Most of the classroom management techniques in my classroom have been
established by my mentor teacher and I, as a student teacher, have inherited
her system and have adjusted to fit my style into it. Most of the effectiveness of her system lies
in the fact that it has been established from the beginning of the year and the
students know it as routine. This
establishment of routine and procedure, or rather a lack of it, is something
that Wong and Wong site as a key root cause to discipline problems (Wong and
Wong. P. 165). In our classroom, typical procedures are used
to deal with disruptive students. The
idea was established on the first day of school that; if you (the student) are
not interested in learning during a particular lesson or day, you may not
inhibit others students’ ability to learn.
This sets the groundwork for dealing with a disruptive student in my
class. The “first offense” involves a
gentle reminder of how we need to stay on task as a class and many small
interruptions can mean we have less time, in class, to complete our work. This singles our the individual student who
is being disruptive but also speaks to the entire class and highlights our
collaborative effort toward classroom and individual academic goals. This also gets other student to buy into the
idea that they are being shorted by one student’s antics; many act to help
“police” behavior, instructing the disruptive student to focus so that the
entire class will not have to stay after class completing work. The “second offense” is a more stern and
directed response, alerting the student that they are being disruptive and
disrespectful to our class and that this must cease immediately. As a coach, I can command the attention of my
classrooms simply by increasing to “coach volume”, halting work/class, and can
wait for the room to fall silent after this.
Then in my, softer, less commanding, “teacher voice”, I can address the
disruptive student and single his behavior out.
I find it helpful to only call actions and behaviors out rather than specific
students in order to keep students from getting defensive. If I tell a student that he/she is
disruptive, they can take offense but if I tell that student that their talking
or other behavior is disruptive, like other students on previous days, the
student is less defensive and can recall prior classes where they were
disrupted by similar behaviors made by other students. The “third offense” usually never occurs but
involves removal from the classroom (to a convenient adjacent hallway connecting
the interior of the science department), a talk after class that concludes with
the student penning an email to their parents explaining their actions and the
consequences for both themselves and others in the class. This acts to start a dialogue between
student, parents, and teachers regarding behavior and a “unified front” on the
part of teachers and parents can be key to changing student behavior. An additional way to encourage a disruptive
student to engage in their learning is by encouraging them when they are
working well and staying on-task. Tomlinson
recommends teachers to “promote on-task behavior” as a way to reach these
students, recording their work efforts on a daily and even task or subject-specific
basis (Tomlinson. P. 37). The adage that you attract more flies with
honey than with vinegar can be related to this disciplinary idea, the idea that
students respond better to positive feedback than they respond to negative
feedback.
I find unmotivated students easier to deal with in my science classroom. Although most in my class are interested,
bright, science students, some students have days or phases where they are
uninterested in learning. This is
generally not disruptive to other students in the class but can also be viewed in
a collaborative, class-unit way. I agree
with the Wong’s assessment that learning in collaborative, group environments
is most effective for all students, especially for science students (Wong and
Wong. P. 204). Scientists must work collaboratively during
research and in group-oriented tasks. I
use my classroom as a model of this environment and students have bought into
the idea that we succeed and fail as a class.
In this way, students take the initiative to help try to motivate an
unmotivated member of their lab group.
This generally works well, with students able to “pick each other up”
motivationally when they need it. For
students I recognize with chronically unmotivated attitudes, I intervene and
try to make the subject, science, relevant to their interests. There is literally no subject, interest,
hobby, or craft that cannot be in some way related to science or scientific
concepts. In a monthly assignment, I
have students read and analyze current event articles relating to science. This allows for them to guide their own
learning and choose subjects that they are interested in. I also find out a lot about the students
based on what types of articles they choose and can sometimes modify lessons to
include specific student’s interests.
Because motivation is a more long-term goal for my students, I have no
“first offense, second offense, third offense” procedure but rather make
continual, incremental efforts to engage unmotivated students; initially gaining
their trust and respect and then use this place in their lives to encourage and
motivate these students to achieve and become self-motivated. Keeping science relevant is another way that
I try to increase the motivation in my classroom, bringing in science articles
myself that relate to things we have learned or articles of particular interest
to high school-aged students.
