Discipline (aka classroom management)

This topic came up in class recently and perhaps this is a good forum to start a discussion about it.

In my strictly unscientific opinion, discipline challenges rank as one of the most, if not THE most significant reasons why our new teachers choose not to return for their second, third, or fourth years.

We could discuss why this is so, with possible reasons ranging from political non-support of teachers through the phenomenon of the eroding family – another post for another day, perhaps. For now, let’s just accept that all educators have discipline challenges and leave it at that.

I certainly did. I had days when I cried on the way home from school because of unruly students. I remember being very frustrated with my teacher education because I felt unprepared in this way.  Gradually, however, over time, I developed an overall approach that worked for me.

Discipline problems are an incredible time-waster. Even when teachers are good classroom managers, it can feel like it takes an inordinate amount of energy to do it. Many of us secretly feel that somehow we’re not “tough” enough and the kids know it. I suspect most teachers feel this way, whether they admit it or not.

Here are some things I learned in my 11 years in public schools – which ranged from a mixed-SES school (where I encountered spoiled children) to two inner-city schools stricken with poverty, violence, and crime. Grades ranged from kindergarten through eighth.

• Children want and need discipline. You are not being “mean” when you impose good classroom management (CM). They may not admit it, but the majority of students feel safer when an adult is clearly in charge.
• The basis of good CM is respect. Do not expect children to respect you because you’re an adult, have a master’s degree, or because you’re an educator. DO expect them to respect you AND each other because we are all human beings and therefore worthy of respect. Likewise, you must show respect to all of your students, even the naughty ones. If you show your basic acceptance, liking, and care for each of them, you are operating from a good foundation. The way to mess this up is to humiliate children and to hold grudges.
• Keep them busy. Move along at a rapid pace. Vary things. Do not allow big gaps between events. Try to provide reasonably interesting and interactive activities. You need not entertain them, but allow them to enjoy natural curiosity. Sitting for long periods of time is unnatural. Going for hours without talking is unnatural.
• Know their names. Spend time and energy on this – it’s worth it. It is extremely effective to be able to call a child’s name, because then they know they mean something to you.
• Over time, you will figure out where your “Do Not Cross” line is. (There will be certain behaviors that must be reported to the office, such as fighting. Learn the discipline code of the school.) There will be many discretionary “offenses” – some teachers allow, for example, free movement in the classroom, while others want everyone to stay in their seats most of the time. (For example, I did not allow pencil sharpening in the middle of lessons because of the horrible noise – I provided pre-sharpened pencils instead.) Figure out what you will and will not tolerate. Try to be liberal, but keep a sharp eye out for behaviors that escalate into big problems.

So those are the basics. Now for some specific media center strategies:

• Always welcome students into the media center. If they’re alone, smile, say their name, ask “how are you.” Then find out what their purpose is. If it’s a class, welcome them at the door, wait for quiet, and tell them where to go when they come in.
• Set up the environment for success. For example, round tables invite talking, which you may not always want to encourage. Notice how the environment shapes behavior. For older students, seating charts are helpful – they help you learn names. Also, people are territorial and will enjoy having their own place. Some children will be relieved not to have to worry about who will sit beside them (or not).
• Make your expectations clear. Remind them, often, using positive language (what to do, rather than what not to do).
• Try to arrange it so that younger students do not need to bring anything (except their library books) to the media center. Even pencils can cause problems. Lend pencils – and take them up at the end. It’s so much easier.
• Plan your lessons with great care to minimize down-time, too-frequent transitions, boredom, etc. Try to think things through, almost as if you are a choreographer. What items need to be where? How much time will a certain technology take? What if something doesn’t work properly, what will you do? Always have a Plan B. If an activity utterly flops, what will you do? If things go very fast, what will you do?
• Recognize good behavior. Try to balance each negative comment (’stop’ or ‘don’t') with a positive one, perhaps to a different child. This is classic positive reinforcement. In other words, if you want children to sit up straight in their chairs, compliment three children who are doing so. You will see an immediate straightening through much of the group.
• A story is a magical thing. Sometimes a story will work when nothing else will. Use your voice to captivate. Make sure everyone can see the pictures. Draw them in with eye contact. There is no age limit on this one. If the students are wiggly, build in action. Don’t be afraid to improvise!
• Speaking of wiggling: if a young group if inattentive, use the ritual of an action song or a set of physical movements to calm them. Start with large vigorous movements and gradually down-shift to small, quiet movements, ending with “criss-cross applesauce” on the floor.
• Develop “rituals” or patterns of behavior for transitions. There are many different ideas for this. For example, you can transition gently from storytime to book browsing by distributing library cards (or tickets, or shelf markers). Skip over names of children who may not be ready yet, saying “Now it’s Johnny’s turn, because he’s been so attentive…”
• Avoid picking on tiny little misbehaviors. Overlook as much as you can, focusing on the big problems.
• With a group of students sitting at tables, move around. Sometimes you can tap a wiggler or whisperer on the shoulder without breaking stride in your story or lesson.
• Do not shush. Do not yell. These are a waste of energy. Instead, call out positive feedback. Pitch your voice high (not loud) to carry over noise. Address the most significant misbehavior on its own terms, by conferencing directly with that person or group.
• Games are magical, too. Allow enthusiastic noise with these. Use behavior and sportsmanship as point-earners in the game itself.
• Sometimes you need to take a student aside for a private conversation. Do this rather than having a public power struggle with the student, which you may well lose! One on one, try to find out what’s really going on.
• One of the strongest things you can do is call a parent with the student right there.
• Separate children who are misbehaving in tandem. Emphasize to them that they have a choice between staying together and being separated if they can’t behave together.
• The principle of the choice is very powerful. Explain that there are two choices: cooperation leading to, say, being allowed to check out books or use the computer, or having to return to their classroom if can’t follow the rules.
• Be careful with rewards. I always had a system of candy rewards, but one piece of candy in 6 weeks was the standard. (That’s pretty cheap!) I gave a maximum of 3 stickers per class visit. One sticker was awarded if the class came in quietly. At the end of the visit, I would announce with great fanfare how many stickers were earned. A privileged student affixed the stickers to a class cutout, and everyone could always see all the classes in the school. After a certain number of stickers was reached, everyone in the class received a sucker (never round hard candy). Teachers liked the friendly competition this caused, and it became one of our “rituals.”
• If nothing else, the teacher can help you get a good start by escorting the class and helping them seat themselves quietly. A good beginning is half the battle.
• Time out vs. banishment: “time out” can be a good strategy -send a child outside the group for a certain amount of time until his/her behavior improves. At times, sending a student back to the classroom, effectively removing the great privilege of being in the library, is a good strategy. Banishment for more than one day, however, is to be avoided. Once punished, allow a child to start over on a fresh page with you.
• Try not to punish whole classes – many innocents suffer if you do. A certain amount of peer pressure to behave is a good thing, but don’t allow one student to ruin an entire class’ visit to the library.

As an intern, you have no permanent standing in a school, and students may pick up on that. Therefore, try not to get discouraged. You can’t do much to alter the environment or set up your own rules. Instead, observe your mentor’s strategies and think about how you will arrange things when you’re in charge.   After my student teaching, I swore I’d never teach – it was that awful.  After a summer of a music store job, I decided to give it a try.  Once I had my own classroom, things were very different – not easy, but survivable.  You too will develop your management style if you stick with it long enough and use reflection and good advice to solve problems.

Comments are welcome – especially from you experienced teachers out there.