Job-Embedded Professional Development for Teachers: How to Apply PD to the Classroom

Transcription

Job-Embedded Professional
Development for Teachers: How
to Apply PD to the Classroom
February Educator Training Theme
Professional Development:
How to Apply PD to the Classroom
School Improvement Network, LLC
In this ebook:
Blog Posts
Guest Bloggers
Video Transcript Summaries
Strategies of the Week
For free audio downloads, webinar recordings, blog posts from education experts, and
more, please visit us online at www.schoolimprovement.com/pd360-free-pd
Intro
Welcome to February’s Professional Development eBook! The February 2012 PD theme is “Behavior and Classroom Management: Make It Work, Make It Last.” We have assembled all of the blog posts, strategies of the
week, and video summaries into one easy-to-use ebook.
Feel free to download, print, distribute, or otherwise use any part of this ebook (just give us some credit when
you do). These materials are all created for you.
We hope you enjoy.
contents:
blog posts
video transcripts
strategy of the week
Blog Posts
• From the Source: A High School Student Speaks Out
• Behavior and Classroom Management: Make It Work, Make It Last
• To what degree is your school implementing Positive Behavior Intervention
and Supports?
• We can’t, and it’s the hardest part.
• The Continuum of Positive Behavior Intervention and Support: Tier One Supports
• New Teachers Know It All
• Potential and Pitfalls of Students with Tech
• 3-Minute Classroom Management
• Students Want Discipline (they just don’t know how to say it)
• Tier Two Supports: Interventions for At-Risk Students
• Encouraging Entrepreneurial Behaviour at an Early Age
• Managing Behavior with Trust: An Assistant Principal Weighs In
• Classroom Management: The Law of Least Intervention
• Boys Will Be Boys: Thinking Differently About How to Educate Boys in Grade School
• What Movie Making and Classroom Management Have in Common
Thursday, February 2, 2012
From the Source: A High School
Student Speaks Out
High school senior Haylee Wilkes of Brighton High School,
Utah, joined the content department here at School
Improvement Network in a job shadowing event this morning.
While she was here, she wrote a blog post for you, dear
readers. I’ll be honest--I was impressed with how quickly she
understood and applied the principles my colleague and I
gave her. She seemed like an astute young lady with a bright
future.
You can imagine my surprise, then, when I read her post.
Though not vindictive (despite a rather provocative title),
Haylee’s post spells out the failure she felt as she confesses
to having received (or earned?) a 22 on the ACT. “Average”
and “mediocre” were how she described herself. I remember
well the days that my own perception of a person was largely-and wrongly--dependent on their GPA and ACT. My perception
changed when I found out that my wife, a person much
more intelligent than I am, has an ACT score 8 points below
mine. But we don’t all have the benefit of such a changed
perspective.
but I can do so much more than fill in bubbles.
The priorities of the factory model of education that I have
been taught under puts control, standardized testing, and
cost effectiveness above the excellence of our education.
Every year there are millions and millions of dollars spent on
standardized testing programs to prove that teachers have
created the ideal product the government is looking for.
The emphasis needs to be taken off of testing and be directed
toward personal skill. I’m not exactly sure how one would go
about creating a more personalized culture but there is a way
out there. I don’t have the answers, but I have a question:
How would you help me? Not only me, but every student
that’s coming after me.
Help me realize that I’m not mediocre, and that my answers
to life will be above average.
Did Haylee earn a 22, or did she receive it? We talk about
college and career ready, but do we help our students feel
college and career capable? And though education is not
about “feeling good,” what obligation do we have to help
students build a self-perception and self-confidence to do
what they can obviously do well?
My high school experience was definitely a time I’ll never
forget where I had crazy amounts of fun and learned way
more than I ever thought I was even capable of, but I wish I
had more leeway to shape my individuality through education
rather than be formed into the product my teachers are
trained to create. The contradiction is right in front of our
face, where every teacher tells you to “be yourself” and “stand
out” but in reality they’re only passing you on and shaping you
into the ideal product.
Haylee is a bright young lady, though her standardized test
scores don’t reflect her view of “smart.” Learn more over
on our Common Core 360 blog where Haylee posted her
experience.
To create the option of specializing in what really makes
a kid stand out, I think standardized testing could be
deemphasized, and replaced with a focus on every student’s
personal ability.
[Haylee’s Post, found on www.commoncore360.com/blog]
The final evaluation of my entire high school education was
facing me in a quiet square room. I was about to take the ACT.
Not only would this test tell me if I really got something out of
the 12 years that I sat in a classroom, but it would also shape
my future. A month later after taking this test, I received a
letter that would contain one number—my score. 30 was
my goal, and 30 is what I felt I was smart enough to get.
Disappointment hit when I saw those two numbers… 22.
The judgment was swift, and the verdict clear: I am average.
At least, I’m average by their standards. But what did
they know, those guys correcting my test? Was it truly an
assessment of my capabilities? I remember sitting in a desk,
Friday, February 3, 2012
Behavior and Classroom
Management: Make It Work,
Make It Last
Hi there, loyal blog readers! It’s Jared Heath here with School
Improvement Network. By now, many of you have seen the
link our website that invites you to be a guest blogger. That’s
a fun little part of a new way we’re helping educators now, but
it’s only a small part. I’d like to break that corporate image for
a minute and talk to you about what we’re doing each month.
Free PD
Sure, PD 360 is supporting teachers and students in
phenomenal ways. It’s incredibly inexpensive for your schools,
and it’s proven to be more effective than even I imagined
(and I’m a marketing guy). But our passion truly is supporting
teachers, helping students, and improving schools, and we
felt like we could do a little more to help you.
From that idea sprang what we now offer on our new website
as “Free PD.” Every month has a specific theme, and
February’s theme is “Behavior and Classroom Management:
Make It Work, Make It Last.” Here at the inception of this
initiative (we just started in January), we are offering the
following free resources:
• Free PD 360 videos
• Blog posts that discuss the topic in depth (that’s where
you come in)
• Free monthly webinars
• Monthly ebooks (coming soon)
• SchoolCasts (coming soon) NOW HERE!
Are you ready for a confession? Me, I’m a high school
dropout. Technically. It’s not that I didn’t have teachers who
cared about me, and it’s not that I didn’t have the capacity.
But I knew as a 17-year-old kid that there had to be more
to education than what I experienced. I work at School
Improvement Network, because I believe in educators. I
believe in you. And this is what I can do to help you. [But don’t
worry--that story ends well. I got my GED, went to college,
married a beautiful lady, and started a family. :) ]
Free PD 360 Videos
Like I said earlier, PD 360’s differentiated training is doing
wonders in schools all around the world. That’s why we’re
releasing one free video from the PD 360 library every
week--but be sure to catch it before the next week, because
we replace it with a new one every Monday morning (or
afternoon). Come visit our Free Video Blog, comment on the
video, and for heaven’s sake, start a conversation about it. No
one is as good at this teaching thing as you.
Blog and Guest Blog Posts
You are the expert--no one knows what it is like to teach in
your classroom in your school under your circumstances like
you do. And it’s not just teachers. Administrators have a lot
to tell us about their experiences and how they are making
the machine roll. We can tell you anything we want, but you’d
probably rather hear it from your peers. We have this blog,
and we also write a Common Core 360 blog. Drop by each to
see what’s going on. We post to each several times a week,
and we hope we can answer your needs.
An educator emailed me a few weeks ago, shaming me for
asking you to do the guest blog posts for free. That’s actually
not true. We do giveaways every month for educators who
write a guest post for us. For the month of February, EVERY
educator who blogs for us gets an ENTIRE YEAR of Common
Core 360 for free. In the month of March, EVERY educator
who blogs for us gets FREE registration for the School
Improvement Innovation Summit.
Send me an email at jared.heath@schoolimprovement.com if
you’d like more info.
Webinars
Our partners are just as excited about helping you as we are.
At the end of every month, you have a chance to sit in on a
free webinar featuring people who do this stuff professionally.
In February, you’ll hear from the folks at Autism Training
Solutions (and when I say they’re changing the world, I mean it).
If you can’t catch the webinar, we do a pretty good job at
posting the video within a couple of weeks for you to watch at
your leisure.
continued on next page . . .
Behavior and Classroom
Management: Make It Work,
Make It Last
SchoolCasts and eBooks
SchoolCasts are audio recordings of webinars and PD 360
videos that you will be able to download and listen to on your
commute or on your morning jog. We’re working on making
these available to you as soon as possible.
At the end of every month, there’s a lot of content that we’ve
gathered for these themes. We put it all together into an
ebook and make it available to you--again, entirely free. We’ll
have January’s ebook out (Common Core: Supporting the
Whole Teacher and Student) within the next couple of weeks.
The Wrap Up
I invite you to avail yourself of these resources. They are
free so that you can use them in your classroom and your
profession. Come around every week for the video, email me
your blog posts so that I can post them, and enjoy what I am
working avidly on making one of the largest caches of free
professional development resources.
Our students need you. This is one way we can help you meet
their needs.
Monday, February 6, 2012
To what degree is your school
implementing Positive
Behavior Intervention and
Supports (PBIS)?
Emaley McCulloch from Autism Training Solutions will be
giving a free webinar on February 29 as part of the monthly
free PD theme here at School Improvement Network. Emaley
is writing a few blog posts to help you understand her webinar
topic, Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports.
Framework of PBIS
And here’s a hint for ya--it’s not just for children with autism,
and it’s essential for classroom management. Enjoy!
The word Positive in Positive Behavior Interventions and
Supports (PBIS) encapsulates the whole purpose and aim of
PBIS in schools.
Past behavior management models lacked effectiveness
because they were –
• Reactive
• Focused on punishment
• Poorly implemented
Through PBIS, team members can take a proactive approach.
They can reduce problem behaviors by making pro-social and
pro-learning behaviors easy and rewarding for both teachers
and students. Thus, teaching positive behavior as relentlessly
as we teach reading or other academic content is the ultimate
act of prevention, promise, and power underlying PBIS
(Algozzine, Wang & Violette, 2011).
Although PBIS is an evidenced-based intervention, it is
not a curriculum. PBIS is a framework for ensuring that all
students have access to the most effective and accurately
implemented instructional and behavior package possible.
The framework consists of three elements to achieve these
outcomes:
• Supporting staff behavior through school-wide systems
• Supporting student behavior through evidence-based
practices and
• Supporting decision making through data
Systems
The systems that are important in supporting the
implementation of PBIS are:
• Universal screening and assessment (http://www.apbs.
org/Archives/Conferences/sixthconference/files/E4%20
Breen%20et%20al.pdf, http://www.apbs.org/files/
fbapractice.pdf)
• Commitment to staff training in evidenced-based
interventions (http://www.autismtrainingsolutions.com/
autism-training-school-benefits)
• Team-based collaboration (http://www.apbs.org/files/
teamingpractice.pdf)
• Fidelity measures (http://www.apbs.org/Archives/
Conferences/8thconference/files/E8-Kelk11.pdf )
• Progress monitoring (http://www.behaviortrackerpro.
com/)
• Data-based decisions (http://apbs.org/Archives/
Conferences/fourthconference/Files/Riffel_L_no1.pdf)
Evidenced-Based Practices
The practices that are important for supporting the
To what degree is your school
implementing Positive
Supports (PBIS)?
• Functional Behavior Assessment (http://www.
autismtrainingsolutions.com/content/fba-tool-kit )
• Positive Behavior Support Planning (use of reinforcement
and teaching meaningful replacement behaviors)
• Using research-based teaching procedures and
curriculum (http://www.nationalautismcenter.org)
• Establish working conditions that support and promote
strengths and talents of staff (http://www.apbs.org/files/
systemschange.pdf )
• Implement practices such as coaching, co-teaching,
mentoring and self-assessment to measure fidelity
of implementation (http://www.apbs.org/Archives/
Conferences/seventhconference/files/F7_Basu.pdf )
What stage in the implementation process of
PBIS are you in?
Data-Based Decisions
• The data that are important for supporting the
• Academic assessments and progress monitoring
• Operational defined behavior is measured over time in
multiple settings
• Quality of life measures (http://www.beachcenter.org/
resource_library/beach_resource_detail_page.aspx?intR
esourceID=2481&Type=Tool )
Here is a full, step-by-step guide to implementing PBIS in your
school:
http://www.osepideasthatwork.org/toolkit/pdf/
SchoolwideBehaviorSupport.pdf
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
We can’t, and it’s
the hardest part.
Check in at the webinar’s page for Autism Training
Solutions free webinar, “Training Educators to Do Behavior
Assessments” on February 29!
It’s me, Jared Heath, again. There’s something you’ve got to
know about School Improvement Network and February’s free
PD theme, “Behavior and Classroom Management: Make It
Work, Make It Last.” To put it simply, we can’t change student
behavior. Here’s why.
I know we’ve talked a lot about the great advances students
have made when teachers use PD 360. I’ve written about it in
many places, and I’m proud to work for this company because
of it. But whether we’re talking about student behavior,
differentiated education, or test scores, it really isn’t PD 360
or School Improvement Network making those changes.
I used to think it was teachers who made the difference. But
that’s not really true, either. Is it? And teaching something
that you know is so important and watching the concepts and
principles bounce right off their heads is the hardest part of
teaching that I can fathom.
When I taught, I took too much credit.
I taught ESL classes, and my students were from all over
the world. In one class, I had students from Brazil, Japan,
China (Cantonese speaking), Taiwan, and several Central
American countries. Having been conversational in German,
French, Chinese, and Spanish at various points of my life, I
understood the frustrations of learning a new language, and
as a student of the English language and English literature, I
also understood the capricious nature of my native language.
I was armed and ready to help these students learn English.
And they did. I was recognized early on for the advances that
my students made. I didn’t understand then what that truly
meant—I was recognized for the advances that my students
made. Now as I look back, I see that any other organization
would have had those 20 – 30 students howling for my blood
as I received recognition for their accomplishments.
When I didn’t do well in school as a youngster, I also had a
bad habit of giving teachers too much credit—it was somehow
their fault when I didn’t perform as well as I wanted to.
The truth is that education belongs to the student. As
teachers, we are facilitators. As a company, School
Improvement Network is a supporter. But the only person who
can decide what to do with the training given to her is the
little girl with her new pink backpack and her open mind.
February’s free PD theme on schoolimprovement.com is
built to help you give students what they need. Many of our
students need the right tools to start building better behavior,
and it is up to us to provide those tools. But if you will allow
me to wax optimistic and don my rose-colored glasses, I feel
that we need to believe in kids just a little more and give them
a bit more credit.
I would never diminish our roles as educators. I simply
discovered as I reflected on my time as a teacher that the
more my students knew that I believed in them, the more
they learned. And perhaps they even became so much more,
because they believed in themselves, too.
What experiences do you have where your
students felt empowered? Have you had
experiences where the message didn’t get
through, or worse, it blew up in your face?
We can’t, and it’s
the hardest part.
Check in at the webinar’s page for Autism Training
Solutions free webinar, “Training Educators to Do Behavior
Assessments” on February 29!
It’s me, Jared Heath, again. There’s something you’ve got to
know about School Improvement Network and February’s free
PD theme, “Behavior and Classroom Management: Make It
Work, Make It Last.” To put it simply, we can’t change student
behavior. Here’s why.
I know we’ve talked a lot about the great advances students
have made when teachers use PD 360. I’ve written about it in
many places, and I’m proud to work for this company because
of it. But whether we’re talking about student behavior,
differentiated education, or test scores, it really isn’t PD 360
or School Improvement Network making those changes.
I used to think it was teachers who made the difference. But
that’s not really true, either. Is it? And teaching something
that you know is so important and watching the concepts and
principles bounce right off their heads is the hardest part of
teaching that I can fathom.
When I taught, I took too much credit.
I taught ESL classes, and my students were from all over
the world. In one class, I had students from Brazil, Japan,
China (Cantonese speaking), Taiwan, and several Central
American countries. Having been conversational in German,
French, Chinese, and Spanish at various points of my life, I
understood the frustrations of learning a new language, and
as a student of the English language and English literature, I
also understood the capricious nature of my native language.
I was armed and ready to help these students learn English.
And they did. I was recognized early on for the advances that
my students made. I didn’t understand then what that truly
meant—I was recognized for the advances that my students
made. Now as I look back, I see that any other organization
would have had those 20 – 30 students howling for my blood
as I received recognition for their accomplishments.
When I didn’t do well in school as a youngster, I also had a
bad habit of giving teachers too much credit—it was somehow
their fault when I didn’t perform as well as I wanted to.
The truth is that education belongs to the student. As
teachers, we are facilitators. As a company, School
Improvement Network is a supporter. But the only person who
can decide what to do with the training given to her is the
little girl with her new pink backpack and her open mind.
February’s free PD theme on schoolimprovement.com is
built to help you give students what they need. Many of our
students need the right tools to start building better behavior,
and it is up to us to provide those tools. But if you will allow
me to wax optimistic and don my rose-colored glasses, I feel
that we need to believe in kids just a little more and give them
a bit more credit.
I would never diminish our roles as educators. I simply
discovered as I reflected on my time as a teacher that the
more my students knew that I believed in them, the more
they learned. And perhaps they even became so much more,
because they believed in themselves, too.
What experiences do you have where your
students felt empowered? Have you had
experiences where the message didn’t get
through, or worse, it blew up in your face?
The Continuum of Positive
Support: Tier One Supports
supports for few. PBIS is related to Response to Intervention
(RtI) in this way. Literacy and numeracy implementation
frameworks are examples of the application of RtI for
academic behavior, and PBIS is an example of the application
of RtI for social behavior (PBIS Center, 2009).
PBIS is about improving classroom and school climate
by making it positive, strengths focused and maximizing
academic achievement by nurturing behaviors that support
learning.
The Continuum of Positive Behavior
Intervention and Support: Tier One Supports
PBIS is organized into a continuum in which students receive
levels of support based on their social and behavioral
responsiveness to intervention. Not all students will respond
the way we may want or expect them to when using school
wide or classroom management strategies. Additional
interventions and supports may need to be in place for
some individuals. For example, the ability to earn a star
on a chart may not be sufficient reinforcement for Emily to
finish or remember her homework. She may need a more
individualized incentive program.
A three-tiered prevention logic lends the flexibility to provide
broad interventions for most students, provide additional
supports for some and, intensive and highly individualized
What are some PBIS Practices that work for
most students?
1. Make behavioral expectations for school and classroom
positive and clear. (e.g., Say, “Clean up after yourself”
instead of “Don’t leave your trash around”)
2. Defining and teaching classroom routines (e.g., establish
a signal, such as an auditory cue, for obtaining class
attention)
3. Establish self-management routines (e.g., time to fill out a
checklist of work tasks to complete)
4. Establish a positive environment (e.g., catch them being
good! Five positive comments for every correction)
5. Create a functional, physical layout in the classroom
(e.g., classroom activities have locations, teacher has
clear view of whole class, traffic patterns/transitions are
established)
6. Maximize engagement (e.g., opportunities for student
responses 0.5/min)
7. Promote success (e.g., adaptations available to match
students ability)
8. Utilize hierarchy of responses to problem behavior
(e.g., have specific behavior assessments and plans for
individuals whose behavior impedes their learning or the
learning of others)
9. Use various modes of instruction
10. Ensure systems are available for educators to request
behavioral assistance
A.W. Todd , Rob Horner, George Sugai, University of Oregon
May 2004
New Teachers Know It All
Here’s a guest post from Deia Sanders, a teacher from
Mendenhall Jr. High in Mendenhall, MS!
As the school year quickly approached, we were in our staff
development meetings staring at familiar faces we had
missed all summer and excited about the new faces that had
joined our team. It was my turn to speak. I had gone from a
classroom teacher to the new title of Master Teacher. Part
of my new duties now included professional development
and new teacher induction. Today’s talk was to be about
Classroom Procedures.
As I stood and presented about the procedures for entering
the class, going to the restroom, leaving class, getting in
groups, going to the bus, riding the bus, etc… I could see on
the new teacher’s faces that in their mind this was overkill.
And when I said this needed to be rehearsed for the first
couple of weeks of school, I could feel the deep breaths of
doubt exhale from their bodies.
Actually, I guess everyone could feel it, because that’s when
a second-year teacher I had mentored stood up and said “I
know this sounds like too many procedures, and I doubted it
when she tried to tell me this last year, but I didn’t do these
things and I paid for it all year.” Yes!! That was the testimony I
needed to get buy-in from these teachers… or so I thought.
As the first day came the nervous first year teachers were
following the Power Points on procedures and practicing in
the classrooms and halls. I was so proud to see the progress.
But by day 3 and 4 their routines were waning and their
thoughts had turned in to trusting these nice, quiet junior
high kids in their classrooms. It was a stark contrast from the
experienced teachers who were turning their class around
for more practice when procedures were broken, correcting
mistakes, and addressing issues before they happened.
As the year progressed, the new teachers who doubted the
importance of drilling procedures and expectations for two
weeks, showed their inexperience with their loud classrooms,
low homework return, and chaotic lines as they trekked back
and forth to the cafeteria and assemblies. It reminded me of
warnings from my parents about my own behavior as a child,
which I didn’t heed, and eventually felt the consequences of.
As much as we tried to help the teachers regain control, the
expectations are set with the first impression, and it’s difficult
to recover when they don’t take you serious.
Just the other day I was talking to a new teacher who was
reflecting on his experience so far this year. He was sharing
that next year he would start out like we suggested, and had
learned his lesson. It seemed like the appropriate time to
warn him about “spring fever” and how wild the kids would
get as the weather warmed. Once again I was given that
same look of doubt that they had with my procedure warnings
in the beginning, and again I related to how my parents
probably felt when I was a teenager and thought I knew it all.
I immediately knew that once again they would have to walk
through the fire to feel the flame.
So… it’s almost March and here we go again!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Potential and Pitfalls of
Students with Tech
We can’t help it--our students all have access to technology
that we never even dreamed of. As schools as classes move
toward embracing students with iPads and other gadgets, a
reflective individual known as Jessica S. emailed me with her
thoughts.
I hope you enjoy this guest post!
Everywhere you turn technology appears to have firmly
entrenched itself in most of our everyday conveniences.
While some of these technological advantages are seemingly
benign and geared to help us streamline tedious or timeconsuming tasks, technology also manages to create
situations that can be potentially detrimental or hazardous. To
what extent is largely determined by the user who is typically
able to gauge these risks and make educated decisions
regarding his or her use of them. However, for young kids
making these decisions it is not as easy for them to determine
how much is too much of a good thing.
Parents Guidance: A Double-Edged Sword
Determining what technologies are appropriate for young
children is obviously a task designated for parents and
guardians but there is a problematic reality present in these
guiding decisions. Children and young adults are typically
better versed in new technology than the parents and adults
in their life.
Unlike older adults or even adults from just the next
generation, children are often born into technology, exposed
from a very early age to some of the most technologically
advanced gadgets available on the market. Unfortunately kids
are not going on the internet to compare car insurance rates
or researching additional disability insurance protection, they
are going on to the internet to connect to the outside world.
The internet now provides an important facet of socialization
and context for the world around them.
How then can parents begin to conceive of what technologies
are appropriate when they themselves may have a very basic
or inadequate understanding of them? Parents and guardians
can begin by asking themselves these basic questions:
1. How comfortable or knowledgeable am I in monitoring
what my kids look at or have access to online?
2. Do I have the ability or know-how to restrict my children’s
phone calls or text messages?
3. Do I know enough about laptops, computers, smart
phones, or other gadgets to determine my children’s
appropriate use of them?
If the answer to these questions is “no” parents and
guardians have a difficult decision to make.
The Real Risk to Children
So what kind of risks are children really facing in today’s
technologically savvy world? Most of the time we think the
risks are from sexually inappropriate materials but the truth
is the real risk to children is far greater and may come from a
source much closer to home.
Children at Risk in Multiple Ways
• Cyberbullying via chat rooms, texting, and social
networking sites
• Viruses and malware designed to extract sensitive
information from your computer
• Exploitation or manipulation by “friends,” adults, or
strangers
• Financial exploitation or theft if they have access to
finances
• Exposure to pornography, violence, and inappropriate
materials
• Exploitation by radical “social groups,” cults, or trendy
fads
• Access to incorrect and potentially harmful information
especially in regards to anorexia, bulimia, and selfmutilation
Allowing Access to today’s Technology
Fortunately, parents and guardians do not have to despair.
Many resources, programs, and educational material exist
for those looking to make sure their kids can access today’s
technology safely and in an appropriate way.
Resources include
• Kid’s Health.org offers a guide to “internet safety”
• Common Sense Media.com hosts an excellent database
of informational videos and articles on being cyber smart
• Safe Kids.com offers “A Parent’s Guide to Facebook”
These resources are just a few of the online guides and
Potential and Pitfalls of
Students with Tech
services available to parents and guardians. But the really
effective response may stem from sources closer to home.
For questions or more information feel free to
contact
Your children’s school – ask about what kind of safeguards
are in place for children using computers and internet
• The local police department can often provide tips and
tools for parents looking to safeguard their children
• Your internet provider, cell phone company, and cable
company usually provide special parental controls to help
parents monitor and restrict activity
Another less obvious resource but no less important are other
parents and guardians. Getting together with the parents of
your children’s friends is a great way to share strategies in
addition to establishing expectations. Often children will go to
other houses to gain access to inappropriate material.
Make sure all parents are on the same page and there
is a game plan in place should a parent discover either
child is gaining access to unwanted media or engaging in
inappropriate behaviors.
The real question of whether young kids should have access
to today’s technology is a complex one. With technology
making its way into schools, gaming arenas, and in the home,
shielding kids from all technology is becoming more and more
difficult. The true answer is every parent and guardian must
make the personal decision of how much is too much of a
good thing.
3-Minute Classroom
Management
Robert O’Brien is an exceptional principal in Spencer, MA.
He shares an experience here that helped one of his teachers
regain control of a particularly unruly classroom.
His experience is as illuminating as it is simple.
During my first year as an administrator, I was assigned
to observe a new teacher to our high school. Her resume,
recommendations, and job history made her appear to be the
perfect candidate. However, when classes started, students
from her class began to trickle to the office, either being
“thrown out” or leaving of their own accord. I was instructed to
investigate.
She had been a teacher for approximately five years—why was
she having so much trouble?
I entered the class early and watched students come in, many
after the bell. She stayed seated at her desk, and waited
for the students to take their seats. This was a grade eleven
American Literature class, a graduation requirement. The
students jostled, slowly becoming aware that the assistant
principal was in their classroom, and finally settled down.
After an agonizingly long attendance called, the teacher
began the lesson, still sitting behind her desk, told the
students to go to a table at the front of the classroom. There
where five stacks of papers; the students were instructed
to take one page from each pile, staple them together,
and return to their desks. What ensued was chaos. All the
students approached the table at the same times, the papers
soon became a pile of disarray, and pushing and shoving
broke out over the staplers.
I sat quietly, now knowing why she had so much difficulty.
Even before the class started, effective teachers have things
in order. If a class is working on a five page packet, they are
ready to go before class starts. An activator is placed on the
board, with the expectation that the students begin working
as soon as they walk into class. The teacher should meet
the students at the door, offering words of encouragement
and appropriate salutation while watching both the hallway
and her classroom. When the bell rings, she stands among
the students, using her personal space to prevent any
disruptions. Attendance can be taken with an old fashioned
seating chart. And never, ever have the students collate their
own papers. The class is orderly and students are learning.
The teacher is stress free and the students are on task.
What a difference three minutes can make.
The teacher is stress free and the students are on task.
What a difference three minutes can make.
Students Want Discipline
(they just don’t know how to say it)
down from their stiff penalty to your own. Done correctly, they
may even thank you for the detention/suspension they end
up with. But before we get there, how can we minimize those
conversations? It is as simple as moment management.
As a former street cop and narcotics detective, Curtis
Nightingale is no ordinary administrator. Nightingale is now
an assistant principal in Pratt, Kansas, who is armed with an
arsenal of child behavior strategies from his previous line of
work. This is a peer who knows firsthand how to help children
find themselves.
A friend and colleague of mine developed a fantastic
discipline/facility management system that he literally travels
the country sharing and training educators in. And although
I have never taken his course, he and I were discussing
classroom management one time and he said something to
me that really rang true to my own philosophy. To paraphrase
him, he mentioned instead of trying to think of managing an
entire class, or an entire day, if teachers could just learn to
manage those critical moments it could drastically reduce
not only their stress levels, but also their classroom behavior
issues as well. Critical moments…you know the ones. You give
an instruction; Johnny challenges you…this is a moment.
Children truly want discipline in their lives.
I know, this statement seems overly optimistic, but I honestly
believe this to be true. While to us “discipline” means
expectations and consequences, to students “discipline”
means structure, attention, and connection. Many of our
students lack this type of construct in their home lives.
Whether through a single-parent working
situation, poor parenting skills, or the dreaded friendparent relationship, many children lack, yet need and want
boundaries.
In our next installment we will discuss ways we can approach
these difficult moments and maintain composure while still
addressing he behavior and showing the student that rather
than it being him/her versus you, it is actually you and the
student versus the behavior.
Armed with this philosophy, how do we as educators approach
setting and enforcing realistic boundaries with some of
the most difficult students we have in class? I believe the
answer lies in our ability to be firm, fair and consistent while
making sure they know we care through the “connection” or
relationships we build with them.
Pratt High School
Now, before you think I am one of those bleeding heart,
mamsy-pamsy guys I will tell you that education is a
second career field for me; my first was in law enforcement.
Whether as a street cop, a narcotics detective, or later as an
administrator I found out fairly quickly that you would not get
far in that profession without an ability to build relationships
quickly. The ability to separate the person from the conduct,
and to not judge was as much a survival tool as it was an
investigative one. When I traded in the handcuffs for the
detention list, I found that many of these same instincts were
applicable. The ability to identify with what is going on with
a student before you lay into them for missing a detention or
being rude to a staff member is important.
Let me emphasize, I am not condoning the behavior at all.
In fact, if you lay the groundwork correctly they will actually
explain to you how wrong their conduct was and more often
than not choose a far more aggressive consequence than the
one you had in mind—you will actually have to negotiate them
Cueing and Group Social Skills Instruction
Students who have difficulty learning in a group setting (e.g.
students who talk out of turn, don’t pay attention, disrupt
others) can work on appropriate classroom behaviors in a
small group. The small group sessions focus on enhancing
listening skills and impulse control. The student’s goals are
clearly given and stated in positive terms (e.g. raise your hand
to talk). The teacher uses a cueing procedure that requires
the group to self evaluate their progress on reaching the
goals. Students receive positive reinforcement for performing
identified behavior.
Behavior Education Program
Do you usually have students in your class that need that
extra nudge, reminder or encouragement? You know, those
students that you usually put right in from of your desk so you
can keep a good eye on them? These students often fall into
the category of tier two on the Positive Behavior Intervention
and Supports (PBIS) continuum.
As you may recall, the continuum of positive behavior
supports has three tiers. PBIS expects 90% of students
to respond effectively to tier-three interventions but about
10-15% of students will fall into an at-risk category that may
need additional support and intervention. So if you have a
class of 20 students, two or three of your students may need
tier-two interventions. These interventions are often delivered
in small groups (e.g. group speech sessions, small group
reading instruction, ESL groups, social skills groups etc.).
The purpose of tier- two interventions is to be proactive and
to prevent the student from falling further behind his peers
academically, behaviorally and socially.
Here are some evidenced-based tier-two interventions.
The Behavior Education Program (BEP) is a behavioral
intervention for at risk students that requires that they
monitor their behaviors by doing a daily check-in, checkout
systems. Students attend daily meetings with an adult
before and after school to review goals and monitor their
progress. Students are also required to check-in with teachers
immediately after class to receive immediate feedback and a
daily performance report from the teacher. The report is sent
home for the parent to sign and the student receives positive
reinforcement for appropriate social skills.
BEP Overview:
http://www.nhcebis.seresc.net/document/filename/61/
NHBEPTraining.Hawken.pdf
BEP Forms:
http://www.nhcebis.seresc.net/behavior_education_
program(bep)
Practical Functional Behavior Assessments
(FBA)
The primary goal of an FBA is to guide the development of
effective positive interventions based on the functions of
behavior (e.g. escape, attention, access to items, access to
self stimulation) (Horner, 1994) Interventions based on the
FBA result in significant change in student behavior (Carr et
al.., 1999; Ingram, Lewis-Palmer, & Sugai, 2005) Practical
FBAs involve simple and realistic team-driven assessment
and intervention strategies. Trained school-based personnel
can do it.
The steps of a Practical FBA are:
• Identify that an FBA needs to be done
• Make an observable and measurable definition of the
problem behavior
• Gather information on the behavior
• Prioritize what behavior needs attention first
• Collect data on the antecedents and consequences of the
problem behavior in several environments
• Make a functional hypothesis of what the function(s) is/
are, the triggers and what is supporting the behavior.
• Last BUT NOT LEAST, create a plan that utilizes proactive
procedures, teaches replacement behavior and outlines
how everyone will respond to the behavior.
Here is a video about an FBA and what steps it takes to do
one.
http://www.autismtrainingsolutions.com/fba-toolkitexcercise-1
Here is an FBA Toolkit
http://www.autismtrainingsolutions.com/content/fba-tool-kit
Learn more about positive behavior intervention and supports
(PBIS) at Emaley’s free webinar on February 29!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Encouraging Entrepreneurial
Behaviour at an Early Age
Here’s a guest post that Isaac floated my way, and I must
admit, I’m not sure that I agree with him. But rather than
censor articles that I don’t agree with, I’d like to see what you
think. Are math, science, and logic the most essential skills to
develop for entrepreneurs? Do children need to develop social
behavior in order to succeed? As a creative guy (I’m a writer)
who is also quite quirky (I repeat, I’m a writer), I’m inclined to
disagree. What do you think?
All of these skills must start developing as soon as possible.
This starts with great teachers and instruction. Children with
potential usually have early signs of their precociousness.
Watch for keen insight, strength in math and science, and a
willingness to learn not just for school but also for the love of
knowledge. Encourage after school programs that develop
logic and reason. Also, stimulating games like chess or bridge
are a great way to further increase these skills.
Success at being an entrepreneur is all about innovation.
Being able to see things in a new light by taking a more
efficient road leads to a more productive society. This is why it
is important to develop entrepreneurial skills at a young age
to encourage growth in this area. The more young business
people we have in the world, the better off and more efficient
society will be as a whole.
Becoming a young entrepreneur will not be without its
difficulties. One of the most priceless assets is life lessons.
Many people who begin their business venture will run into
situations they have not previously encountered. This is why
it is also vital to have good relationships with other business
minded people and mentors to encourage a person when
faced with a difficult situation. Networking is the key to any
successful venture. Knowing when and who to ask for help
are essential.
image courtesy of patrickdriessen.blogspot.com
People are becoming billionaires at younger ages than ever.
The developers of Google were college students when they
first came up with the idea for the search engine. Mark
Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, was a young student
at Harvard when he created his revolutionary social media
site. Also young entrepreneurs were the makers of YouTube;
a new platform for sharing videos online. These new ideas
and developments came from minds of the youth and were
successfully transformed into very profitable business
ventures.
One of the biggest reasons it is possible for young people to
be successful in the world of entrepreneurship is because
persons are becoming competent with computers at earlier
stages in life. Understanding technology is vital for many
reasons. It allows for the transition of good thoughts into
stellar products. Computers are one of the fastest changing
technologies and innovation with software and programs
allows for tailoring to fit a niche market. A young entrepreneur
will need to be competent with computers to be successful.
For this reason, instill a thirst for knowledge in the virtual
world and a better society will rise because of it.
Similarly, it is important for young people to have a sound
sense of logic. Computers are a manifestation of logic and
are capable of only answering yes or no questions. However,
asking the right questions enables programs to do incredible
things. Math and science are also based in logic and person
with good skills this area will have a leg up in the world of
business. Young entrepreneurial people will need solid math
and logic skills to achieve their life goals.
This is why social development is also an important behaviour
to develop at an early age. A closed off child who does not
like to play with others may show tendencies to isolate in later
stages of life. Encourage kids to have strong relationships
with friends and family. Engage in conversations with children.
One of the biggest mistakes parents can make is being overly
dictatorial and not listening to what a child has to say. Instead
of exclusively telling a child what to do, ask them what they
think or what they have learned. A business person will need
to lead; not to follow. Confidence will build in kids who are
routinely allowed to express themselves and can do so in an
interesting way.
Developing social skills later in life is also important in the
world of business. Many people judge a person not only on
content but also on professional appearance as well. Take
speech classes to gain confidence when speaking in front of
large groups. Business etiquette courses are also available.
This will allow for young people to become competent and
strong minded. First establishing connections and networking
with other businesses requires confidence and an ability
to present one’s ideas not only in a logical manner but in a
convincing way as well.
Isaac is a keen business blogger whose favourite writing
subjects are successful entrepreneurship, automatic
enrollment and social media.
Managing Behavior with Trust:
An Assistant Principal Weighs In
Here’s a 3-step process and one highly successful assistant
principal’s experience in helping students resolve their
own behavior issues. Curtis Nightingale, assistant principal
at Pratt High School in Pratt, Kansas, returns to the
School Improvement blog to weigh in on issues faced by
administrators and teachers alike.
I believe the key to handling discipline, i.e. “classroom
management,” is all about people skills. Conflict will happen—
that is something we cannot control. But how we approach
that conflict—that, we can control. Refusing to take it personal
and making your students your allies rather than your
opponents is the place to start.
Moment Management
If you will approach difficult moments (those moments where
you as an educator feel challenged by a student) in very much
the same way you approach teachable moments (when things
don’t go as planned, yet a good educator will find a way to
make even that event a learning experience) you can begin to
see them more as a positive challenge rather than a negative
one.
Helping them to break down the conflict in terms they can
understand and the ability to see the other side is key to
moment management. Many teachers do this through norm
setting exercises, tribal councils, etc. The principle is the
same. Helping them to recognize the roles in the room--the
staff’s and theirs--can help them better understand the
conflict. In other words, basic citizenship.
Building Relationships on Trust
I will admit, I rarely had discipline issues in my class. In fact,
I am not sure I ever sent a student to the office—short of a
fight in the hallway, of course. Now, that may be due to the
fact that at 6’2” and 245 pounds I had a “calming effect” on
my students, but I like to believe it had more to do with the
relationship I developed with them.
I attempted to foster a “we” atmosphere in my room. “We”
were going to attack the subject at hand and “we” were going
to figure it out. At times I may have pretended not to know the
answers, and quite frankly there were times I did not have to
pretend, but I was attempting to foster a trench mentality…us
against the world, the computers, the textbook, the test…you
get the idea.
Many of my potential discipline issues were solved within the
first few weeks of school just through the development of an
actual relationship with my students. Through our give and
take they didn’t want to let me down, thus there was never an
issue of disrespect, defiance, or refusal to do what I asked.
Did I have kids that failed my class? Yes. Did I have kids who
served detentions for me? You bet. Did kids get mad at me? I
am sure they did, but I also had to bar kids from eating lunch
in my room with me…some of those same kids! I am a firm
believer that there are days where the only positive adult
contact some of our kids will have is that contact they have
with us educators. Sad, yes; sobering, even more so.
How I Help Students Get Over It
As an assistant principal, I will get kids in my office for various
defiance issues, and these are the steps I would follow:
1. I always ask them their side first. I validate their viewpoint
and then ask them what they believe he teacher’s issues
to be.
2. I may then read them the teacher’s comments and we
then begin discussing the issue as if they are watching
another student involved in the same situation. As we
talk through it, I take away emotion, I take away personal
viewpoint because of course we can’t know what a
stranger is thinking or feeling. As we move through the
exercise, they begin to recognize how the teacher/sub/
staff member saw their behavior.
3. We then look at the policy and I quote them the worstcase scenario consequence. I ask them how they would
apply this to our subject in question.
The next time I deal with this student, the exercise is
much more concise, because I have built both trust and a
relationship already. And I have done this with one visit of
most often less than 5 – 10 minutes. As a teacher I had them
for 85 minutes every other day, all year/semester long.
If handled appropriately, imagine the relationship that could
be developed with that amount of time!
Classroom Management: The
Law of Least Intervention
This week’s free PD 360 video is called “The Law of Least
Intervention,” and I think you’ll find it fascinating.
Sometimes it’s tough not to react.
Sometimes it’s very difficult not to make an example of some
kids.
But that’s what they want, isn’t it? A lesson that I have had
to learn in various teaching capacities is that when a student
acts out, it is very often because they want attention. So
what do I do? In my mind, I correct the problem. But to the
student, they get the attention they were looking for. Perhaps
it’s not positive attention, but if they are willing to misbehave,
then they are probably past the point of only seeking positive
interaction. So when I react (read: over-react) to classroom
behavior problems, these students have achieved their goal.
It’s not surprising, then, that I have faced classroom behavior
problems in the past.
That being said, we still need to address the problem.
Sometimes ignoring the student or not adequately addressing
his or her issues only leads to more dramatic misbehavior. So
how do you strike the right balance?
There is no universal cure for every student’s classroom
behavior problems, but there are some principals we can
follow. I hope you enjoy Classroom Management: The Law of
Least Intervention.
Boys Will Be Boys: Thinking
Differently About How to
Educate Boys in Grade School
Katheryn Rivas, a writer from our friends at online universities
blog, submitted this post on early childhood behavior. These
classroom management strategies help us understand and
work with elementary boys of all ages. I hope you enjoy!
Boys will be boys. So the saying goes — and yet, so many
boys in schools all around the country are being punished
for being just that: boys. Aggressive, physical, and energetic
behavior in school-aged boys has long been a hotly contested
topic among child psychologists, teachers, and academics.
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics,
boys
• are 30% more likely than girls to fail or drop out of the
education system
• are up to five times more likely than girls to be diagnosed
with ADHD
• under-perform against girls in academics, all the way to
graduate school
Schools today increasingly mete out strict consequences
for unruly, distractible, and impulsive boys, but are they
responding to boys with counter-productive methods?
Developmentally, boys are not as mature in grade school
as girls, especially in verbal and fine motor capacities. The
elementary classroom curriculum is sometimes at least
80% language-based, which puts average boys at a severe
disadvantage and worse, doesn’t give them the opportunity
to become fluent or to practice the language in a safe
environment before they are frustrated by expectations that
are too high.
Furthermore, with many schools paring down or in some
cases completely eliminating recess periods, boys — who
learn more quickly by physically playing and socializing — are
stifled and stunted by being constricted to the classroom.
Joseph Tobin, PhD, a professor of early childhood education,
remarks, “The most tiring thing you can ask a boy to do is sit
down. It’s appropriate to expect for kids to sit still for part of
the day, but not all of the day.”
The combination of boys’ naturally defiant rambunctiousness
and schools’ intolerance of such behavior often worsens the
tendency boys have to act out. Stricter punishments lead to
louder resistance. The cycle is unlikely to end unless teachers
are prepared to modify their strategies to accommodate their
boy students. Here are some ways to compensate for a boy’s
playfulness and assertiveness in the classroom to both help
foster a healthy and positive relationship with learning as well
as handle their behavior without snuffing out their spirit:
1. Encourage play. Include as much physical activity for
boys as you can in your curriculum, both indoors and out.
Children learn by playing, and will expend energy that will
otherwise go to aggressiveness or unruliness.
2. Tailor lessons to boys’ needs. Balance out your lesson
plans with activities that will appeal to boys, such as
building things, to keep them engaged and to optimize
their learning. Touching, moving, climbing—anything that
involves use of their bodies and is “hands-on” will help
them learn more effectively.
3. Let them choose reading material. So often schools want
students to read material that is not only uninteresting,
but that actively bores them. Of course, school shouldn’t
always cater to the wants of the students, but they
(especially boys) will be much more motivated to read
independently if they are able to read or write about
things that interest them.
Remembering that boys and girls develop differently is a
critical part of knowing how to best educate them. Sometimes
bad behavior in the classroom is not the result of an overly
energetic boy, but an education system that doesn’t support
a boy’s natural growth and tries to shape boys into something
other than what they are: boys.
About the Author
This guest post is contributed by Katheryn Rivas, who writes
for online universities blog. She welcomes your comments at
her email Id: katherynrivas87@gmail.com.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
What Movie Making and
Classroom Management
Have in Common
Every day, articles are posted on the Internet discussing,
highlighting, and mentioning the necessity of implementing
technology in the classroom. While most of the articles you
read will be about using video games to help with math, or
creating class blogs to assist students develop their English
skills, this week, I read an article that demonstrated using
technology in a completely different way.
Recently, the words “classroom management” took on a
whole new meaning as an educator used today’s technology
to initiate a creative approach to classroom clean-up. We’ve
all experienced trying to get students to do things they don’t
want to do, but never have I heard of a solution like the
following.
As Todd Nelson explains, “Nothing cleans quite like a little
QuickTime movie starring fifth and sixth graders.” Todd
approached the task of cleaning the classroom as an
opportunity for movie making. His idea hadn’t been planned
out, put together, or even carefully thought through, but
spontaneity can foster brilliant ideas.
“The film genre was born quite by accident. It was a slow
clean-up day on aisle two, and I really wasn’t thinking beyond
an amusing ploy when I said, ‘Why don’t we make a movie
of clean-up time?’ The result: Instant dharma. Lights, action,
camera, whirling dervishes…clean. Chore turns to limelight,”
described Nelson.
So where did the inspiration begin? Nelson realized that, “this
is the generation for whom there has always been MTV, for
whom “music” and “video” have always been inseparable, for
whom there is a sound- and video-track for everything. You
almost get the feeling that for something to be real and valid,
it has to have been recorded. We are all celebrities of our own
digital record keeping; all paparazzi of same.”
Nelson’s method may raise questions about what really
motivates students to action, or if video making has just
become a teacher’s favorite classroom management tool, but
it’s probably too early to tell. For now, as Nelson so quaintly
puts it, “It’s all good. Whatever gets the crayons off the floor
without nagging.”
To learn more about Todd Nelson’s movie-making clean up,
click here.
Strategies of the Week
• Communicating with Parents about Their Child’s Education
• Keeping Consistency in the Classroom
• Applying the Levels of Fix to Help Manage Your Classroom
• Planning Targets of Learning
February 1, 2012
Communicating with Parents
about Their Child’s Education
Report cards, while highly visible to parents, with various
teacher notations, grades or checkmarks, are not the only way
to communicate with the parents of students. It’s imperative
that communicating with parents includes the positive as
well as the negative updates of their children. Some forms of
communication such as a phone call to a parent or a letter
sent home expressing how Amy did well on her test or how
Jason shared his markers with one of the more shy kids in the
class can make all the difference in the parent’s approach
to the school or—more importantly—to their own child’s
education.
One approach to help involve parents includes providing a
monthly update sheet for them that contains three sections:
1. What the students will be working on within the current
month
2. What the students are going to be expected to do within
the coming months
3. Ways parents can help at home
Use your PD 360 login and password to access the video
segment. If you do not have a login, you can follow the
same link to sign up. To learn more about the School
Improvement Network content theme for January, Common
Core—Supporting the Whole Student and Teacher, visit
schoolimprovement.com. Also, feel free to visit the Common
Core 360 blog.
February 9, 2012
Keeping Consistency
in the Classroom
Consistency in the use of procedures and strategies is a
cornerstone for all the various aspects of good teaching.
Clarity is fundamental to consistency. Being clear to your
students is vital to establishing a consistent environment.
This includes clarity of expectations; clarity of a lesson and
clarity of procedures.
One important principle to be consistent with in the classroom
is “no arguing with the ref.” There should be no “arguing with
the teacher” and his or her decisions. Violating this creates
disruption in the classroom. What teachers need to remember
and reinforce is when a student argues with the teacher, the
arguing is in itself a disruption.
When a student wants to argue, a well-defined procedure will
potentially give the student a voice. One example includes
a non-verbal hand signal. Rick Smith shares one non-verbal
hand signal he uses in his classroom.
“If Twyla disagrees with my decision, she can
use the signal T for teacher talk or teacher
conversation meaning, I would like to talk to you
(teacher) about this when we have a chance. So, when it
works well, she gives me a T signal, I recognize the signal, I
point to the chair, and not a word is spoken. Twyla gets up,
changes seats, and I continue my lesson. Later on when I’m
not ‘on stage’ Twyla and I have a conversation.”
Use your PD 360 login and password to access the video
segment. If you do not have a login, you can follow the
same link to sign up. To learn more about the School
Improvement Network content theme for February, Behavior
and Classroom Management-Make it Work, Make it Last, visit
schoolimprovement.com.
February 16, 2012
Applying the Levels of Fix to
Help Manage Your Classroom
With so much happening in schools today and so much
urgency around improvement, change, and accountability, it’s
often difficult to just stop and decide what to do in response
to a challenging situation. However, once you understand
the nature of the problem, you can choose the appropriate
intervention if you think in terms of the Levels of Fix:
1. Level I: Fix the problem
2. Level II: Improve the process
3. Level III: Redesign the system
This approach applies to challenges at all levels in the system.
Four types of questions (analysis, alignment, improvement,
and action) should be asked at each of the three levels, as
you will discover in the Levels of Fix Overview and related
forum. Join the SMART Goals Learning Community on PD 360
to connect with Anne Cozemius and Terry Morganti-Fisher for
a monthly opportunity to win a copy of their book, More Than
a SMART Goal. To access the Levels of Fix Overview, click on
the “Resources” tab in the
SMART Goals Learning Community.
Use your PD 360 login and password to access the Levels
of Fix video segment in which Anne describes the three
levels. If you do not have a login, you can follow the same
link to sign up. To learn more about the School Improvement
Network content theme for February, Behavior and
Classroom Management—Make it Work, Make it Last, visit
February 23, 2012
Planning Targets
of Learning
Real classroom examples of research-guided practices
produce results in the classroom. Principal Dennis Sonius
comments that, “It’s really, really nice to know the logic
behind the strategies, to know the statistics behind them.
They know for sure that these strategies work.” Opposed
to haphazard teaching of unrelated facts, research-based
strategies can be identified and used. Students are impacted
and able to demonstrate higher levels of learning when
teachers use these strategies.
In an age of standards and accountability, high expectations
can only be attained through planning targets of learning. To
target learning, teachers begin by asking four questions:
1. What knowledge will students be learning?
2. What will be done to help students acquire and integrate
this knowledge?
3. What will be done to help students practice, review, and
apply this knowledge?
4. How will I know if students have learned this knowledge?
Use your PD 360 login and password to access the full
video segment. If you do not have a login, you can follow
the same link to sign up. To learn more about the School
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Video Transcripts
• Proactive Classroom Management
• Teaching Social and Emotional Behaviors
• Classroom Management: Addressing Misbehavior
• Classroom Management: The Law of Least Intervention
Proactive Classroom
Management
Understanding classroom management is a prerequisite
to becoming a great educator. As a beginning pilot needs
skills to fly, so do beginning teachers need skills to get their
careers off the ground. When educators create a community
of learners who are self-managers, teachers and students
both benefit. A well-managed classroom nurtures learning.
Like a pilot knowing his instrument control panel teachers
must understand the principles and procedures that make a
classroom run smoothly.
In part one of this issue, the importance of bonding and
connecting and the need for procedures and routines were
presented.
This videotape, part two, explains the need for using proactive
classroom management, including the teaching of social and
emotional behaviors, active student involvement, addressing
misbehavior, and using the law of least intervention.
Proactive classroom management provides a structure for
new teachers who are winning students over, not winning
over them. Proactive classroom management is anticipating
problems or interruptions before they occur and finding ways
to eliminate or lessen their impact on learning.
Dr. Carol Cummings is a renowned leader in teacher
education. She conducts workshops world-wide on classroom
management.
“What can I do,” she asks an audience full of educators, “to
prevent that from happening or at least minimize it’s impact
in the classroom? Is it harder to stop misbehavior while it’s
happening or is it better to prevent it from happening in the
first place?”
“First place,” replies an audience member.
“See that’s what proactive is,” Dr. Cummings says. “The
reactive teacher tries to stop it while it’s happening and
sometimes it just escalates and has a ripple effect and you
don’t want that.”
Where possible, mentor teachers assist new teachers.
Beginning teachers gain confidence through their experience,
get ideas for teaching in their own classrooms, and are less
likely to get discouraged.
Mentor 1st through 3rd grade teacher Lisa Campbell works
with intern teachers at Vine Elementary School in Cincinnati.
“We decided on everything,” says Carmie Terry of Campbell.
“She told us, you know, exactly what we needed to think
about and gave lots of suggestions.”
“Just having somebody else there with you every single day
to, you know, ask questions, give suggestions, give feedback,
give examples of lessons, and so I think that’s been a big help
in the first year,” adds Jennifer Sabitelli.
“My biggest concern is our new teachers get off on the wrong
foot,” says Carol Cummings. “And it’s so hard to back track.”
With this concern, Dr. Cummings offers suggestions to
mentors or those who will help new teachers.
“If you can say let’s brain storm some of the things that
typically happen at the Elementary, or typically happen at the
Secondary, and look at some of the options that you might
consider before they happen, you’re giving your new teachers
a chance to be pro-active,” she explains. “In many ways,
being proactive is simply thinking of things in a different way,
spinning a potentially negative situation into a positive one. It
is a way of including students, instead of alienating them.”
“We want an invitational classroom,” Cummings continues.
“I want an invitational classroom where they feel like
they’re part of it. In the process of developing expectations,
educators do well to let the students take ownership.
Personally I don’t like the word rule. What does the word rule
conjure up in your mind? It says, ‘I’m going to break it.’ You
know today’s generation of kids: ‘You can’t make me, first
amendment rights,’ or whatever.”
Lorna Dunsdon of Cedar Way elementary in Mountlake
Terrace, Washington, demonstrates developing ownership in
among students in her 3rd grade class.
“Number two, go,” she says to a group of students. “I choose
to wait nice and quietly, where?
“At my desk,” the students answer in unison, “in a group, in
line, and after a signal.”
“Gonna do that today?” Dunsdon asks her students.
“Yes!” they reply.
“Ok! Again,” Dunsdon directs. “Number three. European.
European. Let’s get sophisticated. Ready? “
“I choose to behave in a manner that creates a positive
learning environment,” the students repeat together.
Proactive Classroom
Management
“Are you going to do that today?” Dunsdon asks.
“Respect?” Jacquelyn says.
“Yes!” say her students.
“You want to be treated with respect,” Linton affirms. “That’s
your right as a student in my class. You deserve to be treated
with respect, and I promise you I will respect you. Ricardo?”
“Goodie, goodie, come on!” says Dunsdon. “Again!”
“Instead of having classroom rules,” Dunsdon explains to the
camera, “we do affirmations, which is a positive way to set up
a positive learning environment. I used to have the kids help
me make them up. I feel really comfortable with these, so now
we just discuss them.”
“One of my favorites that our teachers do are the 3 R’s,” says
Cummings. “They just simply call it the 3 R’s. Rights, respect
and responsibility.”
“That’s our right,” says Melody Linton, 4th grade teacher
at Hoover Street Elementary in Los Angeles, California, as
she demonstrates the use of the 3 R’s in her classroom.
“Students take ownership by recognizing their own rights and
honoring the rights of others.”
“I have lots of rights in this classroom, don’t I?” Cummings
states. “What are your rights as a learner in this classroom?
And the kids will say, well, I have a right to be listened to. I
have a right not to have people mess with my stuff. I have
a right not to be made fun of. Then I ask the kids after they
develop what their rights are as a learner in the classroom,
we go, ‘therefore what is your responsibility?’”
“If I have the right to be treated with respect,” says
Cummings, “therefore I have the responsibility to treat others
with respect. The three R’s can be discussion for the first few
days of school, rights, respect and responsibility.
Linton discusses rights with her 4th grade students on the
first day of school.
“We’re going to learn a lot about rights, respect, and
responsibility in this class,” she explains. “We’re gonna work
together as a team the whole year. Who can tell me how you’d
like to be treated this year? George?
“Nice,” George offers.
Nice, ok, for sure,” answers Linton. “I wanted to be treated
nicely as well. Anybody else? How about Daniel?”
“Kind?,” Daniel says.
“Kind!” Linton responds. “I love that word. “Yes, most
definitely. And that’s our right. How about Jacquelyn?”
“I want to be treated with freedom,” says Ricardo.
“With freedom! I love that!” Linton says.
For administrators and teachers who want consequences
clearly posted in the classroom, it is important to focus on the
responsibility of respecting rights.
“I love the word responsibility,” Cummings explains. “You
have ownership. Be ready to learn. Be safe and healthy. Be
respectful of people and property. Now, if you make good
choices, look at the consequences: you’ll have self-pride, a
good learning environment, rewards and privileges, but if
you don’t take responsibility you might have to have a gentle
reminder, or you might have to write a plan or call home or to
the principal.”
“Asking students to visualize what it means to have rights,
respect and responsibility is helpful for any occasion
throughout the year,” Cummings elaborates. “If they’re going
off on a field trip, if they’re going off to the zoo, for instance
they’ll sit and have a class meeting and say, ‘what’s it going to
look like to show respect at the zoo?’ What’s it going to look
like to take responsibility?”
Teachers can also teach respect by example.
“One of the things that I try to do is respect the child,” says
Lyn Hubbard, intervention teacher at Gamble Elementary in
Cincinnati, Ohio. “I think that is the basis of all management.
Respecting the child, trying to get to know the child, and
engaging the child.”
Giving respect is essential for every educator. If students see
it in action, they are more likely to show respect to others as
well.
I congratulate them on their successes and I encourage
them,” says Teresa Griffin, reading intervention teacher, at
Gamble Elementary in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Teaching Social and
Emotional Behaviors
From the “Classroom Management—How to Win Students
Over: Elementary Edition” program
Youngsters need to be taught the ability to compliment, to
give “put-ups” instead of “put-downs.”
School Improvement Network, the leader in online
professional development for educators, provides you with
instant access to thousands of training videos through PD
360, the company’s premiere PD platform.
“Some of our schools just picked up on the difference
between put-ups and put-downs,” Cummings says. “Give a
put-up and not a put-down. Wear a smile and not a frown.
Say something nice about how someone asks, but remember
though they must be facts. Look at the works that others do.
If they do a good job, tell them true.”
The following is an excerpt from a PD 360 video:
Teaching social and emotional behaviors is something every
educator should seek to do.
“Most of our kids lack the opportunity to learn good social
and emotional skills today,” explains Carol Cummings, a
renowned leader in teacher education. “Our little ones aren’t
being raised at home by mom[s] who [are] teaching them
social and emotional skills.”
Julie Kent provides opportunities for her kindergarten class
at Vine Elementary to gain social and emotional skills they
may not have obtained elsewhere. While some students
seem to fit right in, others struggle, bringing with them social
and emotional issues. Mrs. Kent provides support and
understanding for each student.
“The child that you saw me interact with today is a child who
needs a lot of support, a lot of understanding, and responds
best when I can give that to him,” Kent says. “Each child is an
individual. Each child needs something different and that’s
probably one of the hardest jobs of becoming a teacheror a
parent, is changing hats for each child because they all need
something different. And you’ve got to be aware of what those
needs are.”
Some students are so used to getting put down, that all they
know is how to put others down.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones—” recites Cummings,
“finish it.”
“But words will never hurt me,” says the audience.
“And then we say to the kids, ‘Is that true?’” says Cummings.
“And what do they say?”
“No,” answers the audience.
“So we changed the words in the song to, ‘Sticks and stones
may break my bones, but some words break my heart,’” says
Cummings.
Lack of social and emotional skills is displayed in different
ways. Students may lack abilities to problem solve, or they
may show inappropriate aggression.
“If we can spend more time in our classroom teaching social/
emotional skills,
and we have evidence that it works, then we’re allowing those
kids to fit in and be bonded,” posits Cummings, “because
very often the aggressiveness that you see is simply a veneer,
a protection, because they don’t know what else to do. They
don’t have any other choices, so we’re going to help them
make better choices.”
One major social/emotional skill could be introduced about
once a month and then practiced throughout the year.
“You literally teach it,” Cummings explains. “And then you’ll
come back and you’ll practice it throughout the year. Now
do you think that you could take something like anger
management and put it into a 15-minute lesson? No. And
that’s why for our social skills, they have to be spread out
and practiced the entire year. And we’re talking about intense
practice because we have kids who for the first four or five
years of their lives didn’t have a chance to learn these
particular skills.“
The first few weeks of school should be dedicated to learning
basic routines and classroom procedures, such as those
introduced in part one of this program. Then, teachers can
begin to teach social and emotional behaviors, one skill at a
time.
“Our teachers tend to pick listening for the September skill.
Why do you think?” Cummings asks. “Before you can listen
to learn you must first learn to listen. Everyday for a month
we will have some type of listening activity. It might take
five minutes, it might take ten minutes and then we start
integrating it into the curriculum.
Teaching Social and
Emotional Behaviors
Problem solving would be a good skill to work on the next
month.
“You can use problem solving across all the content areas in
everything the kids do,” says Cummings. “Whether they’re
on the bus, whether they’re in the hallway, whether they’re
in the classroom. We use a template for our class meetings
where we identify a problem the kids have been having.
We look at all the choices that they could make in solving
that problem, and then we go over here and say what would
the consequence be? If I chose to walk away, what would
the consequence be? If I chose to talk it out, what would
the consequence be? We want kids to get into the habit of
conscious problem solving and knowing that they don’t have
to act on their first impulse.
school just not right.
“So when you’re mad, about to fight, control your anger with
all your might,” Cummings continues. “Take deep breaths,
count to ten, before you try to talk again. If you can’t use a
cool, calm, voice. To walk away is a better choice.”
“I will be sharing a Wisdom Story with you today so that
should be fun,” says Brenda Stingily, 5th grade teacher at
Brier Elementary School in Washington State.
Mrs. Stingily uses a storybook, “The Rough-Face Girl” to
teach social skills. One of the themes for the story is showing
empathy. After reading the story, the 5th grade students work
in pairs to discuss what they learned from the story.
In a class meeting of Cheryl Eliason’s at Mary Immaculate
School in Farmer’s Branch, Texas, the 5th graders are roleplaying an incident where two boys were irritating other
students by putting things under their desks.
“I liked it,” reports one of Stingily’s students. I thought
his message was don’t judge a person by what she looks
like, and wearing. And it’s about being beautiful inside not
outside.”
“Ah, Chris and Joseph, after watching this role play what are
your thoughts now about this situation?” Eliason asks.
“I say don’t judge anything by the outside,” says another
student. “Go by what you think on the inside. Judge’em by the
heart. Give it a chance.”
“Um, I didn’t realize I was causing that much trouble,” says
Chris.
Mrs. Stingily connects the message to current events.
“Joseph, what about you?” Eliason questions.
“I guess we could stop pushing our stuff under the desks,”
responds Chris.
“Look at this,” Stingily reads. ‘Nearly one in three students is
either a bully or a victim.’ One in three, it’s a fraction do some
quick math here. What does that mean? Spencer?”
“One third,” says Spencer
“Would you be willing to give that a try? “ asks Eliason. “ What
about you Chris?”
“One third,” repeats Stingly.
“Yes,” says Chris.
Get the video on PD 360 by signing up for a free 30-day trial
“Ok, what about the people who have the problem,” Eliason
says. “Would you be willing to give Chris and Joseph a chance
now that the situation has been brought to their attention?”
Anger management can be another skill discussed early in
the year, possibly November, and practiced throughout the
year. Music and rap is fun and can ease tension. It can be
used as a tool for teaching anger management.
“I’m always in trouble, always in a fight,” Cummings recites.
“It’s not my fault, nothing’ goes right. I have problems at home
and problems at school, now how can I solve’ em and still be
cool? The Principal asks, `Now why do you fight? Fighting at
Classroom Management:
Addressing Misbehavior
In addressing misbehavior, how it is addressed makes all the
difference for a beginning teacher.
Kirwin and Mendlore set up these four goals that I honestly
and truly believe in,” says Carol Cummings, a renowned
leader in teacher education, “and I think we can handle those
behaviors.”
The four goals are: maintain student dignity; create a lasting
change; keep cool by being a model of social and emotional
intelligence, and use punishment as a rare and last resort.
“Maintain student dignity,” Cummings begins, “because
once you strip a child of their dignity in class what’s going to
follow? More misbehavior, increased misbehavior. Did you
know that kids would rather look bad in front of their peers
than dumb in front of their peers? There are some kids, if they
feel humiliated in front of their peers, they will continue to act
badly. I can exacerbate misbehavior just by how I handle it.”
“You’re going to create a lasting change,” Cummings
emphasizes. “If you are going to take time to deal with any of
those misbehaviors, don’t just put a lid on it temporarily, or
it’ll come back and it’ll be much worse. You’re going to have
to say, ‘I need to find a way to change that behavior. How am I
going to do it?’”
Beginning teachers often make the mistake of ignoring
problems, hoping they will go away. Generally, they don’t go
away. They must create a lasting change in behavior.
“If in the classroom I have any of these misbehaviors, and
I put a lid and I just temporarily stop it without changing it,
that behavior will come back and it will get worse,” explains
Cummings. “If we’re going to be the model of social/
emotional intelligence, and this is hard because sometimes
they really get your goat right? It’s so hard to model good
social/emotional behavior. To be successful, act like a duck
on a pond, calm and unruffled on the surface, but paddle like
mad underneath. You’ve got to keep your cool.”
Teacher Pam Beresford keeps her cool.
“Oh Wes!” she exclaims.
“He keeps doing that,” a student complains of Wesley, a boy
in her class.
“Wesley,” Mrs. Berseford asks, “what do you think’s gonna
happen to you if you keep doing that?”
“I’ll get in trouble,” Wes answers.
“Do you think I could write an office referral?” Mrs. Berseford
questions Wes. “I could. And I would.”
“Okay,” says Wesley.
The fourth goal is to use punishment as a rare and last resort.
“Some of the items are totally out of your control,” says
Cummings. “Most of our schools have no tolerance policies.
With weapons, for instance. You don’t have to make a
decision here, it’s taken care of, that’s it--it’s off to the office.
So the very first thing you have to help your new teachers with
is to find wherethe bottom line is, where it’s out of your hands,
and when it is now in the office’s hands.”
In responding to behavior problems, teachers need to
consider the severity of an infraction, where it is on a scale of
minor to major.
“We do not want to major in the minor leagues,” Cummings
explains. “So, part of our job as we help our new teachers
in particular, is to help them discern where is this behavior
on the continuum from minor league to major league, and
then learn how to match an appropriate response on our part
depending upon where that behavior falls.”
Minor league behaviors can be any simple thing that distracts
from the lesson.
Cummings lists a number of minor league infractions.
“We’ve got pencil tapping, drumming, humming, doing hair,
running, trash-can basketball—I love that one isn’t that good?
But how do you maintain a positive-feeling tone when that’s
going on in your classroom?”
With minor league distractions, the reactive teacher loses
control quickly. The fourth goal is to use punishment as a rare
and last resort.
“Some of the items are totally out of your control,” says
Cummings.
The proactive teacher uses the law of least intervention, a way
of managing minor classroom disruptions without giving them
a lot of attention.
physical presence. In the same way that adults check to make
sure they are obeying traffic laws when an officer is nearby
students tend to pay attention when an adult is present.
“All that means is we want to use the least amount of
interruption to the classroom environment,” says Carol
Cummings, a renowned leader in teacher education. “That
means the least amount of negative feeling or tone so that we
don’t destroy the learning environment for the majority of the
kids in our classroom.”
“The physical presence of the authority figure is likely to
even stop a note being passed,” Cummings explains. “Not a
hundred percent. But one of the first things I ask you to do
is to study your seating arrangement. Can you get out and
among the students quickly?”
Teacher Rita Claricurzio defuses the problem of a frustrated
student without calling attention to or humiliating her.
Automatic scanning keeps students mindful that the teacher
is watching. While Ruth Martin helps a young man, she scans
her classroom, noticing an errant student.
“What part of the isosceles triangle is that dotted line?”
Claricurzio asks.
“Joanna, my goodness, Joanna, come inside please, thank
you!” she says to a student.
Mrs. Claricurzio assists the girl indirectly, guiding the rest of
the group first.
“Automatic scanners mean while you are teaching your eyes
are constantly scanning the class to spot misbehavior at the
very beginning. When you see the first inkling of it— might be
somebody nudging somebody else, or taking their paper,”
says Cummings. “If you don’t catch it right then, then it’s
going to escalate and you can’t use something simple.”
“It’s the altitude,” answers a student in the girl’s group.
“Gosh Dean, you’re so smart!” shouts a student in the same
group.
“Put it in there, put it in there, you’re smart too, put it in
there,” Claricurzio reassures the student.
Using positive comments, Mrs. Claricurzio patiently waits for
the frustrated girl to figure out the problem and join in with
her group.
“Are you with me yet?” Claricurzio asks the girl. Do you see
two right triangles in there? Okay, you’ve reproduced that
down here. What is this dark? What is that dark line down
here, what is that?
“10.51,” says the girl.
“Ok, label that on your triangle,” Claricurzio tells her.
By helping the girl be productive, Mrs. Claricurzio has
prevented an incident.
“Yes! You’re on a roll!” she exclaims.
The law of least intervention incorporates management
strategies such as the use of physical presence, automatic
scanning, cuing, and avoiding power struggles. A quick
way of quieting problems before they happen is showing a
The law of least intervention prescribes that problems be
addressed quickly and if possible, quietly.
If I say to all of you, take out your book and turn to page 89,
and here’s Kimberly who doesn’t take her book out, do I stop
and say, in front of all of you: ‘you all have page 89, you’re
ready for the directions. Kimberly, where is that book and why
haven’t you taken it out?’ Yes, or no? No!” Cummings says.
“Because I have all of the rest of my class with me, they’re
ready for the directions. I will see her privately because my job
is not to take your learning time away from you.”
As an actor takes his cue from other actors, when a teacher
takes his or her cue that parts of the classroom are becoming
disruptive he or she is “cuing” into the need for a change.
“Cuing means find something else for the rest of the class to
do,” says Cummings. “It might be that I need Delawn back on
task, and I say to myself, ‘Alright this is a good time for you to
process.’”
The law of least intervention can also mean avoiding power
struggles and diffusing potentially explosive situations, such
as the kind of talking back that leads to an outburst.
“So our first goal if we’re going to maintain that positive
feeling tone in the classroom is not to get hooked, because
they will reel us in. And who invariably wins a power struggle?”
Cummings asks an audience of educators.
“They do,” answers a man.
“They do,” Cummings confirms.
As teachers gain experience, they learn ways of avoiding
power struggles such as through the use of humor. It has to
be true humor not bordering on sarcasm. And it has to fit your
personality.
Some teachers use the “hit and run,” where a quick, nonoffensive reply is given to a student’s minor offense.
“Here’s what one of our teachers did,” Cummings explains the
meaning of hit and run. “Somebody did say that you are really
the worst teacher in this building.’ And she used a method
called hit and run. And remember usually this is while she’s
working with a student. ‘You mean I came in number one?’
And she’s gone out of here. Sometimes that takes the wind
out of their sails. And they are sitting there trying to process it.
And the reason it’s called hit and run is because before they
even think of a response they’re wondering, ‘where are you?’”
“Gone,” answers an audience member.
“You’re gone,” Cummings nods. “And you’re up there working
with someone else.”
Teachers can avoid a power struggle by making an
appointment for later discussion. Mrs. Claricurzio
demonstrates this with a student named John.
“John, how are you feeling?” Claricurzio asks.
“Pretty good. I feel I can do this work,” John looks away from
the teacher.
“John, do you have a game today?” Claricurzio asks.
“Uh, no, I got to go home, cause my sister forgot her keys this
morning,” John explains
“Why don’t you to come see me at lunch,” Claricurzio smiles
at John.
“I’ll be out at lunch,” John responds.
“Okay, if you’re confident, you’re sure?” Claricurzio asks.
“I can do this,” John reassures his teacher.
“Ok,” Claricurzio nods and walks away.
The use of readily available appointment slips facilitates this
power struggle intervention.
“I have so many teachers who are using them,” says
Cummings. “You are going to teach your class what the
appointment slip is all about. It says something like: we need
to talk. Would you prefer right after class, lunch? And you
have to set up the times when you would be able to talk. And
then on the appointment slip you may ask, ‘please explain to
me now in writing why this happened.’”
In using a tool such as the appointment slip, the idea is to
avoid the power struggle by addressing it quietly, without
an audience. However, there are times when removal of the
misbehaving student is necessary. A solution room, or time
out location makes this possible.
“This is a place where they can go where it’s time out but it’s
not punitive per say,” Cummings explains the solution room.
“For instance how many of you know that when you’re angry
at somebody you need to get away while you calm down. Our
kids do too. They’re not any different. They’re human beings.”
A solution room or space is a place where the upset student
can calm down and process their problem, looking for
possible solutions.
“You’ll hear music playing for you because it does help
reach calm,” says Cummings. “What we know about anger
management is we need to distract them to get their mind off
of it first.”
Using proactive classroom management will help students
stay focused on the learning, and bring success to the new
teacher. Like a beginning pilot ready to fly, a new teacher has
a wholly unique and exciting time ahead of them.
By being prepared to teach proactively; by bonding and
connecting with students, giving them self-worth and a sense
of belonging to the community; by actively involving students
in the learning, teachers have a direct influence and a lasting
impact on those students, propelling themselves to the
heights of a successful and rewarding career.

Job-Embedded Professional Development for Teachers: How to Apply PD to the Classroom

Transcription

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