Professional Development- Session One
Welcome to the first Professional Development session on ThreeFiftyMainStreet. These professional
development opportunities will be short and designed to promote discussion and reflection. The edification and the advancement as a teacher and as a person are the reasons we engage in PD but, If you participate in the discussion in any or all of the ways listed at the end of this post you will receive...wait for it...
ONE hour of professional development credit.
PURPOSE
Consider the following:
- All effective teachers are effective classroom managers
- Even the most effective teachers work to continually improve classroom management skills
- Not all teachers are effective classroom managers
- Without effective management skills, learning cannot occur
- All teachers possess the ability to become more effective, yet many fail to do so because they lack management skills
Which leads us back to number 1:
ALL EFFECTIVE TEACHERS ARE EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM MANAGERS
You cannot teach any content effectively until you can manage the students.
IN-SERVICE
So we start with the question- What is the most important procedure that any teacher must have?
The single most important procedure that any teacher must have is a way of getting the students attention.
What is your procedure for getting the students attention? What is the one thing that you do consistently, every time you need the attention of your students?
Some teachers merely ask for attention by saying “I need your attention.” If saying it doesn’t work the first time then they will repeat it- often three or four times and then try variations “excuse me” or I’m waiting” or “please stop the talking” or even the infamous “I can wait!” In most cases, the teacher looks unhappy while they are trying to get the students’ attention.
Here is a simple method that you can try:
Tell the students that there will be some times that you are going to need their attention. Say, "When I need your attention I will do two things; here is what I will do. "At this point smile and raise your hand. Ask the students what they notice you doing. Most often the students will notice you smiling first. Once they have given you their answers tell them, "when you see me doing these things, I need for you to stop talking and raise your hand. This will be your signal to me that you understand and you are ready for whatever comes next." Now say, "let's practice this a few times." Tell the students that when you say go you will allow the room to get noisy. Wait a few seconds and smile and raise your hand. It will take a few seconds for the students to quiet down, but do not begin until you have their attention. When you have their attention, thank them for following the procedure and tell them this is the way you will get their attention from now on. Continue to implement the procedure consistently but remember the smile as it is the most important part. The moment you appear upset, they win, you lose and no procedure will work.
The key to this, and to most things procedural in the classroom, is consistency. You need to have a way, one way, of reliably getting their attention and you need to use that way consistently and with a pleasant demeanor. A pleasant demeanor takes away the allure of a power struggle.
In the comments, you can do the following to receive the hour PD credit:
IMPLEMENTATION
This procedure may seem elementary in nature and, for some classes and/or teachers, it might not be the right fit. Most veteran teachers already have a set procedure for getting their students' attention and that’s fine. The key is that you have something, one thing, that you do consistently and pleasantly each and every time you need the students' attention.
So the activity for this session is to think about your “one thing” and reflect on it. Do the students respond to you in the way you want and in the timeframe you need? Are you pleasant? When you appear annoyed or aren’t consistent, do the student respond differently?
In the comments, you can do the following to receive the hour PD credit:
- comment on something in the post to start a dialogue
- share your “one thing” if it has worked for you
- be brave and share something that hasn’t worked
- any or all of the above
Whitaker & Breaux (2013). The Ten-Minute Inservice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Short, sweet, and to the point. Can't say I've seen such a simple way to participate in effective PD.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned, most veteran teachers already have a set way to get students attention. However, during one of my first visits to a classroom at the middle school, I watched a veteran teacher say, "Shhh, Shhh, Shhh" without the desired results, repeatedly during the lesson.
I'm sure the 10-15 minutes spent on this in-service would have done wonders!
When I began my first year of teaching, the most helpful resource that I received was Harry Wong's book, The First Days of School. He states that, "Effective teachers MANAGE their classrooms. Ineffective teachers DISCIPLINE their classrooms." He believes that the majority of behavior problems in the classroom are caused by the failure of students to follow procedures and routines. Thus, a well managed classroom is one that has procedures in which students know from the very beginning how they are expected to behave and work in a classroom work environment. One of the five classroom procedures that must become a student routine is a procedure for quieting a class. Cindy Wong suggests the "Give Me Five" plan, which is a variation on raising your hand as a signal. The five steps are:
ReplyDelete1. Eyes on speaker
2. Quiet
3. Be still
4. Hands free (put things down)
5. Listen
This procedure must be explained, rehearsed, and reinforced. I find it to be effective, especially with younger students.
love the distinction of manage vs. discipline- so true
DeleteOne of the methods I have used that was demonstrated to me, came from a special ed teacher in Jefferson Middle School when I first returned to the teaching profession. It was simply, "Clap once if you can hear me"...which is repeated maybe three times, while pausing in between repetitions. You do not raise your voice you just repeat it in a normal tone. What happens is maybe 2-3 students hear it. Then more students become quiet and by usually the 2-3rd time everyone is quiet. They are not only quiet but they want to clap in unison, so it forces them to listen to each other. In the beginning of the year, it may take more repeating, but once again if consistently used, the students are tuned into it, and usually respond pretty quickly. Like anything else, be it parenting or teaching, I think, taking the time in the beginning of the school year to establish guidelines and expectations, pays off in the long run.
ReplyDeleteconsistency is key definitely- I actually had a Master's level professor use the clapping on us and it worked perfectly.
DeleteGreat information and refresher ideas. Harry Wong is smiling. The pleasant demeanor part is important. For science labs, where students are not supposed to be looking at you (this could work with any type of group work), I use a bell. We practice it at the start of the year just as was suggested. Reminder practices may be needed if there are long periods of time between uses. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHmm...that last comment was from me - I think I have this straightened out now.
ReplyDeleteI like the bell, very Pavlovian and yes reminder practices are always needed throughout the year.
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ReplyDeleteOne thing I've learned over the years is that if students feel ownership over the class (both content and physical space) they tend to remain engaged and learn more. To allow them to feel ownership over the content I try to allow student choice as much as possible. Choice in what novels they read, choice in what articles we read, choice in what writing assignment they submit for the grade, etc. Obviously they can't make all the decisions regarding curriculum and grading, but even if they THINK they made a certain decision, they are happy. It's part of "teaching like a ninja" -where we already have a plan but let someone think it was their idea :) Giving students the smallest bit of ownership motivates them participate and remain engaged.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit easier to allow students to have ownership over the physical space of the classroom. Several years ago I began to assign classroom responsibilities to my students. (I used to call them jobs, until my students started to require compensation for their work). Once I explain that this is OUR class and OUR classroom, they are ready to help take care of it. These responsibilities range from taking attendance (which I of course monitor), to checking the floor for garbage at the end of class, to welcoming a substitute if I'm ever absent. Of course it is difficult to find something for everyone to do, so these responsibilities can be reassigned each marking period, placing the former responsibility holder in the role of "trainer" to train the new person and help make sure the job is getting done. I have also assigned backups just in case a student is absent, the job is still done. No job is more important than another, which is why all require backups.
It sounds silly, but you'd be surprise at how serious students take their jobs. One year, I assigned a student the job of making sure the overhead projector light was working (he literally came in, turned it on, and turned it off before he sat down) - he couldn't handle much more responsibility than that. He hurried to class every day to make sure he had time to fulfill his duty...and the day it didn't turn on, he was so proud to be able to tell me that the light wasn't working. He even helped find a solution so we could continue class. So little, yet so big.
I love the idea of ownership in the classroom and a sense of community. It is fundamentally important for students, and staff for that matter, to feel a sense of ownership and connectivity to what is going on.
DeleteLove the overhead bulb anecdote and the culture of assigning jobs. I got to see Heather and one of her classes in action last week and witnessed examples of strong classroom culture. Students knew what to do at each stage of the lesson and were eager to contribute their ideas to group and whole class discussions. And they clearly had practiced thoughtful listening. In one group, a boy was explaining his ideas about the topic of friendship in two popular films. Another boy was listening and, when a girl in the group commented, the second boy offered a correction: “No, no. Gavin’s saying that without friendship, there would be no story.” I I found this remarkable. Usually middle schoolers are jumping over one another to have the next word. But the second boy offered a clarification and defense of the first boy's idea. That was possible only because of careful listening, which I saw as the product of a culture where class members feel a sense of ownership and connection.
DeleteI find one of the toughest balancing acts is deciding when to stop pairs/groups discussions, particularly since encouraging students to express themselves in ever-expanding ways is one of my key goals. Let's say you've posted a question designed to spark debate. You tell students they have one minute to talk. But at the 55-sec mark, you notice that, while some pairs appear to have exhausted their ideas, many others remain deep in on-task conversation. At that point, I usually call out "10" (dix, in French) which marks the start of my silent finger countdown to zero, at which point there should be silence. But that approach doesn't seem entirely satisfying. How do you all decide when to hit stop on class conversations? I know we're talking here about having "one thing" we do, but do some of you take a different approach to calling for silence when students are working open-endedly on a project versus debating a specific idea?
ReplyDeleteIn fifth grade I was a cheerleader. I don't know what possessed me to do it but I gave it a shot and one cheer that always stood out to me began with, "Stop, Look, and Listen." Therefore, when I want my students' attention I will say, "Stop, Look, and Listen because I need all eyes on me."
ReplyDeleteI agree with Heather that students will feel ownership over the class if they can have a role. I find that talking "to" them rather than "at" them will also demonstrate how respect is a two-way street.