Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
This blog is for the purpose of extending our conversation regarding the important topic of classroom management. My hope is that ideas stretch our current understandings and that questions stimulate an academic dialogue.
Classroom Management Links
- Eric Online Documents: Step by step (ED433334) First Days of School (ED442770)
- Teacher Vision...Experienced Teachers Offering Ideas and Solutions
- Dr. Mac's Amazing Behavior Management Advice Site
- Discipline by Design: The Honor Level System
- The Really Best List of Classroom Management Resources
- You Can Handle Them All
- Works4Me
18 comments:
1. The first thing that I will try to utilize in my classroom comes from Gordon's theory. I plan on trying some of the Confrontive Skills. While the "I" messages sound quite Eddie Murphy and SNL Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood-ish, I do feel they have a purpose and can be beneficial. I'm hoping by using these, students will begin to internalize their purpose and start to use them themselves. I"m planning on requiring an I message accompany every disagreement or misbehavior that occurs this year, within reason of course.
2. The second idea I wish to try also comes from Gordon. It is the "Class meeting". I used to do these several years ago, but then due to lack of time got away from them. I want to make every conscious effort to try to get in at least one per week. I like having an arena for the students to feel as though their concerns are important. This will give my classroom a bigger sense of community.
Two ideas that struck me as interesting from the presentations yesterday are, students are in control (from Positive Classroom Discipline, Frederic Jones) and I-Messages (from Discipline as Self Control, Thomas Gordon). I am willing to try to give the students all of the control over their behavior. I tend to tell students not to do things, but with Jones’s theories I should be allowing the students to establish their own rules and I should act as the facilitator or guide, rather than the dictator. In order to do this I would probably have a class meeting near the first day of school. During the meeting the students would establish rules of the classroom that are to be followed by everyone, even me. I am also willing to try the I-Messages. I like how the messages use the “I” and not “you.” If you are personalizing your statement rather than placing blame or accusing, then the students will be more willing to make a change. I would like to have my students familiar and comfortable with I-Messages. We could discuss them at the beginning of the year and practice using them throughout the year. If they were to adopt the I-Messages in third grade, my hope is that the students take them with them for the remainder of their schooling and that the I-Messages would benefit them in the future with their peers.
In response to Gordon's theory - I would like to use more "I" messages. The students will feel less "attacked" if I put the focus on me but indirectly am sending a message that their behavior is what may actually need changed.
The behavior window was also interesting in identifying whose problem it is and the specific skills needed to address the situation.
Cooperative Discipline - I liked the principle of establishing a code of conduct. I think I will have this code typed for parents at Open House and ask that they review them with their child and have both parent and child sign it. This will reinforce the idea that we are all working together.
Another idea that I liked was the non-verbal clues. While I do use these already it was good to learn how powerful they are for some students.
In the Gordon presentation, sending I-messages was discussed at length. Even though my students are trained to use I messages during their lessons with our Guidance counselor, I really havent' used them much in my classroom. I plan to piggyback on the guidance lessons and use the I messages this year.
I have used Canter's assertive discipline in my classroom for many years and I think that it is generally very effective. However, I think instead of using rules this year, I'll going to attempt to have the class come up with a Code of Conduct, suggested by Albert,this year. I think that this will tie in nicely with our school wide behavior program that we are implementing.
During the presentations "I messages" came up several times. I usually try to use humor to deflect some of the issues that arise in my class but can see how "I messages" might be a good tool to work on. I am an easy going teacher and don't usually have any terrible classroom behaviors, but you never know when you might need new strategies with some kids. I would like to practice "I messages" to help when a problem is interfering with my teaching (Gordon’s Discipline as Self Control) I need to remember to communicate the behavior, how I feel, and why it is a problem. I do agree with Molly and Sally that once you practice using the “I message” it will become more natural.
For me, it is the language of contemporary CM. Words have the power to create a disposition regarding how I run my classroom. Although Albert's plan is dense with acronyms I think this work reminds me to consistently respond / act professionally.
And I know I said this before, but Canter's big idea, "teachers have the right to teach, and students have the right to learn" sets the stage well for the way I prefer to launch my classes. I want to give my very best to my students and the only way I can do that is with a well run classroom. The right to teach does not have to mean autocratic as Canter argued. Rather a teacher that is assertive leads the class, while the class has trust and respect for the leader. On the other hand, I don't like the idea of patrolling every class with system of checks for positive of negative behavior. When matters come up, the tactics of proximity, one on one conversation, and possible contact with parents have worked the best for me.
One of the ideas that kept coming up was to create classroom rules/ expectations and consequences with the students. I have not tried this, and it sounds like it just might work on the high school level, that is if the kids come up with reasonable rule and consequences that will comply with the district rules. I might try this with one of my classes and see how it goes.
The other idea was using more of "I" messages. I can't think of any things I do say to kids but I will try to work on my "I" messages. I do teach a unit on conflict resolution and "I" and "you" messages are stressed as a part of resolving conflicts. So I guess I better start practicing what I teach.
The idea about using Gordon’s I messages when addressing behavior is something that I am going to make a conscious effort to use when dealing with misbehavior in my classroom. I think this idea will benefit my students because it does not trigger negativity from my students and has a positive spin that I think will help focus more on the solution instead of the back-talk that some students give you because they are upset and/or feel guilty such as “I didn’t do that” or “it wasn’t me.” When you address or attack the behavior, I think it will definitely make an impact in my classroom.
Another idea that I want to utilize in my classroom is from Canter’s Assertive Discipline. I want to make my discipline plan with consequences very visible and known to my students. I think it is important to really spell out the expectations of the discipline plan and be consistent with that plan. I even want to incorporate Albert’s idea of getting parents involved by sending home the discipline plan that has the consequences spelled out so everyone is on board and knows what to expect. I think this will help my classroom management in that students and parents will be aware of the consequences in the classroom and hopefully make a bridge of communication between school and home. With parents being aware of the plan, I think this will help keep the students accountable and they are aware of when their parents will notified!
One idea that I heard yesterday that I think would be good to keep in mind is Albert's three C's: capable, connect, and contribute. With a subject as challenging as chemistry, many students feel intimidated the moment they enter my classroom, especially if science is not their area of interest. If I can help my students to feel capable of doing the work and understanding some basic ideas, then they can make connections to their world and feel confident in contributing more to the class.
Another helpful idea is Gordon's no-lose method of conflict resolution. There are an abundance of times in class when teachers need to find a mutually-agreeable solution to a relatively minor problem, either between two students or between the student and teacher. Finding a solution in which both parties gain some ground will give students a sense of ownership, and will make them feel valued by the teacher. That way future problems would be less likely to mushroom into major conflicts. With a classroom full of differing personalities and an abundance of toxic chemicals, keeping the peace is a top priority.
One idea from yesterday's presentations that I will try to implement this year is to try and get away from using as many extrinsic rewards (from Gordon). I feel they do have a place, at least in the Learning Support realm, but we all still want our students to become more internally motivated!
I'm really going to think through my classroom management system over the next few weeks, to see if I might tweak it a bit more. I already use rules that really are more like Albert's code of conduct, but don't really have a clear list of consequences. Much of our discipline code (and the consequences) is a school-wide system, and generally in my own room I don't have behaviors that escalate to the point of needing a hierarchy of consequences. The more involved students generally have their own behavior plans.
Another idea from Gordon that I liked was the Helping Skills and Roadblock Statements chart. I really want to look that over more to try and analyze how many of those roadblocks I use.
1. One of the things that I will try is to do is to allow the students to have a say in our classroom code of conduct & rules. This came from Albert and Gordon yesterday, and my group will also touch on this idea. In the past I have only posted rules that were part of school policy since these were expectations in my room, as well as the entire school building. I have stayed away from creating rules & consequences with my class, because I have three different math classes each day. I will have to think through a way to make this work, hopefully by coming to an agreement with all the classes on one set of rules and consequences. Any suggestions?
2. Gordon and Albert both recommend having teacher time outs to allow the teacher to calm down and control their emotions. I need to work on this, because I find myself being "short" with my husband sometimes and I don't want to overreate to the students.
In listening to the presentation yesterday, I agreed mostly with the focus and strategies mentioned in the Discipline as Self Control. I want to foster self Relient, Self Controlled, Responsive and Cooperative students in my classroom whom are encouraged to self-monitor their behaviors. I will consistently remind my students that their behaviors are choices they make.
Furthurmore, I want to always focus on and address the behavior not the student. The behaviors are inappropriate not the student.
I will continue to establish a classrroom community that instills a feeling of value and importance in all my students. Additionally, I will make every effort to make the students feel their concerns are heard and important.
This year I am going to make a conscious effort to use "I messages"and request desired behaviors in a positive manner.I do not wish to condem the student I want the student to understand that he is empowered to make choice good chices and bad choices. Additionally, the student assumes the responsibity for the consequence.
I was impressed with Linda Albert's ideas on capability. I would strive to make all students realize that making mistakes is okay. I really believe that students need to feel safe enough to fail and try again.
This flows into the next strategy I would initiate which is Gordon's class meeting. I think this stragey would be a vechile to achieve Albert's ideas on capability.This would be a time to build confidence, and recognize achievement.
My second idea that I would like to try is Classroom Chores (Jones’s). I use to have kids do things like pass out papers, collect lab supplies, write things on the board, but I have gotten away from this because it became easier to just do it myself then to explain how I would like it done. I can see how it might be helpful for kids to feel like they are involved in the class and how things get done.
Not necessarily in my present position, but in previous situations, I needed to avoid escalating the situation as described in some of yesterday's presentations. I quickly learned through some of these experiences that it was not worth the battle of trying to get in the last words. When thinking about a specific student, I needed to use proper breathing techniques and walk away from the situation at the time of frustration. It is interesting to think in depth about this specific student because I was not as sympathetic with him, knowing that he was capable of doing work, but yet I was more willing to avoid escalation within the learning support classroom with autistic children. This makes me aware that I need to continuously evaluate myself in this area. I will remind myself that "students are not bad, it is the behavior that is bad."
Another strategy I need to utilize more effectively in my classroom is using the "I messages." I gather from yesterday's discussions that these can be effective if used appropriately. When thinking about my previous experiences, I felt it was more appropriate to address the specific behaviors exhibited by specific students rather than to make a broad statement. This is something for me to think about!
I read them all...please take the time to read what other have wrote. Because it was an idea that struck you...it interested me. By the way i am still laughing at my Ford Fusion joke. It had traction. It has potential.
1. I feel compelled to become better with discipline with dignity by Curwin and Mendler. I feel we already establish a social contract when we write our class rules and school code of conduct. Now, it's time to plan consequences together so we there is a less likely opportunity for covert behavior. When students sign a contract that they havehad input, the results are more likely that each of them take ownership and adhere to the code. I've seen it work, I'm going to be more consistent with this.
2. Secondly, I feel I could probably incorporate Gordon's Confrontive skill set to Modify the Environment. I thought I did this, however, with introspection I know there are times when I have allowed/ignored distractions because I didn't want to modify the setting. The light bulb is flashing that this is an effective piece in creating a positive learning environment.
Post a Comment