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Five Steps to Handling Any Discipline Problem

Feb 23rd

Posted by jenniferw in Class Rules ...

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Every teacher faces at least one discipline problem each day. Handling these issues properly is the difference between a well managed classroom and a chaotic one.

Here are your five basic steps to handling any discipline problem effectively:

  1. Take a breath – this will give you a moment to collect your thoughts and remain under control
  2. Address the misbehavior – this is important to do appropriately, do not embarrass any student, but be sure that the student knows what he or she did wrong
  3. Follow through with classroom consequences
  4. Do not engage in excess conversation. Informing the student of the infraction and the consequence is enough, excess conversation only invites argument
  5. Forgive and forget – leave the misbehavior behind as the lesson continues, giving all students the chance to learn both from the prepared lesson and from the example set

Read more tips here: Classroom Management Strategies for Teachers

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101 Classroom Management Tips

Feb 9th

Posted by jenniferw in Class Rules ...

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Smile
Be positive
Greet each student by name
Hold your head high
Make eye contact
Be gracious
Be patient
Be firm
Be consistent
Have students
Help each other
Demonstrate important behaviors
State clear rules
Predetermine consequences
Make learning fun
Know your student’s names
Over plan lessons
Involve parents
Genuinely care
Ask questions
Know which questions to not ask
Demand respect
Open lines of communication
Hold classroom meetings
Take time to be silly
Encourage sharing
Diversify lesson activities
Be aware of culture
Be there when students need to talk
Post rules where students can see them
Read to students
Be genuine
Be committed
Collaborate with other teachers
View each day as a new day
Give second chances
Apologize when you make a mistake
Praise student effort
Be specific in praise
State intentions clearly
Re-teach rules and consequences as necessary
Be strong
Do not show fear
Leave troubles at home
Be present
Explain expectations
Never give up
Eat lunch with students
Create individual behavior plans when necessary
Allow students some say in positive rewards
Allow students to earn rewards
Set goals
Ask students to set goals
Encourage students to help each other
Take time to have fun
Share jokes
Laugh
Expect more from students
Ask for advice
Learn from other teachers
Take time for your own family
Believe in your students
Make lessons obtainable for all students
Provide visual aspects to all lessons
Provide auditory aspects to all lessons
Provide kinesthetic aspects to all lessons
Try a new seating arrangement
Rewrite class rules
Have students decide on class rules
Have students decide on class consequences
Never raise your voice
Avoid showing frustration
Do not show anger
Listen when students talk to you
Provide uplifting activities for students
Discourage tattle tails
Teach students not to bully
Teach students to treat each other properly
Do not repeat warnings
Make consequences fit the crime
Make the classroom a safe place
Be a trustworthy confidant
Send positive notes home
Encourage students to share with the class
Look for the reason behind a behavior
Find ways to encourage every student each day
Prevention is the best method
Have a plan in place
Keep a June box for confiscated objects in class
Relax!
Count to 10 before responding to a child pushing your buttons
Ignore attention seeking behavior
Develop a good relationship with the school counselor
Remember that learning is fun
Create fun and engaging activities
Do not beg students to obey
Expect obedience
Respect students
Don’t be afraid to change
Learn how to say no
Practice transitions
Have fun!

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Checklist for Writing Class Rules

Nov 30th

Posted by jenniferw in Class Rules

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Writing class rules is a simple procedure that can make a huge impact on classroom management. In fact, class rules are so important that a teacher who realizes that the class rules are a problem should take the effort to change those rules even if it is mid-school year. Use the following check list to ensure your classroom rules are effective.

How many Rules do you Have?

  • Be sure to have at least three rules
  • Class rules should be kept to five at the very most
  • Combine rules to reduce the number and clarify more specifically to have more rules.

Positive Language for Class Rules

  • Do the students know what to do after reading a rule?
  • Each rule should state what students need to do rather than what they need to avoid doing.
  • Reword rules as necessary

Class Rule Clarity

  • Be sure there is no question as to what students are to do after reading the rules
  • Analyze each rule – can it be stated more clearly?
  • Can any rules have additional details added in order to ensure proper student behavior?

Teach and Reinforce Class Rules

  • Did you teach students what each rule meant?
  • Can students explain to a visitor what the class rules are?
  • If faced with a hypothetical situation, could students explain which rule applies and why?
  • Did you practice each procedure including lining up, preparing for lunch and recess and cleaning up at the end of the day?

It is never too late to go back and add or correct the classroom rules. In fact, starting fresh in the middle of the school year may make all the difference in the world and turn your problem class into a success story!

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Rules for Classroom Rules

Nov 27th

Posted by jenniferw in Class Rules

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  1. Use between 3-5 rules regardless of grade or subject.
  2. State rules with positive language.
  3. Make all rules clear and understandable.
  4. Match class rules with school rules for continuity
  5. Teach and reinforce all class rules.
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Teaching the Nightmare Class

Oct 27th

Posted by jenniferw in Class Rules ...

Many teacher come to the conclusion after a couple of months (or weeks) that they are teaching the nightmare class. The students are a bad mix, they feed off of each other, they fight, they don’t listen, they talk back. The teacher feels like pulling her hair out every day.

Reflection of Student Behavior

This class can be taken back into control, but it will take a lot of work. First, the teacher needs to spend a week reflecting each day. Write down every misbehavior, what happened prior to the behavior and what happened after the behavior. Analyzing this information after a week will help the teacher see a bit more clearly if there is one student who is instigating the nightmare or if there is something else going on.

Start with a New Behavior Plan

If several weeks or months have gone by an there has been no positive change in the class behavior, it is time to scrap the behavior plan and put a new one in place. Find a way to motivate students to good behavior as opposed to threatening them to quit bad behavior. Over plan the implementation of the new behavior plan and prepare an entire day to introduce the plan and spend extra time reinforcing it.

Implement Individual Behavior Plans

If through analysis it becomes clear that there are a small number of students who instigate all the class issues, those students need to be addressed specifically. Writing an individual behavior plan is one great way to target the specific behaviors that cause the daily outbursts and behavior difficulties.

No matter how difficult the student’s behavior has become, it is important for teachers to realize that all behavior is able to be changed, even in a group setting. Keep reflecting and keep trying new things!

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Reasoning with Students

Oct 7th

Posted by jenniferw in Class Rules ...

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Should teachers reason with students or should students be expected to comply with all rules and expectations without any reasoning at all?

According to Singapore Education Consultants, the lack of reasoning effectively helps to kill student curiosity. Part of the argument posed is that “making an effort to reason with the students and coming to a common understanding with the students helps students to take responsibility for what happens in the class.”

Every teacher would agree that having students help students, students taking responsibility and common understanding in the classroom are all huge factors that will help with any management plan. Many teachers misunderstand the focus behind reasoning with students, though.

Reasoning with students is not pleading with a student to understand the teacher’s viewpoint, or even trying to convince a student that a particular viewpoint is correct. This type of reasoning will only earn the teacher the reputation of being a push-over and create more out-of-control behavior in the classroom.

Instead, teachers need to use circumstances that come up to teach reasoning skills. When a student gets mad, it is vital that the child learns how to handle that anger in appropriate ways. Simply following the class rules to not hit or throw things is not enough. But then again, nor is following the law enough in the real world. Teachers need to be taking steps to teach students how to handle their emotions in appropriate ways while staying within the confines of the class rules or state laws.

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Obama’s Speech Opportunity for Behavior Management

Sep 3rd

Posted by jenniferw in Class Rules ...

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President Obama will speak to the students in the Nation on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. This is an excellent opportunity for teachers to take the words of the President of the United States and turn them into a more well behaved, on task classroom.

While President Obama talks to students about setting and meeting goals this school year, teachers should look for ways to incorporate the class expectations into those goals.

Teachers can have class discussions about how students can meet the goals they set, using real goals as examples, and guide students into understanding how the class rules will help them meet those goals.

One possible activity is to have students pair goals with each class rule. So if the class rule is to raise your hand before speaking, a goal that can be paired with that rule is to learn to be more respectful of others in the classroom.

Some other ideas for pairing class rules with student goals:

Have students help in pairing up goals with the class rules.

Read on for more extension ideas, or check out lesson plan ideas for President Obama’s Speech.

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Back to School Checklist

Aug 18th

Posted by jenniferw in Class Rules ...

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As teachers and students prepare to join once more in the classrooms, it is vital that teachers are ready with their classroom management plan in place. Here is a quick and easy check list for teachers to ensure that they are ready to handle any behavior problem that might walk through the classroom door.

Class Rules:

  1. Are the class rules posted at the student’s eye level?
  2. Are there only 3-5 class rules posted?
  3. Are the class rules stated in the positive instead of negative?
  4. Is time set aside each day for the first week to review the class rules with the students?

Student Movement Around the Classroom:

  1. Do you have a plan for allowing students to use the bathroom?
  2. Do you have a plan for allowing students to sharpen their pencil?
  3. Is the trash can located in a place that will not interrupt a line at the door or disturb students working?
  4. Are student work bins located in a place that will not interrupt a line at the door or disturb students working?
  5. Do you have a plan for allowing students to get a drink of water?

Handling Behavior Problems in the Classroom

  1. Do you have a place to utilize for time-outs?
  2. Do you have a place to speak to an individual student privately without disturbing other students?
  3. Do you have a class telephone that you can use to call a student’s parent while keeping an eye on the rest of the class?
  4. Do you have a hedgehog desk for students to go to and work when they feel annoyed/upset?
  5. Do you have a reward/consequence plan in place?

Classroom Management

  1. How will you get student’s attention?
  2. How will you ensure students know what homework they have?
  3. How will you arrange the student desks to optimize learning and minimize distractions?
  4. How will the students be motivated to follow the rules? (rewards)
  5. How will the students learn from their mistakes? (consequences)
  6. Do you have administrative support for your classroom management plan?

Do serious behavior problems worry you? Find strategies for dealing with these behaviors.

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Q. How Many Class Rules Should I Have?

Aug 7th

Posted by jenniferw in Class Rules

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While teachers may differ in their opinion on how many class rules is best, in fact you should only have three to five total class rules posted.

Each listed rule needs to be written in a positive, not a negative, and can entail several expectations. For example, respect others is a frequently used class rule which can include many expectations:

This will allow a teacher to cover much more in a smaller amount of space. Doing so is essential in order to keep the number of rules down to the basic 3-5 so that students can remember them. Too many rules will cause students to forget them, while a shorter list, posted where students can see, will be a constant reminder of the expectations.