Setting Limits in the Classroom, 3rd Edition: A Complete Guide to Effective Classroom Management with a School-wide Discipline Plan - Softcover

Mackenzie, Robert J.; Stanzione, Lisa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0307591727 ISBN 13: 9780307591722

Verlag: Harmony/Rodale/Convergent, 2010

Inhaltsangabe

Disruptive behavior, power struggles, lack of motivation, attention deficit disorder—at times the list of obstacles to teaching seems endless. That’s why thousands of teachers and child-care providers have turned to the solutions in Setting Limits in the Classroom. This fully updated and expanded third edition offers the most up-to-date alternatives to punishment and permissiveness—moving beyond traditional methods that wear you down and get you nowhere.

Topics include:
• Eliminating power struggles and handling disruptions quickly
• Establishing an effective environment for learning
• Using natural and logical consequences to support your rules
• Conducting proactive, focused parent conferences
• New research and techniques for supporting special-needs children

With its new focus on younger students and special tools for handling “strong-willed” children, this edition offers schoolteachers the tools they need to gain control of their classrooms—respectfully and effectively.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Robert J. Mackenzie, EdD, is an educational psychologist and family therapist. With more than 25 years of experience, he founded the Setting Limits program, which helps parents and teachers discover how to improve learning abilities and resolve behavior problems in children. He received his masters in educational psychology from the University of California at Davis and his doctorate in counseling and educational psychology from the University of San Francisco. He is the author of Setting Limits, Setting Limits with Your Strong-Willed Child, and Setting Limits in the Classroom.

Lisa Stanzione, M.A., is a special education teacher and resource specialist, as well as an educational consultant and a parent educator for the Setting Limits Program. She has been a consultant for developing and implementing the Learning Center Delivery model for special education services since 2001.

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Chapter 1
Creating Structure That Works

Structure is the organizational foundation of the classroom. It sets the stage for cooperation and learning by clarifying your rules and expectations and by defining how you want your students to behave. In a well-structured classroom, most conflicts and behavior problems are prevented because children know what is expected. Rules, procedures, and daily routines are clear. There is less need for testing and less need for discipline.

Because structure is so basic, many teachers devote too little attention to it at the beginning of the year or overlook it entirely. They believe they can't afford to take valuable time away from academic instruction, or they assume children should already know what is expected or that they will pick it up along the way. The result is more time spent on testing and disruptions and less time on teaching and learning. Everybody loses. Teachers end up exhausted as they struggle to maintain order in their classrooms, and students lose valuable time for instruction.

This chapter will show you how to prevent the problems that accompany ineffective structure. You'll learn proven techniques for teaching classroom rules and procedures, defining basic student responsibilities, enlisting parent support and cooperation, and solving problems early, before they get bigger. By the time you're done, you'll know how to create structure that will work for you throughout the year.

The Cost of Ineffective Structure
The lesson of structure begins the moment your students enter the classroom. There is no way to avoid it. Sooner or later-usually sooner-someone will do something he or she is not supposed to do, and all the students will watch for your reaction. What you do, or fail to do, will define a rule.

Imagine, for example, that you're a sixth-grade teacher, and it's the first day of school. One of your students arrives to class wearing a headset and rocking out to one of his favorite songs. You don't like it, but you decide to ignore it. "He'll probably put it away by the time I begin teaching," you say to yourself.

He might, but what is the rule you just taught? Of course, it's okay to arrive in class wearing a headset. What do you think this student and possibly others are likely to do in the future?

The issue is not whether the lesson of structure should be taught. It will be taught, one way or another. The real issue is who controls the lesson-the teacher or the students? When students control the lesson, the costs to learning, cooperation, and achievement are much greater. Consider the following.

It's the first week of school in Mr. Johnson's fourth-grade class. The bell just rang, and the kids have filed back into class. Mr. Johnson stands at the front of the classroom and waits for the kids to settle down.

His lesson has been carefully planned and organized. He scheduled ten minutes for instruction and thirty minutes for seatwork. He's ready to get started, but the kids are not. Two minutes have passed since the bell rang, and the noise level is high.

"Let's settle down a little," he says, directing his comments to several boys who are laughing and talking loudly. His words have little impact. The boys continue to laugh. Others are talking, too. Mr. Johnson waits patiently. Another minute passes.

"What's going on?" he thinks to himself. "I announced my rules the first day of class. They should know better." He tries again.

"Okay, class, I'm ready to start," he says in an annoyed tone. He waits a little more. Everyone settles down except two boys.

"Craig, Terry! Are you ready to join us?" Mr. Johnson asks. The boys exchange mischievous smiles, but they stop talking for the moment. Four minutes have passed. Finally, Mr. Johnson begins his lesson.

As he gives directions for the next assignment, Mr. Johnson notices that a number of students are not paying attention. "I don't want to explain this again," he says. His warning has little effect. He finishes his directions and passes out the worksheets. "You have twenty-five minutes to complete the assignment," he announces.

"I don't understand," blurts one student. "Yeah, what are we supposed to do?" chimes in another. Several others look confused. There isn't time for individual instructions. Mr. Johnson is frustrated.

"If you guys had been paying attention, you would know what to do," he says. "Now, listen up." He repeats the directions for the benefit of those who had not listened, eating up another five minutes. Twenty minutes left.

Finally, everyone is working. As they do, Mr. Johnson roves around the room to help those with raised hands and to intervene with disruptions. As he helps one student, he notices Craig and Terry laughing and fooling around again.

"Excuse me, Brenda," says Mr. Johnson. He approaches Craig and Terry. "Guys, would you save it for recess, please?" They smile at each other again but stop for the moment.

Mr. Johnson returns to Brenda, but by this time other hands are in the air. One kid is blurting out in an attempt to get Mr. Johnson's attention. Other kids are disrupting. He deals with the disruptions first, then the blurter, then the raised hands, and so it goes for the rest of the lesson. Hands are still in the air as the bell rings. Many don't finish.

What happened? Mr. Johnson was prepared to teach his academic lesson but not the lesson of classroom management. His class lacks structure. As a result, he spent more than a third of his time dealing with blurting and disruptions.

What did his students learn? They learned the same lessons they had been learning all week. It's okay to enter the classroom noisily. Take your time to settle down. If you don't pay attention the first time, you will get a second set of directions. It's okay to blurt out. Worst of all, they learned that blurting out and disruptions are tolerated. Mr. Johnson is in for a long year. If he continues on this course, he's a good candidate for burnout.

Defining Basic Terms
Before we move forward with our task of helping you build better structure into your classroom, we need to discuss the "nuts and bolts" of the job. It's time to define some basic terms so you understand how these parts operate and fit together. Let's begin with structure.

Structure is a broad and inclusive term that describes how the various parts of the classroom fit together. Rules, procedures, routines, desk configurations, equipment, people, activities, and time schedules are all components of structure. When we use the term structure in this book, we are referring primarily to rules, procedures, and routines.

Classroom management is a very broad and inclusive term that refers to the full range of things teachers do to organize people, materials, space, and time for the purpose of teaching and learning. Classroom discipline, relationship building, community building, engagement strategies, and all the components of structure are included within the general term classroom management.

Classroom rules come in four basic varieties: general rules, specific rules, rules in theory, and the rules we practice, that is to say, those we're willing to consistently enforce.

Classroom procedures inform students how things are supposed to be done in the classroom. It's the teacher's job to clearly communicate what they want done and how they want students to do it.

Classroom routines develop when students carry out classroom procedures automatically. Smooth, efficient routines are a defining characteristic of a well-structured classroom. Developing classroom routines is a central goal of any effective classroom management program.

Discipline is defined by -Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary as training expected to produce a specific type or pattern of behavior. The key word in...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Harmony/Rodale/Convergent
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0307591727
• ISBN 13: 9780307591722
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 400
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: MUSIC STORE professional GmbH; 022188841282; Lars.Mueller@musicstore.de; ; Istanbulstr. 22-26; Köln; 51103; Deutschland