Starting the School Year - A teachers' perspective

Classroom Management, or "Things that Will Keep Mr. Hettinger Sane and in Control of his Class"

This is for ME, not the students

1. My job is to Help these Kids Succeed, it is what I will come to Lennox everyday to do. So, believe that you can do it. Care about these students and expect the best from them, and them help them achieve something even better. Listen to the students to understand what is going on.
2. Have a Sense of Humor. Don't take things in the classroom too seriously. Don't let the kids drag you down into arguments with them. Laugh at what's funny. Try to make the classroom fun and light, not tense.
3. Be Clear about what you want from the kids, what you expect from them. For me to teach the rules well, I need to have total clarity on them myself. At any time of day, be able to clearly express what the kids should be doing or how they should be behaving.
4. Follow Through. Give the consequences. No more Mr. Softie. Be firm, not harsh. Consequences always come, both good and bad.
5. Be Preventative. Learn to find problems before they happen. Pay attention to how kids are doing, and what moods can create trouble. Get kids interested in what you want them to be doing in class.
6. You will not always succeed. There are thousands of men and women, just as and more capable than you, who have walked this path before you. And they failed; they had bad days, bad relationships with students, and bad classes.
7. Be the Comeback Kid. Tomorrow is a new day. It's O.K. to go 0 for 4, just come back the next day ready to play hard once again.
8. Be Assertive. That's why they call it assertive discipline. You are in charge of the classroom, the kids will look to you for leadership. But you are interested in quality and improvement, not power.
9. Help Students Make Good Choices. Good choices lead to good behavior. Students have control over their actions. This is opposite to manipulation.
10. My Class should Meet Students' Needs. Think Maslow, think Glasser.

Other Important Characteristics:

• Withitness (see Kounin's Model of Discipline)
• Be Consistent
• Give Students Ownership of their Learning Environment,they should be co-constructing it
• Be sparse with punishment (keep it's edge)
• Be committed to Quality Education

Mr. Hettinger's Expectations (or should I call them rules?)

(Keep these simple enough to post at the front of the room)

1. Come to class everyday ready to participate and learn. (This covers attitude, materials)
2. Help out and cooperate with your classmates. (Here I'm thinking of group work as well as telling someone to help another student with an activity, or to clean up the room.)
3. Respect one another.
4. Choose to behave appropriately.
5. Expect consequences (whether good or bad) for everything. (Our actions and choices have effects, like the cause -> effect principle in social studies.)

Picky Little Rules
(this is just the beginning of a list that everyone needs to have a signed copy of so that they have officially been told what the law is)

1. Stay in your seat unless I direct you otherwise. (use the mid-class break to get up and stretch)
2. Homework is done at home. It's not cool to do last night's homework in today's class. Late work is not worth full credit. (Am I giving them an idea here?)
3. Break a rule = 1 check = warning.... Figure out a check system.
4. No put-downs, insults, profanity, name-calling.