When the troubles in the classroom are your troubles – how to deal with problems you created

                So you lost it. It happens to us all. Maybe you didn’t sleep well. Maybe you were fighting off a respiratory infection. Maybe you had an argument with your significant other. Whatever the reason, you simply were past being able to be calm in class. Yesterday you may have laughed at exactly the same event, but not today. Today, you yell at the student and kick him out of the room. No ‘please,’ just ‘get out.’

photograph courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey

                You’ve had some time to think about it and now you’re feeling ashamed of yourself. What Johnny did  wasn’t all that bad, besides you were the one that really caused the class disruption because of the way you reacted.

                I hate to think of how many times this happened to me. Most of them I can’t even remember what I was mad about. Some stick with me: the day I got mad at a student for telling a test answer in front of the class, when he didn’t know it was a test question; the day a student started to make fun of my shoes; and the day a student played with the pulley system when I had told him not to touch it. Really none of those events were earthshaking and didn’t need for me to get unhinged about it.

                When I first started teaching I just hoped the students would forget it all by the next day and we could resume our normal interactions. On the surface that is exactly what happened. Yet deep inside me I knew that wasn’t true.

                Ask yourself this: are you still mad at your first grade teacher for humiliating you in front of the class? I am. If I could meet up with her today I believe I would tell her off, even now sixty years later. If I feel that way about something that long ago, how did my student react to something that happened yesterday?

                After a few years I learned that an apology goes a long way to repair an injured relationship. I also realized that my apology needed to be as public as my offense. So I swallowed my pride and apologized in front of the whole class when I needed to.

                Did this make me appear weak to my students? No, on the contrary, I have had students remark how big it was of me to be willing to admit my mistake.

                But what if the student actually was in the wrong? I learned to apologize for overreacting to the situation. Even if I had cause, it did not give me permission to lose my cool. I found more often than not my apology consisted of ‘I overreacted yesterday and I am sorry.’ That was all that needed to be said – short, simple and to the point.

                Through the years I also learned to recognize when I was in left field while I was there. I didn’t need to mull it over later that day. I knew the minute I said it I was out of bounds. I still had my anger to deal with and needed time out. As a teacher I didn’t have the privilege of leaving the classroom for a few minutes. I had to stay there. My only alternative was to ask (demand?) the student leave. When I did, however, I added: ‘until I calm down.’ That took the problem away from the student and put it on my own shoulders where it belonged. The students already knew what had set me off and they also knew it was probably not a good idea to continue in the same vein. After that interaction, I could continue teaching in peace, which is, after all, the only reason for classroom management: to allow you to teach and the students to learn.

               

Let the student do the talking – it can prevent troubles for a teacher

                The trouble has reached the point you, the teacher,  need to request the student instigating it step out the door and wait for you to come talk with him. He may or may not comply at the first request, usually students do, but sometime you need to remind him of rule one, Follow Directions. Usually that gets him out of the room.

                So he’s gone. Now it’s time to get the class back on track. DO NOT STOP TEACHING. Go on until you reach a natural stopping point. Once the students are involved in the task at hand, casually walk out the door as if you didn’t have a care in the world. Remember students are always watching how you react. If you are riled up they know it immediately. If you are calm, they recognize that you are in control of yourself and the class. Stay calm.

                If you are upset about the discipline issue, wait. Sometimes another student would think I had forgotten the student standing out in the hall and reminded me that he was there. I’d say, ‘Yes, I know.’ And go on with teaching.

                When you are no longer angry go out to talk with the student. You may find him seated on the floor or pacing the hall, or he may just be standing waiting there. From past experience he is expecting that you will come out angry and start berating him for the infraction that sent him out in the first place.

                He is about to be taken by surprise. You walk out the door and simply ask a question. The question depends on the situation. After you ask the question you simply wait for the students to answer it. I promise you will be surprised more often than not.

One time I asked, ‘Why did I request that you come out into the hall?’ The young man answered, ‘Because I called him a douche bag.’ I hadn’t heard that part of the conversation. I had to come up with a response fast. So I said, ‘And?’ His answer: ‘I talk too much.’

After the student has acknowledged that there is a problem you still need to let him do the talking. Now it’s time to ask him what he plans to do about the situation.  In the above case I asked, ‘What do you think you could do about it?’ His answer: ‘Not talk so much.’

After the student proposes a solution, ask if that’s what he wants to try and then invite him back into class. Frequently that will lessen the trouble you’ve been having with this student by a marked degree. In the particular case I just described I never had to request the student leave the room again.

Another case involved a middle school student. Just before the class dismissed for lunch, I saw his binder go flying, ending up under another student’s seat. I requested that he step out in the hall and stay until I had a chance to speak with him. The bell rang, I dismissed the other students and then went out in the hall to talk with the young man in question, I’ll call him Johnny.

I said, ‘Johnny, how did you binder end up under Sam’s desk?’

‘It was at the edge of the table and I happened to hit it,’ was Johnny’s reply.

‘Would you demonstrate that for me?’ I asked.

We went back into the classroom; he put the binder at the edge of the table, sat down and hit it with his elbow. Of course it only fell to the floor directly below his table.

‘Wow,’ I said, ‘that didn’t even come close to Sam’s chair.’

‘I guess I must have hit it harder than that,’ he offered. I suggested he try it again. The binder failed to go the required distance even with a more determined shove.

‘Okay, here’s what really happened.’ he said,’ I threw it at Sam because I was mad at him.’

‘Oh, I see. What do you think I should to keep this from happening again?’

‘Move me away from Sam.’

‘I’ll do that next class. Have a good lunch.’

Johnny was a chatty young man, but ended up the year one of my quietest, most cooperative students. Letting him do the talking in a difficult situation made all the difference in the world in our teacher-student relationship.

If you want more information on this theme go to: http://www.loveandlogic.com/c-13-classroom-management-discipline.aspx

Classroom management when things go wrong – they know the rules but still cause trouble

                You’ve done everything right. The first few weeks have gone ever so smoothly. And suddenly troubles start in your classroom. So what are you, the teacher, supposed to do now? It’s so easy to revert to what you experienced as a student. Troubles start and the teacher is in trouble, yelling at the class, demanding order and losing students’ respect. We’ve all seen it happen during our years as students, but how are we going to prevent it during our years as teachers?

                The first thing you must do as a teacher is learn to listen. At this point I am not talking about listening to students – that will come later –I’m talking about listening to adults interacting with children. If you are at the grocery store and hear a parent disciplining a child, listen to what is said and how it is said. If you are at a parent/teacher conference, listen to the interactions between parent and student, teacher and student, and counselor and student. Don’t listen judgmentally, just listen. Watch how the child reacts. Does the interaction end with the desired results on the part of the adult? Has the child learned anything from the interaction?

                As you listen ask yourself how this applies to your classroom. Is this the outcome you seek from your students? What can you emulate and what should you avoid?

                One parent conference I sat through left me resolved not to say anything more to my student about his unwillingness to do the class assignment. After I listened to the mother go on and on, never stopping long enough for me even to say anything to her, I realized that her son’s only recourse to maintain any kind of selfhood was to not do his school work. It was the only way he had of being an individual instead of her puppet. I know I didn’t want that kind of outcome with my interaction with students.

                Another conference I was at was an IPE meeting where I was the classroom teacher of record. Here the special ed teacher talk incessantly about how the student needed to keep on the straight and narrow (he had just come out of long term incarceration.) The student never said one word, just looked at the teacher and the teacher never stopped to even ask the student about his plans. I was not surprised when this student ended up going back into rehab. This conference had been a waste of breath for the instructor and a waste of time for the student. This isn’t what I wanted for my students.

                I will cite only one more conference that I attended, but I could go on and on like too many parents/teachers/counselors. In this parent/teacher conference it was the counselor that would not shut up. He just kept on telling the student what he should be doing in class to get better grades. I came away from that conference thinking if I were that student I’d dig in my heels and do just the opposite, just to assert myself as an individual. That’s not the kind of reaction I wanted from my students.

                As I teacher I developed the philosophy that the least said the better, and more powerful, the interaction. I learned not to use talk to discipline unless it was absolutely needed, and then to use the minimum of words that I could. How did this look in my class?

                As I was standing at the door greeting students, if a student came to class with his hat on, I just pointed to my head as he walked up to me. The hat disappeared immediately without a word said. If he had a hoody pulled up, I would just gesture by brushing my hair back with my hand. The hoody came down with no words passing between us.

                If I were in front of the class, I might have to call a student’s name to get her attention, but then a gesture to pull down the hoody and take off the hat was all that I needed to do.

                If students were talking during instruction when they should have been listening, I simply stopped talking. I always made sure it was in the middle of a sentence, looked at the offending pair, and waited. After all rule four was ‘Only One Person Talks’ so I didn’t talk, just waited. If I needed to do more I would put my finger to my lips in the classic librarian’s gesture asking for silence. Usually that would do the trick and could move on with my presentation. When I started up again, I would start in exactly the place in the sentence that I had stopped as if there had been no hiatus.

                Whenever possible I would use this silent form of communication to keep students on task and learning. It did not interfere with instruction and kept the classroom functioning at a peak of performance. One of my principals commented on the fact I did not let managing behavior interrupt the class. It also meant I was able to teach even when I couldn’t say a word because of laryngitis. I maintain that when the teacher can’t talk the classroom is quieter because the students also tend to be quiet under those circumstances. If the teacher doesn’t talk or limits the amount of talking, the classroom also benefits from the silence.

               

Rules Two Through Five – setting the climate in your classroom

                The key to a well managed classroom and high student achievement is planning and consistency. You have to plan for troubles that will arise in the classroom that will keep students from learning. You have to remember that what you do in September will determine how you survive March madness. One way of doing this is to go over your classroom rules thoroughly at the very beginning of school. Through the years I noticed that students who were with me from day one usually were better behaved, on the whole, than students who came in later in the year. That opening week of school is crucial. Use it well.

                My rule two was ‘On Task.’ I asked to students to tell me what ‘on task’ would look like. Usually I got answers about doing your work, not talking, or being prepared. I explained that this rule started the moment the student entered the room and was in force until they walked out of the room. It didn’t matter if the bell had rung or not. Once they were in my room they were in my territory and my rules applied. Later in the year I would sometimes have trouble with students acting up before class, running around, horse playing (yes, even seniors!) or otherwise creating a disturbance. When I called them on it, I usually got this response: ‘The bell hasn’t rung yet.’ I was always ready to invoke rule two, reminded them as soon as they entered the room my rules applied. I seldom had troubles with this type of behavior after that first reminder. This, as I mentioned already, included not leaving the room until dismissed and being seated and quiet until dismissal.

                I taught one class with a special education co-op teacher. This was a very large class and had many problems in it. This same teacher also had these students in another co-op class that she co-taught in. She was absent for several weeks due to a family emergency. She had the same substitute teacher for the duration of her absence.  After the first day he asked me if it would be okay if he just stood back and watched me interact with the students. He commented again and again how he couldn’t believe the students stayed seated and quiet at the end of the period. That is the power of a rule well explained, practiced and then consistently enforced.

                Rule Three was ‘Respect yourself, others and things.’ As always when I introduced this rule I started by asking students what they thought it meant. As we discussed it, I asked what disrespect looked like and what respect looked like. I then asked why they thought ‘Respect yourself’ was the first thing. That always led to a variety of answers. After we talked about it for a bit, I would tell them that this included not cheating. That always got their attention. How did cheating break the rule about respecting yourself? I then explained that if you cheated you were doing two things: 1. You were denying yourself the chance to learn. 2. You were saying ‘I’m not smart enough to do this on my own.’ Both of these were disrespecting yourself. The other two parts were easier for them, since students have been hearing this since kindergarten.

                Rule Four was ‘Only One Person Talks.’ This rule is pretty much self-explanatory. The only thing I had to explain was that it included students asking questions or answering questions, as well as during presentations. Also I let the students know at this point that I had to follow my own rules. If they started talking then I couldn’t, so I would just quit wherever I was in the sentence and wait until I could be the only one talking. This was the most invoked rule in the classroom. If the class was having a ‘down time’ and needed to come back on task, I’d simply say, ‘Rule Four is now in force.’ If they started talking during class presentations I’d reminded them of Rule Four. I almost always referred to it by number and they all knew what Rule Four was.

                Rule Five was the one that even adults asked me what it meant. Rule Five: ‘No UFOs or IFOs.’ When I got to this rule I’d ask the students ‘What is a UFO?’ Invariably someone would offer that is was an unidentified flying object. I’d go on ‘Then what is an IFO?’ This would prove a little trickier but eventually I’d hear ‘Identified Flying Object.’ The last question for the class was ‘What does it mean?’ Again it didn’t take long before someone said ‘Don’t throw things.’ I explained that this referred to everything, no pencils tossed across the room, no erasers, no notebooks. Sometimes when I’d offer to lend a pencil to a student, the student would say ‘Just toss it to me.’ ‘Oh no, I can’t break my own rules’ I’d tell him as I handed him the pencil.

                These were my rules, some were easy to enforce, some harder, but they all worked for me and for my class. Find your own rules, never more than five, keep them two or three words long. If you can’t say it in two words at least keep it as brief. People remember quick slogans far longer than long dissertations. Most of all, abide by your own rules, set an example and be the model of good behavior. This will help you avoid trouble in your classroom.

               

                               

Rule Number One – covering classrooms rules the first day of school . . .

.  . . . or the second, if time runs out the first day.

                Your classroom rules needed to be posted prominently in the classroom. This is necessary for two reasons: one, the administration usually requires it; two, you will need to refer to this posting off and on during the course of the school year to prevent troubles in your classroom and smooth out your classroom management.

                My rules were always numbered and Number One was always “Follow Directions.” I spent the better part of the period going over rule one. I gave students the option of just listening or taking notes, however, they needed to understand that questions about the rules would be on the first quiz, test and on the semester final exam. The multiple choice questions would be about what I said about each rule, the rules would be the answers to choose from.

                My teaching style involved a great deal of asking questions prior to giving information. The discussion of the rules followed the same format. I started by telling students that rule one was ‘Follow Directions’ and then I asked why they thought that was the first rule. The answers would vary from they needed follow directions in order to be successful in class to more specific answers, such as lab safety. If no one answered ‘because it covers everything,’ I would go on to ask if there was anything that might happen in class that this rule didn’t apply to. Then I got the required response.

                Stories are a really powerful way of teaching. Often I find students remember the story long after they have forgotten the principle. Discussion of rules also involved story telling. I would tell them this story about a time this rule had meant the difference between severe problems in class and a successful outcome. I had a student many years ago who was very unstable. He was a big kid, larger than most ninth graders. I kept him in a seat separated from the rest of the class as much as possible in an attempt to avoid trouble between him and the other students. One day, just at the start of class, I saw he had not gone to his seat, but was standing over another students and he had his fists clenched. He was yelling, “What did you say about me?” His tracker (she followed extreme at-risk students)was in the room at the time. She was trying to get him to go to the library. I was saying ‘It’s time to go,’ but he absolutely refused to budge. Finally I said to the seated student, “Apologize.” That student answered, ‘But I didn’t say anything.’ My answer: “I know you didn’t, but apologize anyway.” His reply, ‘But I didn’t say anything.” Finally I looked right at him and said, “Rule number one is follow directions, I am giving you a direction; now follow it. Apologize.” With that the seated student said “I’m sorry.” The standing student relaxed and left the room with the tracker. The rest of the story: he was removed from school after that and sent to a special program for troubled students.

                I then told my students that this was my favorite rule and asked for their input on way that was the case. Answered varied, but usually centered on the fact that it covered everything. This is where I would have to explain: ‘This is my favorite rule because I have the most fun with it.” That usually resulted in puzzled looks from the entire class. The explanation required me to get a student to role play, which was always fun for the class to watch.

                The story goes like this: ‘For some reason this is a guy thing, so ladies, if you don’t want to listen you don’t have to. A guy does something that is rather annoying, like tapping his pencil.’ I turn to the role-playing student and ask him to tap his pencil. Then I turn to him and say. ‘Please don’t tap your pencil.’ At this point he is instructed to slouch back in his seat, fold his arms over is chest, look at the rules out of the corner of his eye and say, ‘And where on your rules does it say I can’t?” His body language now tells the world he thinks he’s ‘got’ me. At this point I am delighted. I tell my students that I now have him in the palm of my hand and am about to squash him like a bug..  I answer in all innocence, “Please read rule one.” He obliges: “Fol-low dir-ec-tions.” This young man deflates like a blow-up toy that just got all the air let out of it.

                I explain to the students that I tell this story so they don’t embarrass themselves, and then I go on: “One year I told this story at the beginning of the semester, as always. Later in the year we were doing an activity using pipettes. I know pipettes make excellent squirt guns, but you are not to use them at way. I tell you right in the instructions do not use these are squirt guns.  As we were doing the lab, I saw a young man squirting his partner with a pipette. I said ‘Don’t use it as a squirt gun.’ He reply: ‘And where . . .’ At that point the entire class burst out laughing. Immediately he knew he had just shot himself in the foot. He put his face in his hands and almost cried.”

                After you have taught for a few years you always have many stories that come from your classroom. Use them to illustrate the reason for your rules. Students will remember those rules for years after they leave you class. And they will help ease your classroom management problems. After all, who wants to become the story for coming years’ students to hear?