Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

The Reading Today blog shares an important report from the International Reading Association World Congress on Reading. It reports the importance of, and connection between, first language literacy and second language acquisition.

This connection is why at our school we encourage so many students to take Spanish For Spanish Speakers and Hmong For Hmong Speakers classes.

Language Magazine has just published an article co-authored by our school’s principal and me about how we feel our whole school has benefited by having over half of our students being English Language Learners. This year our school became one of the few high schools in the country to exit fourth-year Program Improvement Status under the No Child Left Behind Act.

You can’t access the current issue of the magazine on the Web, and I certainly encourage you to subscribe to it. However, I have posted our article on my website, and you can read it here.

I’ve written before about the excellent free bi-weekly email newsletter from Middle Web called “Of Particular Interest.” You can subscribe to it by sending a note to norton@middleweb.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

That was a preface to an interesting piece in the most recent edition.  Quoting John Norton, Middleweb’s editor: “A recent “practice guide” from the federal National Center for Education Research distills what its panel of scholarly authors believe are seven of the best research-based instructional strategies teachers can use to improve student learning…Don’t be put off by the lengthy scholarly introduction — skim and skip to
page 4.”

I followed John’s advice and thought that page was interesting.  I’ll be sharing it with colleagues.

Working With Discouraged Adolescents is another excellent post from Marvin Marshall’s Discipline Without Stress blog.

It’s filled with excellent advice. I find it’s difficult, if not impossible, to act on his suggestions all the time — after all, I’m only human. However, I think it’s more of a question for me of: Do I tend to follow his advice on being positive, empathetic, and offering choices to students more often than not?

I like to think my accurate answer is yes.

This is the third in a series of posts on various positive classroom management strategies and tactics. You can see the rest of the series by clicking here. Though this series is a little different from the rest of my “The Best…” series, they have enough in common for me to include these classroom management posts withing that category.

These are just a few more ways I try to keep my classroom as a close to being a “community of learners” as possible. As I’ve stated in the other two posts on this same topic, I really don’t have to devote much effort to classroom management in my high school ESL classes. However, my mainstream ninth grade English classes are a different story.

Teaching ninth-grade mainstream students in an inner-city high school provides different kinds of challenges than teaching English Language Learners — no better, no worse, just different. And class management can be one of them.

Of course, even with my list of over twenty-five different tools I use, sometimes none of them work. I might just not be using them effectively enough, or maybe there are issues beyond my control that are contributing to the problem (for example, my gender). In my five years of teaching, I’ve had to move two students out to another class because nothing seemed to work. I’ve also had more than two moved into my classroom because of behavior issues elsewhere, and those have worked out fine.

Here are a few more ideas from my classroom management “toolkit”:

HAVING STUDENTS PUT POST-IT NOTES ON THEIR DESKS: For students who have particular challenges, like difficulty focusing or not having much self-control when it comes to speaking without thinking first, I offer the suggestion (which they are free to reject) of their putting a reminder post-it on their desk at the beginning of each class. I have multi-colored post-its that they can choose each day, and they can spend the first two minutes of class (which is usually a time for silent reading) writing and decorating it. Depending on their issue, they might write “FOCUS!” or “THINK!”.

Other times, after a discussion, they might decide on another optional use of post-its. One strategy I’ve used at times is having students write a hash mark on a post-it for every ten or fifteen minutes they feel they’ve been “on-task” and carrying their weight in class. On occasion, I’ve felt like I’ve had to offer a reward of some kind as an incentive, but the vast majority of time this has worked because the student has just wanted to develop more self-control.

SAYING I”M SORRY: It’s not unusual for me to show impatience, make a mistake, accuse a student of doing something when he/she did not, or just have a bad day. My sense is that many of my students have not experienced many adults apologizing to them. Not only does my apology depolarize tension, but I think it’s good modeling behavior as well.

TRYING TO INVOLVE STUDENTS IN DECISIONS TO CHANGE SEATS: I’m often tempted to arbitrarily change a student’s seat because of behavior issues. Sometimes I succumb to that temptation. However, what I try to do instead is engage the student in a conversation about how he or she is doing in class, where he/she wants to be at the end of the school year, and wonder if changing seats might be a tool to help them reach their goal. Generally, after that conversation, they agree, and then I ask them for their suggestions about what they think would be a good place for them to be and why. Usually it works out pretty well.

RECOGNIZING STUDENTS: I don’t know if this activity can be correctly defined as part of a class management strategy, but it does help maintain a positive classroom atmosphere. I can’t remember where I first read about this idea, but every Friday I have a “What I See In You” time. I pick a student, ask him/her to stand, and spend a few minutes sharing what I see in them, examples of their actions, etc. Every student is recognized during the course of the school year, and they seem to like it a lot.

DEVELOPING STUDENT CONTRACTS: Sometimes, particularly when a student’s behavior is worsening, I’ll sit down with him/her to discuss what would make the class work better for him/her and, in turn, what he/she could do to make it work better for me. We’ll then write out a contract which we both sign.

I hope you’ve found these ideas useful. Feel free to contribute classroom management suggestions based on your experience, too.

I’ve written previously about Marvin Marshall, whose positive system of classroom management I admire a lot.

He just wrote a useful post in his blog called “About The Question ‘Why?’” He shares how pointless it is to ask that question of a student about his/her behavior, and how critical it is for us to consider that same question when we reflect on, and explain about, the content we are teaching.

A week ago I wrote a fairly well-received post called When A “Good” Class Goes “Bad” (And Back To “Good” Again!). It shared ten positive class-management actions I took to “regain” control of my mainstream ninth-grade class after I began losing it when five new students came in at the beginning of second semester.

Though this is different from my usual post, I thought readers might be interested in eleven additional positive actions I generally take to maintain good classroom-management with my mainstream students. These strategies usually work well, though unforeseen events like five new students at mid-year can “throw a curve.”

I use the same philosophy in my ESL (we call them ELD — English Language Development) classes, and will be doing the same in the International Baccalaureate classes I’ll be teaching in the future (we’re a pretty darn diverse inner-city high school). However, class management is not anywhere near as big of an issue in those classes as it is with a number of our mainstream ones where our students are facing different challenges.

Some of these actions might look more like an instructional strategy instead of a class-management one, though I think the lines are often blurry between the two.

Again, as in my previous post on the subject, I’m not listing them in any order of importance:

MAKING SURE WE HAVE ENGAGING CURRICULUM TAUGHT IN AN ENGAGING WAY: As Mathew Needleman, my blogging colleague at In Practice puts it: “They’re not bored, you’re boring.” Teaching something students are interested in, and providing opportunities for them to learn it in a pro-active way, will go a long way towards dealing with any potential class management issues.

ASKING STUDENTS HOW THEY FEEL AFTER THEY’VE HAD A SUCCESSFUL DAY: I can’t remember where I first read about this strategy, but it certainly works, especially with students who have self-control issues or difficulties staying focused. I find that helping them become aware of more positive feelings they’re experiencing when they’re doing well is much more effective than asking them why they’re doing what they’re doing when they are not doing well.

PROVIDING STRESS BALLS TO CERTAIN STUDENTS: Some students clearly have an excess of energy. I have a collection of different sport-related stress balls that I offer to certain students at the beginning of class and collect at the end. This obviously doesn’t always work, especially if it ends-up getting thrown around. But I’ve found that it’s worked remarkably well for some. And it’s not unusual for students to periodically say that they want to try not using a stress ball after awhile. I believe the ball itself is less important than the fact a teacher is trying to help in a positive way.

ALLOWING EACH STUDENT TO PICK ONE BOOK FROM AMAZON.COM THAT I BUY FOR THEM: One of the reasons for our school’s success, I believe, is our strong belief in Stephen Krashen’s “free voluntary reading” — letting students read high-interest books that they choose. We all have hundreds of volumes in our classroom libraries, and an excellent school library, but there’s something about a student picking their very own book that seems to help solidify a teacher/student relationship. And with the ability to purchase used copies through Amazon, it really doesn’t cost that much out of my pocket.

MAKING SURE THAT EACH YEAR I TEACH AT LEAST ONE “MAINSTREAM” CLASS: It’s easy to take class management for granted in ESL (or ELD) and in, I assume (since I’ll be teaching them for the first time next year), International Baccalaureate classes. I’ve found that it takes far too long for me to get back in an intentional and positive classroom management “groove” if I go a year without having to consciously use these strategies.

MODEL, MODEL, MODEL WHAT I WANT STUDENTS TO DO: When we start a classroom activity, no matter if we’ve done similar ones in the past, taking some time to model exactly what I expect students to do is not only good pedagogy but an effective classroom management critique. Students will feel more confident, they will be able to begin to get to work more quickly, and there will be fewer “technical” questions and more of an opportunity to interact about the essential parts of the lesson.

WRITING INSTRUCTIONS ON THE BOARD OR OVERHEAD: I do this for many of the same reasons as I use the modeling. Pointing at the board takes much less time then repeating directions again and again. Of course, this means it’s my responsibility to be clear when I give them for the first time and to make sure that everyone is paying attention at the time.

DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO AVOID POWER STRUGGLES WITH STUDENTS: A teacher once told me that he had a rule that a student could never have the last word — now that’s a healthy classroom for sure! Who cares who has the last word? I believe that a teacher can never win a power struggle. You might think you’ve won, but you haven’t. A situation might become polarized, but I believe that in a healthy classroom management atmosphere, the teacher needs to pursue de-polarizing the situation fairly soon, too.

TRY AVOIDING USING THE WORD “NO”: Marvin Marshall, my favorite writer on classroom management issues, talks about how “…using the word, “not,”rather than the word, “no,” such as “Not now” or “Not this time” prompts fewer negative feelings than the hearing the absoluteness of ‘No!’”

TRY REMEMBERING TO TAKE A FEW DEEP BREATHS WHEN I’M LOSING PATIENCE: Anytime I see myself reverting to, or feeling like I want to revert to, threats and punishment, I try to take a few deep breaths to calm down. I’m not always successful, but more times than not I am.

BE FLEXIBLE & BE OPEN TO DIFFERENTIATING EVERYTHING: I’m very clear with my students that I believe they are all individuals with different needs, strong points, and desires. And because of that there will be times when there will be different rules for different people. One student who just wouldn’t read a book during reading time for weeks is now reading the sports section of the daily paper intently each day while everyone else is reading a book. Another student can stand in the back of the classroom whenever he wants as long as does it quietly and does his work while everybody else sits at their desk. If it helps the student learn, and doesn’t contradict a core value I hold, I’m open to trying it.

I hope people find this post hopeful, and I’m interested in hearing other recommendations about good classroom management strategies.

I won’t be making posts like this a regular feature here, and will continue to typically post these kinds of reflections over at In Practice.

However, I have written one final installment in this series called More About Maintaining a “Good” Class.

Note: I posted a version of this piece last week in In Practice , a group blog written by teachers who work in lower-income communities. It originally included nine actions I had taken. Since that original posting, I remembered a tenth step I took, and also solicited anonymous feedback from my students about their perception of changes that have occurred in the classroom. I’ve included both the additional tenth action and some student reaction in this revised version of my post.

This post is different from ones I usually write for this blog. However, I’ve received a lot of positive feedback from my original In Practice post, and thought readers here might find this revised one helpful.

The first week of the second semester was tough. We have double-block classes for mainstream ninth-grade English, and the teacher of the other class was on maternity leave (our large inner-city high school is divided into Small Learning Communities of about 300 students each). So we had decided that I would get any new students that would come in.

And I did — five new students that week. Five new students who seemed to be facing some challenges.

Our classroom culture was much more fragile than I had thought. It didn’t take long for things to deteriorate. And I quickly turned-into more of a threatening and punishing teacher. I wasn’t happy, and most of the students obviously weren’t happy, either. Some learning, though not as much as before, was taking place, but there didn’t seem to be much joy in it for anybody. And there were frequent student behavior issues.

One option would have been to just grit my teeth and bear it for a few more months — then it would be over. That would have been doable, especially since my other classes were going fine.

Another option would be to try to turn things around.

I chose the second one. Here are ten actions I took to turn my class back into a community of learners:

BEGAN REGULAR STUDENT REFLECTIVE ACTIVITIES: We began doing short activities which included reading, writing, and sharing on topics like:

Are You A Positive Or Negative Person?

Are You A Good Or Ugly Listener?

Who Are Some People You Respect And How Do You Think They Act When Things Don’t Go Exactly The Way They Want?

Do You Think Intelligence Is Fixed, Or Can It Grow With Effort?

Each student would then write about how they saw themselves in the context of that particular topic, and if they were happy with themselves. If not, how did they think they could change?

I shared research on the qualities of a successful learner, and students evaluated themselves and wrote what they would like to do better.

Each student began writing a goal on Monday that they had for the week, and would reflect each Friday if they had been successful in reaching their goal.

BEGAN DAILY EVALUATIONS: We discussed what would be important elements of a good classroom — respect for the teacher and other students, doing assignments, accomplishing their weekly goals, etc. I developed a half-page sheet listing them, and students began grading themselves on each criteria along with giving themselves an overall grade. There’s a space for me to list what grade I believe they have earned, as well. It takes them one minute to complete it at the end of class, and it takes me about two minutes in total to review and respond to them all. I have yet to give a student a lower grade than they gave themselves and, in fact, have often given them higher ones. I return the sheets at the beginning of class the next day.

STOPPED WRITING STUDENT NAMES ON THE BOARD: For the first time in my teaching career, I had begun writing names of misbehaving students on the whiteboard indicating that they would either be losing a break or have to stay and miss part of their lunch. From the day I stopped doing that (after making it clear that, instead, it would be reflected on the daily grading sheet) , there hasn’t been a single repetition of the kind of behavior that had prompted me before to assign that punishment.

STOPPED CALLING HOME WHEN THERE WERE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS: Instead of calling parents of a student who was not behaving well, I began telling students who were behaving inappropriately that I wasn’t going to call home that day. Instead, I began telling them I was going to call their home in a week, that I wanted to just say good things about them, and they had a week to show me they could be the kind of student I knew they could be.

CHANGED THE CLASS SEATING ARRANGEMENT: The day I began this new strategy, I not only changed student seats to minimize some challenges, I changed the entire seating arrangement. That helped students, and me, to see and remember that it was a “new day.”

EVERYBODY BEGAN WITH AN “A” AGAIN: The second semester was only a few weeks old when I began these new strategies and, since everyone always begins with an “A” grade in my class, it was easy for me to tell some of the challenging and struggling students that we were going to forget what had happened up to then and they were going to get a new start, too. Since that moment, the vast majority of these students have done better work than I had ever seen before.

ARRANGED “SECRET” SIGNS WITH STUDENTS TO STOP: I had private conversations with a few of my more challenging students and we discussed that I didn’t expect perfect behavior, but that I wanted to reach an agreement of a “sign” I could give them that would signify that my patience was just about at its end. And after receiving that sign, they felt that they could commit to stopping their inappropriate behavior. Some students, for example, wanted me to tap their desk.

GAVE CERTAIN STUDENTS PERMISSION TO LEAVE THE ROOM, WITHOUT ASKING ME, IF THEY FELT THEY WERE GOING TO “BLOW”: They would have to just stay outside the door, but just knowing they had that power has appeared to make a huge difference, and no one has exercised it. Obviously, if a student did that, I would immediately following him/her out, but they wouldn’t get into trouble for leaving. In fact, they would gain praise from me instead.

FOCUSED ON SMILING MORE AND SHOWING MORE PATIENCE: I am very intentional about smiling more in class (though I don’t think I ever have been a big “frowner”) and demonstrating more patience. When students are reading the book of their choice during our “Practice Reading” time, and a student wants to put his/her head down for awhile, for example, instead of operating from the assumption the student is being lazy, I’ll ask him/her if they rest for five minutes can I count on them to read after that.
I certainly did a number of these things before, but I let behavior issues lead me into a downward spiral of threats and punishment.

PULLED-OUT STUDENTS FROM OTHER CLASSES DURING MY FREE PERIOD TO TALK: Having private, in-depth, conversations with individual students can be difficult in the middle of a class can be problematic. Now, three or four times each week at the beginning of my “prep” period (when I don’t have a class), I’ve made arrangements with the teachers who have my students that I can pull them out of their warm-up activities for a couple of minutes to talk about any individual challenges they might be having — academically, personally, or behavior-wise. We’ll either walk over to my classroom or just walk down the hall. Students really want to have these talks (I’d like to think it’s not only because they want to get-out of doing the warm-up activity!) and, in fact, since I started doing this some students who aren’t even in my class have asked me to have these talks with them (which I have). It only takes five minutes out of my prep time two-or-three times a week, and the pay-off is huge.

The difference in class is like night and day now. There are regressions — it’s clear that pair work is the maximum for collaborative activities for right now, and they’re not quite ready for groups of three yet. But there is no question that there is more of a sense of fun and joy in the learning that’s happening on our classroom again.

In an anonymous survey I did with students, they identified the daily evaluations, the new seating arrangement, and the fact I don’t write names of misbehaving students on the board as the three most important actions that have made a positive differnece in class.

I asked them to complete the blanks in a sentence. Here is what one student wrote: “When I’m in this class now I feel happy and safe because everybody has calmed thmselves down.”

(You might also be interested in my follow-up post titled Maintaining A “Good” Class)