequences—are used to motivate students to stop their off-task, disruptive behavior.
No area in the field of classroom management is more controversial than the use of cor-
rective actions. Many so-called experts claim such actions are basically ineffective, if not
harmful. Research and experience tell us otherwise:
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correct the other students’ behavior, they will interpret this as a clear message that you are
not on top of what is going on and that they can misbehave as well (Witt et al., 1999).
You have only 10 seconds after you finish giving your directions and cue the students to
follow them to correct any off-task or disruptive students. If you do not do so, you will soon
find other students who will join their off-task classmates, eventually resulting in a “pack”
of off-task, disruptive students (Kounin, 1970).
You may wonder how you will have time to use behavioral narration before you correct
students within the 10-second time limit. In reality, it will only take you 4 or 5 seconds to
use behavioral narration, thus you will still have enough time to correct disruptive students.
So basically, after you give your directions, you will be doing nothing but monitoring the
behavior of students. First you will narrate those students who follow your directions. Then
within 10 seconds, you will correct students who still choose to be off task.
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you want. When teachers mean business, they tell the misbehaving students exactly what
they want them to do in a calm, matter-of-fact manner (Walker et al., 2004). Simply put,
you will repeat to the student the directions they should follow and what consequence, if
any, they have chosen to receive.
• “Terrel, the direction was to stay in your seat when you are working. You have chosen
to receive a warning.”
• “Connie, you should be sitting and looking at me without talking. You have chosen to
go to time out.”
• “Jack, you need to do your own work without shouting out. This is the third time I have
had to talk to you today so you have chosen to have me call your parents.”
Such direct communication of your expectations is the most effective way to let students
know you are serious about making sure they stop their inappropriate behavior.
Elementary
First disruption: Warning
Second disruption: 5 minutes of time out
Third disruption: 10 minutes of time out
Fourth disruption: Call to parents
Fifth disruption: Send to principal’s office
Severe clause: Send to principal’s office
Middle/Secondary
First disruption: Warning
Second disruption: Stay 1 minute after class
Third disruption: Stay 2 minutes after class
Fourth disruption: Call to parents
Fifth disruption: Send to vice principal’s office
Severe clause: Send to vice principal’s office
See chapter 40 on page 213 for details on how to develop a discipline hierarchy for your
classroom.
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Students need structure and limits. There is perhaps nothing more harmful we can do
to students than allow them to disrupt or misbehave without showing them we care enough
to let them know their behavior is not acceptable. Students need to learn that inappropriate
behavior carries with it very real consequences. This is also true in the real world, and is an
important life lesson to learn in the classroom.
Until you can stop inappropriate student talking, you will be unable to establish a class-
room environment in which students learn they cannot get away with doing what they want
versus what you want. Everyone will lose in this circumstance.
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limit their inappropriate behavior, but that you are equally committed to supporting their
appropriate behavior as well. For example:
Jake is poking and talking to students sitting next to him on the rug. You correct
his behavior. A few minutes later, you see he is behaving appropriately so you
narrate his behavior by saying, “Jake is sitting on the rug with his hands to
himself, paying attention and not talking.”
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miss free time. If you continue talking, I will call your parents. Now I want you
to get to work and complete your assignment.”
You will send a clear message to all of your students when you stop what you are doing
and take the time to walk up to the misbehaving students, provide them with a conse-
quence, and let them know another consequence will follow if they do not shape up: “I will
not tolerate your pretending to comply.”
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arguing with students. Do not ever get into an argument with students. Instead, stand your
ground and simply keep repeating what you want them to do (Walker et al., 2004):
Raquel comes into your classroom. Instead of going to her desk and starting to
work, she begins provoking students nearby. You calmly walk up to her and
correct her behavior, saying, “Raquel, you are to go to your seat and get to work.
This is the second time I have had to talk to you today so you have chosen to
miss your free time.”
As usual, Raquel begins to become upset and argue with you: “I didn’t do
anything. Samuel was talking to me first!”
Remaining calm, you simply keep repeating your directions: “Raquel, you are
to go to your seat and get to work.”
As Raquel keeps trying to argue, you keep calmly repeating, “Raquel, you are
to go to your seat and get to work.” Recognizing that she cannot provoke you or
engage you in an argument, Raquel finally sits down and gets to work.
Move out. With older students, it may be useful to move out of the classroom to speak
with them about their behavior (Canter & Canter, 2001a). When you move out of the class-
room, you are removing the audience of the student’s peers. That can prove to be very useful.
When you calmly stand your ground, you will demonstrate to students that you do
mean business. You cannot stop students from becoming upset, but you can choose not to
let their distress sidetrack your efforts to stop inappropriate behavior.
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A student is defiant and the teacher has to remove her from the room,
resulting in the principal suspending her. When the students returns to
school the next day, warns the student in a stern voice: I’m not going to
put up with any more of your nonsense today!
The more students honestly believe you have their best interest
at heart, the less likely they will be to challenge your authority.
See chapter 12, Building Trusting Relationships With Students, on page 87 for
more suggestions.
What can you do in this situation? Most teachers would immediately try to take the
student on by saying, “I told you to go to the office and you will go!” The reality, however, is
that if a student does not want to leave your classroom, you are unlikely to get him or her to
the principal’s office without help.
You know that you cannot leave the rest of the students to physically remove a student
from the classroom. The most important point for you to recognize is that students know
that you cannot force them to go to the office. Therefore, standing toe-to-toe with students
and demanding that they leave the classroom is no-win position.
You have to have a backup plan to ensure you can get support to remove students from
your classroom when students are out of control (Charles, 1999). Without a plan, you will
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be reluctant to stand up to some students for fear that you will be unable to handle the situ-
ation if they get out of control.
Most teachers have a plan that involves notifying the principal or other administrator to
come to the classroom and remove the disruptive student:
When Ian refuses to go to the principal’s office, you calmly tell him, “You either
go to the principal’s office or he will come here and escort you to his office. It’s
your choice.” Ian still refuses so you call the office and notify the principal that
you need assistance in your classroom immediately.
You may be wondering what happens if the principal or other backup support personnel
cannot come at that moment. What do you do then? If this happens, all you need to do is
to tell the student what is happening and what will happen if they still choose not to leave
your classroom:
When you call the office and the principal is not available, you tell Ian, “Ian,
the principal is not able to come and I can’t remove you from the classroom
now, so you have a choice: You either go to the principal’s office immediately
on your own, or choose to have me take you there in 15 minutes when lunch
starts.”
Knowing how to deal with students who seriously test your authority is critical to being
able to stand your ground and letting students know you have raised your bottom line and
will not tolerate their disruptive behavior.
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Chapter 11
In this chapter we look at the use of the Behavior Management Cycle during two of the
most common classroom situations in which teachers often have difficulty dealing with
student behavior: transitions and instructional activities. The challenges of each situation
are discussed below, along with case examples that show how you can use the steps of the
Behavior Management Cycle to increase your effectiveness for motivating all of your stu-
dents to follow your directions.
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To make sure the students understand how you want them to enter the classroom,
and ensure that some of the students who have trouble with transitions succeed,
you pick Ricardo and Cara to model how you want students to enter the classroom:
“I would like Ricardo and Cara to show us exactly how you are to enter
the classroom.”
As the students model appropriate behavior by following your directions, you
narrate their behavior:
“Ricardo and Cara are walking directly to their seats. They are sitting
down and have started to work on the problem on the board. This is
exactly what I want to see all of you do.”
You then cue the rest of the class to enter and get on task:
“Okay, when I say GO, I want all of you to follow the lead of Ricardo and
Cara and go directly to your seat, sit down, and get to work without talking.
I will be looking for students who are following my directions. Ready, GO!”
As the students enter, you demonstrate you are on top of their behavior by
carefully monitoring them and by narrating the behavior of those who are
complying with your directions:
“Barb is walking to her seat without talking. Ian is in his seat. Kyle is in his
seat and has already started on the problem on the board without talking.”
As you continue monitoring the students entering and getting on task, you notice
that Lester is talking and disruptive rather than working, so you immediately
take corrective action:
“Lester, the directions were to sit down and do the assignment without
talking. You have chosen to receive a warning.”
You record Lester’s disruption on your record sheet on your clipboard. As the
students continue working on the assignment, you continue to demonstrate you
are on top of their behavior by periodically narrating the behavior of students
who are on task—especially the ones you are concerned about:
“Lisa and José are still working on their problem without talking. I see
Ricardo, Cara, and Kevin are also working without talking.”
After you correct Lester’s behavior, he chooses to stay on task and do his work,
so you immediately narrate his behavior:
“I see Lester is working on his assignment and is not talking.”
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Using the Behavior Management Cycle
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“I will be looking for students who follow my directions. They will earn
points for the class.”
To check if the students understand your directions, and to cue those students
who have been causing problems, you ask students to repeat your directions:
“I want to make sure all of you understand my directions. I want Jesse,
Shawn, and Pam to each tell me one of the directions I expect everyone
to follow.”
As you start your lesson, you make it a priority to let the students know that
you are on top of their behavior by consistently narrating the behavior of those
students who are on task. You keep an eye on Jesse, Shawn, and Pam, and
you make sure you narrate their behavior so they can earn points for their
classmates when they are behaving:
“I see Jesse, Shawn and Pam are paying attention, have their eyes on me,
and are not talking. They have earned a point for the class toward free
time.”
During the lesson, you notice Pam is trying to talk to the students next to her.
To let her know you expect her to pay attention, you narrate the behavior of
students sitting by her who are on task:
“Lucy and Evan have their eyes on me and are not talking. That is
another point for the class.”
Pam notices that you are aware of her off-task behavior and quickly begins to
pay attention again. Noting this, you immediately narrate her behavior:
“I see Pam has her eyes on me, is paying attention, and is not talking.
She has earned a point for the class.”
As the lesson progresses, you want to have the students participate in a
discussion. You let the students know exactly the directions for participating:
“I want to hear your views on what I have just presented, and I want to
make sure all of you have a chance to speak. I will not allow students to
shout out or interrupt as I have in the past. Here is what I expect you to
do during our discussion:
• Raise your hand and wait to be called upon before you speak.
• Look at the person who is speaking.
• Do not make negative comments about what a classmate says.”
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As you start the discussion, you make sure to call on and narrate the behavior
of students who are following directions by silently raising their hands to be
called upon:
“I’m going to call on Kyle: He has his hand up and is waiting to be called
upon without talking out. He also earns a point for following directions.”
During the classroom discussion, Pam and Shawn start talking and shouting
out inappropriate answers. You calmly correct their behavior:
“Pam and Shawn, the directions were to raise your hand and wait to be
called upon before you speak. You have both chosen to stay after class.”
Pam quiets down, but Shawn becomes upset and begins to test you by arguing,
“I didn’t shout out. I had my hand up. You’re not fair.” You stay calm and
again you immediately correct his behavior:
“Shawn, you have a choice: Either stop arguing with me, or you will
choose to have me call your parents.”
Shawn continues to test you by saying, “Go ahead, call my parents. I don’t care,
and they don’t care either.” You calmly look at Shawn and firmly state:
“Shawn, I can’t let you act this way in class. You know how to behave
in class. I’m going to call your parents, and now your choice is to either
calm down and participate in the discussion like the other students, or
to be sent to the principal’s office.”
Shawn finally calms down and you continue the discussion, making sure to
narrate students who are following your directions.
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additional incentive. To increase the motivation for students who have had problems staying
on task, you monitor their behavior and make sure their appropriate behavior earns points
for their classmates.
You consistently correct the off-task, disruptive behavior of the students, and you stay
calm and do not back down when tested by a student.
By using the Behavior Management Cycle, you are able to conduct a lesson and lead a
class discussion with minimal disruption from the students.
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Part 5
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Building Trusting Relationships With Students
Chapter 12
You could easily make the case that the keystone for effective classroom management is
the teacher’s ability to establish positive relationships with all of the students. Ask teachers
who are highly effective in motivating students to succeed and they will confirm this point,
as does the research:
For various reasons that will be considered in this chapter, many teachers do not take
the steps needed to establish trusting relationships with their students, especially those they
consider noncompliant. Let us examine what it takes to build relationships that can help you
motivate students to increase achievement and reduce disruptive behavior.
Most students arrive in your classroom with a basic foundation of trusting in teachers.
In all probability, these students have parents who have motivated them to behave and suc-
ceed in school. In addition, these students have generally had teachers respond to them in a
caring, accepting, and supportive manner during their time in school.
Experience has taught these students—again, probably most of your students—that they
can trust you because they have learned that teachers do basically have their best interests
at heart. Because of this, you can easily build a relationship with them and motivate them
to work and to achieve to their full potential.
Some of your students, though, due to their life experiences, have developed a completely
different perception of teachers. These students have learned not to trust teachers—and that
certainly includes you. Simply stated, these students have a serious “trust deficit” when it
comes to their relationships with teachers: Consequently, many are noncompliant students.
Students who have a “trust deficit” often have parents who have also had negative school
experiences. As a result, the parents may communicate through their words and actions
their belief that teachers often do not have the best interests of students at heart. Due to their
learned attitudes, these students have often had conflicted relationships with teachers. These
students have often experienced teachers as angry, critical, and punitive.
The bottom line is you cannot do your job until your students
choose to give you their attention and cooperation.
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Never forget that the choices your students make every day about their behavior will
directly impact your effectiveness as their teacher. You cannot overlook this fundamental
truth regarding motivating student behavior:
The more the students trust you and believe you have their best
interests at heart, the more likely they will be to listen to you
and do what you want.
If you simply assume that all the students have a high enough level of trust and will be
naturally motivated to do what you ask, you will probably be very disappointed. Instead,
you will have students who continually fight you and are disruptive and defiant. From their
perspective, you are “the teacher,” and they have learned that teachers are not on their side.
To begin reaching students who have a trust deficit, always keep in mind that this deficit
influences all of their perceptions and actions. Given this underlying mistrust of teachers, it
is foolish to expect that these students will be as motivated as their classmates to please you
and be compliant in respecting your requests or demands.
Reaching the students whose deficit in trust affects how they perceive and relate to you
will take concerted action on your part. The steps you take to build relationships with your
compliant students will not be enough. You will have to convince these students that you
are on their side, you are not like other teachers, and you will ensure they have a positive
growth experience in your classroom.
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Building Trusting Relationships With Students
ever it takes to ensure they learn to behave in a manner that is in their best interest and that
does not hinder the learning of any of their peers (Brophy & Evertson, 1976).
How do teachers who “take charge” act? They are firm and fair, and they stand their
ground in a manner that respects the dignity of each and every student (Canter & Canter,
1992). Take a moment to remember the special teacher you had. It is likely this person
clearly said what he or she meant and meant what was said. This teacher was prepared to
back up his or her words with actions to ensure all students behaved successfully.
The phrase “taking charge” does not mean—as some teachers believe it means—you
have to control the students and make them “fear your wrath.” When teachers respond in
a hostile, angry manner, their students may behave for a while, but they will never win the
respect and trust of the students.
On the other hand, students will not respect or ever learn to trust teachers who try to get
students to like them. These teachers try to be friends with the students and do not stand up
to students when they are disruptive or disrespectful.
When all is said and done, the following reality exists:
Until you earn the respect of your students, your other efforts
to build a trusting relationship will not bear fruit.
Unless the students respect you, they will not value your praise, positive attention, or
extra efforts to reach out to them.
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Building Trusting Relationships With Students
The positive comments you make to students need to be genuine. Students, especially
older ones, can read you like a book and pick up when you are insincere with the praise and
positive comments you make.
To build your relationships with your students, make it a priority to look for and respond
to the strengths of your students: what they do right versus only what they do wrong.
Be Real
The teachers who can connect with their students relate to them in an authentic man-
ner. They believe it is important to be a “real” person with the students, and not to simply
come across as the teacher. They do not try to be friends with the students, but they do make
it their goal to be friendly (Charles, 2000). They know that the more students can relate to
them as real people and not just teachers, the more likely students are to like and trust them.
Being real means letting the students get to know you. It does not mean sharing your
personal problems, but it does mean letting them know about you as a person and not just
a teacher. Here are several ways you can be real with your students:
Let the students get to know you. Teachers who are effective in building positive rela-
tionships let the students get to know them as a person and not simply as “the teacher”
(Smith, 2004). The more students can relate to you, the more likely they are to like you.
You may simply want to introduce yourself to the students and share pertinent and
appropriate details about your life. Some teachers find it useful to create a small bulletin
board at the beginning of the year with pictures of important people and events in their
lives. In addition, you may include information about your interests, hobbies, and other
details about yourself the students may find interesting.
Share what is happening in your life. When appropriate, let the students know what is
going on in your life: what you did over the weekend or on your vacation, what significant
people in your life are doing. You do not need to give too much information, just enough to
let students know you are like them and may enjoy some of the same things they do.
Admit your mistakes. There is nothing more real than admitting your mistakes. All too
many teachers are afraid that if they admit they have “messed up,” they will lose respect in
the students’ eyes. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Students are not blind. They see when you make a mistake or do not handle situations
in the best manner. If you get upset and lose it, mess up a lesson, or treat students rudely in
front of their peers, do not make excuses for your behavior; simply admit your mistake and
apologize. Students respect teachers who are able to take responsibility for their actions and
admit when they have been wrong.
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Reach out. When you thought about that special teacher in your life, the odds are you
recalled how that teacher made you feel special, how the teacher made an extra effort to let
you know someone cared about you and your success. All students need to know you care.
This is of particular importance to establish positive relationships with those students whose
“deficit of trust” is a barrier.
There is a business concept that can be valuable as a guiding principle in reaching out to
students who do not trust you: The key to winning over a customer and keeping them happy
is to exceed their expectations, be it for service or quality.
To win over students and keep them motivated, you must exceed their expectations for
how they believe teachers will relate to them. You accomplish this through your words and
actions.
Contact students before school begins. Students who have had negative school experi-
ences often are not looking forward to the start of school. If you get your class lists and rec-
ognize the names of students who have had problems in the past, try the following strategy.
Instead of fretting or worrying about the potential problems you may have with these students
in the coming year, simply pick up the phone and call them, introduce yourself, and share your
commitment to help them have a positive experience in your classroom:
“I’m going to be your teacher this year. I’m calling because I want you to know
I’m looking forward to having you in my classroom, and I want to know what
I can do to make this the best school year you have ever had.”
Students who have had negative school experiences do not expect to hear from their teach-
er before school begins. Many teachers discover that reaching out in this manner before stu-
dents enter their classroom can begin their relationships with these students on a positive note.
Greet students at the door. Whenever possible, you should personally greet students
when they enter the classroom—and this especially applies to those whose relationships you
need to work on. Many teachers use the “4-H strategy” of greeting each student at the door
by using one of four greetings (Mendler and Curwin, 1999):
1. “Hello.”
2. “How are you?”
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Building Trusting Relationships With Students
3. A handshake.
4. A high-five.
This is an especially effective way to connect in a positive and respectful manner with
students who need to know you care about them and their success in the classroom.
Talk with students about non-academic topics. One of the most effective strategies
you can use to reach out to students and demonstrate that you care is to spend time talking
with them about their interests, concerns, and feelings (Good & Brophy, 2003). Students
who have troubled relationships with teachers rarely if ever have had teachers who took
the time to sit down and just be there for them. The more time you spend talking with stu-
dents about non-academic topics, the higher the probability that you will build a trusting
relationship with them.
Contact students after a difficult day. Students who do not trust teachers will often
have days filled with upset and conflict. These times are hard on both the students and
the teachers.
The last thing these students would expect is to hear from their teacher in a caring
manner after a difficult day. You will continue building a positive relationship with these
students when you go out of your way to make a quick phone call to them before the next
school day begins:
Teacher: “Carney, I’m concerned that you had such a rough day today.”
Student: “It was bad because you sent me to the principal again.”
Teacher: “I understand you’re upset. Carney, I care about you and I can’t
let you act up and be disruptive. I want to know what we can do differently
tomorrow so that it is a better day for you.”
Student: “I don’t know.”
Teacher: “It seems you start misbehaving when you are doing work on your own.”
Student: “I don’t like the work. It’s boring and sometimes I don’t understand it.”
Teacher: “Let’s try this: If the work is boring or you don’t understand it,
instead of talking to the other students and getting out of your seat, turn over
your ‘Help Card.’ I’ll come right over to help you. I’d much rather help you than
have to send you to the principal again. Will this help?”
Student: “I guess so.”
Teacher: “So what are you going to do if you are bored and need help?”
Solution Tree 95
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Student: “I’ll turn over my Help Card rather than mess around.”
Teacher: “Sounds good. I’m sure tomorrow will be a better day. Have a good
night.”
(For information on Help Cards, see page 140.)
Many effective teachers report that reaching out to students after a difficult day can have
a positive effect in changing how these students perceive them and their intentions (Canter
& Canter, 2001a).
Recognize absences. Students who feel teachers do not care often believe they are unno-
ticed in class. When students are absent, phone or email them to let them know they were
missed, and you care about them and how they are doing (Mendler, 2001).
Attend the students’ extracurricular events. Another way you can demonstrate your
caring to students is to attend events they are participating in—sporting events, artistic
performances, and other events outside of the classroom (Smith, 2004). The impact of your
taking the time to watch your students participate in events can be dramatic. Can you imag-
ine a student “getting in your face” after you have gone out of your way to attend his or her
athletic or artistic performance?
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Building Trusting Relationships With Students
Solution Tree 97
Chapter 13
Parents are obviously the most important people in a child’s life. The parents’ love, sup-
port, and approval are a fundamental need of each and every child. Since parents are num-
ber one in importance, they are also number one in their ability to influence and motivate
their children to be successful in school.
To put this in perspective, think about your own school experience. If you were success-
ful in school, answer these questions:
• Why did you behave in school?
• Why did you strive to succeed academically?
If you are like most individuals who were successful in school, your parents played a
major role in motivating your academic efforts. The parents of your students possess the
same potential!
The importance of parental support has been studied and validated for years by educa-
tional researchers. When parents are involved and support the teachers:
• Students are better behaved (Henderson & Mapp, 2002).
• Student academic performance improves (Epstein et al., 1997).
Given the importance of the parents’ role in their children’s success, it is a critical prob-
lem that so many teachers are having difficulty building positive and sustaining relation-
ships with many parents (Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 2005). For the past 10
years, teachers have stated that the lack of parental support is a critical problem (Gibs, 2005;
Langdon, 1996). What can be done to turn this around?
If you have not had as much success as you would like in getting support from your stu-
dents’ parents, the answer to your dilemma can again be found in examining the expecta-
tions and practices of effective teachers. These teachers can build positive relationships and
Solution Tree 99
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
get support from parents—even from those parents who have been unresponsive or hostile
to other teachers.
It is not a sign of weakness to reach out to parents for support to help motivate their
children to behave appropriately or achieve their maximum potential. In fact, it is a sign of
strength: a sign that you are committed to students learning to behave and achieve and that
you will do whatever it takes to ensure this goal is reached. Who better to enlist in this effort
than the most important and influential individuals in the children’s lives?
100
Building Trusting Relationships With Parents
Why are parents critical to your success? Why is the support of parents so vital to your
ability to motivate all of your students to reach their potential? Parents can be powerful
motivators and can reinforce and support your classroom management efforts.
Parents can be powerful motivators. No one can motivate the students like their par-
ents. Parental support for their children’s learning is as powerful tool as you can find to
help students choose to behave and achieve (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). Parental approval
is one of the most powerful motivators for students and can bring dramatic results when
used effectively.
Many parents are not aware of how important their motivation can be, or how to use
their influence to help their children. Through establishing a positive relationship with the
parents of your students, you will be able to guide the parents toward using this influence
to benefit you and the students.
Parents can reinforce and support your classroom management efforts. In reality, your
options are limited when students choose to be disruptive. Corrective actions such as time
out, detention, going to the principal, and so forth work for some of the students, but not all.
A small but significant number of noncompliant students may not care about any cor-
rective action you take at school. The only way you will get the “attention” of these students
is to involve their parents in actively supporting your classroom management efforts.
Through their words and actions, you need the parents to send
their children a clear, unequivocal message: We will not tolerate
your inappropriate disruptive behavior at school.
Students must know that if they choose to misbehave at school, they will have to answer
to you and their parents. When they disrupt, they will choose to receive corrective actions
from you and their parents. For you to gain this level of support from some parents, you will
need to take a number of steps to build a positive trusting relationship with them.
In order to get the support you need, you have to take the initiative and systematically
reach out to many parents. You have to accept that there is a high probability that some of
these parents have had negative school experiences. As a result, they may not have much
trust or faith in the educational system in general. More importantly, they may not have
much trust or faith in you as the teacher.
All too many of today’s teachers still expect that they will simply be given the support
they need and should not have to earn it. As a result, teachers who have this expectation do
not feel they need to go out of their way to reach out and earn the trust of the parents.
Effective teachers recognize that they need to reach out and win over all the parents to
get the support they want and need—particularly those parents who have negative percep-
tions of school and teachers.
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Building Trusting Relationships With Parents
Issue: Thad was talking out during the math lesson. When I told
him to stop, he talked back and refused to cooperate.
You are much more likely to gain the parents’ support if they know you have tried to
handle the child’s problems on your own before you contacted them.
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Building Trusting Relationships With Parents
“I sat down with Rafael and discussed the issue with him. I went over the
assignments with him and determined that when I sit with him, he can do the
work just fine—it is not too hard. I made him stay in and finish the work. In
addition, I had him talk with the counselor and principal. We all feel it is in
Rafael’s best interest to involve you in our efforts to help him with this issue.”
Discuss the Steps You Plan to Take to Further Help the Student
Let the parents know that you will continue working with their child to help him or her
be more successful. Let the parents know the next steps you plan to take to help their child:
“I’m going to set up a system that Rafael can use to signal me if he is having
trouble with an assignment, rather than becoming upset. I’m also going to let
him know that he can earn points toward special privileges for every assignment
he completes on his own without complaining.”
Explain Why the Parents Need to Work With You to Solve the Problem
Some parents honestly do not understand how important their support is to helping
their child be successful at school. Discuss with the parents how important it is that they
work with you to help their child:
“I will do all that I can to help your child, but it is definitely in his best interest
that he understand we are all working together to help him. He needs to know
that you and I will not tolerate him putting in anything less than his best effort.
“I think it would help Rafael if we set up a system that has him complete at
home any work that he does not finish at school. How does that plan sound to
you?”
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Reproducible
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The 2-Week Turnaround Program
Part 6
What if you are reading this book after the school year has begun? How can you turn
around students who are not behaving appropriately or up to your expectations? A turn-
around in student behavior will not come in an instant, but it can be done over time. Most
teachers report it takes at least 2 weeks of consistent effort to begin the process of re-teaching
students how you expect them to behave. The program outlined in this chapter will give you
the tools to make that happen in your classroom.
Review the corresponding chapters in Parts 7–9. You will be using the content in the
chapter as a guide to teach your students your exact behavioral expectations for this situa-
tion. Make changes or additions based on your own circumstances.
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The 2-Week Turnaround Program
“I know all of you can behave, and I will do everything I can to make sure you
do. I’m responsible for creating a classroom in which you can learn to the best
of your ability, free from disruptive behavior. I will make sure you have that
kind of environment from this day forward.”
Such a statement will help prepare students for the lessons you will teach on behavior
and the changes that will take place in how you respond to their behavior.
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Reproducible
New Rules
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Reproducible
116 Classroom Management for Academic Success © 2006 by Solution Tree Press • solution-tree.com
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Reproducible
What specific problems are you having? (For example: Too much talking. Students do
not follow directions. Students are not listening.)
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o One student_______________________________________________________________
o Two students______________________________________________________________
o group of students________________________________________________________
A
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o ther_____________________________________________________________________
O
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Part 7
INTRODUCTION
Instructional activities help to engage students during the learning process. To increase
the academic achievement of students, you need to be able to quickly get the students on
task and keep them engaged throughout the instructional activity.
INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES
Teacher-Directed Instruction, page 125
Whole-Class Discussion, page 130
Sitting on the Rug, page 134
Independent Work, page 138
Working With a Partner, page 142
Teacher Works With a Small Group While Other
Students Work Independently, page 146
Working in Groups, page 150
Working at Centers, page 153
Introduction
The basic goals of each instructional activity and the most common behavioral problems
that teachers encounter are briefly discussed before moving into the detailed chapter content.
Behaviors to Teach
As was discussed in chapter 1, research indicates that effective educators teach their
students how they are expected to behave in each class activity at the beginning of the year.
For each instructional activity you will be provided a list of behaviors most teachers find
their students need to be taught to successfully engage in the activity.
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Introduction to Instructional Activities
If you are like the vast majority of educators, you will answer, “Teach content.”
This answer may seem logical given the pressures to cover the curriculum and
raise achievement.
Here is the reality of the situation: You will never be able to conduct instruction
and effectively teach your class until you are able to manage the behavior of all
of your students.
All it takes to interrupt any lesson you are trying to teach is one student “talking
out,” one student noisily wandering around the classroom disrupting classmates
who are working, or one student openly defying you.
First, the results will be obvious if you put content ahead of behavior when
preparing for what you will do in the classroom. You will spend hours on your
lesson plans and little or no time on determining how you will manage student
behavior, especially the noncompliant ones, during the lesson. The consequence
will likely be that you are not prepared for behavioral issues that can and will
arise.
You are in the front of the class teaching a new concept to the students
when you notice that students in the back of the room are talking and
not paying attention. You are torn: Do you interrupt your lesson before
making your point to deal with their behavior, or do you continue your
Though the decisions you make to put teaching content before management
seem well intended, they often result in unexpectedly negative outcomes. Do
not forget that students are always aware of what you are doing and what is
important to you. Students quickly learn that when you are busy teaching, you
do not want to be distracted by dealing with behavior problems. Thus, when
they see you fully occupied with your instruction, they will feel they have the
license to do what they want. The results are often not good!
When other students notice that you are so intent on finishing your lesson
that you permit the students in the back to talk, more and more of them
either begin talking or become distracted by the commotion their peers
are making. As the noise level grows, so does your frustration, and you
end up spending the remaining time trying to get the students to be quiet
and back on task.
No one becomes a teacher because they relish the thought of dealing with the
disruptive behavior of students. The reality is, however, if you want to maximize
the time available for instruction, you need to make it your priority to be sure all
the students know how they are expected to behave, and you need to monitor
their behavior to ensure that they get and stay on task. It helps to always keep
this thought in mind:
124
Chapter 16
Teacher-Directed Instruction
INTRODUCTION
The foundation of teaching is the ability to get and maintain the attention of students
while you conduct instruction. This is often easier said than done. All too often, teachers
have trouble getting the attention of all of their students when they start the lesson, keeping
their attention as the lesson progresses, or both.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
During a teacher-directed lesson, students are expected to:
• Follow directions.
• Keep their eyes on the teacher.
• Stay in their seats.
• Do this without talking.
Stay Withit
Stay withit at all times. “Withit” is a term used to describe a teacher who is aware of and
on top of student behavior. This is especially important if you are writing on the board.
Never turn your back to your students when you are writing, but instead turn your body to
the side and frequently look back to monitor the students.
126
Teacher-Directed Instruction
128
Teacher-Directed Instruction
and ask what they think might happen next in the story, which column is the correct
one for borrowing, or how many servings of vegetables should be eaten each day. In
the beginning, give students two or three clear choices. The intent is not to mix them
up, but to check for understanding.
If it helps, collect their answers by secret ballot. Have the students close their eyes
or put their heads on their desks and vote, giving a thumbs-up if they agree or a
thumbs-down if they disagree.
You can even propose a value-added option: “Hand high if you are totally sure, half-
way up if you are pretty sure, and just a wrist flip if it’s your best guess.”
Whole-Class Discussion
INTRODUCTION
Whole-class discussions can be one of the most valuable instructional strategies in your
teaching repertoire. To be successful, however, students must learn to participate appropri-
ately: to listen to one another’s comments, take turns speaking, and respect others’ opinions.
Your instructional plans can quickly fall apart when students blurt out answers, monopo-
lize the conversation, avoid participating, ask irrelevant questions, or give inappropriate
answers. Learning self-control, taking turns, and respecting others allow all students an
equal opportunity to contribute to the discussion.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
During a whole-class discussion, students are expected to:
• Raise their hand and wait to be called on before speaking.
• Look at the student who is speaking.
• Stay seated.
• Put students’ names on craft sticks and place the sticks in a cup. Pull out a stick to
determine who goes next. Call the name only after you have asked the question and
provided some time for thinking.
• Give everyone two or three chips, tokens, or coins to spend by speaking during a
lesson. Some students will be challenged to speak and spend their chips. Others
will—perhaps for the first time—hold back their words and chips and select a bet-
ter time.
• Have the seating chart in front of you with everyone’s name on it. Make a tally mark
on your chart when a student contributes to the discussion. This is a great way to
monitor students who are actively participating, and note those who are too shy or
reluctant and may have been overlooked. Eventually, you may decide to give a dis-
cussion grade based on participation, and this chart will help you decide that grade.
• Avoid calling on the first student to raise his or her hand. Wait for a number of stu-
dents to signal their interest in answering before calling on one. You might even tell
the class that you will wait until everyone has an idea. If after a reasonable amount
of time some are not ready to participate, have them check in with a neighbor to see
if they agree on an answer to the question.
132
Whole-Class Discussion
INTRODUCTION
Sitting on the rug can create an intimate instructional environment in which to read a
story or conduct a discussion with younger students. However, the closer children physically
are to one another, the tougher it is to share the space without fidgeting and touching. Close
quarters can quickly lead to other disengaging or off-task behaviors. However, it is possible
and worthwhile for children to sit in close proximity and enjoy learning.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
This lesson has been divided or “chunked” into three parts. It is
suggested that you teach the first part, then model it and check
for understanding before moving on to the next part. Younger
students will benefit from this step-by-step approach.
134
Sitting on the Rug
Assign Seating
At the beginning of the year, some teachers assign each student to a spot and code that
spot with an icon or a name so students know where to sit—like a seating chart. Assigning
spots helps students be successful by making sure that you do not have students who are
potentially disruptive sitting by one another. It also makes transitions quicker because stu-
dents will not have to figure out where to sit, and there will not be any arguing about the
“best spot.”
Students may also have their own carpet square and learn the rule to keep all body parts
inside their square. Masking tape can create a checkerboard on a larger carpet for a similar
structure.
Be sure to place near you those students who have trouble sitting still.
If some students have great difficulty sitting still, try having them sit slightly away from
other students so that their movement is not distracting. Make sure these students are not
all placed next to each other for it may lead to more distracting behavior.
136
Sitting on the Rug
• Sit in a circle. When holding a morning share time or class meeting, it is optimal
to form a circle and sit on the rug knee to knee with your students. This will create
a sense of community and convey to students your interest in listening and sharing
along with them.
Independent Work
INTRODUCTION
The ability to work independently is critical to academic success. Students need to learn
to focus on their work without distracting or disturbing others. They must learn to ask for
help only after attempting the work on their own.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
During independent work time, students will:
• Do the assigned work.
• Stay in their seats.
• Use their Help Cards.
• Select an activity from the to-do list if finished early.
• Do this without talking.
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Independent Work
• Appropriate level of difficulty. Choose tasks and materials that are at each student’s
appropriate instructional level. If the work is too difficult, students will become frus-
trated and disruptive. If it is too easy, they will quickly become bored.
• Conduct structured practice. Before you send the students to work on their own,
have them practice the new skill with your support. For example, when you have
them work on problems as a class, be available to answer any questions they have.
• Check for understanding. Often no student responds when teachers ask if the stu-
dents have any questions after structured practice. Yet when the students get to
work, the teacher faces a sea of hands. It is important to carefully determine if the
students understand how to do the assignment.
Have students give you a thumbs-up if they understand and a thumbs-
down if they do not.
Have the students pair off to see if their partner understands how they
should do the assignment.
• Let the students know you will check their work. Assess their assignments with
specific feedback. Make it clear that you spent time reviewing their work. Avoid
one-word comments or single grades with no comments. Help students see and
understand exactly what they can do to improve their learning. This will help them
work more diligently next time.
• Chunk assignments. Break longer assignments into manageable “chunks.” Tell stu-
dents, “When you finish five problems, raise your hand, and I will check your work
before you continue.”
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Independent Work
• Prompt. When giving a prompt, you simply direct the student to the next thing they
need to do. You may want to quickly check for understanding to make sure students
understand.
• Leave. Avoid lingering with individual students. This teaches them they cannot do
it on their own, and if you become too distracted, the other students will take it as
license to stop working.
INTRODUCTION
Teamwork is an important life skill and many classroom activities lend themselves to
working in pairs. However, when working with a peer, some students may use the oppor-
tunity to socialize, act silly, or otherwise avoid doing the assigned work. Since there may
be from 10–15 different pairs working at one time, you can end up running from one pair
to another responding to problem behavior rather than offering constructive instructional
help. Making sure students learn how to work in pairs is an important prerequisite for their
academic success in partnership activities.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
In the two steps to working with a partner, students will need
to be taught several behaviors:
1. Pairing Off
When moving into pairs, students will:
• Move quickly to sit next to and face their partner.
• Speak in a quiet voice.
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Working With a Partner
144
Working With a Partner
INTRODUCTION
Having students work independently while you work with a small group—such as a
reading group—can be one of the most difficult classroom situations to manage. While you
work with a small group, students who are supposed to be working independently may often
stray off task. Students need to learn to stay focused on their work when you are working
with a group of their classmates. For this to happen, students need to follow the directions
for all transitions and behaviors involved in small-group and independent work activities.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
Students need to master four areas in order to work successfully
in this situation.
146
Teacher Works With a Small Group While Other Students Work Independently
148
Teacher Works With a Small Group While Other Students Work Independently
you will work with each group. Allow 2 minutes for students to transition from their seats to
the small group and back. Here is an example of a 75-minute block for meeting with three
different reading groups during a reading and language arts activity.
Group 1 9:00–9:23
Transition 9:23–9:25
Group 2 9:25–9:48
Transition 9:48–9:50
Group 3 9:50–10:13
Transition 10:13–10:15
Working in Groups
INTRODUCTION
The social and cognitive benefits of group work are well researched and extremely valu-
able (Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). For many teachers, though,
having students work in groups presents serious issues: They waste too much instructional
time getting into groups, they socialize instead of work, they argue and cannot get along, or
they simply do not participate. As a result, many teachers make the following conclusion:
Stay away from group work—the class cannot handle it. The best group lesson plan will not
succeed until students have learned to work effectively and behave appropriately in a group.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
When working in groups, students will:
• Work on the assignment.
• Stay seated.
• Talk only about the assignment and in quiet voices.
150
Working in Groups
on task and not become distracted. As students demonstrate they can handle a quick group
experience, you can begin providing them assignments that will take longer to complete.
• Be flexible in the size of the groups. At most grade levels, four or five students per
group are reasonable. With low achievers, a smaller group may allow for more inten-
sive instruction while a larger group of high achievers can still function well.
Review group makeup regularly with an eye toward forming new units to meet the cur-
rent needs of your class. Avoid labeling your groups and keeping them together for months.
152
Chapter 23
Working at Centers
INTRODUCTION
Learning centers provide an opportunity for students to work together or independently
at a station dedicated to a specific activity. Centers also let you effectively use a limited
amount of materials or equipment with all students in your class. For example, you may
have only one microscope, but if you set up an experiment at a center, all students will be
able to take turns during a hands-on investigation. Even the most compelling activities,
however, can fail to result in learning if students use center time to play, talk, and stay off
task. A great deal of responsible behavior is expected of students when they work at centers.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
1. Transitioning to a Center
When signaled to go to a center, students will:
• Stand up quietly and push in their chairs.
• Bring the correct materials.
• Walk directly to the assigned center and take a seat.
• Use a quiet voice.
2. Working at a Center
When working at a center, students will:
• Read the assignment first.
• Work on the assignment either by taking turns or as a
group.
• Stay seated.
• Talk only about the assignment, and in a quiet voice.
(continued)
154
Working at Centers
156
Part 8
Introduction to Procedures
INTRODUCTION
Classroom procedures are basic routines that involve movement into, out of, or within
the classroom. Transitions are often the hardest management issues most teachers face.
The lack of structure that transitions present typically results in twice as much disruptive
behavior by students as do other activities (Arlin, 1979). Due to the large number of transi-
tions during a day or period and the time they often take to complete, some teachers lose
up to 1 hour of instructional time per day struggling through transitions (Witt et al., 1999).
When students know exactly how you expect them to behave during different classroom
procedures, your school day will proceed more smoothly and you will have more time to
engage in learning activities.
PROCEDURES
Attention-Getting Signal, page 161
In-Seat Transitions, page 163
Out-of-Seat Transitions, page 166
Lining Up to Leave the Classroom, page 169
Walking in Line, page 172
Entering the Classroom After Recess or Lunch, page 175
Students Going to Pull-Out Programs, page 178
Distributing and Collecting Materials and Papers, page 181
Attending an Assembly, page 184
Emergency Drills, page 186
Beginning of the Day or Period Routine, page 188
End of the Day or Period Routine, page 195
Give Directions Only When You Have the Attention of All Students
Because many classroom procedures involve student movement, it is important that all
students hear your complete directions for what they are to do—before they start doing it.
Too often teachers begin giving directions when students are not fully attentive. The
result is obvious: Some students—those who heard your directions—know what to do and
start doing it; those who did not hear your directions do not know what to do and either
do something else or start asking what to do. Either way, a smooth transition is lost and the
teacher usually has to repeat the directions again and again.
Before you give directions, be sure you have the full attention of all students. This
means they have their eyes on you and are not talking. Use your attention-getting signal
(see chapter 25 on page 161) to get everyone focused.
160
Chapter 25
Attention-Getting Signal
INTRODUCTION
Throughout the school day, you will give students directions that they must hear, under-
stand, and follow. Thus, you need to be able to get their attention quickly and consistently.
An attention-getting signal cues students to stop what they are doing and give you their
undivided attention. Effective use of an attention-getting signal keeps you from having to
repeat your directions or make endless pleas of “Listen to me.”
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
When given a signal, students will:
• Freeze.
• Look at the teacher.
• Listen to what the teacher is saying.
• Giving hand signals, such as one hand in the air and the other hand with one finger
on the lips (the “shh” sign).
• Clapping rhythmically: “When you hear me clapping, join in with me. When I stop
clapping, you stop clapping and look at me and listen.”
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Chapter 26
In-Seat Transitions
INTRODUCTION
Throughout the school day, you will often need your students to switch from one activ-
ity to another while in their seats. These transitions are not an opportunity to socialize,
wander around the room, or become disruptive. Students must learn to move quickly and
quietly from one task to another. Successful transitions are fundamental to a well-managed
classroom that focuses on learning.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
1. Completing an Activity
When asked to clear their desks for a new activity, students will:
• Put away materials.
• Stay seated.
• Do this without talking.
Make Sure Students Have All of the Materials for the Next Activity
To make the transition between activities smoother and allow you to focus on the les-
son, make sure students have all of the materials they will need for the next activity (see the
chapter on distributing and collecting materials and papers on page 181).
164
In-Seat Transitions
the next task in a short time. Prompt them to begin shutting down: “Now is a good time to
complete the problem you’re working on.”
Out-of-Seat Transitions
INTRODUCTION
In your classroom students will often need to get out of their seats and move from one
work area to another. With 20–40 youngsters in a room, your clear directions will mini-
mize the opportunities for your students to socialize, wander, and disturb others. Everyone
needs to move quickly and quietly so that valuable learning time is not lost. Mastering this
procedure is fundamental to your classroom’s success.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
1. Completing One Activity
When asked to clear their desks for a new activity, students will:
• Follow directions to complete the activity.
• Stay seated.
• Do this without talking.
166
Out-of-Seat Transitions
168
Chapter 28
INTRODUCTION
Before any substantial number of students can move from the classroom to another
location (such as 15, 20, or 35 students), you will want them to line up. Lining up can be a
time-consuming, disruptive experience with students rushing to get to the front of the line,
pushing or shoving each other, yelling at each other, and so on. Students need to learn how
to line up quickly and in an orderly manner before you attempt to have them walk in line.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
1. Preparing to Line Up
When told to get ready to line up, students will:
• Follow directions to get ready to leave.
• Gather materials they will bring to the line (lunch, sports
equipment, books, and so on).
• Do this without talking.
2. Lining Up
When told to line up, students will:
• Quietly push in their chairs and walk to the end of the line.
• Stand in a straight line without touching anyone.
• Wait to be dismissed from the classroom.
• Do this without talking.
Stay Withit
Lining students up is potentially one of the most disruptive activities you will ask stu-
dents to do. Under no circumstances should you allow yourself to be distracted for any
reason. Monitor the entire transition and do not forget to narrate students as they follow
the steps of lining up.
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Lining Up to Leave the Classroom
priate places after each use. Only after materials have been taken care of and accounted for
should students be allowed to line up. (See chapter 47 on student helpers, page 235.)
Walking in Line
INTRODUCTION
Moving a group of 20–40 children from one location to another on campus can be dif-
ficult. Without a procedure and clear directions, students may wander off, push or shove, or
disturb other classes. Students can learn to move quickly, quietly, and safely in line as they
make the transition across the school campus.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
When given the “GO” signal, students will:
• Walk directly behind the person in front of them.
• Keep their hands to themselves.
• Do this without talking.
Teach Students How to Walk in Line the First Time They Move as a Class
It is important that you teach the students how you expect them to walk in line imme-
diately before the first time they are expected to use this behavior. Allow extra time so you
can make sure you have time to have the students practice walking appropriately.
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Walking in Line
Let Students Know You Are Monitoring How They Are Walking
When you first have students walk in line, narrate student behavior every minute or
two in a voice loud enough for all the students to hear, such as, “Kyle and Dean are walking
single file and are keeping their hands to themselves.” When needed, correct students who
are disruptive.
Buddy Up
Try pairing students up so they walk with a buddy. The line is much shorter when stu-
dents walk by twos. This will also help eliminate stragglers and create a much more man-
ageable line.
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Chapter 30
INTRODUCTION
How you have students enter the room after recess or lunch communicates your expecta-
tions about learning and how time is spent in your classroom. If they are allowed to wander
in noisily, take their time getting to their seats, and have nothing to do as they settle down,
the message is that little else is going to happen—and that learning time is not particularly
valued. Students need to move quickly and quietly into the room and immediately get ready
to work.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
When returning to class after recess or lunch, students will:
• Put away belongings and walk to their seats.
• Start the assignment on the board.
• Use their Help Card if they need help.
• Do this without talking.
Assignments on the board can draw or dispel student interest. A compelling task or
interesting problem will increase curiosity and prepare students to learn. Some teachers
designate an area on the chalkboard or bulletin board labeled “Problem of the Day,” “Point
to Ponder,” “Do You Know?” or “Today’s Journal Entry.” Motivating, short solo tasks are
your best bet. Silent reading for 5–10 minutes is also a good transition activity.
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Entering the Classroom After Recess or Lunch
INTRODUCTION
Students will often need to leave your classroom for instruction at another location. They
must learn how to leave the room quickly and quietly and head directly to the new area.
When returning to the room, students must learn how to transition in an orderly, nondis-
ruptive fashion, and get right back to work.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
1. Leaving the Classroom
When leaving the classroom to go to another location, students
will:
• Walk out of the classroom.
• Go directly to their assigned location
• Do this without talking.
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Students Going to Pull-Out Programs
Make Sure Students Know When They Will Leave the Classroom
For younger students, put the schedule on the desks for those designated to leave the
classroom. Show a picture of a clock with the time the students are to leave, and write down
the days they are to leave the classroom. For older students, put schedules on the board or
give a copy of the schedule to the students to keep in their desks or notebooks depending
on the nature of the pull-out.
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Chapter 32
INTRODUCTION
A classroom day is filled with papers going back and forth. Disorganized distribution or
collection of papers not only wastes learning time but could also result in your losing or mis-
placing papers. A clearly defined routine can help you avoid these unnecessary problems.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
1. Passing Out Materials and Papers
When materials are passed out, students will:
• Take just enough for themselves.
• Pass the rest to the next person.
• Speak in a quiet voice.
2. Collecting Papers
When papers are collected, students will:
• Place their paper on top of the other papers.
• Make sure the paper faces the same direction as the others.
• Speak in a quiet voice.
Put clear labels or titles on top of the stacks of paper so you can refer to what is being
handed out. If materials have titles, you can say, “Who still needs a copy of ‘Making Words
Plural’?”
Provide Reminders
Provide many reminders for students when there is, for example, an important paper
they need to return the next day. Write the task on the board along with other homework
assignments, and remind them of this important obligation several times on the day before
the paper is due. You may want to pin reminder notes to their clothes or backpacks.
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Distributing and Collecting Materials and Papers
Attending an Assembly
INTRODUCTION
An assembly is a time for learning, entertainment, or both. Students need to know how
to behave in an assembly just as in any other school activity. Unless students are taught how
to behave, they will be inattentive or disrespectful of speakers, players, or performers.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
When attending an assembly, students will:
• Sit in their seats.
• Clap or respond only when appropriate.
• Do this without talking (unless the assembly includes
participation).
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Attending an Assembly
Make Sure Students Know Exactly How to File Into Their Seats
You may say to them, for example, “Walk down the row until you reach the first available
seat and then sit down. Sit in the order in which you are lined up.” If students are carrying
their own chairs, make sure they understand your expectations for where and how they are
to place them.
Remind Students That Your Rules and Corrective Actions Are in Effect
Be sure to let the students know that your discipline plan will be used to help students
choose to behave during an assembly. Take a clipboard along so you can jot down names
of students who choose to misbehave and follow up with them when you return to class.
Emergency Drills
INTRODUCTION
Ensuring the safety of students is one of your most important responsibilities. In any
emergency situation—earthquake, fire drill, stranger or disruption on campus, or dismissal
due to weather—you and your students must know exactly what to do and how to do it.
It is critical that you teach students the routines for various drills and the importance of
responding to each situation in a calm and quick manner. Whatever the emergency, student
safety begins with their listening to and following directions.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
When given a signal, students will:
• Freeze.
• Look at the teacher.
• Follow the teacher’s directions.
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Emergency Drills
door behind you. If students have practiced the procedures, they will be able to make the
transition to the pre-assigned location without you leading them. If you have a classroom
aide, he or she can lead the students.
INTRODUCTION
The beginning of the school day or class period sets a crucial tone that can affect the
rest of the instructional day. Students need to be taught the specific practices that will set
up their day for achievement: entering quickly, putting away belongings, turning in papers,
and getting ready to work.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
At the beginning of each day or period, students will:
• Put away belongings.
• Get ready to work.
• Begin working.
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Beginning of the Day or Period Routine
Planning
Your beginning of the day routine will depend on many issues: your personal
preferences, the age and abilities of your students, and the internal procedures
and practices of your school. This lesson and the next differ from other procedure
lessons in this book because they require you to assess your own needs before
you teach the lessons. You will find worksheets on pages 190–194 to help you
plan and teach the procedures you want your students to complete each day
when they arrive in your classroom.
After you have completed the worksheets on pages 190–194, you will be ready
to teach the procedures.
Additional procedures:
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Reproducible
To teach students how to complete these three tasks according to your expectations,
take the procedures you selected on Planning Worksheet 1 and divide them among
the three goals. For example:
• Turn in homework.
• Do their assigned jobs (if student helpers).
• Take chairs down and be seated.
• Get learning materials ready.
• Sharpen pencils.
• Start an assignment.
• Read silently.
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Reproducible
Use the spaces that follow to organize the procedures you chose into the
three categories.
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3. Get to Work
This means students will:
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Reproducible
In the spaces that follow, list the procedures you want your students to engage in
and the behaviors you want to see and hear.
Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
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Reproducible
Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
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Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
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Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
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Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
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Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
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Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
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Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
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Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
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Chapter 36
INTRODUCTION
Students need to end the school day in a calm, structured manner with plenty of time to
clean up and organize their materials. A frantic last-second rush to leave can be upsetting
and often causes students to forget their homework, personal belongings, and other materi-
als. Students need to be taught how to end the day in a calm, constructive manner.
BEHAVIORS TO TEACH
At the end of each day, students will complete the following
tasks by completing specific procedures related to each task:
• Gather belongings.
• Get ready to leave.
• Leave.
Planning
Your end of the day routine will depend on many issues: your personal
preferences, the age and ability of your students, and the internal procedures
and practices of your school. This lesson and the previous one differ from other
procedure lessons in this book because they require you to assess your own
needs before you teach the lessons. You will find worksheets on pages 198–202
to help you plan and teach the procedures you want your students to complete
each day before they leave your classroom.
After you have completed the worksheets on pages 198–202 you will be ready to
teach the procedures.
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End of the Day or Period Routine
Additional procedures:
________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
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Reproducible
1. Gather belongings.
3. Leave.
To teach your students how to complete these three tasks according to your
expectations, take the procedures you selected on Planning Worksheet 1 and divide
them among the three goals. For example:
Goal 3: Leave
This may mean students will:
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Reproducible
Use the spaces that follow to organize the procedures you chose into the
three categories.
1. Gather Belongings
This means students will:
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________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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3. Leave
This means students will:
________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
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Reproducible
PLANNING WORKSHEET 3
DETERMINE WHAT YOU WANT STUDENTS TO DO FOR EACH
PROCEDURE
Next, determine the behaviors you want to see and hear from your students while
they are engaging in each procedure. These will be the behaviors you will teach
during the instructional section of this lesson. For example:
In the spaces that follow, list the procedures you want your students to engage in
and the behaviors you want to see and hear.
Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
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Reproducible
Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
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Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
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Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
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Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
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Procedure________________________________________________________________
Behaviors_______________________________________________________________
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Part 9
Introduction to Policies
INTRODUCTION
Policies are behavioral expectations that are in effect at all times during the day or period.
Policies can vary widely from classroom to classroom. No single list of expectations is appro-
priate for all classrooms, but many of the situations that require policies are common to most.
POLICIES
Classroom Rules, page 207
Positive Feedback, page 210
Corrective Actions, page 213
Bringing Appropriate Materials to Class, page 218
Making Up Missed Work Due to Absence, page 221
Sharpening Pencils, page 224
Using Materials on Bookshelves or in Cabinets, page 227
Individual Students Leaving Class to Go to the
Restroom, page 230
Late or Missing Assignments, page 232
Student Helpers, page 235
Taking Care of Desks, Tables, and Chairs, page 238
Using the Drinking Fountain, page 240
206
Chapter 38
Classroom Rules
INTRODUCTION
In addition to behavioral expectations for specific activities, you need to teach students
your basic expectations for how they should behave in your classroom. These expectations
are called classroom rules. These rules are in effect at all times and help ensure that your
classroom is a safe environment where you can teach and students can learn.
PLANNING
Determine Your Classroom Rules
Before the school year begins, determine the rules you want for your classroom. Begin
by asking yourself, “What general behaviors do I need at all times, each and every day, so
that I can teach and my students can learn? How do I expect students to conduct themselves
in my classroom?”
In answering these questions, most teachers come up with the following basic rules:
Typical Rules
Follow directions. This is perhaps the most important rule you will
establish. You cannot teach and students will not learn if the many
directions you give throughout each day are not followed. Follow-
ing directions is fundamental to a well-managed classroom.
Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself. For students to have
a safe and orderly classroom, they need to know they are pro-
tected from being hit, being kicked, or having their property
taken or destroyed.
No swearing, teasing, or bullying. All students have the right to
be in a classroom where they will not be verbally or psychologi-
cally abused.
Most successful teachers use these rules in their classrooms. Other appropriate rules
might include:
• No eating in the classroom.
• No running in the classroom.
• No leaving the classroom without permission.
• No yelling or screaming in the classroom.
In selecting your own classroom rules, keep these points in mind:
Rules need to be observable. Address behaviors that you can clearly see. Vaguely stated
expectations may mean one thing to one student and an entirely different thing to another.
As a result, they are open to interpretation, are difficult to enforce, and often cause problems
by opening the door to arguments. For example:
Observable Rules
Keep hands and feet to yourself.
No cursing or teasing.
Vague Rules
Be respectful to others.
Be nice.
Rules need to apply throughout the entire day or period. Classroom rules need to be in
effect all day or period, no matter what activity is taking place. Avoid rules that may sound
sensible but in reality would not be in effect all day. For example: “Raise your hand and wait
to be called on before you speak.” There will be times when students are expected to speak
out, such as when in cooperative learning groups. Therefore, this is not an appropriate rule.
208
Classroom Rules
Positive Feedback
INTRODUCTION
Along with teaching your classroom rules, you will need to tell students how you will
give positive feedback when they follow those rules. Positive feedback is critical to motivat-
ing students to choose appropriate behavior, and it creates a positive learning environment.
PLANNING
Determine How You Will Provide Positive Feedback
There are two types of positive feedback that you will use: individual and classwide.
Individual positive feedback. This is the most effective form of positive feedback you
can give to individual students. It is easy to do and can be integrated into any ongoing activ-
ity during the day. See chapter 9, Using Behavioral Narration, page 57, for more details.
Positive notes home and positive phone calls to parents. The goal of a positive note or
phone call is to share good news with parents about their child. Telling students that you
will send positive messages to parents about their good behavior is a great motivator.
Behavior awards. Special awards for appropriate behavior are always an effective motiva-
tor. Students will be proud to receive them and to take them home to show to their parents.
Classwide positive feedback. A classwide positive feedback system is a program in
which all of your students work together toward a positive reward given to the entire class.
The goal is to motivate students to learn new behaviors at the beginning of the year or to
work on improving problem behaviors. You can choose from among many classwide posi-
tive feedback systems. A simple system to use at the beginning of the year is called points-
on-the-board (see chapter 9, Using Behavioral Narration, page 57, for details).
210
Positive Feedback
Make Positive Contact With the Parents of at Least Two Students Each Day
Positive contact with parents can yield positive results. Many teachers set a goal for
themselves to contact two parents each day with positive news. When parents hear posi-
tive news instead of problem news about their child, you are much more likely to gain their
ongoing support.
The more these students earn points, the more the other students will encourage them to
behave. This type of positive peer pressure is a great motivator for older students.
212
Chapter 40
Corrective Actions
INTRODUCTION
No matter how effectively you teach students to meet your behavioral expectations, some
will not meet them right away. You must have a clear policy for the corrective actions you
will take when misbehavior occurs. Without a policy, you will be forced to constantly make
choices about how to react. These on-the-spot responses are often arbitrary, inconsistent,
and based on emotion. Planning out the corrective actions you will take before the school
year begins will increase the consistency and effectiveness of your responses.
Students benefit as well from having a clear policy concerning how you will respond
to their misbehavior. They have a right to know that they will be treated fairly when they
misbehave. A set policy gives all the students a clear picture of the corrective actions they
can expect you will take.
PLANNING
Determine Corrective Actions to Use When Students Choose Not to Follow
the Rules
Here are some guidelines to follow:
Corrective actions should be designed to help students learn from their mistakes. The
goal of corrective actions is not to punish students. You would never punish a student for a
mistake in reading or math, so why would you punish a student when he or she misbehaves?
Effective corrective actions are designed to help teach students appropriate behavior.
Corrective actions must be something that students do not like, but they must never
be physically or psychologically harmful. A corrective action should never intentionally
embarrass, humiliate, or physically harm any student. However, a corrective action will not
be effective unless it is something the students find undesirable, such as losing recess time.
Corrective actions do not have to be severe to be effective. Teachers often think that
the more severe the corrective action, the more impact it will have on a student. This is not
true. The key to effective corrective action is that it must be used consistently. It is the inevi-
tability of the corrective action and not the severity that makes it effective. Here are typical
consequences teachers find effective:
Time out (removing a student from the group). Removing a student from the group is
an effective corrective action for elementary age students. Designate a chair or table as the
time-out area. Depending on the age of the student, a trip to the time-out area could last
from 5–10 minutes. While separated from the rest of the class, the student continues to do
his or her class work.
Staying 1 or 2 minutes after class. With older students, a good consequence is to simply
have them wait 1 or 2 minutes after the other students have been dismissed for the next
class period or recess, for example. One or 2 minutes may not seem like a lot of time, but
it can be an eternity to students who want to walk to the next class with their friends or be
the first in line for handball.
During the 1- or 2-minute wait, you can take the opportunity to briefly counsel the
students regarding how you can work together to help them make better choices regarding
their behavior.
Think sheet. The purpose of a think sheet is to encourage the student to think about
misbehavior. You may want students to take the think sheet home for parents to sign and
return. The student should write the following on the think sheet:
• The rule that was broken.
• Why the student chose to break the rule.
• What the student could do differently next time.
Time out in another classroom. This corrective action entails sending the student to
another classroom for approximately 20 minutes with academic work to complete. This is a
useful corrective action, especially if you do not have administrative support. Make arrange-
ments with the teacher in that classroom beforehand, and place this corrective action at the
appropriate level on your hierarchy.
Immediate call to parents. Calling parents with the student present at the next available
break after a student misbehaves can be a powerful corrective action. Such immediate action
can have a strong impact. If necessary, call the parents at work. If your classroom does not
have a phone, use your own cell phone.
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Corrective Actions
Corrective actions should be organized in a hierarchy. The best way to use corrective
actions is to organize them into a hierarchy. A hierarchy lists the corrective measures in
the order in which they will be imposed for inappropriate behavior during a day or period.
A hierarchy is progressive and starts with a reminder. Corrective actions in the hierarchy
then become gradually more substantial for the second, third, fourth, and fifth times that a
student chooses to misbehave. Here is how a 1-day hierarchy might work.
The first time a student misbehaves, simply remind the student of the
directions that were to be followed: “Cary, the direction was to take out your
social studies book and read pages 46 through 51 without talking.”
The second time may warrant a few minutes of reflection time away from
the group.
The third time could lead to a conference with the student during recess, or
the student could fill out a think sheet that helps him or her come up with
alternatives to the misbehavior.
If a student misbehaves four times in a day, consider contacting the parents.
Finally, if a student misbehaves five times, send the student to the adminis-
trator’s office.
When using a hierarchy, do not carry over the corrective actions into the next day.
Students should start each day with a clean slate.
However, your hierarchy should include a severe clause to use when a student becomes
defiant or violent. In such cases, skip all of the other steps and send the student directly to
the administrator’s office.
Sample Hierarchy
First Disruption: Verbal reminder
Keep track of corrective actions. For your hierarchy to be simple to use and easy to
integrate into your teaching routine, you will need a system to keep track of student misbe-
havior and the corrective actions accrued each day. You will need to know at a glance the
names of students who have received corrective actions and where they are in the hierarchy.
Keeping track does not have to be time-consuming, nor does it have to interrupt your teach-
ing. Here are some suggestions:
Write names of students on a clipboard. The first time a student misbehaves, write his
or her name on your clipboard. If the student misbehaves again, put a check next to his or
her name and continue doing so each time the misbehavior occurs. At a glance you will
know how far down on the hierarchy each student has gone and the corrective actions the
student has chosen. Place a blank sheet on the clipboard each morning.
Use a color-coded card system. Make a chart of student names with a pocket under each
name. Put five different colored cards in the pocket. Each color signifies a different place on
the hierarchy. For example:
At the beginning of the day, all students have green cards showing in the pocket under
their name. The first time a student misbehaves, you or the student moves the green card to
the back of the deck leaving the blue card showing. This indicates the student has received a
reminder. Each successive time a student misbehaves, the front card goes to the back, expos-
ing the card that indicates where the student is on the hierarchy. At the end of the school
day, a student helper can put all the cards back in order for the beginning of the next day.
216
Corrective Actions
INTRODUCTION
Students need to learn that they are responsible for bringing the appropriate learning
materials to class. When students do not have the needed materials, the time you spend
finding temporary replacements will disrupt or slow down instruction. Students need to
know what you expect them to bring to class and what will happen if they do not follow
these instructions.
PLANNING
Determine Your Policy for Bringing Materials to Class
Let students know exactly what they need to have with them each day. You may also
want to establish a policy for corrective actions when students forget materials.
Some teachers have corrective-action hierarchies that apply directly to bringing materi-
als to class. Because students are likely to leave their books and materials at home at least
once, these hierarchies typically begin with a warning. See the Sample Policy feature on the
next page.
Note: Use your best judgment in working with students who forget materials. Some homes
are so chaotic that it is difficult to hold students accountable—particularly young children—
for bringing things back to school. Do your best to involve parents. If your efforts are unsuc-
cessful and books are not returned, you may choose not to send materials home at all.
218
Bringing Appropriate Materials to Class
Sample Policy
1st and 2nd grades
First time without materials Warning
Third time without materials Call home again and ask parents
to help make sure the student
has needed materials when leav-
ing for school in the morning.
Some teachers take no corrective action. They simply give students extra books or pen-
cils. The goal is to get students working, and in some cases simply providing the supplies
may be the best solution.
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Chapter 42
INTRODUCTION
Absent students are everyday facts of school life. You and your students need to know
your expectations for making up missed work. Students will need to know what they are
required to make up and how long they have to do it.
PLANNING
Determine Your Policy for Making Up Work Missed Due to Absence
Keep in mind that students may not be able to make up some work until they are caught
up with the instruction that was missed. In your planning, you need to remember that you
may have to work with a student individually before assignments can be made up.
Here are ideas to consider:
Homework buddies
• Group students into pairs or teams called “homework buddies.”
• When a student is absent, his or her buddy is responsible for writing down all missed
assignments, bulletins, and homework.
• Make a form that students can use to write down all missed assignments, and make
a folder for storing homework.
• Designate a location where students can place their partner’s folder at the end of each
day.
• If appropriate, have the students take the folder to their partner’s house.
Internet
• You may be able to email students about missed work if you have a computer in your
room with an email account and know that some students have email at home.
• If you do not have the time to do this, enlist a student to send the message (perhaps
the absent student’s homework buddy or a student helper). Of course, make sure
students know to check for email. You obviously will not be able to use this system
with all of your students.
• Many schools use a homework hotline or post all assignments on a web site that is
accessible to students and parents from home. This way, students do not have to wait
till they come back to school to get assignments.
222
Making Up Missed Work Due to Absence
Sharpening Pencils
INTRODUCTION
Without a clear policy for sharpening pencils, you may experience a number of prob-
lems: interrupted lessons, students unable to work because they do not have a usable pencil,
a long line of students waiting to use the sharpener, and an all-too-compelling excuse for
students to keep jumping out of their seats to sharpen and re-sharpen pencils. You need
to develop a simple plan that covers how and when pencils will and will not be sharpened.
PLANNING
Determine Your Policy for Sharpening Pencils
There is no one-size-fits-all policy. Come up with a policy that works for you and your
students. Here are two options:
Let students sharpen their own pencils. If you want to have students sharpen their
own pencils and avoid noisy interruptions at the same time, you need to determine the
following:
When can students use the pencil sharpener?
Some teachers set up specific times for pencil sharpening, such as when students first
arrive in the classroom each morning or at the beginning of the period or day. Other teach-
ers allow students to use the sharpener when they work independently. Sharpening pencils
during classroom instruction should not be allowed.
How many students can use the sharpener at a time?
A long line of students invites disruption in the classroom. Two students at a time—one
at the sharpener, the other waiting—is a good place to start.
Have a pencil monitor sharpen all pencils. Many teachers designate one student as the
pencil monitor. There are a number of distinct advantages to this, not the least of which is
224
Sharpening Pencils
that having a monitor alleviates the problem of students breaking pencil points intentionally
so they can get up and go to the sharpener.
Use the “can” technique. Perhaps the simplest and most effective way of organizing the
job of pencil monitor is the “can” technique. A can full of sharpened pencils is kept in a cen-
tral location in the classroom. Another can sits nearby for dull pencils. Depending on your
classroom situation, you may want to place similar sets of pencil cans at each table of students.
When a student needs a sharpened pencil, he or she places the dull one in the dull pen-
cils container and takes a sharp one from the sharp pencils container. At the end of the
day—or whenever you decide is best—the pencil monitor is responsible for sharpening the
dull pencils and placing them in the sharp pencil container.
If you choose to use cans, consider dividing your class into smaller, more manageable
groups (designated by table, corner, or a special name). Assign a pencil monitor for each
group to be in charge of sharpening pencils.
Personalize Pencils
Personalizing pencils by placing stickers at the eraser end is especially effective for help-
ing younger students keep track of and take care of their pencils.
226
Chapter 44
INTRODUCTION
Many of the materials students use during the day or period—books, scissors, paper,
art supplies, and games—are kept for shared use in cabinets or on bookshelves. In order for
these materials to be used and maintained properly and to prevent their use from impact-
ing the flow of instruction, you need to establish a policy regarding when and how students
can access the materials.
PLANNING
Determine Your Policy for Using Classroom Materials
Some teachers prefer to have each student get his or her own materials. Others prefer to
have classroom monitors distribute and collect materials. Depending on the activities, you
may want to use both strategies and choose the one best suited for each activity. The follow-
ing guidelines will help you implement each strategy:
Students take and return their own materials. If you want to have students borrow and
return materials on their own, you need to answer these questions:
When can students get materials?
Some teachers set up specific times such as the beginning of the period or the end of
the day. Other teachers allow students to use materials only when necessary to work on an
identified project. Students should never be allowed to disturb instruction with trips to and
away from storage areas.
How are materials returned?
Students need to return materials at a time when they will not disrupt the class. Materials
should also be put back the way they were found.
Student helpers distribute and collect materials. Many teachers assign students the
job of distributing and collecting materials. If students need books from the shelves, three
or four monitors gather the books and pass them out. If an art project requires scissors, the
helpers place a can of scissors at each table area.
228
Using Materials on Bookshelves or in Cabinets
INTRODUCTION
There will be times when students will need to go to the restroom during class. If stu-
dents must ask for permission, it tends to interrupt the instructional flow. A simple proce-
dure can respect student needs and assure their prompt return with minimal disruption.
PLANNING
Determine Your Policy for Restroom Use During Class
Your policy may consider many factors, including student age and their level of respon-
sibility.
• Most schools require students to carry a hall pass to identify their classroom and
where they are going. Place the passes in a visible location near the door. Students
need to be able to see if the pass is available or already in use.
• When students request to use the restroom, some teachers require students to first
raise their hand. Upon being acknowledged by the teacher, the student points or
nods in the direction of the hall pass. A nod back from the teacher lets the student
know that it is okay to leave.
• Teachers of older students may allow them to leave class only for emergencies.
Teachers of younger students sometimes use a buddy system and have two students
go together to make sure they are safe and do not get sidetracked.
• Some teachers allow only one student, or one boy and one girl, to go to the restroom
at a time.
230
Individual Students Leaving Class toGo to the Restroom
Emergencies
Let students know that if they have a personal emergency and need to go to the bath-
room very quickly, they can come up to you to let you know and then immediately leave.
Be Alert
Be alert for special physical concerns that require a high frequency of restroom visits.
Similarly, be aware of students who may take advantage of the policy.
INTRODUCTION
When students turn in assignments late or not at all, teachers too often handle situations
on a case-by-case basis, which may result in favoring one student over another. This can
cause problems with students and even their parents. To treat all students fairly, you need to
determine the corrective actions that will apply if work is late and then apply these actions
consistently. This will motivate students to complete their work in a responsible manner.
PLANNING
Determine Your Policy for Late or Missing Work
Some teachers are lenient and allow students to turn in assignments late without any
penalty. Other teachers do not allow students to turn in any assignment past the due date.
Most teachers find that the middle ground is the most useful starting point.
Consider these policy ideas:
• Any assignment turned in late receives a lower grade than it would have been given
if turned in on time.
• Any assignment more than 1 week late will not be accepted.
• Contact the student’s parents if more than three assignments are not turned in or are
turned in late.
232
Late or Missing Assignments
234
Chapter 47
Student Helpers
INTRODUCTION
Student helpers, or monitors, can do a lot more for the classroom than make things
easier for you. Being a student helper promotes responsibility and helps students feel owner-
ship of the classroom and its contents.
PLANNING
As you plan for student helpers, determine:
• The jobs you want the student helpers to do
• The procedures for doing these jobs
• The method you will use to assign and track your classroom helpers
• Flag leader
236
Student Helpers
out papers the way you would like. Check for understanding and, if needed, periodically
re-teach the jobs, especially if new students come into the classroom.
INTRODUCTION
Desks, tables, and chairs are important tools that are used constantly and must be kept
in working order. Students need to be able to get materials from their desks quickly and
quietly. They also need to be responsible for taking care of their desks, tables, and chairs.
PLANNING
Determine Your Policy for Care and Cleaning of Desks, Tables, and Chairs
Depending on the age of your students and your own classroom situation, you will want
to develop specific expectations for how students are to care for their classroom equipment.
Here are some ideas to consider:
• At the end of the day, all desktops (tabletops) are to be cleared of all materials.
• At the end of the week, clean out and either throw away or take home any loose
papers that are not needed in class.
• The only things that should remain in desks are books, workbooks, and other class-
room or school-related materials.
• Follow the rules of the school regarding what can and cannot be brought to school
(toys, food, comic books, magazines, electronic games, phones, pagers).
• At the end of the day, all chairs are to be placed on top of tables.
• Once a week students are to wash off the tops of their desks and tables.
• Students should never look in another student’s desk without permission.
• Students are not to draw or write on desks, tabletops, or chairs.
• Students are not to put stickers on desks, tabletops, or chairs.
238
Taking Care of Desks, Tables, and Chairs
INTRODUCTION
To avoid disruption of teaching and learning, students need to use the drinking fountain
at specific times. Students also must use the fountain safely and with regard to the safety of
others.
PLANNING
Determine Your Policy for Using Drinking Fountains
Your policy will depend on the age of your students, whether there is a fountain in
your classroom, the distance of fountains from your classroom, time of year (weather), and
responsibility level of your students.
Determine how students will use the fountain. Because using a drinking fountain
means leaning over and getting teeth and mouth close to hard metal, students need to be
taught to use fountains safely. Pushing or shoving at the drinking fountain could easily lead
to injury. When using a fountain, students need to follow these directions:
• Line up single file and wait your turn.
• Do not touch another student in line or at the fountain.
• Do not spray or splash water at other students.
Determine when students will use the fountain. Your own policy will depend on where
the fountains are located at your school: inside your classroom or on the yard. If both loca-
tions are available, decide when you expect students to use them.
On the yard. If the fountains are located on the yard or playground, students should be
expected to take a drink before school and before they line up at the end of recess or lunch.
In the classroom. If fountains are located in the classroom and not on the yard or play-
ground, let students line up and get drinks when they re-enter the classroom after recess and
240
Using the Drinking Fountain
lunch. This means some students will be in line for a drink and others will go directly to
their seats. Have both scenarios covered. Students waiting for a drink need to follow the
rules (single file, no touching). Students not getting a drink need to follow your directions
for re-entering the class and getting ready to work.
Appendix
Overhead Transparencies
Appendix
Overhead Transparencies
Visit go.solution-tree.com/behavior to download the reproducibles in this book.
246
Reproducible
Paying Attention
3 Keep your eyes
on the teacher.
3 Follow directions.
3 Do not talk.
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Reproducible
During a Class
Discussion
3 Raise your hand and
wait to be called on
before speaking.
3 Stay seated.
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Reproducible
Getting Ready
to Go to the Rug
3 Stand up and quietly
push in your chair.
3 Do not talk.
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Reproducible
250 Classroom Management for Academic Success © 2006 by Solution Tree Press • solution-tree.com
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Reproducible
3 Follow directions.
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Reproducible
During
Independent Work
3 Stay in your seat.
3 Do the assigned work.
3 Do not talk.
3 Use your Help Card.
3 If you finish early,
select an activity
from the to-do list.
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Reproducible
Working With
a Partner
Pairing Off
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Reproducible
Working With
a Partner
3 Sit with your partner.
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Reproducible
Moving Into a
Small Group
3 Stand up quietly and
push in your chair.
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Reproducible
Working
Independently at
Your Seat
3 Do the assigned work.
3 Stay seated.
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Reproducible
Working With
the Teacher
in a Small Group
3 Follow directions.
3 Stay seated.
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Reproducible
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Reproducible
When Working
in a Group
3 Work on the
assignment.
3 Stay seated.
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Reproducible
Going to a Center
3 Stand up quietly and
push in your chair.
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Reproducible
3 Stay seated.
3 Talk only about the
assignment and in a
quiet voice.
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Reproducible
When Moving
From One Center
to Another
3 Take your materials.
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Reproducible
At the
Attention-Getting
Signal
3 Freeze.
3 Listen.
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Reproducible
In-Seat Transitions
When Ending One
Activity and Getting
Ready for Another
3 Stay seated.
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Reproducible
In-Seat Transitions
When Given Directions to
Begin a New Activity
3 Stay seated.
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Reproducible
Out-of-Seat
Transitions
Before Moving to a
New Location to Begin a
New Activity
3 Follow the directions to
complete the activity
you are working on.
3 Stay seated.
3 Do not talk.
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Reproducible
Out-of-Seat
Transitions
When You Are Ready
for the Next Activity
3 Stand up and quietly
push in your chair.
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Reproducible
Out-of-Seat
Transitions
When You Are Told to Go
3 Follow directions.
3 Remain quiet.
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Reproducible
Lining Up
When You Are Told to Get
Ready to Line Up
Walking in Line
When Given the “Go”
Signal
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Reproducible
When Returning to
Class After Recess
or Lunch
3 Put away belongings
and walk to your seat.
3 Start the assignment
on the board.
3 Use your Help Card if
you need the teach-
er’s attention.
3 Do not talk.
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Reproducible
Leaving the
Classroom to Go to
Another Program
3 Walk as you leave the
classroom.
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Reproducible
Returning From
Another Program
3 Walk into the
classroom.
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Reproducible
When Distributing
Papers
3 Take just enough for
yourself.
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Reproducible
When Collecting
Papers
3 Place your paper on top
of the other papers.
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Reproducible
When Attending
an Assembly
3 Sit in your seat.
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Reproducible
3 Stop talking.
3 Follow directions.
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