Preventive Medicine: Keeping Students on Task
By · CommentsWhen you give an assignment from the front of the room, take a walk through the room to make sure everyone is on task.
If you just sit in the front, and you have students who are discipline problems, then you are going to end up putting out the fire afterwards or telling a student afterwards to get on task. Over and over.
You can prevent this by first going around the room to insure everyone is committed to the assignment. This means not just that their book is open and paper out, but that they have already begun to concentrate–look for non-verbal cues that a student is not going to stay on task. Stand by that student until they have begun and their non-verbal cues tell you they are committed to the work.
If you know ahead of time which student(s) these are likely to be, all the better. Stand by them until they are seriously on task. There is a BIG difference between just walking by to go through the motions and making sure there is commitment to the work on the part of every student.
There is active and passive classroom discipline. Make it a rule that students have to be on task–it is not good enough that they are not disruptive (passive). They must be actively engaged in what the class is doing or they are subject to a consequence.
Careful how you handle ‘I don’t know how to do it’ comments.
I always recommend teachers read not just words but overall communication–does the student really not know how to do it, or are they just procrastinating? If the latter, I will either just stand there silently or repeat the direction to get on task.
If the student really needs help, and has been paying attention, then obviously give it to them.
The advent of social promotion has multiplied discipline troubles for teachers because so many students are often in class bored with work far beyond their grasp. This creates a ‘Flow’ problem (see the book ‘Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience’ by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi), which is beyond the scope of the discussion here.
In my book Classroom Discipline 101 I discuss how Flow affects your classroom management in detail. The gist of it is that if students find work doable and meaningful they will almost always do it.
Make sure you circulate the room until everyone is on task (not just quiet, but committed to the assignment) to set yourself up for success.
Here’s to happy teaching,
Craig Seganti
Relationship Between Respect and Classroom Management
By · CommentsIt is good for me to substitute other classes during my conference period, because it gives me a perspective on how other teachers are handling or mishandling their classrooms.
Today I covered an Algebra class of 9th graders. It was first period and many came in late. Many had electronics in front of them, and were chewing gum or eating.
My classroom management would allow none of this if I were the regular teacher. When it comes to things like gum, phones out, mp3 players, game boys, etc., they are a huge distraction and in my discipline system none of that is even allowed to be visible.
Many teachers seem to think that this does not directly affect instruction, so it is easier just to let it go.
A better question to ask is, “Does this work for or against what I am trying to accomplish in the classroom? Does this help or hinder classroom concentration and the educational process?”
Several teachers at my school say they don’t like it, but have given up the battle!
So now students are dictating the rules and curriculum in some schools.
What happens whenever you lose ground this way is that you may think you have a temporary victory by not confronting a student, who may remain quiet as long as they get their way, but you lose the student’s respect whether you realize it or not. The next time you have to confront them about something ‘more important’, you will get resistance, because the student knows you will back down if it is too much effort.
Keep anything not contributing to academic instruction out of the classroom, and you will gain the respect of your students more quickly.
Keep the Small Stuff Big–Classroom Psychology
By · CommentsToday my class was quietly reading. One student, in the front, was reading, but he was leaned over and had his foot out to the side.
I walked by, monitoring, and said quietly “Brent, turn around to a 90 degree angle to your desk and sit up.”
No big deal, right?
Worth mentioning? Yes. When students see that you monitor the small actions that aren’t truly conducive to overall classroom learning, they psychologically don’t attempt any grand misbehavior. The students hear me say the comment, probably don’t even notice the effect themselves, but understand intuitively I will be on top of all situations great and small.
So paying attention to every small thing that doesn’t contribute positively to your classroom environment will keep the big picture going nicely as well.
Wait for the big events to happen, and you will get more ‘big stuff’ happening. You don’t want that.
If you think, ‘That’s no big deal, I’ll let it go’ you are right about the first part. But when you let it go, things escalate quickly. Keep the small stuff big to keep from getting to the big stuff.
Here’s to happy teaching,
Craig Seganti
Here’s to happy teaching–
Making Statements vs. Asking Questions
By · CommentsI hear the teacher next door shouting:
“Why are we not in our seats?”
Sometimes it pays to think of the end before the beginning–what result do you want? Are your actions leading to that result? How can you change them so that they do?
Asking a question to students like that sets you up for failure. The true answer would be ‘Because we want to goof off!’
But you are not really looking for the truth, you are looking to get your classroom under control. So the solution is not to ask a question, but to make a statement:
“Get in your seats!” (In my classroom, this situation is not likely to arise, procedures are in place way before this as prevention).
Nonetheless, asking questions in regards to classroom discipline sound weak because they are weak. Make statements about what you want, don’t open yourself up to silly answers or manipulation.
Practice changing all of these kinds of questions you ask into statements.
Best of skill,
Craig Seganti
Principles vs. Techniques
By · CommentsTeachers often approach me to ask how I would handle a specific classroom discipline situation:
“What about if a student is rolling his skateboard wheels?”
“What if a student ignores you?”
“What if a student’s hair is on fire and they use it to light up everyone’s homework?”
There are specific things you can do, of course (in the last example you would pull your fireman’s hose out of the top drawer and turn it on the class), but the point is to get the principles behind the techniques you will use to apply in all situations.
These principles are rooted in classroom management philosophy, but let’s talk here about leverage and accountability.
The idea is that you must have a consequence for every unwanted action, or action that does not contribute positively to your classroom environment, to give you leverage over controlling the unwanted behavior. And that consequence must be something that matters to the student.
So the problem is not the rolling skateboard or the student ignoring you, but the idea that they are not complying with your rules–therefore, these two come up under the category of classroom disruption, and if there is a ready consequence for this that matters to the student, and he or she knows in advance what it is, they will not engage in the behavior to begin with.
I have written an ebook, Classroom Discipline 101, which covers these principles in more detail and every other aspect necessary to control any classroom. You can download it at ClassroomDiscipline101.com.
Until then, whenever you have a problem in class, solve it with these principles rather than some ‘anti-skateboard-rolling’ technique.
Here’s to enjoying your teaching–
Craig Seganti
