By Kelly Graham and Elsbeth Prigmore
Order In The Classroom
Students are not coming to school ready to learn or knowing
how to behave. A consistent classroom management system
can save instructional time and improve the school climate.
May/June 2009 33
We have witnessed an array of classroom management
skills over the course of a combined 24 years as administrators.
In numerous discussions we have had
with new teachers, the leading cause of frustration
is student discipline/classroom management. Almost half of all new
teachers leave the profession within five years, while it takes about
three to seven years for teachers to develop skills that enable them to
consistently improve student achievement (Haycock, 2006).
After reviewing five university teacher preparation programs,
we have concluded that classroom discipline is briefly addressed,
with very little direct instruction about specific skills for managing
student behavior. In addition, the social/emotional component of
learning, which is the basis for effective classroom management, is
not covered adequately. Even teachers with outstanding technical
skills may not be able to impart their expertise if there is no order in
the classroom.
We cannot assume, even at the high school level, students are
equipped with all of the necessary tools to function adequately in
a classroom. Students are not coming to school ready to learn or
knowing how to behave.
At the middle and high school levels students typically have more
than five different teachers, each with their own set of expectations.
To think that students can be told once, at the beginning of the
school year, how to assimilate in a classroom is like telling them only
once how to perform the operation of long division and then expecting
them to remember it all year long without re-teaching. How
about the learners who function more in the visual or kinesthetic
realm and process information differently than auditory learners?
Teachers will not be effective as instructional leaders unless they
connect with students on a human level, accept students with “unconditional
positive regard,” set appropriate limits and communicate
high expectations. Relationships are a keystone to well-run classrooms.
The wise words of Madeline Hunter ring true: “Kids don’t
care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
More than 33 years of research underscores the importance of effective
classroom management techniques. Teaching rules and procedures
are high on the list of most important skills found throughout
all research on classroom management.
Kathleen Cotton (1990) summarizes it this way: “Effective managers
teach behavioral rules and classroom routines in much the
same way as they teach instructional content, and they review these
frequently at the beginning of the school year and periodically thereafter.
Whether it’s kindergarten or 10th grade students, we cannot
ever assume in school settings today that children arrive ready and
willing to behave.”
One of the major flaws in some classroom management systems
is that the teacher gives numerous chances, requests or warnings
– all of which waste academic instructional time. The multiple exchanges
with the same students reinforce the same behavior in other
students. In essence, there are multiple opportunities to misbehave
when students are not taught to self-correct at the first directive. If
all students are systematically taught through a direct instruction
model how to follow classroom rules and routines, multiple warnings
and repeated requests can be eliminated, thus saving valuable
instructional minutes.
The adolescent brain and decision-making
Brain research finds that decisions are often generated from
primarily the emotional center of the brain rather than the frontal
cortex, at the adolescent stage of development. Adolescents are supposed
to test limits as an age-appropriate response to their environment.
Conflict is an essential part of growing up. Teachers have been
taught to be tolerant.
If tolerance carries over to the social/behavioral aspect of the
classroom, situations can reach an unbearable limit. When this occurs,
either a threat is made that cannot be enforced, the behavior is
ignored and the structure of the classroom erodes, or a statement is
made that hurts the feelings of the student. A frustrated teacher can
give away his or her authority by sending a student to the office for
low-level issues that have escalated to the next level.
The research of Adelman and Taylor (2008) clearly demonstrates
the necessity of social/emotional learning and how it contributes
to academic performance. Whenever conflict or disruption in the
classroom gets in the way of a student’s learning or the learning of
others, it has to be addressed immediately and consistently.
Addressing only academic goals for students is never enough.
When social and behavior skills are taught in conjunction with
academic skills, there is more time for instruction as the year progresses.
Just as students have a chance to self-correct with academic
challenges, they must also be given the chance to self-correct by
receiving instruction for appropriate ways to behave in the school
setting.
Pioneer High School has the highest at-risk 11th and 12th grade
students in the district – those in jeopardy of not obtaining a diploma.
There is a sense of urgency to address the needs of this population
as efficiently as possible. Less than ideal parenting is not an
acceptable excuse for the lack of student learning.
How many times have we, as administrators, addressed a situation
where a staff member has sent a student to the office for a situation,
such as failing to bring a pencil to class, that escalated to defiance?
Thanks to an investment in a “Time to Teach” training from
the Center for Teacher Effectiveness, there are no discipline referral
kings or queens on our campuses. Staff members know they must
address low-level classroom disruptions and prevent them from
becoming “no-win” situations. As a result, we have experienced a
significant decrease in discipline referrals, including out-of-school
suspensions and in-house suspensions.
At our continuation high school we have also experienced an increase
in passing rates on the California High School Exit Exam and
other student achievement measures. Furthermore, the school has
experienced an overall positive systemic cultural change.
Social-emotional learning is effective for all students, regardless
of socioeconomic or grade levels. At Olympus Junior High, a school
located in a more affluent area, the “Time to Teach” skills were initially
introduced to just one teacher. Because of the resulting positive
changes with the most challenging students on campus, other teachers
took notice. Eventually, the entire school adopted these skill sets
for students and found more time for instruction because student
behavior was conducive to academic learning. The students have
learned, through a direct instruction model, appropriate behaviors
in a school setting.
What makes the training effective is the extensive research used
to design effective and engaging lessons by minimizing problem behavior.
The brain’s learning mechanism utilizes similar pathways,
whether it is learning appropriate social-emotional behavior or
academic skills. Teachers who seek to provoke positive emotional
responses in their students and deliver meaningful and significant
lessons promote maximum learning and retention. In turn, students
are less likely to lose focus, become inattentive and misbehave.
Modeling civil and respectful behavior
As adults who remain in a thinking state vs. an emotional state
while dealing with student discipline issues, we model civil and respectful
behavior. The result is more buy-in from the student for
school rules and routines. Overall school climate is improved because
students do not feel mistreated and unheard.
Whatever discipline approach or classroom management system
is followed, it is critical to consistently and diligently honor and uplift
the dignity of every single student and adult in order to get to the
business of optimal learning.
Reference and resources
Adelman, Howard & Taylor, Linda. (2008). School Mental Health
Project/Center for Mental Health in Schools. UCLA Department
of Psychology.
Cotton, Kathleen. (1990). Summary of Research. Hayden Lake, ID:
Time to Teach Resource Manual.
Haycock, Kati. (2006). Fact Sheet: Finding and Keeping the Teachers
We Need. Alliance for Excellent Education.
Elsbeth Prigmore is a principal in the Shasta Union High School District
in Redding, past president of the ACSA Shasta County Charter and
ACSA Region 1 Board Member At Large. Kelly Graham is
national director of the Center for Teacher Effectiveness and a
principal in the Eureka School District in Roseville.
