“Mr. Murphy, all you need to do is go crazy on your students. They will respect you a lot more if you lose your temper and yell at them every now and then.” This is the response I got from several veteran teachers in the region who were highly respected by colleges as well as successful in the classroom. It was the opposite of what I was taught in my education classes though, and it just didn’t feel right for me. Classroom management was an invincible foe; none of my approaches could penetrate it and bring order to the chaos. There was no chink in the armor where I could throw a disciplinary bomb or slice a sword of procedures across. This beast was too broad and worst of all, it morphed and adapted to develop immunity against my weapons. Controlling a class has to be more about understanding students and what they need from their teacher than it is about cookie cutter solutions to be applied in every situation.
As anyone expert will tell you, establishing firm procedures from day one and striving to consistently abide by them will help foster a safe, organized, and pleasant classroom, which is necessary in order for learning can thrive. According to Disciplinehelp.com, it’s very important to try and involve students in creating these rules and procedures as well as helping the class understand the reasons for them. Although students may not always understand or agree with the reasons behind procedures, teachers shouldn’t be discouraged. As Russ says, “Teachers can’t teach because they want students to like them. They must respect students and do what’s necessary to engage them in learning in order for students to respect them in return.”
With rules and procedures in place, there is a foundation of expectations to guide the class. Like the pier and beam the foundation under my house allows for shifting due to clay and rock being mixed in the soil, a management plan needs to account for individual differences among students. Each student has an ongoing story that is unique and complex. As teachers, we have a dynamic part in each of these stories - developing them and their knowledge about the world and life through our relationship. Therefore, our management plan needs to have elasticity to account for the myriad of student needs we will encounter. Of these various students, we will look at three classifications and how we can plan to move each of them along in their development as thoughtful and mature members of society.
The first type of student we will look at is the non-participator. As mentioned earlier, experts have different opinions on how to deal with problem students. A trainer for a prestigious district once told me, “Tell students you won’t try harder than they are going to try” and “I don’t really care about your learning because you obviously don’t care about it.” On the other hand, disciplinehelp.com says these students need to hear, “You may give up on yourself, but I’m not going to give up on you.” They further say,
“There is one action students can’t handle, your refusal to reject or condemn. The non-participator expects both because he sees good reason for your disapproval. Your refusal to quit offers the best chance for success.”
Disciplinehelp.com believes that it’s amazing how much this student actually wants caring demands and firm expectations after a relationship has been established. Because the non-participator already has a low self-concept, these expectations should initially be discussed in a private conversations, and teachers must “remember right and wrong cannot be the issue if you want to change this behavior. If you hold fast to class rules, you may never get the opportunity to win with this student.”
Secondly, we will look at the trouble-maker’s refusal to follow rules. Experts conclude that this refusal is more about them trying to prove themselves and express power than it is about them not liking the teacher or the class. Proponents of rigidly abiding to rules and procedures, believe that consistently enforcing more severe consequences is the best way to facilitate change in the trouble-maker. On the contrary, other experts say that initial private communication is key in helping them think about his behavior. This conversation should acknowledge irrational behavior and not try to pretend it is rational, but the student should be told “they are down” and “not thinking straight”. For this reason, the teacher should say to the student, “Temporary allowances will be made in the rules and standard discipline plan for them.” The teacher can then give the trouble-maker some control by asking them where do they think that allowances will be needed. This will save the teacher from experiencing possible resistive reactions to his condition. Because trouble-makers have something at home or school that is distressing them, they can feel victimized and accuse teachers of not liking them. The best way to remedy this isn’t by denials or getting upset but rather by telling them “if I didn’t care, I would allow you to do whatever, not pay attention, stir up everyone, and not complete assignments. Because I do care, I urge you to complete assignments and do your best.”
Lastly, let us consider the student who does their work but is consistently disrespectful. This student has been mistreated and is therefore mistreating others. This student is seeking to prove themselves and so show that they power have the to hurt others. Disrespecting others never happens without reason, although the source of the reason may not be whom the disrespect is directed at. In dealing with this student, it is most important to remember not to retaliate, which only gets her or him off the hook. Responsibility must be kept on the student. Behaviorhelp.com says,
“A public confrontation may put the student on the spot and compel him/her to act even worse to save face or retain his/her image as one who "doesn't get pushed around by anyone." Whenever you can, move to the hall or a private place in the room to handle disrespect.”
If the disrespect is completely unwarranted, the teacher may say, “John, I don’t think I deserve that.” then follow with the comment, “Now, tell me what’s really on your mind?” As frustrating as disrespect can be, teachers should be careful not to jump on it too quickly and harshly. Doing so can turn a cornered kitten into an ugly tiger.”
In conclusion, classroom management must be studied, especially by novice teachers, as it fit were a content area of it’s own. Additionally, students must be studied. They are going through so much, and it’s hard to get through to them. Even though you’ll be like a parent to so of them, it’s important to always do whatever is needed to engage them in learning. That is the primary way your love is communicated to them. For the individuals who are disrupting that engagement for themselves or others, it’s important to remember that they are individuals with unique stories. Russ Weeks, a district trainer and veteran teacher, initially thought “if I got mad at these students I could control them, but I learned that was what they wanted.”
Bibliography
1. www.behaviorhelp.com
2. Russ Weeks, MISD
No comments:
Post a Comment