Assume Nothing! Teach to Every Behavior Expectation!
Olivia Williams
Today, school administrators are faced with a revolving door of misbehaving students on their campuses. They often spend more time administering discipline versus being the educational leaders in their buildings. This coupled with a shortage of qualified and effective teachers makes their roles even more challenging. In the U.S., 14% of new teachers resign by the end of their first year, 33% leave within their first 3 years, and almost 50% leave by their 5th year. Why? Many teachers leave the educational field largely due to the behavior challenges in the classroom, and the lack of corrective consequences for student misbehavior. These challenges are real, but one of the best ways to meet this challenge is through facilitating effective classroom management professional development and providing in classroom support to remediate incidents of similar misbehavior.
As research shows that punishment alone will not solve behavior problems. Many of the behavior problems are rooted in a teacher’s assumption that a student knows how to correctly conduct themselves in the classroom. However, teachers meet students who have academic gaps in their understanding that often delays their full comprehension of grade level based standards. Teachers are equipped to develop intervention plans to help meet those academic gaps. This same practice is required for changing the disruptive behavior in the classroom. Teachers must teach to all required behavior expectations and model those expectations repeatedly to ensure equity for all. If a teacher is unable to model the expectation, it cannot be expected for the student to meet that behavior norm in the classroom. The most challenged assumption is that children are coming ready and willing to learn. By teaching students the difference between right and wrong, teachers show that they personally care about the student. This can translate into a willingness to learn.
So the question is: Are behavior lesson plans a norm in your school? Are your teachers working to create lessons that help model what behavior is expected in the classroom? How are teachers working to build stronger relationships with students? We rarely hear these types of conversations in professional development as even administrators make assumptions about what teachers should already know verses administrators providing models of the expectation for their faculty.
As I make observations in the classroom, I see a pattern of students being given repeated referrals for similar misbehavior, and a principal who is mostly making speeches about what the school requires of the student. Yet, one critical component is missing. Who is teaching this student how to properly conduct him/her self in the classroom? And what assessments are being given to determine if the student can meet the behavior expectation?
Recently at a classroom management training for a group of Middle School Math teachers, I asked them one question: “How many of you have behavior lesson plans for behaviors that are incorrect in your classroom?” Not one teacher rose their hand. The teachers were prepared to teach the math standards, but were overly frustrated by repeated low level misbehaviors. Many expressed that students should already know how to conduct themselves in class especially at the middle school level. This is a common thread among many secondary teachers. The goal is to get the behavior right in the beginning of the school year, so students have more opportunities for critical and deeper thinking in their subject matters. I firmly believe that good behavior must be systematically taught.
There are five core strategies to creating good behavior in the classroom. Let’s review two of the five strategies.
The first strategy is Self-Control. Remain calm and respond right.
Who models self-control? It is the teacher. Calm is contagious and silence is power. The first strategy a teacher has is to model cognition when challenged behavior occurs. When setting limits ensure that they are clear, concise, enforceable, logical, and proportional. Many behaviors escalated in the classroom due to a teacher’s over reaction to a situation. Stay calm and think through the incident before responding abruptly. Likewise, teachers must think about the personal space of their students. It is best practice to be 1.5 to 3 feet away from students as this may also trigger disruptive behavior if proximity is too close.
Another critical key of self-control is avoiding power struggles. This may include defending your credibility, your past history, or just button pushing in general. A student will challenge you in these areas, but it is up to the teacher whether they will response to the challenge or maintain self-control during the situation.
One way to redirect verbal outburst or challenging in class is to use diffusers. Verbal outburst could include: “This is boring”, “Mr. Jones did not do it this way last year.”, or “I don’t see when I will ever use this”. These sample student comments can take away from valuable teacher time and be a way to justify why a teacher is or is not doing something in the classroom. To avoid these situations, teachers may replay with, “I understand”, “Probably so”, “Nevertheless”, or “I’m sorry”. The teacher acknowledges the comment, but exercising self-control diffuses the situation and continues with the flow of teaching. It is said that conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional. Effective teachers choose to avoid combat.
The second strategy is to Teach to the expectation. We don’t always rise to the level of our expectations, but we always fall to the level of our training.
Research shows that classroom expectations are more effective in managing behavior when students are given a voice in the development of the classroom rules and procedures. Teachers allow student input, but may also add additional rules and procedures to ensure the classroom expectation can be met. A rule of thumb is to have 2-3 rules and 6-9 procedures for following the rule. Each rule and procedure should include a rational that creates more by-in from the students.
One rule could be: “We respect the teacher and students in our classroom.” One procedure to go along with this rule is “How we raised our hands to be called on in class”. The teacher would provide a range of behaviors from the perfect way to raise your hand, to the imperfect way, and then to the almost but not quite way. It is critical that a teacher model the perfect way and have students model the perfect range of behaviors of the perfect way only. The teacher would then call on each student to demonstrate the perfect way as a means to assess if they know what the expectation is. Only the teacher should model the imperfect and the almost but not quite way so students see what not to do. At no time should a student model these types of behaviors in the classroom as these are the ones the student needs to unlearn.
This process could take up to three weeks once all rules and procedures are established and to the proper degree taught to the class. It is ideal to revisit these classroom expectations on Monday’s, after Holiday’s, and when new students arrive. This helps to keep the good behaviors fresh and have a fresh model of what they are expected to do in class. It may just be a few procedures that need to be revisited as many in the class can benefit from kind reminders and some can easily forget over a long weekend where inappropriate behaviors at home may be the norm for some students.
There are plenty of classroom expectations that require a well thought out lesson plan that helps encourage the right range of behaviors in the classroom. Think about the wide range of behaviors that occur in the classroom including: intercom announcements, asking for help, using the bathroom, completing homework, coming from recess, entering the cafeteria, addressing the teacher, getting into groups, sharpening a pencil, and many more. Are the expectations clear and concise? One way to test this, it to choose a few behaviors and require students to write what they think the expectation is. You will then know your expectation compared to their own individual reality. It can also help a teacher to determine what expectations require more modeling in the classroom.
The other three strategies are Refocus, Classroom Ecology, and Unconditional Positive Regard which are fully outline in the Time to Teach Classroom Management full-day training offered. As stated earlier, Florida’s educational leaders must be at the forefront in providing training and support in meeting the behavior challenges of the classroom. By equipping their coaches and instructional staff on strategies that facilitate more time for instruction and less time on remediating classroom behavior. By providing effective and frequent training in classroom management, we will most likely see a reduction in teachers leaving the educational field and more students engaged and motivated to excel in their academics. Effective classroom management and student engagement are closely correlated and thus can significantly affect the learning outcomes of Florida’s students. So all educators can continue to work on making no assumptions about behavior but continue striving to teach to every behavior expectation. Then the goal of having fewer discipline problems and higher academic behavior will be attained. Let’s go to work!
Olivia Williams brings hope, laughter, and research-based classroom management practices to teachers challenged by disruptive students. As a teacher who has served only Title 1 students’ in suburban, urban, and rural settings in Florida. She has been effective in increasing student engagement and test scores through effective tech integration and systematic classroom management strategies. She holds an M.Ed in Instructional Technology and Design. She holds a Professional Teaching License in the State of Florida and is a Time to Teach Certified Trainer for Classroom Management. She is an associate member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association and currently works as a full-time educational consultant for Kampus Insights. Visit http://Oliviatrains.com for more information.
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