A fantastic way to improve behavior

A fantastic way to improve behavior

Key to my writing

The main ideas

The big ideas only

Details explaining the big ideas

Interesting (to me:) digressions

This essay is about: Why your students have to really understand what you are teaching with your classroom management plan. And be invested in learning what you are teaching with your classroom management plan. It is not something done to children to control them, it is something we teach children so they can learn to control themselves and be prepared to be an ethical adult.

How I have managed my class has evolved tremendously over the past 18 years. I have moved from seeing classroom management as a set of steps you have to do (unfortunately and begrudgingly) to now realizing that through the classroom management I can teach children the most important skills they will need to be successful as an adult. Yes, the most important traits - impulse control, the ability to see things from a different perspective, awareness of the consequences of their actions on a community - both good and bad, and a concrete way to right racism. All of this is taught through the lessons of classroom management.

What I used to think - when I thought that classroom management was a necessary evil. You can not teach without it, but ideally you spend as little of your day having to deal with it. I viewed classroom management as a zero sum game. Every minute I spend managing is one less minute I am spending actually teaching. Goal - minimize management, maximize learning and teaching time.

If you want the nitty gritty details - here you are. If you want the summary - well follow the yellow brick road - the highlighted path!

When I started teaching, 18 years ago with Teach For America, I almost didn't make it past my 5 weeks of training. I was actually counseled out of the program because of my lack of ability to manage the children. And we had a 4 to 1 ratio in the class, and there were only 16 kids, this was Texas, and the kids had to pass the test at the end of the year to move to the next grade. We are talking some seriously motivated children! But. . . I couldn't manage them very well, or at least thought that was true so fully, that I almost needed to leave TFA.

I believe the very next day or week, while still struggling at the conference, I learned about Fred Jones. This technique gave me a path and gave me the confidence to believe that I could learn how to manage children. I approached classroom management like any other subject I’m passionate about. I dove in and read every single book I could get my hands on. And I reflected hard on my results each day, and I kept on adjusting. I would never have described it as this before, but the reason why I modify my classroom management plan so much, is that I approach classroom management as a design challenge, not as a rigid plan.

I include all of my teaching here. My teaching in public school, of financial literacy, teachers, tutoring etc.

Years 1-10 - I also read other seminal books, like First Days of School. I really read that book. Like I read it at least once, and in the beginning maybe closer to 10 times, a summer. And I read it a few times during the year. Each year. For the first 13 years of my teaching career.

I also was introduced to the work of Ruby Payne and about the culture of poverty. Coming from upper income (not nearly like I am not, but plenty high enough), I had a lot to learn about class expectations and norms. This book opened my eyes to new perspectives.

It started to help me realize that my perspective is not actually better, it is just different. This is an ongoing journey, and doesn’t just relate to poverty. It relates to everything - we all have different perspectives. And I am learning over and over, as a friend, as a wife as a traveler on this path of life that my perspective is not better or worst, but is just different. And that is true of everyone on this Earth. Mind boggling!

Years 10 - 13 - I learned about Whole Brain Teaching. I watched every single seminar I could find online. I downloaded almost all of the books. I witnessed the power of video to change student behavior. (And then found out in my school that you could not use video as a teaching tool. Now we can, thankfully, though I am extremely cautious due to my previous horrible experience.) I started to feel like I was having more success with upper elementary age students in our title school.  

Years 14 + Other books I read with the same level of rigor - Teach Like a Champion (though I was never quite as committed as I was to The First Days of School.) I didn’t read this more than once or twice a year, but have been doing that since before it was even published. (How could I read some of it before it was published - parts of it were put out on the web.)

This was the first book that gave me the belief that I could really teach all children, no matter their race, and actually be effective. Just like Fred Jones, this book instilled the belief that I could become an effective teacher with children of color.

Yes, I come from a vastly different background. Let’s be honest, as a person in the top 1% of the US, I am different from most every child I will ever teach in a gentrifying neighborhood. I also am different from the majority of teachers in public schools. Most of the people I’ve met from my class background, teach in private schools.

And I do send my children to private schools. I’m sure many people will disagree strongly with what I’m about to say, but the education and experience my children receive at their private school is nothing like what the majority of students experience in our public school. In every public school, there are many phenomenal teachers that have the same level of rigor, engagement, and passion and skills. I have been beyond blessed to work with these teachers. And often they are actually a million times more skilled than a private school educator who on the surface appears to be of the same quality. They make magic happen, with fewer resources, little to no effective professional development, a relentless pursuit of higher test scores from the state and upper management, at times children who are homeless, or experiencing other trama. To do that and make the room have the calm, centered feel of a progressive private school, that’s wild. And to do that with a strong equity focus - private schools could learn from our strongest teachers.

I just wish there was not a us/them view about private and public school. I understand why people feel that and know that these is intergenerational transfer of wealth and privilege through private schools. It is my privilege that gives me a choice to opt in or opt out. I have chosen to opt in for my children, knowing that there is a price to pay for every decision my spouse and I take around our children.

Last year - I was introduced to the Smart Classroom Management blog. I started following this plan as was written in the book, and I started tweaking the plan. I wrote out a script to introduce the plan. I practiced it out loud using my script. I walked around the classroom and improved with an imaginary person every combination of misbehavior you can imagine.

And I started using the Smart Classroom Management plan. What an eye opener. Opps - turns out all this time I have been disproportionately punishing boys over girls. Or put a different way, I was too easy on girls. I was not holding them to the same expectations. And somehow I viewed that as being nice and not as having low expectations.

And then I realized the same think about my students of color. I was also holding them to lower expectations. I would let them get away with breaking the rules just a little bit more - just to make absolutely sure I wasn’t being racist. My worry of disproportionality was leading me to have different, lower expectations.

The problem was that any time I tried to hold the same line, I ended up giving my warnings to children of color. I would then fear that I was being racist, and not continue to be consistent. Ironically, by being inconsistent I now know from animal training I was giving a differentiated reinforcement ratio for misbehavior to my students of color. So yes, there was more misbehavior. Because I was unconsciously reinforcing misbehavior.

With girls I was not giving inconsistent reinforcement. I just always let them get away with slightly more, because generally they had the social skills to be able to misbehave without disrupting the class. Since my focus was - discipline takes away from the time I have to teach, and the girls generally were not stopping me from teaching, I would overlook a few whispers here or there. Anything disruptive I would handle, but I did ignore some of the behavior.

Plus, that's what I was being taught. Reinforce the positive behavior, ignore the bad behavior.

I would like to point out that ignoring behavior works with animals if you can control their access to a reward. Like you can ignore and ensure the animal is not getting a reward. If that happens, the behavior will extinguish.

I argue that it is impossible to eliminate positive reinforcement in school for misbehavior. So it all needs to be treated as a learning experience. That learning experience could be anything to reteaching, to modeling, to having students reflect, to having students make suggestions on how to make the problem better etc.

Now - I now understand that impulse control is the goal. My behavior management plan is just one tool I have to teach impulse control.

My perspective has changed with this recent class I took on executive control. It really made me understand how important executive function and impulse control are.

So, just like any other lesson, I shared with students my learning target and why it is important. I explained that impulse control is important for success in life.

I told them a story about a surprise trip my spouse took me on. I explained how I couldn’t picture where we were going before we started the trip, because I didn’t know. But once I knew the destination, it changed my perspective on everything and helped me prepare for our fantastic skiing adventure. I explain how I had made a mistake with them and I apologized. I was taking them on a trip, but I never explain where we were going. I never gave them the map - so each day they weren’t quite sure what our stop would be.

And then I introduced our 4 learning targets. I also started letting students know how every activity we did in class connected to one of our 4 learning targets. Because impulse control is one of my goals, this is a piece of cake. Even a quick fun mind-break game directly hits at least that one target on impulse control.

I make these lessons engaging. This is my most important lesson. Impulse control and grit are at least as important as reading, writing, science, math etc. I personally think they are MORE important. Without impulse control, you can’t do anything else. It is the foundation of all learning.

Just like with any other lesson, I had to modify my lesson plans for the individuals in my classroom. No - this does not mean I have 30 different sticker charts for 6 different classes! But I do scaffold my expectations in response to the class as a whole as well as to individuals who need more or less support.

Out of 300 students, 7 students have a completely differentiated lesson - just like they should because they all have IEP goals (or would if we treated social skills like academic skills) around behavior. The other 293 students can either follow the plan as is, or need slight scaffolding. A scaffold might be we review the goal and plan at the start of each class. It might be a whole class or private reminder before a transition etc.

Now that I understand the lesson is impulse control, I can actually treat every child equally. Yes, I differentiate - but I’m then consistently moving all children to their next step and stage. I’ve found that my female students were initially shocked. After observing in more than 20 classrooms, I have come to realize that my impulse to ignore minor misbehavior by girls, is rampant. I’m not the only one. I’ve had to work hard, and continue to work hard every day to manage my urge to not overlook minor behavior. I am explicit with children how I am managing my impulses when I give a warning, and how I don’t always want to do it. I’m authentic about how I feel.

I am also way more consistent with our students of color. Yes, at first I had some kids push back and imply that I was treating them differently. I had a pretty some frank conversations that if I were treating them differently, and letting them get away with more things than other children, then I was being racially biased.

But, holding them to the same high expectations and modifying my lessons until they have the right scaffolding to meet my same high expectations - that is not being racist. That is being an anti-racist teacher. I’m proud that I hold all children to the same high standards, but am also committed to giving kids the tools to reach those high standards.

And I know that there are very few children, but there are some, who have more basic impulse control skills to master before they can master our classroom rules. If this is the case, I am explicit with the child about what their goals are. I am also explicit with the class (without ever using names) that I modify this lesson just like I modify every other lesson I teach, every single day.

Learning to view classroom management as one tool toward teaching impulse control has made me realize I’m not punishing or rewarding behavior. I’m teaching impulse control.

Here is one thing I’ve debated - names on the board. I have experimented with putting names on the board and not putting names on the board. I’ve experimented with just putting first initials, vs. not writing on the board. I am able to teach this lesson much better when I have at least an initial on the board. Otherwise I forget who has needed some scaffolding this lesson. I explicitly state over and over to children - there is nothing to be ashamed of. We are all learning. When I mistake your name and you correct me kindly, I am not ashamed. It is ok to make mistakes.

I know this might be counter intuitive. I actually teach positive self-talk about getting your initial on the board. “Ms. Sacha is trying to help me. I’m not in trouble. It’s ok to make mistakes. Do I need to modify something so I don’t make the same mistake again?” After an initial on the board, children can choose to make a modification - change seats, locations or activities.

The second time a child struggles with following the rule, I choose a modification for them. The third time, I separate them from the group however much is needed, for however long is needed, for the child to get their impulses under control. This could look like sitting in a time out chair, but engaging in the lesson, sitting in a time out chair, facing away from the group, taking a timeout in another teacher’s classroom, or in an extreme case, calling a family member to help the child regain their equilibrium so they can continue with their day.

Understanding that classroom management is a tool to teach impulse control, I no longer struggle as much with consistency.