In regards to management, I always take the first two weeks to get to know my students, they get to know me,and we establish and practice procedures for almost everything. For example, there is a procedure for entering the classroom when one is tardy, there is a procedure for homework turn in, there is a procedure for transitions between activities. We practice all of them, several times, as research indicates that it takes 21 times of doing something to form a habit. We also do an activity about what respect looks like, sounds like, and feels like. I use the language generated from this activity all year. When redirecting student behavior I often ask students, What should respect sound like right now? What does respect look like right now?
Be prepared for lots of redirection.
We discuss as a class what scholarly behavior looks like and I then use the language generated from this lesson for the rest of the year. I try to put the ownership of behavior onto the students. One way I redirect students is to walk over to the off task student and say quietly, is that scholarly behavior? I thought your intention was to learn Spanish. What should you be doing? Thank You.
One powerful way to stay out of confrontations with students is to use the language of choice, thereby again putting the ownership of behavior on them. For example, If a student is being a distraction, I walk over to the student and quietly say, “You have two choices, you can either….. (desirable behavior) or you can……. (some consequence that the student does not want to do), which one do you choose?” If the student chooses the desirable behavior, I say, “Thank You.”, and I walk away. If a student does not respond, I say, “You have 10 seconds and then I will make the decision for you.” I count from one to ten.– Most of the time students choose the desirable behavior. I say, “Thank You.”and continue teaching. If a student chooses the consequence (or forces you to choose it) be sure to follow through (depending on the consequence you may have to follow through after class). Make sure that your consequences are something that you can follow through on.
The key is to disengage the student as soon as possible and get back to teaching.
—Tawanna Billingsley @ inner-city middle/high school