Scenes from school:
This teacher has no student discipline problems, but his classroom management skills are low, and his instructional strategies are weak to non-existent. Consider: 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. (Is this teacher concerned about how to motivate students to learn? They are not "difficult students." But teaching, and reaching all of his students is a challenge for him; a classroom management challenge and, yes, a student discipline challenge.) 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. What he needs are effective classroom management strategies: Student discipline strategies that work: Managing difficult students in the classroom should not be an issue for him. In a post-observation conference, the teacher expresses his dissatisfaction that 40-50% of his students will fail this class. Results like these demonstrate how "well" this teacher manages student behavior. Are the teacher's classroom management skills up to standard? Does this teacher motivate difficult students? Does this teacher improve student learning and participation through an effective student discipline plan?
Dealing with difficult students: How to create and implement an effective plan for improving student discipline? A student discipline plan supports, but does not replace, effective instruction. Classroom discipline is the key for creating powerful learning environments, but as a stand-alone it is not enough to make classrooms productive.
Scenes from school:
A classic student discipline problem unfolds before our eyes. Weak classroom management skills are evident here, and they can easily be remedied: If only the teacher knew how. 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. 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? The cause of the dysfunction within this classroom can be traced back to the absence of an effective student discipline plan. As a result, classroom management becomes the greatest impediment to instruction that this teacher faces. Do the students have questions? Naturally there are none. It is not at all clear whether students heard his call for questions in the first place. How can this teacher improve his classroom management skills? Are there simple, readily available strategies this teacher could use to improve student discipline and thereby improve student learning and participation? The teacher spends much of the rest of the period moving from table to table, re-explaining the assignment. How well does this teacher manage student discipline? Are this teachers classroom management skills up to standard? Does this teacher motivate difficult students?
Scenes from school:
Strategies for improving student discipline and student learning are in short supply here. 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? At last, the student enters 10th grade with the skills, attitudes, respect for authority and work habits of an underperforming, angry 5th grader. There is not even a remote possibility that the 10th grade curriculum that she faces will be able to meet her where she is. What student discipline and classroom management strategies are available to help this teacher turn failure into success? Student discipline strategies that work are out there; they are not rocket science, and they are easy to implement in the classroom.
Classroom management and student discipline questions teachers need answers To:
How can I create a classroom where authentic learning occurs? Is this low student achievement tied to my lack of effective student discipline strastegies?
Classroom discipline and classroom management are issues for me. I like my students; but they can be so difficult and stubborn. How can I consistently motivate difficult or reluctant students? How can I improve student discipline so that classroom management is no longer a headache for me?
Student discipline is an issue for me too. How can I keep students focused and on task? Is this a classroom management issue? If so, are there simple classroom management strategies that I can use to improve student discipline, student learning and student achievement?
A teacher says: I have difficult students who disrupt the class. I need to create a student discipline plan that works. Why do my lessons seem to start so well, but soon spin out of control? How can a teacher manage student behavior? Are there teacher classroom management skills that are easy to use and Does this teacher motivate difficult students?
Clearly, student discipline and classroom management are my greatest challenge. Why do I finish each day exhausted and hoarse because I always have to raise my voice?
I think I need a classroom management strategy that works. Why are my group work results so unproductive?
Student discipline issues sap my energy each and every day. Why does it seem that I am always working harder than my students? How can I learn to manage student behavior? Are there teacher classroom management skills that will work for me? A discipline plan will be necessary if this teacher hopes to motivate difficult students. There are effective classroom management strategies this teacher can implement right away. There are student discipline strategies that work. Once in place, the challenge of managing difficult students in the classroom will no longer be an issue.
Why am I always dealing with the same problem students? Do I need to create an effective student discipline plan?
I think my classroom management strategies need an upgrade. Why else are my students so quick to become confused when they begin a task? Can this be related to my classroom discipline and classroom management skills?
Why am I always surprised at how little my students have actually learned by the end of a lesson? Is classroom management at the root of my problem? If so, are there strategies and techniques for improving classroom discipline that I can use?
I think my classroom and student discipline skills have all gone away. Otherwise, Why are my students and I gradually coming to resent each other?
To All Struggling Teachers:
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.
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. In all cases, effective classroom management and student discipline strategies can be easily implemented to turn your instructional situation around.
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.Most districts offer services like these, and they can be well worth while.
But some teachers put off getting in-house help, reluctant to admit that they really are at an instructional impasse, that their student discipline strategies need improvement, or are afraid to open up and share their plight with supervisors who may also be evaluators. What are the most successful strategies out there to manage student behavior? What classroom management strategies will help me bring my student achievment up to standard? How can I learn to manage, inspire and motivate difficult students?
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 can teachers easily learn to manage student behavior? How can teachers bring their classroom management skills up to standard? How can teachers learn to motivate difficult students? Effective classroom management strategies are easy to bring to your classroom. There are clear, easy to use student discipline strategies that work in all classrooms. Managing difficult students in the classroom is not rocket science. Given the widely variable quality of teacher education programs at our colleges and universities, it is not unreasonable to assume that many teachers have not been as well trained as they and their students deserve.
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.
But if that is not practical or do-able given your current situation, please consider the following:
Teacher Guide to More Effective Classrooms. One year email support:
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.
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:
Excerpts from Teacher Guide:
A good student discipline plan is not a substitute for quality instruction. The purpose of the classroom 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...
About creating the student discipline plan: 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...
About effective classroom management for improved student learning: 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?
Break the activities up and assess each step of the way...This prevents you from putting all your eggs in one basketand getting them smashed all at once...At bottom, this is easily addressed by upgrading your classroom discipline plan, as well as your classroom management skills.
As a result, it turns out that Jessica answers six or seven questions each class period, but Stephan, who sits in the back, hasnt provided an answer since the beginning of the term...
Never, never ask: does everybody understand? Never. Those who dont
understand will nod that they do, and the question is therefore pointless...
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?
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...
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!
Successful Instructional Strategies Covered In the Guide:
Creating a Discipline Plan that Really Works
Anticipatory Set
Lesson Design that Promotes Success
Discussion Protocols
Questioning & Discussion Techniques that Increase Participation
Effective Set-Up & Establishing the Focus
Teacher Movement
Student Centering Techniques
Classroom Seating Strategies
Teacher Guide to More Effective Classrooms $219
For Administrators Only: Mentoring for Departments & Teacher Teams:
Scenes from school:
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.
Scenes from school:
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.
Scenes from school:
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.
Scenes from school:
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.
Scenes from school:
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?"
Scenes from school:
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. And most important, and what is missing, are explicit statements that describe effective classroom management and student discipline stratetgies that teachers must be taught to use in order to create classrooms where the learning goals are achieveable.
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.
It's all about effective instruction, tied to classroom management strategies that work. 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.
Teacher Team & Departmental Tasks We Can Address:
Improve Writing Test Scores and Student Literacy
Raise Student Engagement Through Instructional Practice
Using Assessments to Guide Growth Rather than Catalog Failure
Making "Meaning" Out of Curriculum
Student-Centering the Classroom for Achievement
Creating Cultures of Scholarship
Curriculum Articulation: Class to Class, Level to Level, Teacher to Teacher
What do we do with students who do not meet standard?
What is meant by vertical and horizontal articulation?
How to find common ground between teacher individualism and program uniformity
Maximize Instructional Delivery
7-12 Curriculum Alignment for Student Achievement
Revitalize Teaching & Learning Cultures
Staff Development & Second Order Change
Learning to Create and Use Essential Questions
For person to person consultation and face-to-face staff development on any of these topics, please email me and describe your needs.
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 student discipline and classroom management strategies. The upgrading of teacher classroom management and student discipline skills are critical issues that district level curriculum and instruction leadership must pay 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 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 in the areas of student discipline and classroom management. State efforts to raise standards are secondary to the problem of student achievement. Improving teacher quality and improving teacher effectiveness are the keys to improving student achievement. Improving classroom instruction improvesclassroom culture: But to do either, a strong and effective student disicipline plan, classroom discipline plan, and classroom management strategies must be in place.
Raising Student Engagement Through Instructional Practice. New teacher inservice. New teacher workshops.
Using Assessments to Guide Growth Rather than Catalog Failure
Making "Meaning" Out of Curriculum
Student-Centering the Classroom for Achievement
Create Cultures of Scholarship
Curriculum Articulation: Class to Class, Level to Level, Teacher to Teacher
Maximize Instructional Delivery
7-12 Curriculum Alignment for Student Achievement
Revitalize Teaching & Learning Cultures
Staff Development & Second Order Change
Essential Questions
Transition Strategies
Teacher inservice
Teacher workshops: Improving teacher effectiveness: workshops for student achievement and teacher effectiveness.
Inservice for new teachers and instructional effectiveness: Staff development in writing curriculum
Becoming an Effective Teacher
Writing Curriculum for Student Achievement
Thematic Humanities Curriculum
Social Promotion...or Program Accountability?
Middle School Writing Curriculum For Student Achievement
Transform the Teaching Culture
Creating Schools of Choice: Bellevue International School, Lake Washington International Community School, Marysville Arts & Technology High School
SLC Myths: Making it Better vs. Making it New
Test Scores
Essential Curriculum
Articulated Curriculum
Saari CV
E mail address: saari@topschools.com
HOME