20 Nine Class Management Strategies

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Speaker 0:00

Today we're going to talk about class management, and I wanted to discuss some things that would help teachers run their class more effectively. The first thing I suggest is from day one, from moment one, the moment they walk into class, is that you have a seating chart. Greet them at the door with either a seating chart in your hand or a seating chart projected on the screen. And what this does is this gives a balance of, Hey, we're going to have a little bit of fun, but there's going to be structure. The other thing that this does by setting it up day one is that it eliminates it becoming an issue. Sometimes what teachers will do is they'll come in and say, we're going to have fun the first day we'll get to know each other, have fun. There's no, boundaries and there's no limits. And so on day two, when you a seating chart, all of a sudden it's like an issue. It's like, wait, why do we have a seating chart we didn't have one the first day. If you start with a seating chart and just make it, Hey, this is just the way we do things. You can change it whenever you want. So sometimes teachers will say, well, I like to do a day two or three when I see where the problems are. You don't need to do that. Do that day one, have a seating chart. Problems, change it day two. Have problems again, change it again day three. Do it from the beginning of class. So they walk in and there's a seating chart on the board. And any day I change the seating chart, I have the seating chart on the board to see from the get go. So they walk into class, boom, new seating chart. What happens is the first few kids come in and they sit in their new seat. And so as more and more kids walk in, they see, oh, and they just go to their seat. It becomes a non issue. What happens is sometimes teachers will hold it over their student's head. Hey guys, if I can't trust you to not talk anymore, then I'm going to have to put you on a seating chart. Then the seating chart becomes a sign of punishment. And that becomes very adversarial. But if you start come across as, hey, I run this class like a team. I'm the coach. I'm going to work with you, train you, and help you to have a great experience. I have a vision. I have a plan of what I'm looking for this class to look like and to succeed. And so I'm going to create a plan that will help us all succeed. And sometimes I need students to work with different students. Sometimes I need to move students to not work with other students, and it's all part of my greater vision and my plan. You approach it like that, you'll have less problems and you'll have less conflict about the seating chart. The other things they'll meet far more students. When they're in a seating chart, and they can make friends with a lot more people. If they don't have a seating chart, they'll sit by the same people all semester. They'll meet fewer people. And so we want them to make a lot of friends and meet a lot of people and learn a lot of names. A seeding chart is the best way to do it. And it helps eliminate a lot of problems. So start off with a seeding chart. You can easily relax a seeding chart later in the year, it's much harder. to have to go to a seating chart when you realize this was a bad idea. I've seen it over and over again where teachers say, I'm not going to have a seating chart. And then a month in, they're trying to implement a seating chart and that goes over terribly. So now let's jump into the eight behavior management skills every teacher should have. Number one. Train them on the behavior you want rather than correcting the behavior you don't want. As you get more experienced, you start to see things you don't like. And so what you can do is train them on the things that you do want to see and thus replace the things you don't want to see. So for example, what do you want them to do when they come in? One thing I do is I will have questions on the board of what I want them to ask their neighbor. So when they sit down with their neighbor, I say, ask your neighbor these questions to each other. And I give them a little bit of training on that. I want them to come in and talk to their neighbor. What do you want them to do with your cell phones? I don't like students coming in and jumping on their cell phones. And so I say,

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Cell phones parked in the pocket until we need them. Cell phones parked in the pocket until we need them

Speaker 4:10

What do you want them to do with their backpack? I say

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Distractions in the backpack and backpacks in the back

Speaker 4:15

Why? Because backpacks are full of distractions. it's a coloring book. If it's not a coloring book, it's their history book, it's Harry Potter. It's something else. It's their makeup, it's their, whatever. If I train them to put those things in the back and to leave them in the back, then it eliminates a lot of distractions. So you can think about this. Oh, I'm seeing this behavior. What can I do to train them to do something else? So train them on the behavior you want rather than on correcting behavior you don't. Number two, the ability to get and keep students on task. The sooner teachers get students on task, the easier it is to keep them on task, and the easier it is to get them back on task should they get off. So, As part of this, avoid boring, lengthy, role taking strategies. This is the other benefit of a seeding chart. Is that a seeding chart, you can print it off and put it in a, plastic cover. And take mark take a, mark it with markers. Or you can download it to an iPad. So you can, Take notes with good notes. Avoid boring, lengthy, role taking strategies. I see this all the time. Where teachers will say, okay, today's question is, what's your favorite movie? And they'll ask each student one at a time. Tom. And then Tom answers, my favorite movie is Star Wars. Okay, let me read Sally. Sally. And by the time we go through the whole class, we've taken 10 15 minutes, and kids, So avoid those, get a read on the students, and if you think it's effective, read your audience. And if they're bored, if they're checking out, if they're playing video games, then it's not effective, so move on. I like to take silent and from a seating chart, and I do it while they're doing an activity so that nobody even notices half the time. The next thing is, Active supervision. Moving around the class, being close to students. I like to set up my classes in rows where I can move in and out. And I put the rows close together, two rows together, so they can talk to each other when I want them to talk to each other. And then when I have them doing something, I'm moving between the rows and working with students that might not be doing as effective as they could be. I'm on constant watch, constant alert, and Interacting with students a lot. And so that helps to eliminate some of these distractions and behaviors. Number three, the ability to maintain a high rate of positive teacher student interactions. Average teachers are two to five times more likely to pay attention to misbehaviors. The most effective way to reduce problem behavior in children and students is to strengthen desirable behavior through positive reinforcement rather than trying to weaken undesirable behavior using aversive and negative processes. So one thing is to ignore inconsequential behaviors and then be positive with the positive behaviors. So maybe a kid sitting there just rolling his pencil in his fingers, inconsequential behavior. Ignore it. Maybe a student's drawing on a paper, inconsequential behavior, ignore it. And then be super positive, five to one positive to negative ratio. So this was a fascinating study. Low risk homes have a five to one positive to negative ratio. But in high risk homes, that goes from one positive for every two negatives. So we want to work on that positive, i positives, in our class. And, If you work on this, you can get really good at it. Where you're just, hey, I love how you two are talking together. Hey, I love how Sally and John work together. They both answered each other's questions, they both answered. And you can just point these things out. And instead of correcting the negative kid over there who's not doing what he's supposed to be doing you can focus on the positive things that are going on in the class. Highlight them. Point them out. And they're more likely to follow what other people are doing when those other people are getting complimented and praised for it. Then when you see that off task kid, jump back on task. Begin to do the work that he's supposed to be doing. That's when you jump in with a positive reinforcement. Tom, so good to see you working so well. I love that. Or Tom, man, I love your work. It's been awesome. Something like that. So number four, the ability to respond non coercively to inappropriate behavior. So this key idea is non coercive. So remaining calm, low voice, composed, unintimidating, non threatening. This class is for seminary, not outside works or books. So this is. A way to handle off behavior is to say, Hey this class is for seminary, not outside works. I'm sorry, I need you to save that. One of the phrases I like is, I'm sorry, I need you to save that for math. Say they're reading Harry Potter. I say, I'm sorry, I need you to save that book for English class. Or say they're working on math. I'm sorry, I need you to save that for math class. This class is for seminary. I'm sorry. No outside work. And doing it in calm, low voice, composed, unintimidating if they have a distracting toy, and that's distracting other students, I'm sorry, I need you to save that for later. And it's not saying it's bad, but hey, that's a good thing. I just need you to save it for later. Just approach it by like that. And so what I like to do is move close to the students and try to use a low voice. Hey, I need you to save this for math class. I need you to save this for later. And then moving out of the the closeness to the student, not hovering over them, but moving out and away from them. So, this becomes a tool to approach them, address it calmly and quietly, Hey, I need you to save that for later, and then moving away quickly. And then when you see them on task, say, Tom, great work. Number five, the ability to maintain a high rate of risk free student response opportunities. Students are very afraid of being embarrassed in class. And so we want them to be free of criticism in our class and free of the risk of failure. One way you can do this is to have students share often with pairs and partners. Because with pairs and partners, as they start out early in the semester with this, they get comfortable doing it. And they're also risk free. And what I mean by that is, it's vulnerable to share with a teammate. Most times, the teammates are very positive with them. Even if it's not that great of work or that great of comment. They'll be very positive. And this helps there to be a risk free environment. And we also want to avoid, criticizing or complaining about students or making them feel inferior by their comments. And so little things like being positive with every comment, being positive when you hear good things puts them in a safe environment. And then setting up students to share. When you want some students to share. So, for example, if you have students work on a scripture and they're reading the scripture privately and they're writing down some notes, then you move to, hey, will you share that with your teammate who's sitting next to you? Then you go walk around class and you find a couple who are really powerful in their experience and sharing and you say, Hey, would you mind sharing with class? Would you be willing to share with class? And they say, yes. And you say, okay, when I ask for a volunteer, will you raise your hand? And you can set up three or four of those to prime the pump. So now they're in a risk free learning environment. They're free of failure. When you ask for a volunteer in front of the class, those three or four that you primed are going to raise their hands. And maybe some others jump in after they're done, or maybe they don't. This will help you to create a safe place. And if you create a safe place, then they're more likely to open up. Number six, avoid the traps of criticism, sarcasm, threats, questioning a student about why they misbehave. Yeah, that's worthless. I've done that many times, especially early in my career. And that's pretty much worthless. Instead of questioning why they misbehave. If a kid's really struggling and distracting, say, Hey, do you mind if I talk to you real quick? Or you out on the hall or would you mind if I just ask you a couple of questions? Number one, Hey, how are things going? What's, is there anything going on? And just listening for clues that maybe things are going on and care more about the whole person than the actual behavior going on in class right now. If they can sense that love first, Then you'll have a better chance at winning their heart to something more positive. Let's jump back to sarcasm. I learned real quickly in my career. that sarcasm was deadly. It was deadly to our relationship and it was deadly to the class. And the other thing I realized is it put me in a few bad spots a few times. Because a few times I used sarcasm and a student would go home and tell a parent, and the parent has no contextual story of what is going on. And so I realized Out of context, it sounds horrible, right, what I've said to the student. And so I get phone calls with really upset parents, and I'm like, you gotta understand, I was in a situation, and they're like, no wait, you said what to my student? I don't care what the situation is. And so, I learned really quick, I could not use sarcasm for multiple reasons, but most importantly, it was just not working. Number five, logic. Trying to use logic to change behavior is not good. It's just a trap. Right? We want to use love to try and change behavior. And so, using logic with them is really ineffective. Arguing with students, really ineffective. If a student wants to argue about something, say they're really upset about something and they're asking for an answer, I just say this line. I'll be glad to talk to you about it after class. Hey, I see that's really important to you. Let's talk about this right after class. Me and you, we'll talk about it. And, and just let them go from that point. Nine out of ten times when I say that phrase, they stop arguing and after class they're long gone and it's not important to them. And so, that is a great line to memorize. I can see this is important to you. Let's talk about it, me and you, right after class. For example, if they're arguing about a seating chart, I say, I can see this is important to you. Let's talk about it right after class. Force, physical or verbal. We can't use force. It's just a no brainer. Despair, portraying a sense of helplessness with a class is really the vein trap that does not work. And so you're like, ah, I just, I don't know what to do with this class. I feel like a failure. That's just not going to work. And it puts you in a really bad spot and everybody wants to bail out on a class. So avoid those traps. Number eight, eliminate distractions before they happen. The number one thing with the distractions, like I said, is backpacks in the back of class. And just saying, I'm sorry, we don't have anything else on the desk except for scriptures, papers, pens that we need for this class. And so they bring in, Rubik's Cube, I'm sorry don't have distractions at the desk. But a lot of times what I'll do with something like a Rubik's Cube is I'll say to the student, Oh, show me how you put it together, and they put it together in a few minutes and I go, Oh, that's so cool. Do you mind putting that in the backpack now? Thank you very much. I'm trying to think of some other distractions that might be a problem. Rubik's Cubes, not so much. But say doing makeup. I'm sorry. I we don't do that in here. Little things like that. So, some other things for distractions is tap on the desk, walk by, tap on the desk. Can you save that for later? You mind saving that for later? There, same thing. Sorry, we don't do that in seminary. And those are just a few that I use. Just have some one liners. And I'm sorry, can you put that in your backpack in the back of the class? That's one I used a lot this past year. I'm sorry, would you mind putting that in the backpack and save it for another class? Just something like that. Or can you save that for lunch? Or can you save that for math? And just, tap the desk. Say the phrase and walk away. That's the strategy. Tap the desk, say the phrase, walk away. That works very effectively. Last one, talk less and engage students more. The less students are bored, the fewer problems you will have. So, this is a constant struggle, right, to engage students. But the more you engage them, the less struggles and challenges you will have. So focus on, what can I do to get better at engaging students? in effective strategies, in effective ways, and that's what this whole website is about. My goal is to help you find some more engaging activities that will help students connect with the scriptures, connect with the spirit, and thus be less disruptive. Now, I just want to say this, that every teacher has challenges. I don't care how long you've been teaching. You're going to have challenges and you're going to have new students that challenge you in different ways every year. And and then we grow. Right? We grow. And so, I'm still working on this. But I review these things for myself. Share them with you so that I can get better as well. I want to share this quote this principle had this attitude. They keep telling me that these are at risk students. They might be at risk in some settings, but in this school, no student is at risk. This is a risk free environment. And it, that came from a school that was filled with a lot of troubled kids. And the principal had trained his teachers and they had figured a lot of these strategies that helped them to create an environment where students succeeded and were constantly given positives to balance out the negatives they were getting at home. And this created an incredible amount of growth in. So that's the idea. Those are some of my thoughts on class management. I'm going to be working on gathering some more information from different books. And as I learn strategies, I'll be sharing them on this YouTube channel. I'll also be posting more ideas to engage your classes. So be looking for those and have a great day.