Classroom Management Program

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It’s been said that “the best offense is a good defense.” Probably nowhere is this truer than when it comes to classroom management. Prevention is a key ingredient in classroom management, and the more preventative maintenance that can be done through the use of proactive strategies, the less likely teachers will be to encounter problem behavior. But even the most well run classrooms will experience problems from time to time. For some teachers, behavior problems in the classroom will be a common occurrence or even a daily “routine” that results from the growing “culture of disrespect” that has progressively infiltrated our schools. For others, discipline problems may be rare, occurring only in unusual circumstances or situations. But regardless of their frequency, we know they are bound to occur.

When challenging behavior does occur, teachers must be equipped with the necessary tools to handle such challenges in a professional, mutually respectful way that still holds offending students accountable while minimizing disruptions to learning. This is a tall order, but it can be achieved in all but the most extreme circumstances through the use of the reactive strategies taught in my course.

In all cases, a proper response to misbehavior begins early on in the chain of events. Teachers must commit to dealing with behavior problems when they occur by first evaluating the nature or threat of the behavior to student learning and then by responding appropriately. Conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional, and with prompt attention paid to emergent misbehavior through early intervention strategies, up to ninety percent of minor, pesky behavior problems can be eliminated in the classroom.

• Times have changed.
• Teachers are doing an incredible job.
• ”Kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Dr. Madeline Hunter
• Good discipline is a matter of good timing.
• Conflict is an essential part of growing up.
• Parenting affects behavior.
• We cannot use poor parenting as an excuse for not teaching.
• Problem behavior can entrap us.
• Curriculum comes first, but discipline does, too!
• Self-esteem matters.
• Students do not necessarily know how to behave.
• Classroom rules and routines need to be systematically taught.
• Teaching succeeds where punishment fails.
• We need an effective consequence for low-level misbehavior.
• An effective discipline program teaches responsible behavior.
• We can make a difference to every child.

Creating a positive learning environment through good classroom design is important, but of far greater importance is how a teacher relates to his or her students. A well-designed classroom with colorful, aesthetically (and functionally) appealing displays and efficient seating arrangements conducive to learn Teachers who undergo my training tell us that their students report many common positive effects such as, in order, an increase in their enjoyment of the teacher and subject matter, a motivation to come to class more often, and to pay more attention in class.ing are all for naught if a teacher relates poorly to his or her students.  Conversely, positive teacher-student relationships can make up for a poorly designed classroom or a less-than-ideal room assignment. Building positive teacher-student relationships is, in fact, so important that it is arguably the most important factor contributing to the success of students both behaviorally and academically.  Students who experience respect and unconditional acceptance from their teacher are more likely to be compliant, respectful, and open to learning, while students who experience disrespect and negativity are more likely to exhibit the same, act out, and misbehave.

The great value of fostering good teacher-student relationships, therefore, cannot be overstated. Trying to understand the complexity of human behavior and social interactions between individuals and within groups, however, is another matter. The issues are complex, and attempting to isolate the variables that contribute to positive relationships is not always easy and straightforward.

Personality, teaching style, and presence all play a role, but how and to what degree? We do not pretend to have all the answers, but we do know that there are common strategies in play in the classrooms of highly effective teachers, who regularly and consistently develop positive student relationships, which can be learned and developed by all educators.

• All children deserve the very best education you can deliver.  You can do a great deal to help a student feel like a valued classroom member.  The students in your classroom will enjoy and appreciate other students, who through your guidance, are respectful, motivated, and responsible.
• Teachers who undergo my training tell us that their students report many common positive effects such as, in order:  an increase in their enjoyment of the teacher and subject matter; a motivation to come to class more often, and to pay more attention in class.  Thus, my training facilitates both student motivation for learning and their enjoyment of the course, and enhances student receptivity to what is being taught.
• Teachers will learn how to “know” their students well and respond to them individually.  Students in such a classroom feel seen, known, and valued – which improves the classroom culture and tone, and replenishes energy and time for intellectual work together.

Learning is often defined as the act, process, or experience of gaining knowledge or skill.  Psychologists similarly define learning as a change in behavior due to experience.  Either way, learning allows a student to modify his or her behavior to suit a situation and to be more successful – academically and behaviorally.

In my seminar, I will provide a very powerful format for you to follow to develop your own lesson plans for rules and procedures. Teaching to rules and procedures will help your students learn all of the skills they will need to be successful in your classroom.

The first month, first week, and first day of school are critical to classroom management. Successful teachers devote a great deal of time during the first few weeks of school to the careful teaching of rules and routines. Instead of telling and posting, they teach and practice crucial classroom routines just as they would academics.  The one hundred eighty school days in a year are made up of routines, procedures, and rules to govern relationships.

• They set the foundation of a structured environment all children need to learn and all teachers need to teach.
• Researchers have long investigated the most common rules and routines addressed by successful teachers at both the elementary and secondary level.
• We asked master teachers from around the country to help develop and field test lesson plans for those common rules and routines critical to successful school and classroom functioning. 
•  Teaching to expectations is not about trying to form unthinking automatons or youngsters devoid of divergent thought.  Quite the opposite.  
• Teaching to rules and procedures will set the stage for structure in your classroom for divergent and creative discovery and learning. Caring can be orderly and structured.

The bounce gives the student a break from pressure, not a chance for interaction. Positive interaction spoils the integrity of the intervention and encourages future misbehavior. Students should have been pre-taught the expectations for the environment to which they are moving and should be adequately supervised in that environment. Used only with great caution, antiseptic bouncing is sometimes the perfect way to help a kid “let off some steam.”

Timing is everything. And so is an understanding of the emotional state of students who are challenging your authority. When I say timing is everything I mean early intervention is critical. I teach a powerful strategy that relies on the contingent withdrawal of attention from a student exhibiting emergent (low-level) misbehavior. It is a POWERFUL response to shutting down problem behavior.

It’s also a powerful refinement of a century-old strategy, which has a powerful, dramatic, and positive impact on the contemporary classroom.  It is unique in that in addition to allowing for the contingent withdrawal of attention, the basic principles of academic remediation are incorporated into the process, where the teacher stops the student, re-teaches, checks for understanding, and sends the student back to work independently.

Students are given a prompt, allowed to self-correct, and then asked to identify the interfering behavior –  all while never leaving an academic environment.

• Teachers will learn how to keep a keen and calm mental set for classroom management.  They will learn how to “read the room” and swiftly, positively, and gracefully nullify challenges and see and take the right course of action when challenged, while appearing “confident and comforting” to their pupils.
• Teachers will learn how to properly arrange and design the classroom environment.  They will learn the “Teaching Power Position” and understand where you should and should not be, and how to eliminate positions in the classroom where students will successfully challenge them, as well as learn how to keep their students visually focused on top classroom priorities.
• Teachers will learn how to teach-to and enforce rules and procedures and transform “unsocialized” kids into top classroom performers, and teach students how to coexist in their classroom peacefully.
• Teachers will learn how to firmly but fairly carry out disciplinary actions.  They will learn how to stop letting minor and major challenges overrun important teaching time, start teaching every student with confidence and success, stop letting minor discipline issues side-track important lessons and handle nearly any classroom situation that arises.

It is well known among educators that the classroom environment can have a profound impact, good or bad, on student learning and achievement.  The design, layout, seating arrangement, décor, and even lighting can go a long way toward setting the tone, “feel,” and atmosphere of a classroom. 

Therefore, it is not surprising that a primary goal of educators is to create and establish a positive learning environment in the classroom, as much as depends on them.  The last phrase is a key admission because teachers often have to work in less than ideal environments under less than ideal circumstances.  The experienced educator is all too aware of these limitations, which routinely include events and situations beyond immediate control (e.g., room size, broken air conditioner, lack of resources).

In my seminar, I focus on utilizing what can be used and applying what can be applied.  What works for one teacher may not for another, and even in the same classroom, what is optimal for one learning context may not be for another. However, regardless of your situation, at least two factors remain constant: the physical design of your classroom must take into account both learning and behavioral consequences.

It is natural for teachers to focus on the former at the expense of the latter, but in fact, both are essential and interrelated.  For example, some seating arrangements that are “optimal” for learning can actually invite misbehavior, depending on the classroom “chemistry” and emotional maturity of the students.  Misbehavior, in turn, interferes with the desired goal of learning.  It is of vital importance, then, for the teacher to consider how the physical design of his or her classroom supports not only learning but also appropriate student behavior.

• Learn strategies to face the out of control student: Five immediate steps to take to regain classroom control.
• Eliminate arguments, multiple warnings, and repeated requests–forever.
• Say good-bye to classroom management approaches that make more work for you, the teacher.
• Earn respect.
• Wipe out misbehavior.
• Increase positive behavior.
• Never again “drain valuable teaching time” on matters of discipline!
• Maximize student learning.