Discipline Statement
NEEDS:
Building a classroom for the very first time is going to be a challenge with a lot of decisions to make, but I will have a few necessities. The lay out will be very specific. My desk must be in the back of the room, preferably in a corner, to ensure a view of all students at all times. Students will be seated at tables for quick access to partner/group work and to encourage accountable talk. I will also need a designated meeting area to gather the students at the beginning and end of the day for a whole group meeting and for reading workshop. I will need temperament cards to manage each student and a sticker chart (or some kind of rewards chart) close by. I would also like a “quiet” reading area, a space where students can also go to “cool off,” if space allows for it.
LIKES:
When it comes to discipline and classroom management I have several definite methods that I like. I love the use of a token economy. Rewarding students for changing a negative behavior without being asked is a great way to encourage more positive behavior without addressing the negative. I would also like to remember to recognize and reward students for doing something exceptional, such as answering a very challenging question independently or providing assistance to another student. I have always really liked temperament cards. They change from green, to yellow, to orange, and finally to red depending on the student’s behavior. I think it is very effective to have the students change the card themselves, that way they are being held accountable for their own behavior. Something I have always liked is starting the day off with a group meeting and ending with one. To start the day off with a brief meeting allows for time to go over the calendar, number of the day and any other morning routines. I also like to give a few students a chance to share each day, especially on Mondays. After a weekend the students have so many things to share, I think it is important to give the students the opportunity for this to get it out of their systems before we start the day. In addition, I find it very encouraging to have a group meeting at the end of the day. Instead of addressing any of the problems from the day, I think it is a great idea to recall all the positive events and behavior that occurred. Ending the day on a positive note puts students and teachers in a good mood allowing for the next day to start on a fresh slate. However, just as I will always try to include these things in my classroom, there are a few things I will never allow in my classroom.
DISLIKES:
I hate when teachers yell to get their student’s attention or reprimand. The only thing that yelling accomplishes is creating more noise. I also don’t agree with teachers who constantly punish their students for not completing their homework. While I think that putting in an effort is important, being able to complete all of their homework should not be a teacher’s biggest concern. A lot of students go home to empty households or environments that are not conducive to focusing or doing work. Then there are those students who have parents waiting and willing to help them with their math problems and quiz them on their spelling words. They could be the laziest students in the class, but they will always have their work done because they have the support and guidance outside of the classroom. To make this situation worse a lot of teachers will keep students in at recess for not completing their homework. Recess is not a privilege, it is just as important for a student to have recess to burn off excess energy as it is for them to eat their lunch. However, if a punishment is necessary for not completing class work, keeping a student from going to prep is appropriate. Being able to go to gym or computers is a privilege and students that cannot finish their work during class time have not earned the right to go to gym class. I also do not believe in delaying student gratification for an extended period of time. Some teachers wait for students to earn an unrealistically large amount of stickers before providing them with their reward. Stickers will only go so far, eventually students will lose interest and stickers will no longer be effective. A teacher should not rely on instant gratification, but weekly rewards work a lot better than monthly or yearly rewards.
CLASSROOM RULES:
To ensure success in the classroom and satisfactory behavior a teacher must discuss classroom rules on the very first day of school. I believe it is important for students to provide input while a teacher is writing down the rules, but as a teacher I will already have an idea of the rules I want in place in order to prompt students to give the rules I expect. While rules are important I will only rely on four. My number one rule will be to respect your teacher, your peers, your students (for teacher) and yourself. This attempts to exclude student disrespect towards a teacher, student to student bullying, a student from hurting themselves, and from feeling like they don’t receive equal respect from their teacher. These are all extremely important aspects in a classroom and this rule will constantly be stressed. A huge pet peeve of mine is students talking over one another or talking over me. It is not only rude, but also very distracting and hard to accomplish anything productive in this type of environment. In order to avoid this, rule number two will be “Do not talk over others if it is not your turn to speak.” Number three is a rule I feel can make or break the entire school year and is extremely crucial that it is emphasized; student effort. I want to have students that always try not matter how difficult an assignment might be. I will not accept students who give up without a fight. By creating this rule students will know that and should do their best to always show me effort. Finally, my last rule will be to follow directions, but do not direct others. Students seem to have a hard time remembering to follow directions and I feel like a lot of conflicts could be resolved if following directions is emphasized from day one. Another issue tends to be students who direct one another incorrectly. If students wait only to follow directions from me and only me classroom activity will go a lot smoother with a lot less conflict. After these rules are established I will have the students sign them. By signing their name on the “contract,” the students are agreeing to abide by these rules at all times. That way, if they do not follow the rules a negative consequence is not unexpected. Yet, I hope this is not a common occurrence.
REWARDS/POSITIVE CONSEQUENCES:
Something that I do hope to be a common occurrence is the ability to reward my students for all their positive behavior. If my students follow the rules and only exhibit positive behavior they will receive stickers. I have decided in order to not delay gratification for too long I will reward students for every 10 stickers and as the sticker number increases, so will the prizes to ensure student participation. Example of increasing rewards would be starting out with first an eraser, then a piece of candy, a small toy/prize, “no homework” pass, bigger toy/prize, extended recess, skip on classroom period, luncheon with teacher. Students will have to receive 100 stickers in order to receive the biggest prize possible. To make sure students have to work towards these prizes, a student can only receive up to three stickers a day. To make stickers even more of a challenge, students can only receive them if their temperament cards are on green. Only a student who has exhibited positive behavior during the entire day can receive a sticker. In addition to individual rewards students will also be working towards the collective goal of a class pizza party. In order to earn this the students will have to fill up an entire jar with marbles. On average this should take about ½ a year allowing the students to have the opportunity for a pizza party twice a year. The students will receive marbles for getting compliments from another teacher, for all focusing on their work, staying quiet for a whole period, etc. The idea is that one student can ruin the chances of receiving a marble for the entire class. In order to avoid being that student, the class should always want to cooperate. To balance out the students positive behavior there must also be negative consequences for the negative behavior.
NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES:
Taking away stickers would be an obvious punishment, but I don’t believe in taking away stickers because those were fairly earned. Marbles however can be taken out if the whole class is acting up. If you have had to turn your temperament card to orange you will miss prep either that day or the next (if prep has already passed). Once a student has reached red, which hopefully won’t be often, the parents must be contacted and further action can be taken as needed.
PREVENTIVE DISCIPLINE MEASURES:
In order to ensure that negative consequences won’t be a common occurrence a teacher initially has to use preventive discipline measure. One of the preventive measures that I will use is to make transitions extremely quick to try to avoid the chatter. I will give students a chance for accountable talk or think, pair, share or turn and talk during each lesson to make the students less likely to want to talk during lectures or mini-lessons. I will also do my best to keep bullying out of my classroom. Keeping a close relationship with my students and between students will help with this a little bit. I have seen through experience in a relatively small self-contained classroom that the closer the relationships the less likely it is for students to bully one another in the classroom. In addition to quick transitions and less bullying, I will have a do-now for students to complete in the morning to encourage a quick unpack process. I will motivate students to move even quicker by rewarding students who are ready the quickest with little jobs to keep them quiet and on task. To ensure student focus during the day I will chose one student during independent reading, writing, and at the end of the day for all around positive behavior and reward them with stickers. If the students are already aware that this will happen they are more likely to try their best during the day to receive one of those stickers. Instead of using verbal reminders to keep the students on task I will grab a sticker sheet at certain points during the day making the students aware that I am thinking about giving out stickers. Students will want to behave in order to increase their chances of being rewarded.
SUPPORTIVE DISCIPLINE MEASURES:
Some methods of classroom management a teacher uses are non-verbal and are used to help students support their own self-control. I use the lights to get student attention and I am a big supporter of the “look.” Circling the classroom is a god way to make sure all students are on task. I also have used a strategy where I just stop talking/teaching if a student is talking over me and give them a chance to correct themselves. If necessary I will just turn a students card without saying anything that way the student will know they need to change their behavior or their card will turn again. It is also important to give positive signals too. I won’t forget my thumbs up, high fives, nods, and of course smiles for good answers or a lot of effort.
CORRECTIVE DISCIPLINE MEASURES:
There are methods a teacher must use when negative behaviors occur to guide their students towards fixing their behavior. I am a big supporter of positive reinforcement by making a point to mention students who are doing the right thing, “I love how Kate quietly got right to work.” When one student is recognized they all want to be, so the students doing the wrong thing will make the switch without being individually directed. Instead of yelling I will use verbal “reminders” when I see students off task, “I shouldn’t hear anybody talking right now.” If a student is really disruptive and my non-verbal and verbal cues fail I will call them out into the hallway for a private chat. The most important thing is to make sure you don’t call a student out in front of the class. This could either embarrass them or encourage them to continue to act up in order to receive more of my attention.
MAINTAING A POSITIVE CLASSROOM CLIMATE:
Maintaining a positive classroom climate is the best way to ensure a good day for you and the students. A teacher has to be very conscious of the choices they make to keep this climate very positive. I remember to always keep my personal problems and issues outside of the classroom. I know that if I go into class with a bad attitude the students will only feed off of it. I will also remember to use positive reinforcement more than negative. Although keeping control is essential, mentioning the good is just as important if not more important than the bad. I will try to invite student interest or inquiry to guide lessons. The more interest, the more participation and the more participation, the more enjoyable the lesson. I will always support my students that need individual assistance to eliminate severe frustration. Along these lines I will always make sure my students are respecting themselves. Above all else, I make myself available and trustworthy to the students. I will make a chat private as to not embarrass anybody and allow a “cool off” walk if necessary. Students should feel that they are able to confide in me if there is a problem, know that I won’t solve it for them but will help them find a solution. That is what teaching is ultimately about, helping your students sort through problems both physical and mental in order to find the right answers. Behavior management just lets them know when they’ve made the wrong choice and how to correct it.
Building a classroom for the very first time is going to be a challenge with a lot of decisions to make, but I will have a few necessities. The lay out will be very specific. My desk must be in the back of the room, preferably in a corner, to ensure a view of all students at all times. Students will be seated at tables for quick access to partner/group work and to encourage accountable talk. I will also need a designated meeting area to gather the students at the beginning and end of the day for a whole group meeting and for reading workshop. I will need temperament cards to manage each student and a sticker chart (or some kind of rewards chart) close by. I would also like a “quiet” reading area, a space where students can also go to “cool off,” if space allows for it.
LIKES:
When it comes to discipline and classroom management I have several definite methods that I like. I love the use of a token economy. Rewarding students for changing a negative behavior without being asked is a great way to encourage more positive behavior without addressing the negative. I would also like to remember to recognize and reward students for doing something exceptional, such as answering a very challenging question independently or providing assistance to another student. I have always really liked temperament cards. They change from green, to yellow, to orange, and finally to red depending on the student’s behavior. I think it is very effective to have the students change the card themselves, that way they are being held accountable for their own behavior. Something I have always liked is starting the day off with a group meeting and ending with one. To start the day off with a brief meeting allows for time to go over the calendar, number of the day and any other morning routines. I also like to give a few students a chance to share each day, especially on Mondays. After a weekend the students have so many things to share, I think it is important to give the students the opportunity for this to get it out of their systems before we start the day. In addition, I find it very encouraging to have a group meeting at the end of the day. Instead of addressing any of the problems from the day, I think it is a great idea to recall all the positive events and behavior that occurred. Ending the day on a positive note puts students and teachers in a good mood allowing for the next day to start on a fresh slate. However, just as I will always try to include these things in my classroom, there are a few things I will never allow in my classroom.
DISLIKES:
I hate when teachers yell to get their student’s attention or reprimand. The only thing that yelling accomplishes is creating more noise. I also don’t agree with teachers who constantly punish their students for not completing their homework. While I think that putting in an effort is important, being able to complete all of their homework should not be a teacher’s biggest concern. A lot of students go home to empty households or environments that are not conducive to focusing or doing work. Then there are those students who have parents waiting and willing to help them with their math problems and quiz them on their spelling words. They could be the laziest students in the class, but they will always have their work done because they have the support and guidance outside of the classroom. To make this situation worse a lot of teachers will keep students in at recess for not completing their homework. Recess is not a privilege, it is just as important for a student to have recess to burn off excess energy as it is for them to eat their lunch. However, if a punishment is necessary for not completing class work, keeping a student from going to prep is appropriate. Being able to go to gym or computers is a privilege and students that cannot finish their work during class time have not earned the right to go to gym class. I also do not believe in delaying student gratification for an extended period of time. Some teachers wait for students to earn an unrealistically large amount of stickers before providing them with their reward. Stickers will only go so far, eventually students will lose interest and stickers will no longer be effective. A teacher should not rely on instant gratification, but weekly rewards work a lot better than monthly or yearly rewards.
CLASSROOM RULES:
To ensure success in the classroom and satisfactory behavior a teacher must discuss classroom rules on the very first day of school. I believe it is important for students to provide input while a teacher is writing down the rules, but as a teacher I will already have an idea of the rules I want in place in order to prompt students to give the rules I expect. While rules are important I will only rely on four. My number one rule will be to respect your teacher, your peers, your students (for teacher) and yourself. This attempts to exclude student disrespect towards a teacher, student to student bullying, a student from hurting themselves, and from feeling like they don’t receive equal respect from their teacher. These are all extremely important aspects in a classroom and this rule will constantly be stressed. A huge pet peeve of mine is students talking over one another or talking over me. It is not only rude, but also very distracting and hard to accomplish anything productive in this type of environment. In order to avoid this, rule number two will be “Do not talk over others if it is not your turn to speak.” Number three is a rule I feel can make or break the entire school year and is extremely crucial that it is emphasized; student effort. I want to have students that always try not matter how difficult an assignment might be. I will not accept students who give up without a fight. By creating this rule students will know that and should do their best to always show me effort. Finally, my last rule will be to follow directions, but do not direct others. Students seem to have a hard time remembering to follow directions and I feel like a lot of conflicts could be resolved if following directions is emphasized from day one. Another issue tends to be students who direct one another incorrectly. If students wait only to follow directions from me and only me classroom activity will go a lot smoother with a lot less conflict. After these rules are established I will have the students sign them. By signing their name on the “contract,” the students are agreeing to abide by these rules at all times. That way, if they do not follow the rules a negative consequence is not unexpected. Yet, I hope this is not a common occurrence.
REWARDS/POSITIVE CONSEQUENCES:
Something that I do hope to be a common occurrence is the ability to reward my students for all their positive behavior. If my students follow the rules and only exhibit positive behavior they will receive stickers. I have decided in order to not delay gratification for too long I will reward students for every 10 stickers and as the sticker number increases, so will the prizes to ensure student participation. Example of increasing rewards would be starting out with first an eraser, then a piece of candy, a small toy/prize, “no homework” pass, bigger toy/prize, extended recess, skip on classroom period, luncheon with teacher. Students will have to receive 100 stickers in order to receive the biggest prize possible. To make sure students have to work towards these prizes, a student can only receive up to three stickers a day. To make stickers even more of a challenge, students can only receive them if their temperament cards are on green. Only a student who has exhibited positive behavior during the entire day can receive a sticker. In addition to individual rewards students will also be working towards the collective goal of a class pizza party. In order to earn this the students will have to fill up an entire jar with marbles. On average this should take about ½ a year allowing the students to have the opportunity for a pizza party twice a year. The students will receive marbles for getting compliments from another teacher, for all focusing on their work, staying quiet for a whole period, etc. The idea is that one student can ruin the chances of receiving a marble for the entire class. In order to avoid being that student, the class should always want to cooperate. To balance out the students positive behavior there must also be negative consequences for the negative behavior.
NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES:
Taking away stickers would be an obvious punishment, but I don’t believe in taking away stickers because those were fairly earned. Marbles however can be taken out if the whole class is acting up. If you have had to turn your temperament card to orange you will miss prep either that day or the next (if prep has already passed). Once a student has reached red, which hopefully won’t be often, the parents must be contacted and further action can be taken as needed.
PREVENTIVE DISCIPLINE MEASURES:
In order to ensure that negative consequences won’t be a common occurrence a teacher initially has to use preventive discipline measure. One of the preventive measures that I will use is to make transitions extremely quick to try to avoid the chatter. I will give students a chance for accountable talk or think, pair, share or turn and talk during each lesson to make the students less likely to want to talk during lectures or mini-lessons. I will also do my best to keep bullying out of my classroom. Keeping a close relationship with my students and between students will help with this a little bit. I have seen through experience in a relatively small self-contained classroom that the closer the relationships the less likely it is for students to bully one another in the classroom. In addition to quick transitions and less bullying, I will have a do-now for students to complete in the morning to encourage a quick unpack process. I will motivate students to move even quicker by rewarding students who are ready the quickest with little jobs to keep them quiet and on task. To ensure student focus during the day I will chose one student during independent reading, writing, and at the end of the day for all around positive behavior and reward them with stickers. If the students are already aware that this will happen they are more likely to try their best during the day to receive one of those stickers. Instead of using verbal reminders to keep the students on task I will grab a sticker sheet at certain points during the day making the students aware that I am thinking about giving out stickers. Students will want to behave in order to increase their chances of being rewarded.
SUPPORTIVE DISCIPLINE MEASURES:
Some methods of classroom management a teacher uses are non-verbal and are used to help students support their own self-control. I use the lights to get student attention and I am a big supporter of the “look.” Circling the classroom is a god way to make sure all students are on task. I also have used a strategy where I just stop talking/teaching if a student is talking over me and give them a chance to correct themselves. If necessary I will just turn a students card without saying anything that way the student will know they need to change their behavior or their card will turn again. It is also important to give positive signals too. I won’t forget my thumbs up, high fives, nods, and of course smiles for good answers or a lot of effort.
CORRECTIVE DISCIPLINE MEASURES:
There are methods a teacher must use when negative behaviors occur to guide their students towards fixing their behavior. I am a big supporter of positive reinforcement by making a point to mention students who are doing the right thing, “I love how Kate quietly got right to work.” When one student is recognized they all want to be, so the students doing the wrong thing will make the switch without being individually directed. Instead of yelling I will use verbal “reminders” when I see students off task, “I shouldn’t hear anybody talking right now.” If a student is really disruptive and my non-verbal and verbal cues fail I will call them out into the hallway for a private chat. The most important thing is to make sure you don’t call a student out in front of the class. This could either embarrass them or encourage them to continue to act up in order to receive more of my attention.
MAINTAING A POSITIVE CLASSROOM CLIMATE:
Maintaining a positive classroom climate is the best way to ensure a good day for you and the students. A teacher has to be very conscious of the choices they make to keep this climate very positive. I remember to always keep my personal problems and issues outside of the classroom. I know that if I go into class with a bad attitude the students will only feed off of it. I will also remember to use positive reinforcement more than negative. Although keeping control is essential, mentioning the good is just as important if not more important than the bad. I will try to invite student interest or inquiry to guide lessons. The more interest, the more participation and the more participation, the more enjoyable the lesson. I will always support my students that need individual assistance to eliminate severe frustration. Along these lines I will always make sure my students are respecting themselves. Above all else, I make myself available and trustworthy to the students. I will make a chat private as to not embarrass anybody and allow a “cool off” walk if necessary. Students should feel that they are able to confide in me if there is a problem, know that I won’t solve it for them but will help them find a solution. That is what teaching is ultimately about, helping your students sort through problems both physical and mental in order to find the right answers. Behavior management just lets them know when they’ve made the wrong choice and how to correct it.