Harry and Rosemary Wong Using Responsibilities and Procedures to Establish Class Discipline Lindsay Black, Carolyn Coupland, Jodi Kelsch

Activating Activity With a partner or by yourself, script in detail the first five minutes or the first day of your new school year.

Some background Today’s most widely followed authorities in classroom management. They believe the key to desirable classroom behaviour and learning lies in 1.clarifying the responsibilities of teachers and students and 2.teaching the procedures students are expected to follow in class They have found that once students are habituated to responsibilities and procedures, misbehaviour fades away.

The Wongs’ Principles They believe the main problem is not discipline, it is a failure to plan, and that by applying their strategies, classrooms can run like clockwork. Teachers need to plan the entire first day of school right down to the minute. During the first week the most important thing a teacher can provide is the security of consistency.

Principles Cont’d Well-managed classrooms are task oriented and predictable. Ineffective teachers spend the first day teaching a subject, and the rest of the year running after students. Effective teachers spend most of the first two weeks teaching students to follow classroom procedures so that students are better able to learn.

Establish Good Procedures Decide what routines are needed for the activities you provide. Make lists for students to follow in order to participate and benefit. Suggest that teachers have a large number of procedures. Every time you want students to do something you need to have a procedure to follow.

Example: Grade 4 Morning Entry Procedure Empty your backpack, place it neatly outside, and bring in homework and needed supplies. Enter the classroom in a quiet and orderly manner. Greet your teacher as you enter and say “hi” to your classmates. Turn in your homework or keep it at your desk to be graded in class. Begin your seatwork.

Classroom Procedures Must Be Taught Teachers need to teach procedures, not just talk about them Three Step Method for teaching procedures: Explain – teacher states, explains and demonstrates Rehearse – students rehearse and practice procedure Reinforce – teacher provides re-teaching, rehearsal and reinforcement until procedures are habituated.

About Classroom Teachers and Procedures Poor behaviour is not bad discipline, but errors in classroom management. Classrooms must not be allowed to degenerate into chaos. The Wongs claim their approach works quite well at the secondary level, their website includes testimonials from high school teachers.

Stress Established Responsibilities Within the Classroom Environment My Responsibilities As Your Teacher To treat you with respect and care as an individual To provide you an orderly classroom environment To provide the necessary discipline To provide appropriate motivation To teach you the required content

Your Responsibilities As My Students To treat me with respect and care as an individual. To attend classes regularly. To cooperate and not be disruptive. To study and do your work well. To learn and master the required content.

The First Day of School What you do on the first day of school determines the success for the rest of the year.

First Day Advice from the Wongs Have the room ready when the students arrive. Post schedules, rules, and procedures and a preview of what’s to come. Post info and a picture of yourself and a welcome sign. Display your diploma and credentials. Wear neat, professional clothing. Stand when speaking and use short, clear sentences or phrases.

More advice…. Use a firm but soft voice. For younger students: clearly label desks, coat hooks, and cubbies and encourage student use of them. Use a seating plan. Go to school early. Set high expectations.

More advice… Have an assignment that’s interesting but fairly easy to give students a sense of accomplishment -this sets the tone of the class. Take roll while the students work. Don’t have any student free time at first, plan too much rather than too little. Stand outside your classroom door and greet students. You mission during the first few days is to establish student routines and procedures.

Advice for the First Week of Teaching Three most important things to teach – discipline, procedures and routines. Explain your discipline plan and put it into effect immediately. State procedures and rehearse them until they become routine.

About Discipline Follow suggestions about teaching routines, you’ll have little trouble with discipline. To have a safe, orderly environment, establish rule indicating expected student behaviour and enforce rules. Helps to create a work-oriented atmosphere Consequences should be attached to rules, positive for compliance, negative for non-compliance.

Discipline cont’d Explain expectations, rules and consequences on the first day of school. Limit the number of rules to five, post them in class. State rules in a positive manner. Example: Follow directions the first time they are given. Raise your hand and wait for permission to speak.

Some of the Wongs’ aphorisms The more students work together responsibly, the more they learn. Short assignments produce higher student achievement. Intersperse questions throughout a lesson for greater retention. Students learn more from an activity question approach that from a textbook-lecture approach. You can have your achievements or you can have your excuses.

The Wongs believe… Teachers go through four stages of development: Fantasy – unrealistic imagined teaching scenarios Survival – just getting by day to day Mastery – reaching a high level of competence Impact – making a major difference in students’ lives Good management moves you quickly from the fantasy stage to mastery.

Closing thoughts Teacher directed approach - teacher establishes class expectations and procedures, explains them fully, and teaches them to the students through modeling and direct practice until the associated behaviours become routine. Plan specifically and in detail – organization enables you to stay on schedule. Feel secure in teaching and present yourself as a knowledgeable professional.

Helpful Resources The Wongs write a monthly column at www.teachers.net They also have their own website www.effectiveteaching.com

Video

Activating Activity Discussion Pull out your detailed plan that we had you script at the beginning of our presentation. Are there any concepts or procedures that the Wongs suggest that you will now incorporate into your first five minutes or the first day of the new school year? Why will you change what you use to do? How do you think that your students will benefit? What will you change? Why?

Teacher Quiz True or False It is more efficient to have your students pass their papers across the rows than up the rows. Scatter questions throughout the lesson or chapter rather than placed at the end. An assignment must be posted and in a consistent location before the students enter the class. To increase assignment completion, give structures, precise assignments. Use a norm-referenced test to check for achievement. The number of students in a group is determined by the size of your room. Begin each day or period by taking roll as quickly and efficiently as possible. Tests must be given when enough material has been covered. A teacher can change to most any other position in education in three to five years with a raise in salary of 25 percent or more.

Teacher Quiz Praise the student when the student does well. 10. Teachers are an underpaid group of people who do not have respect of the public. Praise the student when the student does well. An excellent way to get class attention is to flick the lights. The assignment and the test should be written at the same time. Beginning teachers are better off using general rules. The number one problem in the classroom is discipline. Procedures have no penalties or rewards. To increase student learning and achievement, tell the students what to do. The main purpose of aq seating arrangement is keeping students quiet. The number of questions on a test is governed by the number of objectives on the assignment. Learning is more effective when it takes place as a solitary activity.