1. Focusing. Be sure you have the attention of everyone in
your classroom before you start your lesson. Don't attempt to teach
over the chatter of students who are not paying attention.
Inexperienced teachers sometimes think that by beginning their lesson,
the class will settle down, the children will see that things are
underway now and it is time to go to work. Sometimes this works, but the
children are also going to think that you are willing to compete with
them. You don't mind talking while they talk. You are willing to speak
louder so that they can finish their conversation even after you have
started the lesson. They get the idea that you accept their inattention
and that it is permissible to talk while you are presenting a lesson.
The focusing technique means that you will demand their attention
before you begin, that you will wait and not start until everyone
has settled down. Experienced teachers know that silence on their part
is very effective. They will punctuate their waiting by extending it 5
to 10 seconds after the classroom is completely quiet. Then they begin
their lesson using a quieter voice than normal.
A soft-spoken teacher often has a calmer, quieter classroom than one
with a stronger voice. Her students sit still in order to hear what
she says.
2. Direct Instruction. Uncertainty increases the level of
excitement in the classroom. The technique of direct instruction is to
begin each class by telling the students exactly what will be
happening. The teacher outlines what she and the students will be
doing this period. She may set time limits for some tasks.
An effective way to marry this technique with the first one is to
include time at the end of the period for students to do activities of
their choosing. The teacher may finish the description of the hour's
activities with: "And I think we will have some time at the end of the
period for you to chat with your friends or play a game." The teacher is
more willing to wait for class attention when she knows there is extra
time to meet goals and objectives. The students soon realize that the
more time the teacher waits for their attention, the less free time they
have at the end of the hour.
3. Monitoring. The key to this principle is to circulate.
Avoid sitting or standing in one place. Get up and move around the room.
Mingle among your students. Check on their progress. An effective
teacher will make a pass through the whole room about two minutes after
the students have started an assignment. She checks that each student
has started and that they understand the assignment or activity. The
delay is important. She wants her students to have some work completed
so she can check that students are on the right track. She provides
individualized instruction as needed.
Students who are not yet quite on task will be quick to get going as
they see her approach. Those that were distracted or slow to get started
can be nudged along.
The teacher does not interrupt the class or try to make general
announcements unless she notices that several students have difficulty
with the same thing. The teacher uses a quiet voice and her students
appreciate her personal and positive attention.
4. Modeling. McDaniel tells us of a saying that goes: "Values
are caught, not taught." Teachers who are courteous, prompt,
enthusiastic, in control, patient, and organized provide examples for
their students through their own behavior. The "do as I say, not as
I do" teachers send mixed messages that confuse students and invite
misbehavior.
If you want students to use quiet voices in your classroom while they
work, you too will use a quiet voice as you move through the room
helping youngsters.
5. Non-Verbal Cuing. Music, bells, xylophones, and/or flipping
the lights can be used to attain student attention. Non-verbal cues can
also be facial expressions, body posture, and hand signals. Care should
be given in choosing the types of cues you use in your classroom.
Take time to explain what you want the student to do when you use your
cues.
6. Environmental Control. A classroom should be a warm
cheery place. Students enjoy an environment that changes
periodically. Study centers with pictures and color invite enthusiasm
for your subject. Children like to have a feeling of ownership of their
classrooms. Post children's work and, if they are ready, allow them to
make suggestions for arranging and decorating the room.
7. Low-Profile Intervention. Most students are sent to the
principal's office as a result of confrontational escalation. The
teacher has called them on a lesser offense, but in the moments that
follow, the student and the teacher are swept up in a verbal maelstrom.
Much of this can be avoided when the teacher's intervention is quiet
and calm.
An effective teacher will take care that the student is not rewarded
for misbehavior by becoming the focus of attention. She monitors the
activity in her classroom, moving around the room. She anticipates
problems before they occur. Her approach to a misbehaving student is
inconspicuous. Others in the class are not distracted.
While teaching her class this teacher makes effective use of
name-dropping. If she sees a student talking or off task, she simply
drops the youngster's name into her dialog in a natural way: "And you
see, David, we carry the one to the tens column." David hears his name
and is drawn back on task. The rest of the class doesn't seem to notice.
Do not engage in power struggles with students.
8. Assertive Discipline. This is traditional limit setting
authoritarianism. When executed as presented by Lee Canter (who has made
this form a discipline one of the most widely known and practiced) it
will include a good mix of praise. This is high profile
discipline. The teacher is the boss and no child has the right to
interfere with the learning of any student. Clear rules are laid out
and consistently enforced. This may seem like a contradiction to
many of the previous suggestions, but there are times when the teacher
who IS the adult in the room needs to assert herself to assure
that everyone learns.
9. Assertive I-Messages. A component of Assertive Discipline,
these I-Messages are statements that the teacher uses when confronting a
student who is misbehaving. They are intended to be clear descriptions
of what the student is supposed to do. The teacher who makes good use of
this technique will focus the child's attention first and foremost on
the behavior she wants, not on the misbehavior. "I want you to ..."
or "I need you to ..." or "I expect you to ..."
The inexperienced teacher may incorrectly try: "I want you to stop
..." only to discover that this usually triggers confrontation and
denial. The focus is on the misbehavior and the student is quick to
retort: "I wasn't doing anything!" or "It wasn't my fault ..." or "Since
when is there a rule against ..." and escalation has begun.
10. Humanistic I-Messages. These I-messages are expressions
of our feelings. Thomas Gordon, creator of Teacher Effectiveness
Training (TET), tells us to structure these messages in three parts.
First, a description of the child's behavior. "When you talk while I
talk ..." Second, the effect this behavior has on the teacher.
"... I have to stop my teaching ..." And third, the feeling that
it generates in the teacher. " ... which frustrates me."
A teacher, distracted by a student who was constantly talking while
he tried to teach, once made this powerful expression of feelings: "I
cannot imagine what I have done to you that I do not deserve the
respect from you that I get from the others in this class. If I have
been rude to you or inconsiderate in any way, please let me know. I feel
as though I have somehow offended you and now you are unwilling to show
me respect." If you always speak politely to children you are free to
say, "I never speak to you rudely. Why are speaking to me rudely?"
Students usually respond by changing to polite speech.
11. Positive Discipline. Use classroom rules that describe
the behaviors you want instead of listing things the students cannot
do. Instead of "no-running in the room," use "move through the building
in an orderly manner." Instead of "no-fighting, " use "settle conflicts
appropriately." Instead of "no-gum chewing," use "leave gum at home."
Refer to your rules as expectations. Let your students know this
is how you expect them to behave in your classroom.
Make ample use of praise. When you see good behavior, acknowledge it.
This can be done verbally, of course, but it doesn't have to be. A nod,
a smile or a "thumbs up" will reinforce the behavior.
