I have a list of things I want to do better. I've found that trying to do many at once usually doesn't help make them habitual. So instead I'm going to try to tackle them once a week, using a weekly mantra.
This week: greet students at the door as they enter class.
Desired outcomes: improved behavior and better relationships with my students. I'll also be monitoring the hall like I'm supposed to.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Disciplinary Interventions
In January, I wrote a post on rules and procedures from my reading of Classroom Management that Works. This week I'll summarize Marzano's third chapter on disciplinary interventions and discuss how I adapted the practices in my classroom.
Marzano acknowledges that some feel that disciplinary actions are ineffective and counterproductive. But, he writes, "the research and theory strongly support a balanced approach that employs a variety of techniques." I think this variety is exactly what I was lacking earlier this year. Last school year, I would keep my last period class after school when they chose to disrupt the classroom. For them, the peer pressure and need to get home was usually enough to quell any major uprisings. For individuals, I gave referrals.
When I tried the same thing this year, it hardly did the job. In some classes the "Time After" method worked for a few weeks, in others it was completely ineffective. Just like instruction, there is no silver bullet for classroom management.
My redesigned system involves both rewards and punishments. Students start the day coming in and are required to be in their seats with all their materials on their desk when the bell rings. They are then either to start reading their novels or begin the writing prompt. Before, students would lose points from their conversation calendars at the end of the day if they did not pull this off flawlessly. But the way I would inform them if they were off task would be by adding time after class (if I informed them at all). Students had no immediate, individual indication that their actions were below expectations or above par.
Now, when students either aren't in their desk or don't have all their materials when the bell rings, they lose five points, indicated by a check I mark on their calendar as I move around the room. Those who have their books out and are reading get a Jolly Rancher or occasionally five extra points. Once students who weren't ready at the beginning of class get on task (and stay on task) I may elect to give them back the five points. This same rule applies to delivery of minilessons or when I'm working with small groups at the back table. Sometimes, I might just say a student name and "deduct/add five points" if I'm not moving in their direction. Students now have a clearer understanding of what specific behaviors they are losing points for, and it keeps me more honest. Since they can earn points back, they have invested interest in improving their behavior, rather then blowing the rest of the day off after losing five or 10 points out of their 25 for the day.
The point system is a form of what Marzano calls tangible recognition and "involves the use of some concrete symbol of appropriate behavior." He notes that many of these classrooms have some sort of token that's received for good behavior, which can then be traded in for prizes or activities or something like that. I'm adding this element to my class as well, as some students with less of a sweet tooth are getting tired of Jolly Ranchers every single day. They'll be able to trade in Jolly Ranchers for Bleck Bucks, which they can accumulate for extra bathroom passes, or reading outside/in the library, or going to the school's coffee cart, or maybe save up 50 or 100 for a McDonald's gift certificate. Since they'll have to trade in the Jolly Ranchers to receive Bleck Bucks, I won't have to buy as many Jolly Ranchers and can put that money to other prizes with a cost. (One 3.75 pound bag of the candies costs me about seven dollars at Walmart and lasts about 2 weeks with my 90 students. It's a small price to pay for their improved behavior.)
A group contingency is also noted by Marzano to have a high effect size. My time after policy was an example of this, and I sometimes still use it when many people in the class are talking at once and I don't have time to make three different hits on calendars in three different corners of the room. Teacher reaction is also discussed; these are the basics - the look, proximity, and an auditory and visual cue.
I found tangible recognition to be the most helpful to me, though group contingency and teacher reaction also have a high effect size. Calling home or providing a direct cost with punishment like detention or cleaning the classroom are also discussed, but have a significantly lower effect size (about .5 compared to .9).
The next post in this series will discuss teacher-student relationships. You can also read the previous post on rules and procedures. You can also download my conversation calendar file and try it out in class yourself in either Microsoft Word or PDF.
Marzano acknowledges that some feel that disciplinary actions are ineffective and counterproductive. But, he writes, "the research and theory strongly support a balanced approach that employs a variety of techniques." I think this variety is exactly what I was lacking earlier this year. Last school year, I would keep my last period class after school when they chose to disrupt the classroom. For them, the peer pressure and need to get home was usually enough to quell any major uprisings. For individuals, I gave referrals.
When I tried the same thing this year, it hardly did the job. In some classes the "Time After" method worked for a few weeks, in others it was completely ineffective. Just like instruction, there is no silver bullet for classroom management.
My redesigned system involves both rewards and punishments. Students start the day coming in and are required to be in their seats with all their materials on their desk when the bell rings. They are then either to start reading their novels or begin the writing prompt. Before, students would lose points from their conversation calendars at the end of the day if they did not pull this off flawlessly. But the way I would inform them if they were off task would be by adding time after class (if I informed them at all). Students had no immediate, individual indication that their actions were below expectations or above par.
 |
| The old . . . |
 |
| . . . and the new |
The point system is a form of what Marzano calls tangible recognition and "involves the use of some concrete symbol of appropriate behavior." He notes that many of these classrooms have some sort of token that's received for good behavior, which can then be traded in for prizes or activities or something like that. I'm adding this element to my class as well, as some students with less of a sweet tooth are getting tired of Jolly Ranchers every single day. They'll be able to trade in Jolly Ranchers for Bleck Bucks, which they can accumulate for extra bathroom passes, or reading outside/in the library, or going to the school's coffee cart, or maybe save up 50 or 100 for a McDonald's gift certificate. Since they'll have to trade in the Jolly Ranchers to receive Bleck Bucks, I won't have to buy as many Jolly Ranchers and can put that money to other prizes with a cost. (One 3.75 pound bag of the candies costs me about seven dollars at Walmart and lasts about 2 weeks with my 90 students. It's a small price to pay for their improved behavior.)
A group contingency is also noted by Marzano to have a high effect size. My time after policy was an example of this, and I sometimes still use it when many people in the class are talking at once and I don't have time to make three different hits on calendars in three different corners of the room. Teacher reaction is also discussed; these are the basics - the look, proximity, and an auditory and visual cue.
I found tangible recognition to be the most helpful to me, though group contingency and teacher reaction also have a high effect size. Calling home or providing a direct cost with punishment like detention or cleaning the classroom are also discussed, but have a significantly lower effect size (about .5 compared to .9).
The next post in this series will discuss teacher-student relationships. You can also read the previous post on rules and procedures. You can also download my conversation calendar file and try it out in class yourself in either Microsoft Word or PDF.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Rules and Procedures
In response to recent feedback from my administrator regarding my struggling classroom management, I'm reading Classroom Management that Works by Robert Marzano, Jana Marzano and Debra Pickering. As a 2nd/3rd year teacher, I still struggle with it to some degree. I think by the end of last year I was a successful manager of a mainstream classroom. Getting a chance to teach remedial courses this year was an exciting instructional opportunity for me, but came with it's own behavioral challenges I wasn't necessarily prepared for.
While the bulk of help I've found from the book thus far is in the chapter on disciplinary interventions, I've decided to offer a summary and critique of each section of the book both for my own benefit (to construct and clarify my thinking) and for those who search Google before Barnes & Noble.
If you've read any of Marzano's other popular books, you know his research for them is largely meta-analytic - he takes numerous studies done by many researchers and mathematically combines the results to yield a larger number of subjects and narrow the statistical range of certainty that a particular strategy will be successful. Very exciting. At least, for me. Yes, I'm serious. No, nothing's wrong with me. That I know of.
Marzano's (2003) meta-analysis concludes that successful design and implementation of rules and procedures results in an almost 30% decrease in class disruptions (pg 14). According to Marzano, rules identify general expectations to be observed at all times, while procedures identify expectations for specific, repeated tasks, like transitioning or leaving the classroom.
While I have plenty of procedures, like expectations for reading workshop, expectations for writing workshop, or needing a rationed pass to use the bathroom, I think it's safe to say I've never clearly identified any specific rules. There certainly aren't any posted in the classroom. If I were to ask my students what the rules are for class, they would probably say something like "no talking" (because I ask them not to talk when reading or writing) or "whisper" (because I ask them to whisper when they peer revise in writing workshop) or "raise your hand if you want to talk." None of these are general classroom rules, but procedures. The rules I presented to them last week were these:
The next step I'm going to focus on in the realm of rules is referring to them when I use disciplinary interventions to reinforce them on a regular basis. For example, "Jimmy, when you're talking loudly during reading time, it's not very respectful to the people who are trying to focus on their books." It will probably feel a little goofy saying that at first, and I might get some snickers, but I think it will help students be more aware and mindful of them. I might even say it sarcastically so my students don't feel like I'm treating them like
Next week I'll address Marzano's chapter on disciplinary interventions and reveal the simple adjustment I made to my conversation calendars that completely and immediately changed the tone of my classroom upon implementation.
While the bulk of help I've found from the book thus far is in the chapter on disciplinary interventions, I've decided to offer a summary and critique of each section of the book both for my own benefit (to construct and clarify my thinking) and for those who search Google before Barnes & Noble.
If you've read any of Marzano's other popular books, you know his research for them is largely meta-analytic - he takes numerous studies done by many researchers and mathematically combines the results to yield a larger number of subjects and narrow the statistical range of certainty that a particular strategy will be successful. Very exciting. At least, for me. Yes, I'm serious. No, nothing's wrong with me. That I know of.
Marzano's (2003) meta-analysis concludes that successful design and implementation of rules and procedures results in an almost 30% decrease in class disruptions (pg 14). According to Marzano, rules identify general expectations to be observed at all times, while procedures identify expectations for specific, repeated tasks, like transitioning or leaving the classroom.
While I have plenty of procedures, like expectations for reading workshop, expectations for writing workshop, or needing a rationed pass to use the bathroom, I think it's safe to say I've never clearly identified any specific rules. There certainly aren't any posted in the classroom. If I were to ask my students what the rules are for class, they would probably say something like "no talking" (because I ask them not to talk when reading or writing) or "whisper" (because I ask them to whisper when they peer revise in writing workshop) or "raise your hand if you want to talk." None of these are general classroom rules, but procedures. The rules I presented to them last week were these:
- Respect others and yourself: Treat others as you'd like to be treated. Put forth a full effort - don't short change yourself.
- Bring the right tool for the right job: Bring the proper materials to class.
- To everything there's a season: A time to sit, a time to walk, a time to listen, a time to talk. Do what you're supposed to be doing when you're supposed to be doing it.
The next step I'm going to focus on in the realm of rules is referring to them when I use disciplinary interventions to reinforce them on a regular basis. For example, "Jimmy, when you're talking loudly during reading time, it's not very respectful to the people who are trying to focus on their books." It will probably feel a little goofy saying that at first, and I might get some snickers, but I think it will help students be more aware and mindful of them. I might even say it sarcastically so my students don't feel like I'm treating them like
Next week I'll address Marzano's chapter on disciplinary interventions and reveal the simple adjustment I made to my conversation calendars that completely and immediately changed the tone of my classroom upon implementation.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)