1. CHAPTER 15 Your Personal Classroom Management Philosophy

2. Formalizing Your Personal System of Discipline From the beginning of this book, you have been encouraged to explore various 1.philosophical, 2.theoretical, and 3.practical views on discipline What do you believe will be the most effective for you? Chapter 15 leads you through this process of reflection. reflecting on your philosphy and theory of discipline reflecting on you personal views practical application

3. The best system of discipline for meeting individual teachers’ needs is one that teachers compose for themselves tailored to fit their particular personality, their philosophy of teaching, and The realities of students, school, and

4. Questions regarding your philosophy of discipline— what you believe discipline to be, how important you think it is, and what you believe it can accomplish. Your philosophy summarizes what you believe to be true, good, and correct about a matter, and conversely, what is false, bad, and incorrect about it. Philosophy gives direction to how you think and what you do. 1. What is classroom misbehavior and why does it require attention? 2. What is the purpose of discipline? What results do we want it to achieve?

5. Questions regarding your theory of discipline— your tentative explanation of a large-scale phenomenon. Theory helps you understand larger events and processes when there is not enough factual information to provide certainty. In this case, your theory of discipline—meaning what it involves and how it works—ties back to your philosophy of discipline. 3. What are the essential components of a good discipline system? 4. How do the components work together or influence each other?

6. Questions regarding your practice of discipline—how you want your system of discipline to work in the classroom. Your preferences derive logically from your philosophy and theory of discipline. 5. What will you do to prevent or limit the occurrence of misbehavior? 6. How can you react most effectively when students misbehave?

7. Note: many different possibilities exist. Here are three philosophies of discipline which, in turn, lead to different theories of discipline: Discipline is for making students behave themselves in class. Discipline is for helping students get along with each other and sense they belong. Discipline is for identifying and correcting causes of misbehavior.

8. A balanced program of discipline gives attention to four important matters: teaching students how to conduct themselves in a desirable manner. preventing misbehavior by attending proactively to conditions that might foster it. supporting students’ efforts to conduct themselves responsibly. intervening, when students misbehave inappropriately, in a manner that helps them find success and positive personal relations.

9. Four aspects of discipline: Instruction: teaching students how to conduct themselves considerately and responsibly in various class routines and activities. Prevention: removing, in advance, the known causes of misbehavior or limiting their efforts to the extent possible. Teachers can prevent most misbehavior by attending to: Treatment of students Trust and responsibility Communication Instruction Teacher personality Class agreements Support: what teachers do to help student maintain self control. Intervention: what teachers do when students break class rules or behave irresponsibly.

10. Other considerations so teachers can react effectively when students misbehave—Overall, students do not respond well to forceful discipline tactics, but they do appreciate and profit from tactics that are considerate and helpful. When students are becoming restive—when students begin to fidget, doodle, look out the window, smile or gesture to each other, whisper, or otherwise indicate they are disengaging from the lesson: Limit behavior by making instructional activities especially interesting, and interacting personally with different students during the lesson. Non-verbal: eye contact, proximity. Verbal comments such as “Class, I’ll really appreciate it if you can stick with the lesson for five more minutes,” or “Class, I see that this lesson is not holding your attention. What seems to be the trouble?”

11. When students thoughtlessly break class agreements: Body language such as eye contact, proximity, and attention. Reminders of the class expectations and agreements. Comments such as “Class, this lesson doesn’t seem to be holding your attention. What might I do to make it better for you?” or “We seem to have a problem here. What do you think we can do to resolve it?” Draw attention to the behavior, not the offending students. Class meetings. When students misbehave seriously (such as lying, cheating, stealing, bullying, aggression, violence): Hold a class meeting before any serious matter occurs. Conceal your distress and maintain composure if an incident occurs. Speak privately to the offender, with your goal being to help not punish. For behavior that is threatening, dangerous, or blatantly cruel, be ready to call for help immediately

12. Teachers can help students who want to behave more responsibly develop a social interest. Teacher and students make joint decisions that affect the class. Students assume responsibility—including responsibility that involves accepting the results of one’s actions and learning from them, which ties to freedom and power. Joint decision-making and responsibility help build a sense of community where students feel valued and connected to each other and think in terms of ‘we’ instead of ‘I,’ and teachers consistently show they care about students and behave respectfully toward them. Synergy occurs that affects the group spirit of the class and affects how students work, communicate, cooperate, share resources, and find pleasure in the process.

13. Five Principles and Your Personal System of Discipline (introduced in Chapter 1) Principle 1: What must you do to ensure you are thoroughly professional in the ways you present yourself and interact with others? Principle 2: What kinds of behavior do you wish to see in your students, now and in the future? Principle 3: What emotional and moral qualities will you promote in the classroom to help your students develop into the kinds of people you hope they will be? Principle 4: What provisions will you make to encourage and enable your students to conduct themselves in a responsible manner? Principle 5: What tactics will you use to intervene effectively when common disruptions, neurological based behaviors, and/or serious actions occur in your classroom

14. Finalizing your personal system of discipline Step 1. Specify how you will present and conduct yourself at school. Step 2. Specify the behavioral goals you want to help your students achieve. Step 3. Describe the classroom conditions you will provide to help students conduct themselves appropriately. Step 4. Specify how you will work with students to help them conduct themselves appropriately at school. Step 5. Indicate how you will intervene when misbehavior occurs or appears imminent. Step 6. Think through and write out how you will introduce the system to your students and help them understand and become more comfortable with it.