Effective Classroom Management: Rules and Procedures

Effective Classroom Management: Rules and Procedures
SIDRA TAHIR….905

HOW CAN YOU LEARN CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT?????
Here’s a secret:

You CAN’T learn classroom management from a book.

Not even from a LOT of books.

You can’t learn it in college.

You can’t even learn it from a presentation!

So what gives?

You can’t TRULY learn classroom management until you have your own class to manage!

But you better get ready for that class!
Books and presentations won’t make you an expert on the first day of school…

…but they are the foundation

…for you to build on in the future!

And pay attention today…

… so you can be prepared to take control of a well-managed classroom where the students can learn in a task-oriented environment.

The most important factor that affects student learning is classroom management.
How you manage the classroom is the primary determinant of how well your students will learn. In a study that reviewed 11,000 pieces of research that spanned 50 years, three researchers determined that there are 28 factors that influence student learning and they ranked them in order of importance…

The first day of school is the most important day of the school year.
Effective classroom management practices must begin as soon as your kids walk through the door on the first day of school. Unless you hear them cutting up in the hall… then it starts sooner!

The three main characteristics of master teachers:
#1- They have good classroom management skills #2- They teach for lesson mastery #3- They practice positive expectations The study ranked classroom management skills #1. Without good classroom management skills, you won’t be able to teach them anything.

What is classroom management?
Classroom management refers to all of the things a teacher does to organize students, space, time, and materials so that lessons can happen and learning can take place.

You MANAGE a classroom, you don’t discipline a classroom.
Managing a class is a much bigger concept than disciplining a class. Part of managing a class is to teach the students how to discipline themselves. Self-discipline is ONE of the many things you will teach the kids all year long. Remember the goal of not great classroom management, but great teaching is to teach kids how to discipline themselves. Then you have prepared them to be productive members of society.

The Characteristics of a Well-Managed Classroom
The students are deeply involved with their work Students know what is expected of them and are generally successful There is relatively little wasted time, confusion, or disruption The climate of the classroom is work-oriented, but relaxed and pleasant I’ve known teachers who were really into classroom management. It’s hard to fully achieve those 4 characteristics. Guess where most teachers who have a reputation for being a great classroom manager fall short? The very last one… it’s hard to have great classroom management AND a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. Tell about Deb.

A well-managed classroom is a task-oriented and predictable environment.
Students know what is expected of them and how to succeed. The teacher AND the students know what to do and what is supposed to happen in the classroom. behavior problems.

The Effective Teacher Works on having a well-managed classroom
Trains students to know what they need to do Has students working on tasks right away Has a classroom with little confusion or wasted time.

Get Ready...

Teachers who are ready maximize student learning and minimize student misbehavior.

A successful teacher is ready!
The work is ready. The assignments, materials, board work, etc. are ready when the bell rings. The room is ready. The desks are straight, room is clean, and things look organized. The teacher is ready. The teacher is excited about teaching and has positive expectations that everyone will succeed. Have your classroom ready every single day… especially the first days of school. Readiness is a primary determinate of teacher effectiveness… and in all other fields, too. If you work for an advertising company and on the day you’re supposed to make a presentation for a big client, you’re not ready… you’ll probably get fired.

Have your room ready. Your room needs to look like you are ready to work. Have your desks arranged so that all kids can see the boards. Never have a kid sitting with his back to you when you are teaching. Have one or two EXTRA desks so you can move kids who need to be separated. See your custodians for the extra desks. Get to know them… they will be a big help to you all year long. You don’t want to be in the middle of a lesson and have to stop teaching to switch desks. You want to quickly say, “Joe, please sit in the empty desk for the remainder of the class. Later you and Joe can decide if the move needs to be permanent. Sometimes a desk that is directly next to the teacher’s desk is a good idea.

Have your room ready. To start, desks in a row with names on them is a good way to get to know the kids. Have places designated for where kids store their extra supplies, hang their coats, turn in their work, etc. Don’t worry, no one will judge you by your room… NOT!!!!!

Have your walls ready. Have a place to show student work.
Have your rules posted. Have a calendar where you can show upcoming events and due dates. Have a LARGE area where you can post daily assignments. Post a large example of the proper heading for your school or grade level.

Have your teacher area ready.
Have your desk where you can monitor kids. Have a place where you ALWAYS put your books and TE’s. Have your file cabinets where you can easily get to them. Have a place for forms that you will use each day… attendance, lunch, nurse, hall pass, etc. Also bring some things from home so the kids know you’re not a cyborg. Some pictures, a cd player, your diploma, etc.

Have yourself ready: your reputation precedes you.
Right or wrong, accurate or not, your reputation will precede you. Students WILL talk about you. Parents WILL talk about you. Teachers WILL talk about you. Administrators WILL talk about you. Work your butt off to get a good reputation. If you have a good reputation, kids want in your class, and parents want their kids in your class. Kids will enter your class on that first day with high expectations and this will be to your benefit. If you have a bad reputation, kids don’t want to be in your class. Parents don’t want the kids in your class and will be calling the principal trying to get them out of your class before it even begins. They will be looking for anything you do wrong all year long.

Have yourself ready: win the parents over before school even begins.
Make a phone call to each parent telling them how pleased you are that their child is in your class. Have a letter to send home on the first day of school that further introduces yourself and tell the class and the parents some of the exciting things you will be doing this year. What? You don’t know what exciting things you’ll be doing? THEN FIND SOME THINGS AHEAD OF TIME!!! Some things your grade level may be doing together. Find out ahead of time. Other things you need to think up. Find a way to do some extra exciting things during the school year and advertise it before school begins. Trick or treat. Paper airplane contest. Egg drop. Class newspaper. Writing songs. Starting a business.

Be ready to greet the kids.
How you introduce yourself that first day goes a long way toward how much respect and success you will have all year long. Stand at the door and welcome each kid. Have a smile on your face and act genuinely happy to meet them. It’s nice to have a big welcome sign above the door.

Be ready to greet the kids.
When they walk in the door have something for them to do immediately. Outside the door, and inside the room have your name, room number, what subject, schedule, etc. Assign seats or not? Be sure and have the names of the kids posted outside the door. Elementary should make a big deal with this. The first assignment should be short and something that all kids will find easy to complete. A Getting to Know You worksheet can be a good thing. A study of kids’ worst fears on the first day of school showed the #1 fear was walking into the wrong room. Remember: kids, parents, fellow teachers, administrators, etc. will judge you by how appealing your room looks. This applies to OUTSIDE the door in the hall as well as INSIDE the door. Make you room look like a place kids want to go in. Guys, get your girlfriends or wives to help if you aren’t artistic.

You greatly increase the probability that school will start successfully for both you and your students when these 4 things are true: 1- Your room is ready. 2- You greet the kids at the door. 3- You have assigned seats. 4- You have the first assignment ready.

JUST MY LUCK!!! What if someone enters the room inappropriately?
Ask any student who enters the door inappropriately to go back (to the door) and enter the room again. Don’t get medieval on him… simply smile and teach him how you want kids to enter. Praise him when he does it right. Don’t be vague in your directions. Don’t say, “Please enter like ladies and gentlemen.” or “Please walk in properly.” Be specific… “Don’t walk in pushing others.” “Don’t run to your seat.”

Top 10 Ways to Know on the First Day of School You’re Going to Have a Tough Year
10) You’re wearing a sports jacket, other teachers are wearing flak jackets. 9) You ask if anyone goes by a nickname and three kids give you aliases. 8) A kid hands you last year’s report card and you notice it was signed by his parole officer. Tell the Clyde nickname story.

7) Kid’s art supplies consist of box of crayons, watercolors, and 5 cans of spray paint. 6) Kid comes through the door and immediately tries to bum a cigarette off you… which sets a bad example for the other kindergarteners.

5) One kid enters the room shadowed by the television crew of SuperNanny.

4) After 10 minutes with your class SuperNanny gives up and runs out the door screaming!

3) Dad of the little girl who’s been giving you grief all day calls to say he’s going to be late picking her up because he needs to have an emergency meeting with his anger management counselor. 2) You find out that the rudest, meanest, and laziest kid in your class is the school board president’s son. In twenty years of teaching I’ve taught several kids of school board members… typically they’re good kids. But I do have a good story… Just by luck, I taught the President of AISD’s son my first year in Austin. His name was Robert West. One the first day of school I asked the kids if any of them went by something other than the name on my roster. I always do this since I had a 5th grade teacher that insisted on calling me Markle.

1) You are hired after first two weeks of school since the kindergarten enrollment exceeded the state ratio. You are now the 6th kinder teacher. Principal asks the 5 other kinder teachers to each give you 4 students. Think about it…

The Success of Your First Request
How the class reacts to your first directions will be an indication of how they will react to your directions for the remainder of the year. Your first request will probably be to tell each one of them where to sit.

How To Make Your First Request Effective
Smile! Welcome each student at the door, making sure they belong in your class. Tell the students as they walk through the door whether the seating is assigned or open. Follow this with, “When you sit down you will find an activity on your desk. I think you will enjoy doing it. Please begin working on it right away.”

Your first request will be ineffective…
if you do not welcome the students. if you reassign seats after everyone has taken a seat. if you grumble or complain about anything! if you have not given the kids an assignment and they just sit there while you register the class.

Your first request will be ineffective…
if you are not in the room when the students enter. if you have to check to see if everyone is in the correct room after the kids are seated. if you do not tell the students your name, the room number, the grade level, and the class.

Your First Priority When Class Starts
Your very first priority when class starts is to begin engaging the students. Have some activity to do the minute the kids walk in the door. Be sure and take roll AFTER the kids are busy. Never waste valuable class time to take roll orally. If you teach several classes a day make a seating chart for each one… then you can refer to it after the kids are working. But no matter how many classes you teach, NOTHING BEATS GETTING TO KNOW YOUR KIDS!!! Then you will always know who is absent verses who is sitting in a different seat today.

When class starts you can easily get students to work if three criteria have been met:
1- The students have an assignment. 2- They know where to find the assignment. 3- They know why they are to do the assignment and what to do. Post your assignments each day on a LARGE assignment board. Every child must easily see it from where he or she sits. Post your assignments in the same place each day and do this BEFORE the kids walk in the door. This eliminates the two big excuses for not doing homework: “I didn’t know we had homework.” and “I didn’t know what to do.”

The ineffective teacher keeps the assignment a mystery until it is announced.
He announces it in different ways and posts it in different places each day. You can always tell classes where no assignment is posted. The teacher says things like: “Where did we leave off yesterday?” “Has anyone seen my TE?” “Lisa, can I see your homework from yesterday?” I post my assignments everyday on a huge assignment whiteboard. But on the occasions I forget to do so, I almost always get one or two kids who don’t have their work the next day and say, “I didn’t know it was homework since it wasn’t on the assignment board.” I always praise the kids who did their homework anyway and let the future lawyers make up their assignment with no penalty… during recess.

For students who are absent…
Get an attendance helper! Have a folder for every student you teach. When you pass out materials have a routine where helpers know to put materials in the folder of any absent student. When the students return, they simply look on the board to see what they missed and check their folders for any materials they need.

Discipline with a Plan

The 3 most important student behaviors that must be taught the first days of school are these:
Discipline Rules Procedures During the first two weeks of school, it’s more important to teach rules, procedures, and routines than it is to teach lessons. A lot of new teachers are anxious to teach lessons and jump right in before the rules, procedures, and routines are in place. Consequently, when disruptive behavior occurs, they discipline… often without a plan. If you do not have a plan, you are planning to fail!

Effective teachers present their rules clearly and provide reasonable explanations of the need for them. Don’t explain things to death. Some kids will try and tie the teacher up for endless hours (over a period of time) getting the teacher to explain everything. Realize this is simply a trick kids use. Some explanation is good. Too much wastes valuable time that could be spent teaching. Also keep it simple… I’ve seen kinder teachers trying to explain their actions in terms that were way over the kinder’s cognitive ability to understand. How many of your parents had the old “Because I said so”? That’s what I heard as a kid, but don’t say it at school. Today’s parents don’t like it and will make an issue out of it. After a brief explanation, if the child wants to badger you on you can say almost the same thing using these words. “Please do what I asked you to do. You’re just going to have to trust my judgment.”

Every teacher K-12 needs a posted discipline plan.
Do this on the first day of school. If you do not have a plan, you are planning to fail. It is much easier to maintain good behavior (from your rules you posted and talked about on the first day) than to try and CHANGE inappropriate behavior that has become established.

“The most successful classes are those in which the teacher has a clear idea of what is expected of the students and the students have a clear idea of what the teacher expects from them.”* When I retire I think I’d like to be in charge of a research group that does educational studies. I have these hypothetical assumptions that I’d like to prove… if only I could get a few hundred thousand dollars in research money. Study shows kids don’t like school lunch. Study shows some kids don’t like to walk in lines. Study shows kids don’t like homework. Study shows most educational researchers know the answers before they ask the questions. * Some study somewhere that probably wasted a lot of money (possibly tax dollars) to tell us what we already know.

You need rules. Rules are expectations of student behavior.
Try and state them POSITIVELY. Rules immediately create a work-oriented atmosphere. Rules create a strong expectation about the things that are important to you. Don’t have, “ Do not talk while I’m talking.” That is stating the rule in a negative way. Instead have, “Listen quietly when the teacher is talking.” Don’t have, “Don’t call out.” Instead have, “Raise you hand and wait to be called on.” “Come to class on time and have all your materials and assignments ready,” instead of “Don’t be late to class and don’t forget your materials and assignments.” Sometimes you may have to state the rule negatively if that’s the best way, but try for positive statements if you can.” “No gum, candy, or food in class” beats “Have nothing in your mouth during class.” That eliminates the future stand up comedians… “Joe, do you have gum in your mouth?” “Uh, no Mrs. Smith. I have it in my ear. Nothing in the rules about gum in the ear.” Tell about 7th grade Spanish… “I don’t hear you coughing.”

You will probably have a school-wide discipline plan.
These are rules for the entire school like: Respect self, others, and property. Keep your hands to yourself. Maintain proper hall behavior. Find out what these are ahead of time and have them posted in your room. You still need your own rules.

Rules are either general or specific.
General rules offer greater range and flexibility… …but you have to explain them. Specific rules are to the point and clearly state the expected behavior… …but you can’t have too many. Maintain proper hall behavior can cover walking in lines, don’t run, keep your hands off the wall, be quiet as you go past other classes, and a host of other rules, but you must explain each one.

Some guys don’t listen…
We’ll talk more about Ron Clark in a minute.

Examples of rules: Follow directions the first time they are given.
Raise your hand and wait for permission to speak. Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself. Stay in your seat unless you have permission to get up. Some rules are tough to enforce. Be careful about rules that will ALWAYS have kids asking you permission for something. You will NEVER get anything done while they are quietly working. Once I’m finished with my lesson, I allow kids to get up to throw things away, sharpen pencils, and go to the restroom… one at a time. Have a big wooden restroom block (too big to be flushed down the toilet… trust me on this) that kids can get from a specific location. If the bathroom pass is missing then kids need to wait until whoever is in the bathroom returns. A word of WARNING: (Next Slide)

WORD OF WARNING: NEVER NEVER NEVER refuse to allow a child to go to the restroom!!! If a child truly has to go and you say no, that is a public relations disaster… not to mention what the poor kid goes through. See also… “How angry can you get a parent?” I tell my kids to wait until I’m not in the middle of a direct teach. If I’m teaching and they ask, I say… “Now is not a good time to leave the room. If you can hold it, I’d appreciate it. I’ll be finished in a minute. Of course if it’s truly an emergency you can go.” I work on being honest all year long. We will talk more about that later on. Only occasionally will a child have to go anyway. And when that happens I never make a big deal about it. If I suspect a student is abusing the bathroom privilege I start recoding the number of times he or she asks to go. Usually they ask, “What are you doing?” I simply ask the child to step outside with me and say, “I am concerned that you need to go to the restroom so much. Do you have a medical problem that I need to know about?” Some do, but are embarrassed to tell you. Most simply say, “No… so why are you recording how many times I ask to go to the bathroom?” Say, “Are you aware that in my class you ask to go to the bathroom almost every day? I am concerned that you may have a medical problem that needs a doctor’s attention. I think I will ask all you other teachers to help me keep track for you so that your parents can take you a doctor and address this issue. I have found that a lot of kids don’t even realize they have a problem since they have always gone to the bathroom a lot.” PLEASE SOUND SINCERE AND CARING, NOT SARCASTIC or it will cause the student to hate your guts. You want the kid to think, “Wow… my teacher really is concerned about me.” After this talk you would be surprised how the number of requests for the bathroom will decline. Most kids don’t want their parents to know what shenanigans they do at school.

Specific Rules for Elementary
Listen quietly when the teachers is talking. Eyes always on the teacher during directions or lessons. Change tasks quickly and quietly. Do not play with things when you should be working or paying attention to the lesson.

Specific Rules for Middle and High Schools
Be in your seat when the bell rings. Bring all books and materials to class. Sit in your assigned seat daily. Go to the restroom before class. Follow directions the first time they are given. No personal grooming in class. That last one is a popular rule for a lot of middle and high school teachers, but is it worth being one of your FEW posted rules? I don’t think so. Rules like those you can mention, but you don’t need to post… unless that becomes a widespread problem.

Rules Shouldn’t be Carved in Stone
You can always add or delete a rule later. Problems at the beginning of the year may not be problems toward the end. Don’t use your few classroom rules for lunchroom or playground behavior. The school should have those posted in the appropriate places.

Why Only 3 to 5? Ever notice how groups of numbers on credit cards, phone numbers, social security numbers, etc. are always written in groups of 3 to 5? People remember things better when they are in small groups. Choose the most important 3 to 5 rules for you. You can have others, but only post the most important rules. Remember you can change your posted rules when you need to.

Go away, Ron.

Ron Clark’s “Essential 55”
Definitely worth reading, but… Most are common sense things any good teacher should tell her kids. Some are weird… No Doritos. Some are wrong… Complaints About Homework Will Result in the Class Getting DOUBLE Homework! What’s wrong with that last rule? Read some of the 55 rules.

Your rules or the class’s rules?
Studies show that students “buy in” to the rules better when they have a say in creating them. Do you really need to do everything studies show? You’re just going to direct the kids to do the rules you want anyway, so don’t worry about who came up with them as long as they are GOOD rules. Are you going to let the kids come up with a “No Doing Homework” rule? Of course not! Some kids resent you acting like the rules are a democratic decision when in fact they are not.

Instead of spending time coming up with rules together, it’s better to let the kids discuss the rules you have already chosen. Why are rules needed? Why is this rule important and necessary? Discuss each one. Specific examples of any general rules. What does it mean to “respect others” ?

Your turn… Come up with 3-5 rules of your own.
Get with 8-10 people in and share your rules. Discuss why you chose those rules as your top 5. Get feedback from the others. Remember: the rules you choose says a lot about YOU!

Mark Benthall’s Classroom Rules
Give total attention to the teacher. Be prepared to learn. Follow all directions. Treat everyone with respect. Put effort and quality into all you do.

Discipline Plans Have Consequences
Rules are used to set limits. Limits tell a student how far they can go. You will always have students pushing the limits or boundary testing. Students need to know that breaking the rules will have consequences.

Some students know they can break certain rules because the consequences are predictable:
Nothing will happen! Sad but true, many people (children AND adults) believe that nothing is wrong until they are caught. Students will swiftly violate a rule others are also violating. Students often observe that teachers do not mean what they say.

Consequences can be negative or positive.
Positive consequences (Rewards that result when people abide by the rules.) Extra recess. Extra free time. Game day. Lunch bunch. Trick-or-Treat in May!!! Show DVD…

Negative consequences or penalties:
Check to see if your entire grade level has the same discipline plan. Don’t follow what doesn’t work! Consequences must be reasonable and logical. A reasonable consequence is one that follows logically from the behavior instead of one that is arbitrarily imposed.

Student Behavior: Turning in a sloppy paper.
Logical Consequence: Rewrites the paper. Illogical Consequence: Teacher gives the student a zero and refuses to allow the child to redo the paper.

Student behavior: Walks in noisily.
Logical Consequence: Student walks in again. Illogical Consequence: Student signs name in conduct record, student given lunch detention, etc. Don’t make a big deal out of minor violations. If the kid walks in noisy everyday then you may need to do something else, but don’t forget positive reinforcement when you see him doing what you want him to do.

Student behavior: student forgets a pencil.
Logical Consequence: Student completes a form to borrow and return a pencil from the teacher. Illogical Consequence: Student sits through all class period without a pencil, signing a conduct record, lunch detention, etc.

Consequences: Conduct record
First offense: student’s name entered in conduct record. Second offense: student’s name entered in conduct record and misses out on 20 minutes recess, free time, or a desirable class activity. Third offense: Conduct record, lunch detention and note or home to parents. Fourth offense: Conduct record and office referral. At the end of the 6 or 9 week grading period, the number of entries result in the student’s conduct grade. In my class no more than two per nine weeks will result in an E conduct. This year I have 11 out of 23 that have E conduct for each of the grading periods. Don’t forget to buy back marks in the conduct record when kids show improvement. It gives them something to work for instead of making everything punitive.

Be careful with your consequences!
Do NOT mix conduct or behavior with academic grades. Don’t count off points for no name on their paper. Better to have them write their name on the back of the paper 10 times. The grades you put in your grade book need to be true grades that reflect the student’s academic ability… not grades that have been reduced due to behavior infractions. In fact, here’s something I do that a lot of my fellow teachers disagree with: I only count 10 points off for late papers (which is basically a letter grade reduction) instead of the 30 points off that is our team policy. Now I certainly don’t tell the kids this, and I don’t even tell my team this… not anymore… but when I look at the grades of the kids I want to see where they are academically, not where they are in responsibility. In fact, I will accept late papers up to the last day in the grading papers. I don’t think this is failing to teach them responsibility, I look at it as accommodating learning styles. Wouldn’t it be great if every child in your class was responsible? Well that’s never the case. You have to work with what you’ve got, and if it takes Billy two weeks to finally get enough responsibility to do that report on Thomas Jefferson, I want to positively reinforce the fact that he did it. Later, when he starts getting better at doing assignments we can work on reinforcing getting them in on time. One step at a time. Remember, if you are a 7th grade history teacher, you are primarily paid to teach the students history, not to punish or fail them when they have late papers. That is NOT what being a teacher is all about!!!

The consequence should be suitable and proportional to the violation. The penalty should fit the crime. Most students accept reasonable consequences because they recognize the need for the teacher to keep an orderly classroom to help them learn.

Explain the consequences ahead of time whenever you introduce a rule. Choose consequences that are uncomfortable for the student. Tell the student that the consequence was the result of his or her CHOICE. When delivering the consequence, encourage the student to use appropriate behavior in the future.

Do NOT Stop the Lesson… if possible.
Try and give out smaller consequences on the fly. Ask the child to sign his name in his conduct record and you need to not forget to sign his name in your conduct record. In some grades you can have a helper of the day who can write things down for you on a piece of paper and give it to you later. Be careful, if the other kids resent the helper of the day, then don’t do it. To avoid this, the helper can keep track of many things like taking notes to the office, reminding you to take attendance, etc. Reminding you to write Billy’s name in your conduct record can simply be one of many things the helper of the day does. Note: never let a kids write in your conduct record. Never let another kid give someone a consequence. Teachers sometimes have other kids write down the names of “talkers”… this is not a good idea and can’t be defended when talking to parents or administrators. If you have to deal with a disruptive student, send him to the hall and finish your lesson or at least get to a stopping point before you attend to him.

If you need to step into the hall to talk, always ask the student these 4 questions:
1- What did you do wrong? 2- What is wrong with wrong with ______ ? 3- What will you do next time? 4- If you ____________ next time what will happen? 2- Restate the problem behavior. 4- Restate the desired behavior. Studies show these 4 questions work with kids from pre-school to Grade 12… also works on many husbands.

But everybody else was doing it, too…
When kids try and get out of trouble by saying everybody else was breaking the rule too, ask them the following question:

“If everybody else jumped off a bridge would you do it, too?”
Just Kidding!!!!

Because most kids would!

Catch who you can! Only give a consequence to the ones you know for a fact broke the rule. Don’t accept the word of one child over another. For those you didn’t see or hear, simply ask them to be honest. Remember, I stress honest all year long. Tell the sub story.

Get Administrative Support
Check to see if there is a grade level discipline plan that every teacher must follow. Make sure it’s good plan. If you have questions bring them up before school starts. If you need to come up with your own plan (what I prefer) get administrative support.

Get Administrative Support
Show the principal what YOU plan to do if the students violate the rules. Any plan that involves sending a child to lunch detention or to the principal will need her approval. Try and keep your problems out of her office whenever possible.

Get Parental Support Write up you behavior plan and it’s consequences and rewards and send it home to the parents. Get the parents to sign the bottom and return the signature section. Have a reward if everyone returns the signed signature sections the next day. After a few days you may need to call the parents of the one or two kids who do not return the signed forms.

How to Contact the Home If part of your discipline plan involves contacting the parent, have the student fill out a Student Plan of Action first. The Student Plan of Action goes along with what you and the student have already talked about. What’s the problem? What’s causing the problem? What plan will I use to solve the problem? When you talk to the parents, be positive! Always deal with the behavior, not the student. The student’s a good kid, but we need to work on this one undesirable behavior. Stress that you want the student to be responsible for following through on his own plan of action. All parents want their kids to learn responsibility.

Activate Your Discipline Plan
Now that you have a plan, put your plan to work: Practice daily. Make your behavior fair, predictable, and consistent.

Activate Your Discipline Plan
Post your rules. Post your consequences and rewards. Immediately give a consequence when a rule is broken. Give positive feedback and reinforce good behavior. Make your behavior fair, predictable, and consistent. Reinforce good behavior to individuals and to the class.

Procedures

A procedure is a method or process for how things are to be done in the classroom.

Do not confuse procedures with discipline
Do not confuse procedures with discipline. There are two major differences: 1- Discipline: Concerns how children behave. Procedures: Concern how things are done. 2- Discipline: Has penalties and rewards. Procedures: Have NO penalties and rewards. A student is generally not penalized for not following a procedure nor is he rewarded if a procedure is followed.

The Problem is Not Discipline
The number one problem in the classroom is not discipline, it’s the lack of procedures and routines. Your attention to procedures and routines will determine whether you have a classroom that is chaotic or one that is smooth running.

The main reasons students do not follow procedures:
1- The teacher has not thought out what happens in the classroom. 2- The students have not been trained to follow the procedures. 3- The teacher doesn’t spend enough time managing the classroom.

Example of a Fire Drill Procedure
1-When the fire alarm rings the designated Fire Captain 1 grabs the red and the green Fire Tags and the black overhead marker and is the first one out the door. 2-The entire class quickly follows her with the teacher and Fire Captain 2 exiting last. 3-Fire Captain 1 takes the class to the designated safe area outside.

4- Once the class arrives at the designated safe area they turn around and face the front. Fire Captain 1 now becomes the back of the line. 5- Fire Captain 1 now looks at the class roster which is posted on the back of the red Fire Tag. If everybody is accounted for then she hands the green Fire Tag to the teacher. 6- The teacher verifies that all students are accounted for then hands the green Fire Tag to Fire Captain 2 who carries it to the administrator standing in the center of the field.

7- If Fire Captain 1 discovers a missing student in the bathroom or in the library, etc. she circles his name on the red Fire Tag and gives it to the teacher. 8- The teacher then gives the red Fire Tag to the Fire Captain 2 who then runs to alert the administrator. 9- The administrator then radios other sections to look for the missing child.

10- After Fire Captain 2 returns, he assumes his position in the front of the line and the entire class remains silent until the “all clear” bell is sounded. 11- When the “all clear” bells sounds, the class quietly walks back to the classroom. 12- When the class returns, Fire Captain 2 hangs the one Fire Tag and the overhead marker back on the wall and goes to the office to get the other Fire Tag kept by the administrator.

13- Fire Captain 2 then returns and places the remaining Fire Tag with the other. 14- He makes sure the red one is erased and both tags and the marker are ready for the next fire drill. By the way, guess who I pick for my Fire Captains? Kids with PERFECT ATTENDANCE for the previous year.!!! There’s never more than two or three.

Why Procedure are Important
Students must know from the very beginning how they are expected to behave and work in the classroom. Discipline dictates how they are to behave. Procedure and routines dictate how they are to work.

Why Procedures are Important
Since a procedure is how you want something done, it is the responsibility of the teacher to have procedures clearly stated. A routine is what the student does automatically without prompting or supervision. A routine becomes a habit, practice, or custom for the student.

Classroom procedures are statements of student expectations necessary to participate successfully in classroom activities, to learn, and to function effectively in the school environment. Classroom procedure allow many activities to take place efficiently during the school day, often several at the same time.

Classroom procedures allow activities to take place with a minimum of wasted time and confusion. Classroom procedures increase on-task time and greatly reduce classroom disruptions. They tell a student how things operate in the classroom, thus reducing discipline problems.

Students Accept and Want Procedures
Effective teachers manage with procedures. Every time the teacher wants something done there must be a procedure or a set of procedures. You will need procedures for taking roll, checking papers, what to do with finished work, moving from task to task, quieting the class, going to lunch, etc.

Three-Step Approach to Teaching Procedures
Explain- State, explain, model and demonstrate the procedure. Rehearse- Rehearse and practice the procedure with teacher supervision. Reinforce- Re-teach, rehearse, practice, and reinforce the procedure until it becomes a habit or routine.

Explain Effective teachers know what activities need to be done and have worked out the procedures for each of them. Define the procedure in concrete terms. Demonstrate the procedure, don’t just tell. Demonstrate a complex procedure step by step.

Rehearse Rehearse classroom procedures until they become routines.
Do not expect students to learn procedures in a day. Students need guided practice step by step where they watch you and you watch them.

Reinforce Determine whether the students have learned the procedure or whether they need further explanation, demonstration, or practice. Re-teach the correct procedure and give corrective feedback. Praise the students when the rehearsal is acceptable.

Every time a procedure needs to be corrected:
REMIND the class of the procedure. Then have the students see, feel, and EXPERIENCE the procedure. REMEMBER: Ineffective teachers only TELL students what to do! If the students don’t EXPERIENCE the procedure, it will not become a routine.

Making Procedures Routines
Continue to use POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT when your students do their procedures correctly. Sometimes when procedures become routines we just assume they will continue… watch out! Occasional staggered POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT is the oil that keeps the procedures running smoothly. We said that one of the things that distinguishes procedures from your discipline plan, is that procedures don’t need rewards. But an unexpected reward is a terrific motivator. Sometimes I’ll see that we finished our assignments early and I don’t have enough time to start something new. I’ll say, “You know, Guys, I really appreciate how you clean up the room at the end of the day. You pick paper up even when it’s not your paper. You stack the chairs and put pencils and materials back where they belong. I appreciate that every day even though I don’t always tell you. So today, why don’t we get the room extra clean then go outside for a break.” Every age group (us included) love a break. You can’t always go outside, but remember to SINCERELY praise and thank the kids on a regular basis or your routines may slowly slip away from you.

Procedure for Quickly Getting the Class Quiet: Give Me Five
Eyes on the speaker 2. Quiet 3. Be still 4. Hands free (put things down) 5. Listen

Procedure for Quickly Getting the Class Quiet: If You Can Hear Me…

Procedure for Collecting Papers

This procedure works when the room is divided into rows with a center aisle.
Every student passes the paper to the center. Each student makes sure that all papers are facing the same direction and that they all have names on them. The students next to the center aisle double check the procedure and straighten the papers neatly.

This procedure works when the room is divided into rows with a center aisle.
One person is designated class helper for the week. The class helper walks down the center aisle collecting papers from everyone and stacking them neatly. The class helper places the papers in the subject area tray located next to the teacher’s desk.

A procedure can be an activity you do each day.
A morning procedure (also called BELL WORK) is what you want the students to do when they walk in the door.

Sample Pre-K Procedure
Beginning your Day Have a designated place for all items backpacks, folders, library books, and anything else your students may need to turn in. Then have students mark themselves present by moving a clothespin or card with their name on it. Then have the students do an independent activity such as math tubs with specific activities or a writing exercise for minutes. This activity gives you time to check for parent notes, do your roll, and any other morning changes or problems that may come up.

Bell Work Procedure, K-12 Bell Work When the bell rings and the children come in after I meet them at the door, they have work to do. I put a quiz, problem or a review of some work on the chalk board. This is called "Bell Work." The children have a "bell work book" that they complete the work in. They date the page and begin the work as soon as they enter class. This gives me time to do all the administrative jobs that I need to do first thing in the morning. The work is collected and I mark it or I assign someone to mark it. It prevents many disruptions and lets the children realize that they come to class to work.

Procedure from AtoZteacherstuff.com
Daily Geography Submitted by: Miley Since I teach social studies at a middle school, as the students come in I have a daily geography question on the board they have to complete before we start the activity of the day. All the questions come straight out of the book! Grade Level(s): 6-8 Actually this can work with many different grade levels.

Find the ONE Mistake My two favorite subjects are spanish and geography. Joes favorite subject is social studies. The three favorite subject’s of Lisa are math, science and spelling. Lunch and recess is what Tucker likes best! What are you’re favorite subjects? Guess what the ONLY mistake the spell checker caught on these sentences? The word Spanish… everything else slipped by! Keep the sentences short and you could also turn it into a handwriting activity by having them correct and copy the sentences in their best handwriting. Have them highlight the correction… all kids love highlighting!

Remember… You can have several procedures going on at once.
Find the Mistake Chess Challenge (Checkmate in One Move) Word Problem of the Day Vocabulary Words

Your turn… Choose two student procedures and write them out.
When you have a question When you finish an assignment early When an announcement comes on the speakers When you need a pencil or pen Coming to class late When you walk in the door When you need to go to the bathroom When you leave at the end of the day Working in groups Participating in class discussions

Special Thanks to Harry Wong, The Biggest Thief of All
Many of the ideas in this presentation came from Harry Wong’s The First Days of School. I stole them from Harry and he stole them from hundreds of other teachers. I’ve used them for years because they really work. Please buy the book and follow it religiously. And remember, when you find something good that another teacher is doing… STEAL IT!!!

Effective Classroom Management: Rules and Procedures

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