Proactive and Positive Approach to Classroom Management

Proactive and Positive Approach to Classroom Management Presented by Randy Sprick, Ph.D. NorthWest PBIS Conference Eugene, OR March 2, 2011

Basic Beliefs: Introduction Notes: 1. The way a setting is structured has a huge impact on and attitude. 2. Many schools depend too much on punitive consequences. 3. Punitive consequences have inherent and inescapable drawbacks including, but not limited to: escape/avoidance fear may become neutral may become reinforcing can set a negative climate I ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It s my personal approach that creates the climate. It s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or deescalated and a child humanized or dehumanized. Haim Ginott 4. The goal of classroom management is to develop a classroom of students who are responsible, motivated, and highly engaged in meaningful tasks. Workshop Objective: To assist you in setting up a management plan that: Structures for success. Orchestrates active. Prevents misbehavior. Teaches. Induces enthusiasm. Celebrates progress. 1

Things To Do! 1 Identify a misbehavior or trait exhibited by several (many?) students. 2. On the chart below, fill out each section after it has been discussed in the workshop. 3. **Priority Coding: A within two weeks; B if there is time; C low priority. For items labeled A and B, make notes on implementation. Things to do: 1. Design rules that communicate your most important expectations. Be sure to address Item 1 above. 2. Develop consequences for common rule infractions. Address Item 1 above. 3. Develop and post Guidelines for Success. Address Item 1 above. 4. Develop a plan for responding to misbehavior that is not directly covered by the classroom rules. 5. Develop an Attention Signal. 6. Prepare lessons on your behavioral expectations for each major activity. (Address Item 1 above). 7. Prepare lessons on your behavioral expectations for each major transition. Include time criteria. 8. Analyze the physical setting modify the setting if necessary and possible. 9. Design a workable schedule with time for teaching behavioral expectations (especially at the beginning of the year), teacher directed instruction, cooperative tasks, and independent tasks. 10. Design routines or policies for: Attendance/tardiness procedures Heading papers Assigning work Homework Late work Materials Collecting work 11. Design procedures for students to check off completed work. 12. Evaluate and improve your presentational style. 13. Examine instructional expectations to insure that you have clear and important objectives for each instructional activity. 14. Develop a plan for providing frequent positive feedback for following rules, striving toward the Guidelines, and for meeting expectations. Monitor interactions with students. 15. Develop and implement individual and whole-class rewards that can be used as intermittent celebrations of success. 16. Decide if your students could benefit from one or more structured systems for reinforcing responsible behavior. Already Completed **Priority (see no. 3 above) Finished 2

Evaluate and Revise Your Management Plan 1. Design rules that communicate your most important expectations. Notes: Plan to post this information in a prominent place. If you wish to work these out with the students, predetermine if there are any rules that you need to establish in order to teach effectively. Rules should be specific, observable, and (for the most part) stated positively. Avoid having more than five rules. Identify if any of your classroom rules require additional instruction. When and how will you provide this instruction? 3

2. Develop consequences for common rule infractions. Establish consequences that fit the nature of the problem, but that are as mild as possible. Implement consequences calmly and consistently. When possible, consequences should be implemented immediately in the setting in which the infraction occurs. Possible classroom consequences include: Gentle verbal reprimand Keep a record of the behavior Behavior improvement form Parental contacts Restitution Time owed Timeout three possible levels include: 1. Removal from small group instruction 2. Isolation area in class 3. Reduction of points earned (behavior incorporated into grading) After-school detention Student is required to devise a plan for own behavior Restriction from privileges????? Sent to another class Sent to office Possible consequences assigned by administrator: In-school suspension Saturday school Work detail Sent home Shortened day Parental supervision at school Restricted movement or modified schedule Suspension Implementation ideas: 4

BEHAVIOR IMPROVEMENT FORM NAME: DATE 1. WHAT WAS YOUR BEHAVIOR? 2. WHAT DID YOU WANT? (CHECK AT LEAST ONE) I WANTED TO BE IN CONTROL OF THE SITUATION. I WANTED TO CHALLENGE THE TEACHER'S AUTHORITY. I WANTED TO AVOID DOING MY WORK. I WANTED TO BE SENT HOME. I WANTED TO CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR OTHERS BECAUSE I AM MISERABLE INSIDE. I WANTED TO CAUSE PROBLEMS BECAUSE THEY DON'T LIKE ME. I WANTED 3. DID YOU GET WHAT YOU WANTED? YES NO WHY 4. WHAT ARE YOU REQUIRED TO DO NEXT? 5. WILL YOU BE ABLE TO DO IT APPROPRIATELY? Developed by Dr. Geoff Colvin, Principal Lane School, Eugene, Oregon 10

3. Develop and post Guidelines for Success. Include the most important skills, attitudes or traits that will help students be successful in your class and in the world of work. Sample Guidelines for Success Use the Guidelines as the basis for positive feedback, corrections, classwide discussions, monthly themes, assignments, celebrations of progress, guest speakers, and so on. Make notes on your plan to develop and implement Guidelines for Success. 11

4. Develop a plan for responding to misbehavior that is not directly covered by the classroom rules. A. Try preliminary strategies first follow your instincts within:. B. Some preliminary strategies include: Proximity management Verbal reprimands Discussions (conduct at a neutral time) C. If a preliminary strategy does not work, consider switching to a follow-up strategy. Two follow-up strategies are: Corrective consequences Ignoring D. Recognize that both consequences and ignoring are difficult to implement effectively. To be effective these procedures must be: Preplanned and prediscussed. Implemented. 5. Develop an Attention Signal. The most effective signals can be used in any location. Decide on a reasonable length of time between giving the signal and gaining all students attention. 12

6. Prepare lessons on your behavioral expectations for each major activity. A. Identify critical content: What do students need to know in order to behave responsibly? B. Do this for each major instructional activity, such as: Teacher-directed instruction Independent seat work Cooperative groups Tests Other: C. Be sure to clarify (for each major activity): Conversation Help Activity Movement Participation D. Use the worksheet on the following page to prepare a lesson for teaching and reviewing expectations of a major instructional activity. E. Plan to teach expectations for at least the first week of school, immediately before and after vacations, and anytime quite a few students are chronically exhibiting irresponsible behavior. F. Lesson activities might include: Lecture Visual displays Modeling T-charts Role-play Discussion 13

7. Prepare lessons on your behavioral expectations for each major transition. Include time criteria. Clarify each aspect of CHAMPS. Transitions include: o Arriving at the classroom o Beginning class/routines o Getting out necessary materials o Changes in location o Putting things away o Cleaning up o Leaving the classroom o Schoolwide settings (halls, cafeteria, playground, bus waiting areas, assemblies, and so on) 8. Analyze the physical setting modify the setting if necessary and possible. Arrange the room to: Provide you immediate access from any part of the room to any other part of the room. Prompt the desired level of student-to-student communication. Separate students with a high probability of having problems (assigned seats?). Allow you to every setting where students will be spending their time. 19

9. Design a workable schedule with time for teaching behavioral expectations (especially at the beginning of the year), teacher-directed instruction, cooperative tasks, and independent tasks. Try to avoid long periods of activity. Use change-ups to break up long time periods without formal breaks. 10. Design routines or policies for: Attendance/tardiness procedures Heading papers Assigning work Homework Late work Bringing materials to and from class Collecting work 20

11. Design procedures for students to check off completed work. Posted wall chart Assignment sheet Personal checklist 12. Evaluate and improve your presentational style. A. To what extent do you: present tasks in a manner that creates relevance, interest, and enthusiasm? pace your instructional presentation to foster attention? model high levels of interest and motivation? B. Consider yourself presenting a lesson about once a month. C. Make notes on presentational skills you might want to refine (e.g., rate and variety of presentation, level of enthusiasm, rationale for tasks, and so on). 13. Examine instructional expectations to ensure that you have clear and important objectives for each instructional activity. Clear course objectives Class activities to learn and practice Evaluation procedures that match objectives 22

14. Develop a plan for providing frequent positive feedback for following rules, striving toward the Guidelines, and for meeting expectations. Feedback should be Early in the year, feedback should use the same vocabulary used to clarify your expectations. Provide feedback more frequently than you think is necessary. Recognize that some students Be aware of Ratios of Interactions. Strive for at least a 3 to 1 ratio of positive to negative interactions. 15. Develop and implement a list of individual and whole class rewards that can be used as intermittent celebrations of success. Individual Rewards Give a note Shake hands Call parents Let student be teacher Whole Class Rewards Play a game Music during work Have principal congratulate class Compliment class (to another adult) 23

16. Decide if your students could benefit from one or more structured systems for reinforcing responsible behavior. A. Common questions about reward systems: Isn t this bribery? Shouldn t students be responsible without needing rewards? Won t the students get hooked on the reinforcement? Can I ever get rid of the reinforcement system? B. Systems are more closely analogous to. C. Types of classroom systems include: Elementary & some Middle level: o Total class systems o Team systems o Mystery Motivator systems o Spinner systems o Dice systems (chance) o Classroom bingo o Lottery ticket systems Secondary: o Grading on individual behavior o Student self-monitoring o Individual contracts 24

If you were using this system as part of students academic grades, these points would be added into your gradebook just like homework and test scores. If the points are to be used only to determine citizenship grades, the weekly scores would be kept separate from your academic grades. Then, you would total them at the end of the grading period and determine percentages. That is, students who got 90% of the total possible points would receive an A, those who got 80% would receive a B, and so on. From CHAMPS: A Proactive & Positive Approach to Classroom Management. Copyright 2009 by Randall S. Sprick. All rights reserved. 27

Some of Randy Sprick s Publications & Training Programs Sprick, R.S., Knight, J., Reinke, W., McKale, T. & Barnes, L. (2010). Coaching classroom management: Strategies and tools for administrators and coaches (2nd ed.). Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing. Sprick, R.S. (2009). CHAMPS: A proactive and positive approach to classroom management (2nd ed.). Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing. Sprick, R.S., Booher, M. & Garrison, M. (2009). B-RTI (Behavior-based response to intervention): Creating a continuum of problem-solving and support. Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing. Sprick, R.S., & Garrison, M. (2008). Interventions: Evidence-based behavior strategies for individual students (2nd ed.). Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing. Sprick, R.S., & Daniels, K. (2007). Taming the tardies: Every Minute Counts. Middle ground: The magazine for Middle level education, 11(2), 21 23. Sprick, R.S., Swartz, L., & Glang, A. (2007). In the driver s seat: A roadmap to managing student behavior on the bus (CD-ROM and DVD program). Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing and Oregon Center for Applied Sciences. Sprick, R.S. (2006). Discipline in the secondary classroom: A positive approach to behavior management (2nd ed). Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing. Sprick, R.S. & Booher, M. (2006). Behavior support and response to intervention: a systematic approach to meeting the social/emotional needs of students. Communique, 35(4), 34 36. Sprick, R.S. (2003). START on time!: Safe transitions and reduced tardiness in secondary schools. Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing. Sprick, R.S., Garrison, M., & Howard, L. (2002). Foundations: Establishing positive discipline and schoolwide behavior support (2nd ed). Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing. Sprick, R. S. & Garrison, M. (2000). ParaPro: Supporting

the instructional process. Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing. Sprick, R.S., Howard, L., Wise, B.J., Marcum, K., & Haykin, M. (1998). Administrator's desk reference of behavior management (Vols. 1 3). Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing. Sprick, R.S., & Howard, L. (1995). Teacher's encyclopedia of behavior management: 100 problems/500 plans. Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing.

Report on Graduation Rates in the U.S. A revised report, commissioned by the Black Alliance for Educational Options, found that the overall graduation rate nationally is 71%. Graduation rates by racial identity are: African-American 56% Native American 57% Asian 79% White 78% Hispanic 54% To access and download the original report, log onto: http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_31.htm#1 To access the revised report, log onto: http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_baeo.htm To access the historical information, log onto: http://www.safeandcivilschools.com/research/graduation_rates.php Report on School Connectedness "Increasing evidence shows that when adolescents feel cared for by people at their school and feel like a part of their school, they are less likely to use substances, engage in violence, or initiate sexual activity at an early age." McNeely, C. A., Nonnemaker, J. A., Blum, R. W. (2002) This study examines the association between school connectedness and the school environment. Higher school connectedness was associated with: positive classroom management climates, participation in extracurricular activities, tolerant disciplinary policies, and small school size. McNeely, C. A., Nonnemaker, J. A., Blum, R. W. (2002). Promoting school connectedness: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Journal of School Health, 72(4), 138-146. Research found at the following website clearly demonstrates an association between connectedness and effective classroom management, effective disciplinary policies, small school size, and involvement in extracurricular activities. http://www.jhsph.edu/adolescenthealth/products/military Child Initiative/MCI Monograph FINAL.pdf Randy Sprick's Safe & Civil Schools Visit http://www.safeandcivilschools.com/ for information on Safe & Civil Schools products and services to help improve behavior, discipline, school climate, and school connectedness, and reduce suspensions/expulsions. _ Your Name: Your state code (e.g. OR) Your email (optional): Please print neatly! If you provide your email, Safe & Civil Schools will occasionally send you updates on workshops, tips, or new products. We will NEVER sell or give out your address. Revised 2-09 32