(This article is reprinted with
permission from Mary Beth Hewett, CHOICES, volume 2, pages 3-4. For
more information, see the bottom of this page.)
I'm often asked, "What are the most important things I should do the first few days of school?" Over the years, I have written many articles on the things I feel are important throughout the year, but as this new school year starts, I've spent time reflecting on what are critical things for the beginning of the year. Here are my "top five".
SMILE
It's up to you to set the feeling tone in the classroom.
Walking into a room where the teacher is smiling signals that this is a
"happy" place. I don't know where the adage, "Don't smile until Christmas"
came from, but it has been my experience that is the worst possible advice
anyone can follow. The single most important factor in helping students
be successful in school is creating a sense of belonging. The first
step in doing that is to make students feel welcome. Think about
a time when you entered a new situation. Who were you drawn to?
The people who looked stern or the people who were smiling? If we
want to create a relationship of mutual respect and trust, smiling is the
first step.
Polly Nichols, a woman who taught for years in a
mainstreamed setting and later went on to teach methods courses, noted
that her students with emotional handicaps, who were attending mainstreamed
high school classes, had typical complaints about all teachers but one.
She asked them what they liked about him and the response was merely that
he was nice. When pressed for more information about why they thought
he was nice, they simply said that he always said "hi"
and called them by name. She was sure there must be something more
extraordinary about this man and began observing this teacher between classes.
"A walk down the hall revealed teachers standing in pairs or alone, arms
crossed, faces watchful, true standard bearers of the need for quiet and
order in the hall." Mr. Moeller, by contrast, relaxed against
his doorjamb and said such things as "Hi"
or "How's it going?"
or he nodded and just smiled. (Long, p. 90) In all of
her observations she didn't find anything else remarkably different that
this man did with his students other than use eye contact, smile, use the
students' names and use pleasant words. By contrast, in her work
with teachers who were having difficulty managing the behavior of students,
she observed that these very behaviors were conspicuously absent and noted
that instead they used, “stern faces, distance from
students and eyes focused on academic materials or point sheets except
when surveying to pierce a bad actor with a piercing stare…" (Long,
p. 91) Simple everyday pleasantries can make students either
feel like they are welcome and belong or feel like they are trespassing
in enemy territory.
POST OR RE-POST THE SPEED LIMIT SIGNS
By the time most students have been in school a
few years, they are pretty certain of the school rules. Although each teacher
may have policies or rules specific to his/her classroom, most of the classrooms
I visit have the same general rules. Typical ones include:
? Treat yourself and each other with respect.
? Follow directions the first time they are given.
? Use good work habits (Be on time, prepared, complete your work).
? Be safe. Keep hands, feet and objects to yourself.
? Use appropriate language, an inside voice, and raise your hand to
participate.
Even when the rules are general, it is still important to review them. In essence, you are posting the speed limit signs for your classroom. Some students come to us from environments where the rules and expectations differ from what is expected in the classroom. Or they may have just come off summer vacation where there were no speed limits. Not too long ago, I was driving in another state on a road that had recently undergone major construction. Although the construction was finished, they had not re-posted any signs. For a period of about 25 miles, there was no indication of the limit. It was a very disconcerting experience. Although I had a general idea of what would be normal, I longed to see a sign. If I had been stopped for speeding, I would have been upset. There is a responsibility of people in positions of authority to make the expectations clear. A discussion of rules lets the students know what the expectations are in this environment.
It is also important to realize that some students may know the rules "cognitively" but do not really know what they mean. Respect is a general concept and many children need to be taught what respect looks and sounds like. I've found that it's most effective when the students and I discuss the rules together. This provides me with an idea of what they already know, gives me an opportunity to explain the reasons for the rules, allows me to model and check for understanding and gives the students a sense of ownership.
Posting the speed limit signs doesn't necessarily mean, however, that
they will be followed. Just as many individuals violate the posted
speed limits in real life for a variety of reasons, students may violate
the classroom rules. But when the signs are posted, at least there
is a common frame of reference.
TEACH ABOUT PLANNED IGNORING
After we've discussed the rules we need to have
a safe, happy and productive environment, I also let the students know
that I expect them to follow those rules regardless of who is watching
them. I try to convey that we are in this together and that my job
is to help them learn. Because this is my job, there are going to
be times when someone will violate a rule and I will not address it immediately,
because I am busy teaching. I tell all of my classes that I occasionally
will use "Planned Ignoring." Planned Ignoring is the conscious decision
not to address a behavior at the time it happens. If they see someone breaking
a rule and I do not appear to be paying any attention to that, IT
DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE RULE HAS CHANGED. I've used many different
analogies over the years to convey this concept. Here is one:
If a police officer is at the scene of an accident and is attending to
the needs of wounded people and someone goes past him speeding, should
he leave the people who need him to go and catch the speeder? The
students reply "no." I then ask, "Does
that mean that speeding is OK?" Again, they respond "no."
"Could the officer deal with the speeder later?"
I ask. "Yes" they reply. I continue,
"Sometimes
someone may break a rule and I'm going to be busy working with people who
need me. I will not stop what I am doing. I will continue to
do my job. That does not mean the rules have changed. It does
not mean I like that person better and am letting them get away with anything.
I will address the behavior later."
ASK DON'T TELL
When I did my teacher training, I was told that
when a student was misbehaving, I should always tell him/her the expectations.
As I stated earlier, most students know the rules; misbehavior may be a
momentary lapse of attention to them. Over the years, I've found that it
is much more effective if I ask rather than tell. For example, if
a student shouted out an answer without raising his/her hand, I would say,
"What
are you supposed to do when you want to answer a question?"
Doing this puts the responsibility on the student and gives him/her the
opportunity to self-correct. The focus becomes
one of compliance, not enforcement. A question is a gentle reminder.
If the student does not know, I then state the expectation, "Raise
your hand." I find it interesting that when a police officer
pulls a car over, he/she asks the driver, "Do you
know why I stopped you?" The goal is to have the individual
examine his/her own behavior.
There is a side benefit to asking versus telling,
particularly with adolescents or with oppositional students. These
groups typically detest being told to do anything by an authority figure.
Asking implies a choice; telling is often viewed as a command. I
am constantly amazed at the difference in the responses I get when I make
this simple shift. If I tell a student to, for example, "Take
your hat off," I generally get flack. "Why?"
"I'm not hurting anybody." "John has had his hat on yesterday and you didn't
say anything." "Make me." However, when I say, "Where
does your hat belong?" and then walk away, indicating that I expect
him/her to comply, it often leaves the student speechless and nine times
out of ten, he/she complies.
LOOK FOR THE SILVER LINING
Every behavior has a purpose. Most of the
rationale for an individual's behavior is part of his/her private "reality."
Often we make the assumption that there is no reason for the behavior since
we cannot directly observe the cause. Unfortunately, we frequently focus
on the behavior and not on the possible motivation behind the behavior.
When we attempt to stop the behavior, we may inadvertently be squashing
the motivation or passing up an opportunity to teach a more appropriate
way for the student to get his/her needs met. Take for example, the
student who gets out of his chair without permission to sharpen his pencil
after it's broken. The "silver lining" is that he wants to continue
working. That's what I want to concentrate on first. "John,
I'm glad you want to keep working. What are you supposed to do before
you leave your seat?" A more dramatic example is the student
who may be responding to being laughed at by her peers, by screaming, "CUT
IT OUT." To that student I would say, "Paula,
it looks like you are trying to express your feelings and make a complaint.
That's great. A more respectful way to do that would be to say in
a quieter voice, ‘I feel angry when you tease me and I want you to stop.’
” I've found that I catch a lot more proverbial flies with honey
than I do with vinegar. It has been my experience that when I take
the time to discover the "silver lining," students are more amenable to
learning new skills from me. Not only does this type of focus benefit
the child but also when I look for the good in a situation I feel better!
Reference
Long, Nicholas & Morse, William (1996). Conflict in the
classroom: The education of at-risk and troubled students. (5th
edition). Austin, Texas: Pro-Ed.
**If you like the tips of Mary Beth Hewitt, you can purchase volumes
1 and 2 of CHOICES (each volume contains 25-30 articles by her) by going
to the web site at www.edutech.org/choices/choicesf.htm
, phoning 315/332-7255, or faxing
315/332-2117.
| Return to the new teacher page |
Thanks Mary Beth!