Classroom Management

1. Classroom Management Tips and Techniques

2. Learning Expectations

3. Objectives Today we will: • Learn about the essential components needed for a positive and effective classroom management system. • Learn ways to support your colleagues with their classroom management practices through the use of implementation checklists, resource sharing, and coaching. • Review an example of a proactive classroom management plan. • Explore a variety of evidence-based, free resources to support proactive classroom management.

5. Why is Classroom Management Important? • A common concern among beginning teachers is that they lack the skills to address disruptive behavior.(Oliver & Reschly, 2007; Jones & Jones, 2007) • Though classroom management remains an important concern among almost all new teachers, many preservice teachers consider the amount of instruction they receive on the topic to be insufficient. What instruction they do receive they tend to see as overly abstract or too divorced from a realistic classroom setting.(Siebert, 2005) • In a special analysis of data collected from teachers by the U.S. Department of Education, 53% of teachers who transferred to another school reported student behavior as their reason for doing so, and 44% of those who left the profession reported this as a reason for leaving.(U.S. Department of Education, 2005)

6. Sobering Considerations • Student problembehavioris cited by the U.S. Dept of Education as one of the top three reasons why educators leave the field. • Student problem behavior is one of the top two content areas identified by teachers (a) as an on-site training need, and (b) as a gap in their pre-service training.

7. Discipline v. Management • Discipline: The reaction to misbehavior AFTER it has occurred. • Management: Actions that prevent misbehavior from occurring. • Management is identifying the problem and searching for the solution.

8. Developing positive relationships with your students can mean... • Less work engaging students. • Easier classroom management. • Longer focus time. • Students will be willing to take risks. • Research indicates teachers who have positive relationships with their students report approximately 31% less behavior problems in their classrooms (Marzano& Pickering, 2003).

9. Ways to Build Positive Relationships • Greet everyone at the door. • Call on everyone equitably. • Give specific praise. • Seek first to understand the student’s point of view. Listen and communicate. • Show personal interest in student activities. • Provide individual help. • Respect your students. • Be fair. • Be consistent. • Be kind and courteous. Caring is key.

10. Research Findings: Effective Classroom Management Critical Features • Maximize structure • Post, teach, reinforce and monitor expectations • Actively engage students in observable ways • Use a continuum of strategies to respond to appropriate behavior • Use a continuum of strategies to respond to inappropriate behavior Simonsen, Fairbanks, Breisch, Myers & Sugai (2008) 80% Prevention

11. We never educate directly, but indirectly by means of the environment.  --- John Dewey (1944) Ways to Maximize Structure

12. Maximize structure in you classroom • Develop Predictable Routines • Teacher Routines: volunteers, communications, movement, planning, grading, etc. • Student routines: personal needs, transitions, working in groups, independent work, instruction, getting materials, homework, etc. • Design environment to elicit appropriate behavior, minimize crowing and distraction: • Arrange furniture to allow easy traffic flow. • Ensure adequate supervision of all areas. • Designate staff and student areas. • Seating arrangements (groups carpet, etc.) Classroom Architect

13. Assess • Complete item for your own classroom (or a teacher with whom you consult)

14. Action Plan • Generate action plan content (observable and measurable behaviors to address deficits) • Potential action plan items may include: • Describe predictable routine for entering classroom, turning in homework, (or others that are identified as missing) • Rearrange furniture to ensure better supervision [1] What? When? How? By When?

15. Section 2 Post, Teach, Review, Monitor Expectations

16. Problem Behavior

17. Post, teach, review, monitor, and reinforce a small number of positively stated expectations • Establish behavioral expectations/rules. • Teach rules in context of routines. • Prompt or remind students prior to entering natural context. • Monitor students’ behavior in natural context and provide specific feedback. • Evaluate effect of instruction – review data, and make decisions, and follow up. Integrate SWPBIS Expectations and Cool Tools!

18. SWPBIS Integrate SWPBIS classroom expectations into your routines/procedures

19. Teach Rules in the Context of Routines • Teach expectations directly. • Define rule in operational terms—tell students what the rule looks like within routine. • Provide students with examples and non-examples of rule-following within routine. • Actively involve students in lesson—game, role-play, etc. to check for their understanding. • Provide opportunities to practice rule following behavior in the natural setting.

20. Greater Johnstown School DistrictBehavioral lesson plans for SWPBIS • May be a lesson that you teach as a teacher (e.g., Cool Tool) • May be a video demonstrating behavioral expectations

21. Assess

22. Mini Action Plan • Generate action plan content (observable and measurable behaviors to address deficits) • Potential action plan items may include: • Choose three expectations and create posters • Complete matrix • Develop lesson plans [1] What? When? How? By When?

23. Section 3 Actively Engage Students in Observable Ways

24. Active Engagement • Provide high rates of opportunities to respond • Vary individual v. group responding • Increase participatory instruction (enthusiasm, laughter) • Consider various observable ways to engage students • Written responses • Writing on individual white boards • Choral responding • Gestures • Technology (Plickers, Kahoot) • Other: ____________

25. Range of evidence-based practices that promote active engagement • Direct Instruction • Computer Assisted Instruction • Class-wide Peer Tutoring • Guided notes • Response Cards

26. Assess

27. Mini Action Plan • Generate action plan content (observable and measurable behaviors to address deficits) • Potential action plan items may include: • Ask a colleague to take data on my current rate of OTRs and increase by 10% • Use response cards during 1 additional lesson per day [1] What? When? How? By When?

28. Section 4 The goal of reinforcement is to develop desirable behavior rather than to control misbehavior.  The emphasis, where misbehavior occurs, is on pressuring to change, not on exacting retribution.  --- JereBrophy (1988, p.12). Continuum of Strategies to Acknowledge Appropriate Behavior

29. Acknowledge appropriate behavior • Specific and Contingent Praise • Token Economy

30. Acknowledging Appropriate Behavior Classroom Continuum: • Level 1 = Free and Frequent • Use everyday in the classroom • Level 2 = Intermittent • Awarded occasionally • Level 3 = Strong and Long Term • Quarterly or year long types of recognition

31. When Do You Acknowledge?

32. Monitor Students’ Behavior in Natural Context • Active Supervision (Colvin, Sugai, Good, Lee, 1997): • Move around • Look around (Scan) • Interact with students • Provide reinforcement and specific praise to students who are following rules. • Catch errors early and provide specific, corrective feedback to students who are not following rules. (Think about how you would correct an academic error.)

33. Teacher’s Desk Fewer problem behaviors with this pattern

34. Assess

35. Mini Action Plan • Generate action plan content (observable and measurable behaviors to address deficits) • Potential action plan items may include: • Ask a colleague to take data on my current rate of specific and contingent praise and increase by 20% • Implement an additional reinforcement system to increase appropriate behavior [1] What? When? How? By When?

36. When discipline problems occur, the challenge to the teacher is how to intervene in a manner which encourages continued positive growth and, at the same time, restores appropriate student behavior.  To the extent that these interventions are preplanned and systematic, rather than shooting from the hip and arbitrary, the probability of their effectiveness is increased.  ---  James Levine and John Shanken-Kaye (1996, p.105) Section 5 Continuum of Strategies to Respond to Inappropriate Behavior

38. Plan to Respond to Misbehavior Important concepts: • Being prepared for misbehavior reduces annoyance and frustration • Correction procedures are only effective if they reduce the future occurrence of misbehavior • All behavior (appropriate and inappropriate) serves a purpose

39. Plan to Respond to Misbehavior • Establish consequences that fit the nature of the problem, but are as mild as possible • Implement consequences calmly and consistently • Ideally, consequences should be implemented immediately in the setting in which the infraction occurs

40. Plan to Respond to Misbehavior When you treat student misbehavior as an instructional opportunity, you give students the chance to learn from their mistakes.

41. Respondto inappropriate behavior • Error Corrections • Performance Feedback • Planned Ignoring • Differential Reinforcement

42. Assess

43. Mini Action Plan • Generate action plan content (observable and measurable behaviors to address deficits) • Potential action plan items may include: • Ask a colleague to take data on my current rate of corrective statements and ensure that this rate is far lower than my rate of praise statements • Review the consequences I give and ensure I am using the least restrictive procedures possible [1] What? When? How? By When?

44. Resources to Support Effective Classroom Management

45. Classroom Ecology Checklist

46. Classroom Management Self-Assessment (Simonsen et al., 2008)

47. Classroom Management Plan Six Key Principles: • Invest time planning at the front end • Teach well using quality instructional practices • Focus on positive behaviors • Provide supports • Be educative, not vindictive • Be persistent and consistent Vanderbilt University: IRIS Center Classroom Management Module 1

48. Resources • www.papbs.org PA Positive Behavior Support Network • Administrator’s Toolkit • www.interventioncentral.org – Intervention Central • Administrators’ Toolkit, PaTTAN • www.pbis.org PBIS OSEP