Strategies for Improving Classroom Management: Strategies to Motivate Difficult Students. Stragegies for Controlling the classroom: Strategies for Improving Student discipline: Managing classrooms that are out of control.

<BODY> <P><FONT SIZE=6 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Manage classroom behavior to improve student learning. Classroom management strategies for effective classrooms where students cooperate and participate.</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Scenes from school:</FONT> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=arial>A teacher stands with his back to the class, working out problems on the whiteboard. He flings out questions, directed at no one in particular. The arms fly, zigzagging through triangles, rectangles and squares. The more capable students, bunched in the front, socialize loudly, listening to their ipods, and randomly blurt brief--but correct--answers to the teacher's questions. The off task noise is such that the teacher cannot be heard at the back of the room where I am seated for an observation. I tap the shoulder of a female student who sits in front of me. She hasn't been taking notes. I ask her if the teacher's demonstration is clear. She says she hasn't understood a thing for five or six days now. Motivate difficult students. Last quarter, she received a "D." "Have you ever been asked a question or called upon to explain a procedure in class?" The answer is no. The teacher continues to work problems out on the board, demonstrating his skill and deep mathematical knowledge by rapid firing challenging questions that are directed at no one. Effective classroom management strategies: Student discipline strategies that work: Managing difficult students in the classroom. In a post-observation conference, the teacher expresses his dissatisfaction that 40-50% of his students will fail this class. How does this teacher manage student behavior? Are the teacher classroom management skills up to standard? Does this teacher motivate difficult students?<font face=arial> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Scenes from school:</FONT> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=arial>A teacher shouts for the class to pay attention as he explains an upcoming group activity. During the preceding activities in this class, ranging from taking roll to handing out corrected homework, he has made fifteen to twenty similar requests--sometimes punctuated with discipilinary threats to offending students. The threats never come to fruition. At the latest teacherly demand for attention, one student does turn to look at him while the others continue socializing, but at reduced volume. Effective classroom management strategies: Student discipline strategies that work: Managing difficult students in the classroom.Apparently satisfied, the teacher plunges ahead with the explanation anyway. Fifteen seconds after he begins, the one student who was looking at the teacher now turns away to speak to her friend. Minutes later--an eternity in this classroom-- the teacher concludes his speech. Classroom management. Difficult students.He asks no one in particular: "Are there any questions?" How does this teacher manage student behavior? Are the teacher classroom management skills up to standard? Does this teacher motivate difficult students?Naturally there are none. It is not at all clear whether students heard his call for questions in the first place. Classroom management: The teacher spends much of the rest of the period moving from table to table, re-explaining the assignment.How does this teacher manage student behavior? Are the teacher classroom management skills up to standard? Does this teacher motivate difficult students?<font face=arial> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Scenes from school:</FONT> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=arial>A 7th grade teacher awards a failing student a "D" grade so that he won't have him in class next time around. The student is stubborn, under-skilled, hostile to instruction, continually gravitating towards--or creating--classroom distractions. The 7th grader goes to 8th grade, and the same thing occurs--not only here but at 9th grade as well. How does this teacher manage student behavior? Are the teacher classroom management skills up to standard? Does this teacher motivate difficult students? Classroom management: At last, the student enters 10th grade with the skills, attitudes, respect for authority and work habits of an underperforming, angry 5th grader. Strategies for classroom management: There is not even a remote possibility that the 10th grade curriculum that she faces will be able to meet her where she is. Effective classroom management strategies: Student discipline strategies that work: Managing difficult students in the classroom.How does this teacher manage student behavior? Are the teacher classroom management skills up to standard? Does this teacher motivate difficult students?<font face=arial> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Questions Teachers Need Answers To:</FONT> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=ariel>• How can I create a classroom where authentic learning occurs?</FONT> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000><Font Face=arial>• How can I consistently motivate difficult or reluctant students?</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000><Font Face=arial>• How can I keep students focused and on task?</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000><Font Face=arial>• Why do my lessons seem to start so well, but soon spin out of control? Improving classroom management: How does this teacher manage student behavior? Are the teacher classroom management skills up to standard? Does this teacher motivate difficult students?</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>• Why do I finish each day exhausted and hoarse because I always have to raise my voice?</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>• Why are my group work results so unproductive?</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>• Why does it seem that I am always working harder than my students? How does this teacher manage student behavior? Are the teacher classroom management skills up to standard? Does this teacher motivate difficult students? Effective classroom management strategies: Student discipline strategies that work: Managing difficult students in the classroom. </P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>• Why am I always dealing with the same problem students?</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>• Why are my students so quick to become confused when they begin a task?</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>• Why am I always surprised at how little my students have actually learned by the end of a lesson? Classroom management:</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>• Why are my students and I gradually coming to resent each other?</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000><font face=papyrus>To All Struggling Teachers:</font></P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000><Font Face=arial>If one or more of these questions has occurred to you during the current school term, it is time to get them answered. The daily stress posed by challenging classrooms threatens your well being, your enjoyment of your profession, and perhaps ultimately your ability to continue in your present position. Effective classroom management strategies: Student discipline strategies that work: Managing difficult students in the classroom.</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>The dysfunction suggested by these questions also harms your students who are missing out on the opportunity of seeing their skills grow, and of discovering the joy of learning.</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>If several of these questions ring true every day, then it is well past time for you to approach your principal and find support, either through a mentor assignment or peer coaching. Classroom management: Most districts offer services like these, and they can be well worth while.</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>But some teachers put off getting in-house help, reluctant to admit that they really are at an instructional impasse, or afraid to open up and share their plight with supervisors who may also be evaluators. How does this teacher manage student behavior? Are the teacher classroom management skills up to standard? Does this teacher motivate difficult students?</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>A request for assistance and support is not an admission of failure or of defeat. Instead it is an acknowledgment that at present you do not have the tactics and strategies in your skill set that you need to be more successful. How does this teacher manage student behavior? Are the teacher classroom management skills up to standard? Does this teacher motivate difficult students? Effective classroom management strategies: Student discipline strategies that work: Managing difficult students in the classroom.Given the widely variable quality of teacher education programs at our colleges and universities, it is not unreasonable to assume that you have not been as well trained as you and your students deserve.</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>It is time now to get the help that you need to become more effective in your instructional delivery and classroom management skills. My first recommendation is to schedule a meeting with your principal in order to begin this quest. An in-school mentor situation with a trusted colleague would be an excellent place to begin. <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>But if that is not practical or do-able given your current situation, please consider the following:</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus><U>Teacher Guide to More Effective Classrooms. One year email support:</U></FONT></P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>I have prepared this brief, easily understood guide to provide practical, real-world classroom stratetgies that dramatically improve student learning and participation. The tactics and strategies are simple, straightforward and few. Classroom management: The emphasis is on what each strategy looks like and how it can be implemented right away. Being an effective teacher has nothing to do with special magic or with rocket science. Effective classroom management strategies: Student discipline strategies that work: Managing difficult students in the classroom. How does this teacher manage student behavior? Are the teacher classroom management skills up to standard? Does this teacher motivate difficult students?It is a skill set that every practitioner should have possession of, and that every teacher can put to use right away regardless of their level of experience. The contents of this guide will serve as benchmarks for assessing and improving each teacher's classroom management and instructional skills. </FONT></P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Unlike other texts on classroom tactics, this teacher guide includes one-year email support for each individual purchaser. The email support is the important part: for as I receive your questions and comments about implementation, it will be my obligation to respond as your confidential, non-judgmental, personal mentor. I guarantee timely and detailed feedback for all instructional challenges that arise as you begin to create a more effective and enjoyable learning environment. Classroom management:</FONT></P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000><font face=papyrus>Excerpts from Teacher Guide:</FONT></P> <P><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR=0000ff><Font Face=arial>A good discipline plan is not a substitute for quality instruction. The purpose of the discipline plan is not to control students who are bored and resistant because the teacher is not quite at the top of his/her game...It is a tool that supports the goal of achieving authentic, participatory classroom learning environments... </FONT></P> <P><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR=0000ff><Font Face=arial>In some cases, this will be your first challenge: Getting an undisciplined class to discuss mis-behaviors that it delights in, and then agree to penalties for these. Steel yourself, keep your humor, and when necessary, insist that as the teacher, you will, ultimately, set the rules...</P> <P><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR=0000ff><Font Face=arial>...Model the activity either by holding the worksheet or having it on the overhead, or moving to the Bunsen burner and turning it on, or by putting an easy equation on the document scanner and having a student (not you) walk everyone through the steps that are to be performed...How does this teacher manage student behavior? Are the teacher classroom management skills up to standard? Does this teacher motivate difficult students? </P> <P><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR=0000ff><Font Face=arial>Break the activities up and assess each step of the way...This prevents you from putting all your eggs in one basket—and getting them smashed all at once...</P> <P><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR=0000ff><Font Face=arial>As a result, it turns out that Jessica answers six or seven questions each class period, but Stephan, who sits in the back, hasn’t provided an answer since the beginning of the term...</P> <P><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR=0000ff><Font Face=arial>Never, never ask: “does everybody understand?” Never. Those who don’t understand will nod that they do, and the question is therefore pointless...</P> <P><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR=0000ff><Font Face=arial>Make your question float over the heads of all between you and the recipient of the question...How does this teacher manage student behavior? Are the teacher classroom management skills up to standard? Does this teacher motivate difficult students?</P> <P><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR=0000ff>Teachers who explain activities never multi-task...They do not hand out papers, take roll, check their computers or do anything else OTHER than establish focus and launch the set up...</P> <P><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR=0000ff>The teacher finally gets around to calling upon Stephan, but while he struggles over what he is about to say, Jessica and other future Fortune 500 executives waggle their upraised hands violently...the tension is unbearable!</font></P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000><Font Face=arial><U>Successful Instructional Strategies Covered In the Guide</U>:</P> • Creating a Discipline Plan that Really Works</P> • Anticipatory Set</P> • Lesson Design that Promotes Success</P> • Discussion Protocols</P> • Questioning & Discussion Techniques that Increase Participation</P> • Effective Set-Up & Establishing the Focus</P> • Teacher Movement</P> • Student Centering Techniques</P> • Classroom Seating Strategies</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus><U>Teacher Guide to More Effective Classrooms</U><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#0000FF>   $219</FONT></P> <P> </P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus><U>For Administrators Only: Mentoring for Departments & Teacher Teams</U>:</FONT> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Scenes from school:</FONT> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=arial>A teacher believes that more writing produces better writers. This fixation on quantity allows the teacher to evade having to teach specific sentence and paragraph construction skills. During the course of the term students write almost daily in their journals; they create a personal narrative, a biography, and write a persuasive paper--all with the same language limitations that they brought with them when they first entered the classroom. At other times, students gather together in groups to co-edit peer writing, or to review sample papers and state writing exam rubrics. I am reminded of a soccer coach who believed that practice sessions should be devoted to scrimmage or to viewing videos of successful players, rather than to systematically developing fundamental skills.<font face=arial> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Scenes from school:</FONT> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=arial>Thirty one 9th grade students do not have enough credits to graduate from junior high school. Twenty one junior/senior high administrators and counselors sit in a district conference room, poring over the student files. Most of the credit deficient students have a demonstrable history of academic non-compliance. About ten to fifteen of them did enroll in summer school to make up the credits, but either failed to do the work or didn't attend. We see their dismal records in front of us. A junior high counselor argues against keeping them back: some are physically too big to be in junior high; some have intimidated their teachers. A junior high assistant principal offers his own variant of an academic "Hail Mary pass": perhaps, he suggests, these students will turn over a new leaf when they get to high school? It doesn't seem like a sure bet to a high school counselor who states that sending students like these on to high school hasn't worked out historically. Four hours pass. The group has dead-ended: there are no viable remedial or re-training options for these students. The meeting concludes with this consensus: all twenty one will be sent forward to the tenth grade. <font face=arial> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Scenes from school:</FONT> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=arial>A teacher lives in dread of plagiarism in her class. Her writing assignments are generalized or unrelated to specific instruction that has been given. Absent specific learning targets or essential focus for this class, it is relatively easy for a number of her students download, printout and turn in work that is not their own.<font face=arial><P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=arial> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Scenes from school:</FONT> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=arial>At my suggestion, a social studies department meets to discuss whether there should be required writing assessments that students must experience in each class at the tenth grade level. Until today, a student who enrolls in one of these courses faces the luck of the draw: which teacher will emphasize careful reading, thoughtful discussion, and guided writing aimed at exploring specific prompts? Which teacher will care more about checking for understanding versus mere coverage of content? At this point, one cannot know. But there is hope for more professional practice and consistency as the departmental conversation begins.<font face=arial> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Scenes from school:</FONT> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=arial>An English department sits down for a meeting on a specially created inservice day. At my suggestion, the agenda topic for the day: "What do we really teach when we teach a work of literature?" Instantly, an even bigger topic immediately emerges: "how did a question like that get on the agenda?"</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Scenes from school:</FONT> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=arial>A thick course description book gathers dust in a district office. I sift through the five to ten pages for each course description. It's all here: an overview of the content, explicitly detailed lists of state learning requirements in the content area. But the logic of the course sequence escapes this reader. A sequence of skills, deliberately developed throughout the years, is not mentioned; essential questions that would underlie all the learning activities from year to year are non-existent. There is no statement as to what the "meaning" of the course is--or how it is an important contributor to an ongoing controversy or set of questions that students might be invited to explore. <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000>As I plow through the formalistic verbiage, I wonder what logical premise this arrangement of courses rests upon. It appears that a third year course has assumed its position arbitrarily, bearing little connection to--or extension of--what had been covered in the previous course. The third year course could just as easily be a second year course...or a fourth.</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000>In the following weeks, I question social studies teachers who deliver this program, yet none are conscious of any deep level connections between the courses that they teach. Each teacher sees his or her course as a discrete block of information that must be delivered to students. Whether students can make connections betweeen their learning experiences, or whether they begin to intuit the "big picture" seems to be left entirely to them.<font face=arial><P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=arial> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Teacher Team & Departmental Tasks We Can Address:</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=arial>Improve Writing Test Scores and Student Literacy</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=arial>Raise Student Engagement Through Instructional Practice</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000>Using Assessments to Guide Growth Rather than Catalog Failure</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000>Making "Meaning" Out of Curriculum</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000>Student-Centering the Classroom for Achievement</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000>Creating Cultures of Scholarship</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000>Curriculum Articulation: Class to Class, Level to Level, Teacher to Teacher</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>What do we do with students who do not meet standard?</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>What is meant by vertical and horizontal articulation? </P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=000000>How to find common ground between teacher individualism and program uniformity</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000>Maximize Instructional Delivery</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000>7-12 Curriculum Alignment for Student Achievement</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000>Revitalize Teaching & Learning Cultures</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000>Staff Development & Second Order Change</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000>Learning to Create and Use Essential Questions</P> <P><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><font face=arial>For person to person consultation and face-to-face staff development on any of these topics, please email me and describe your needs.</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Challenging classrooms and difficult students are something that every teacher has to learn to deal with. Strategies for success with difficult students can be easily implemented. Improving student learning and participation can be achieved by the consistent implementation of a few key instructional strategies. Teacher quality and the upgrading of teacher skills are critical issues that district level curriculum and instruction leadership must pay consistent attention to. Challenging classrooms and difficult students are something that every teacher has to learn to deal with. Strategies for success with difficult students can be easily implemented. Improving student learning and participation can be achieved by the consistent implementation of a few key instructional strategies.A strategic program that develops teacher instructional skills is vital for the improvement of teacher quality and teacher instructional effectiveness. Teacher quality can be maximized by careful selection in the hiring process; but beyond that, the issue of teacher quality and istructional effectiveness will be best addressed by district mentorships and quality staff development. State efforts to raise standards are secondary to the problem of student achievement: how well are teachers closing the achievement gap by teaching effectively. Improving teacher quality and improving teacher effectiveness are the keys to improving student achievement. Improving classroom instruction improves classroom culture: helping teachers to be effective, improving teaching, getting better teachers, raising the standard for teachers, teacher quality, teacher performance assessments. </P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Raising Student Engagement Through Instructional Practice. New teacher inservice. New teacher workshops.</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000>Using Assessments to Guide Growth Rather than Catalog Failure</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Making "Meaning" Out of Curriculum</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Student-Centering the Classroom for Achievement</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Create Cultures of Scholarship</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Curriculum Articulation: Class to Class, Level to Level, Teacher to Teacher</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Maximize Instructional Delivery</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>7-12 Curriculum Alignment for Student Achievement</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Revitalize Teaching & Learning Cultures</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Staff Development & Second Order Change</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000><font face=papyrus>Essential Questions</P> <P><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR=#000000>Transition Strategies<font face=papyrus></P> <P><B><EM><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#008080>                    <U>Teacher inservice</FONT></U></EM></B></P> <P><B><UL><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><U>Teacher workshops</U>: Improving teacher effectiveness: workshops for student achievement and teacher effectiveness.</FONT></B></P> <P><B><FONT SIZE=3 COLOR=#000000><U>Inservice for new teachers and instructional effectiveness</U>: Staff development in writing curriculum</FONT></B></P> <P> </P> </FONT></B></P></TD></TR> </TBODY> </TABLE> </DIV> <P>   </P> <P><A HREF="Products.htm" TARGET="_top"><font face=papyrus><B>Becoming an Effective Teacher</FONT></B></A> <P><A HREF="Writing.htm" TARGET="_top"><font face=papyrus><B>Writing Curriculum for Student Achievement </U></FONT></B></A></U> <P><A HREF="Articulated.htm" TARGET="_top"><font face=papyrus><B>Thematic Humanities Curriculum</U></FONT></STRONG></B></A> <P><A HREF="Retention.htm" TARGET="_top"><font face=papyrus><B>Social Promotion...or Program Accountability?</U></FONT></B></A> <P><A HREF="MiddleSchoolWriting.htm" TARGET="_top"><font face=papyrus><FONT SIZE=4><B>Middle School Writing Curriculum For Student Achievement</I></U></FONT></STRONG></B></A> <P><A HREF="Home.htm" TARGET="_top"><font face=papyrus><B>Transform the Teaching Culture</FONT></STRONG></B></A> <P></I><A HREF="InternationalModel.htm" TARGET="_top"><FONT SIZE=3><font face=papyrus><B><P>Creating Schools of Choice: Bellevue International School, Lake Washington International Community School, Marysville Arts & Technology High School</U></B></A> <P><A HREF="StartUpFAQ.htm" TARGET="_top"><font face=papyrus><B>SLC Myths: Making it Better vs. Making it New</STRONG></B></A> </U> <P><A HREF="TestScores.htm" TARGET="_top"><font face=papyrus><B>Test Scores</I></U></FONT></STRONG></B></A> <P><A HREF="Academics.htm" TARGET="_top"><font face=papyrus><B>Essential Curriculum</FONT></B></A> </U> <P><A HREF="AdvancedPlacement.htm" TARGET="_top"><font face=papyrus><B>Articulated Curriculum</FONT></STRONG></B></A> </U></FONT> <P><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="BruceSaariCV.htm" TARGET="_top">Saari CV</A> </FONT></B></P> <P><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR=#000000>E mail address: saari@topschools.com</FONT></A></P> <P><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top"><B><font face=papyrus><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR=#0000FF>HOME</FONT></B></A></P> </BODY>