Effective Classroom Management Strategies for a Successful Academic Year

1. Classroom Management Jason Parsons Director of Curriculum and Instruction Canton Union School District #66 20 West Walnut Canton, Illinois 61520 (309) 647-1600 jparsons@cantonusd.org

2. NOW??? • The timing is good the beginning of a new quarter or semester. • Students are very receptive to change. • Better late than never! • Anytime is the right time.

3. Purpose • Maximize time spent on teaching and learning.

4. Why do most students misbehave? • To hide their lack of academic success in the classroom. • Divert the attention off their ability onto their behavior. • The students then become more focused on the teacher than on the student misbehaving.

5. Key Factors to Effective Management • Attitude • Communication • Instruction • Modeling • Consistency • Fairness

6. Attitude is Everything • Who do you want to be? • Manager • Respected • Accepted • Friend • Pushover • Disregarded • Dictator • Feared • Overthrown

7. Student Behaviors Preparedness for class Completion of homework Format and structure of completed work Social Behaviors Behavior during class and at school Adhering to procedures and rules Interactions with peers and staff Manners Distinguish Between Student Behaviors and Classroom Behaviors

8. Rules • Teachers set the rules. • Establish your personal expectations. • Separate student and social expectations. • Expectations become rules. • Rules should be kept to a minimum - Students should be able to remember all of them! • School policy, tradition, and building principal expectations should be considered.

9. Consequences • Teachers spend most of their time focused on finding creative consequences. • Suggest spending more time on finding methods for preventing misbehavior. • If the classroom is managed effectively, the consequences become minor.

10. Consequences • Teachers establish consequences. • Separate consequences for student and social behaviors. • Can you live with them? • Progressive steps - building in severity • Duration for the steps - daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly... • Consider the age, grade level, and maturity of the students.

11. Consequences to Avoid • Punishing all for one • Schoolwork as punishment • Putting student in unsupervised area (hallway) • Physical punishment (pushups, standing in the corner, etc.)

12. Communication • Communicate the rules and consequences to the students frequently. • Daily the 1st few weeks. • Weekly for the remainder of the quarter. • Monthly for the remainder of the school year.

13. Communication(continued) • Put rules and consequences in writing. • Distribute to students and parents/guardians. • Get student and parent/guardian signatures. • Post in the classroom.

14. Administrative Support • Check to make sure your rules and consequences are consistent with school and district policies and philosophies. • Review your rules and consequences with your building principal prior to implementation.

15. Teaching Student Behavior • Teach students how to behave in your classroom. • Teach student and classroom behaviors. • More time given to teaching expectations, behaviors, rules, and consequences early in the year will pay off in more instructional time throughout the school year.

16. Most Important... Model the behaviors you expect of your students!!!

17. Administration of the Rules and Consequences • Firm • Fair • Consistent • Respectful

18. Cautions and Clues... • Control your personal mood and your disposition toward the student. • Intermittently check students for understanding of the rules.

19. Dealing with the Student • Address the behavior. • AVOID targeting the student’s character. • Do not back students into corners. Given a choice between saving face with you or their peers, students will usually choose their peers. • Present the students with choices. • REPRIMAND IN PRIVATE. • Address the specific poor behavior and remind student of the appropriate behavior.

20. Dealing with the Student (Continued) • Provide every opportunity for the student to succeed. • Despite all of your efforts, some students may choose to make poor choices. • If the the student fails due to poor decision making, have we allowed the student to fail?

21. Raising your voice Yelling Using degrading, insulting, humiliating or embarrassing put-downs Using sarcasm Saying, “I’m the boss here” Acting superior (“I never did that.”) Insisting on having the last word Using tense body language, such as rigid posture or clenched hands Using physical force Drawing unrelated persons into the conflict Having a double standard — making students do as I say, not as I do Insisting you are right Preaching Making assumptions Pleading or bribing Backing the student into a corner Bringing up unrelated events Generalizing about students Making unsubstantiated accusations Nagging Holding a grudge Throwing a temper tantrum Mimicking the student Making comparisons with siblings or other students Commanding Demanding Dominating Management Techniques that May Backfire

22. Rewards • Reward the group publicly (address the specific behavior). • Group should only gain privileges. • Reward individuals privately (address the specific behavior).

23. Change If your rules, consequences, or rewards aren’t working... • Give adequate time to determine success. • Seek advice from colleagues and administrators. • Change them!

24. Start of class - practice or challenge assignment Be prepared for those extra minutes. Read Orally to Class Games, Riddles, Jokes Engaging Units and Activities Have fun teaching and the kids will have fun learning! Idle Hands, Idle, WILD Minds!!! Keep them busy and engaged!!!

25. Resources • Colleagues • The First Days of School by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong • Teachers Change Lives 24/7 by Jim Burgett • Internet Web Sites

26. Questions... Comments...