Philosophical Grounding
Level 1 - Creating a Community
Creating community in the classroom is the initial step to creating an educational and inclusive environment. This is done by greeting them at the door everyday, this demonstrates to the students that I am invested in their presence in my classroom, and as I get to know their names, I will welcome them by name, demonstrating that I know them as a person, and not just as a hot body in my classroom. There will be a series of activities participated in the first week that allow myself, as well as other students to get to know each other. These activities are: The Name Game, understand culture, Community Roles, which is also a year long activity (Olsen 2009), teaching active listening, and Agreement Plan. The Agreement Plan is incredibly important because it will act as our classroom norms. There are four sections to the Agreement Plan: Rules for Student to Student, Rules for Student to Teacher, Rules for Teacher to Student, and Rules for Everyone to the Environment. The Agreement Plan is made on the first day of class, is agreed to and signed by everyone in the class, then posted in a visible place in the classroom for the duration of the year (Claassen & Claassen 1997). There are aspects of creating a community that are continuous for the entire year: the routine of the classroom, assignment expectations, daily collaboration, and engaging curriculum (Kohn 1996). The engaging curriculum is a responsibility of mine, and not the student's’ responsibilities. It is important that every lesson be engaging, because if they students are truly interested what they are learning, then they will be too busy to be distracted and cause problems in the classroom. These are important tools to use in the classroom because a classroom that is a well established and safe community will allow for more engaged students who feel comfortable learning and making the necessary mistakes to learn.
Level 2 - Recovery in the classroom
There are many different ways of gaining the attention of a single student or a whole classroom, these will be referred to as The Usual Reminders (Claassen & Claassen 1997). Reminding of the Agreement Plan, either to an individual student in a quiet quick conversation, or by standing underneath it for a small group of students to understand that they are in non-compliance of their part of the agreement, is the first of many different strategies that can be implemented in the classroom. Some other strategies are standing in proximity of a misbehaving student, giving a hand signal to or making eye contact with students who are off topic, doing something that is unexpected, such as playing a song or flickering the lights. Humor can also be used to bring the students attention back to you, a small humorous comment about the noise in the classroom, such as “Ms. Smith, from down the hall, just called to complain that she can hear us working in the classroom.” There are aspects of recovery that need to always be addressed, such as making sure positive actions are commented on in the hopes of encouraging more of these actions (Olsen 2009), discovering what the epicenter of recurring problem is rather than trying to manage the episodes shows the students that you are not only worried about them as a person, but also interested in their life and their concerns (Lederach 2003), and maximizing the classroom environment so that it is conducive to learning for all students (Kohn 1996). These are important tools to learn and use because they allow the teacher to maintain control of the classroom while maintaining their own dignity as well as the dignity of every student.
Level 3 - Life Skills
This level is important because it extends the learning beyond co-existence in the classroom, to making sure students are able to extend the niceties of human interaction to the greater global world. In my classroom, students will use I-Messages and active listening to problem solve (Claassen & Claassen 1997), these are skills that are taught both as a formal lesson as well as mini lessons to help refresh the skill in their minds. For larger problems, especially for those between the teacher and the student, there is the Student/Teacher agreement form, and the 4 Option Model (Claassen & Claassen 1997). These strategies are used in conjunction with each other. The 4 options model allows the two parties to agree on a method in which to work out their problem. The first option is where the first party has all of the power and the second party agrees to whatever the first party decides upon, the second option is pulling in a third party to act as a mediator and it is the mediator who makes the decisions and the two parties agrees to whatever the mediator decides, the third option is when a third party is pulled in to act as a witness to the mutually agreed upon decision between the two parties, and the fourth option is when the two parties can come to an agreement on their own without a mediator or witness. My preferred option is option 4 because it allows for both parties to be heard, understood, and be active in their own problem solving. Once an option has been agreed up, then the Student/Teacher agreement form is used as a tool to begin the actual problem solving. The solutions to these problems need to be authentic and manageable for each party (Kohn 1996), and both parties should make sure that the solution is both being followed, and that it is effective through the use of a follow up meeting (Claassen & Claassen 1997), and if there is a visible change with the student then this needs to be acknowledged with a small celebration (Olsen 2009). There are other life skill strategies that are incorporated into this level, such as the ability to participate in Project Based Learning (Olsen 2009) which encourages students to think outside of the classroom and the resulting grade, the Think-Pair-Share engagement which allows students to work with and better understand their peers, teaching students to accept responsibility for their actions (Wong 1991), as well as True Personality Colors Test (Elsbree 2016) which allows students the opportunity to begin understanding that type of person they are, as well as how best they may learn. These are all important strategies to use in the classroom because it allows the students to be active members in their own education, as well as engraining in them tools they can use to problem solve when not in the classroom.
Level 4 - Somewhere else to Plan
This is a level that is used what there is a problem that arises that either needs to have a cooling off period for either party, or if there is not an immediate ability to correctly address the misbehavior. There are a few strategies that are used. The one that is the least punitive is the Quick Walk (Wong 1991), in which a student that is showing frustration at a situation, or simply cannot hold still any longer, can take a quick walk around campus. There is a specialized pass that is given to the student from the teacher, that has the student's name, time they left class, and the time they are expected to return. This allows the student to leave for a short amount of time, thinking critically about what is bothering them, or simply work off some extra energy. The second strategy is The Thinkery (Claassen & Claassen 1997), which can take the form of a Time-In (Olsen 2009), in which the student does not leave the classroom or Buddy Classroom, in which the student goes to a secondary designated space, such as another teacher's classroom, the counselor’s room, or, if the school site incorporates the Restorative Justice Program, then an actual classroom that is designated at the Thinkery. This is not a time out, or a detention, and may not last the whole class period. It is simply a separate space for the misbehaving child to think over their action and think of solutions to help them be better citizens of their classroom community. There is a form for them to fill out and help guide their thinking while they are in the Thinkery. These tools are great to use in the classroom because it allows each party to maintain their dignity by not allow situations to escalate into a yelling match between the two parties, and the end goal of each of these strategies is that restoration (Kohn 1996), not simply a solution, is used to regain peace in the classroom.
Level 5 - Wrap Around Support
This last level is one in which there is involvement from parents or the school as a means to support the teacher, the student, and by extension the classroom, find the best solution to help the classroom community thrive. There are many ways of doing this, the last method, I feel, should be School Authority Structure, which is when the school punishment system is allowed to take place potentially leading to suspension, expulsion, or transfer of the student. Before the measure is used, there are different measure I would wish to take as a teacher. The first would be to call home and talk with the parents to see if they will be willing to assist in helping their child become a better classroom citizen (Wong 1991), the second steps would be to arrange for a Family Conference (Claassen & Claassen 1997) in which the teacher, student, parents, and administration come together to create a solution for all members of the meeting, this is a larger version of the Student/Teacher Agreement. IF these steps do not work, we may try a Student Study Team meeting (Lederach 2003), in which the teacher, student, parent, school support personnel (may include a Special Education teacher) get together to determine why the student is not being successful in the classroom, and what can be done to facilitate a better environment for them by adapting necessary measures. The SST meeting may lead into an IEP or a 504 Plan for the child, in which the accommodations are formalized and then added to the student's file to help them when they change classrooms, schools, or districts (Elsbree 2016). The goal of the wrap around support is not to remove the student from the school or classroom, unless absolutely necessary, but to support both the teacher and the student's as much as possible so that the environment of the classroom community remains effective and fruitful to education. To make this possible, each member of the different meetings needs to be committed to take the time (Lederach 2003) to making the meetings as purposeful and effective as possible by not rushing through, being willing to listen to all sides, find a potential solution, and then after implementing the solution, determine if it is the most effective solution for the teacher, student, and the classroom.
References
Claassen, R. & Claassen, R. (2008). Discipline that Restores: Strategies to create respect,
cooperation, and responsibility in the classroom. South Carolina: Booksurge Publishing
Elsbree, Anne-Rene Information taken from
http://secondaryclassroommanagementplan.weebly.com/ or from in class discussions.
Kohn, Alfie. (1996). Beyond Discipline: From compliance to community.Alexandria, VA: Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Lederach, John Paul. (2003). The Little Book of Conflict Transformation: Clear articulation of
guiding principles by a pioneer in the field. The Little Books of Justice and Peacebuilding Series. Intercourse, PA: Good Books.
Olson, Kristen. (2009). Wounded by School: Recapturing the joy in learning and standing up to
old school culture. New York, NY: Teachers College Press
Wong, H. & Wong, R. (1991, 1998, 2001, 2009, 2013) The First Days of School: How to be an
effective teacher. Harry Wong Publications.
Creating community in the classroom is the initial step to creating an educational and inclusive environment. This is done by greeting them at the door everyday, this demonstrates to the students that I am invested in their presence in my classroom, and as I get to know their names, I will welcome them by name, demonstrating that I know them as a person, and not just as a hot body in my classroom. There will be a series of activities participated in the first week that allow myself, as well as other students to get to know each other. These activities are: The Name Game, understand culture, Community Roles, which is also a year long activity (Olsen 2009), teaching active listening, and Agreement Plan. The Agreement Plan is incredibly important because it will act as our classroom norms. There are four sections to the Agreement Plan: Rules for Student to Student, Rules for Student to Teacher, Rules for Teacher to Student, and Rules for Everyone to the Environment. The Agreement Plan is made on the first day of class, is agreed to and signed by everyone in the class, then posted in a visible place in the classroom for the duration of the year (Claassen & Claassen 1997). There are aspects of creating a community that are continuous for the entire year: the routine of the classroom, assignment expectations, daily collaboration, and engaging curriculum (Kohn 1996). The engaging curriculum is a responsibility of mine, and not the student's’ responsibilities. It is important that every lesson be engaging, because if they students are truly interested what they are learning, then they will be too busy to be distracted and cause problems in the classroom. These are important tools to use in the classroom because a classroom that is a well established and safe community will allow for more engaged students who feel comfortable learning and making the necessary mistakes to learn.
Level 2 - Recovery in the classroom
There are many different ways of gaining the attention of a single student or a whole classroom, these will be referred to as The Usual Reminders (Claassen & Claassen 1997). Reminding of the Agreement Plan, either to an individual student in a quiet quick conversation, or by standing underneath it for a small group of students to understand that they are in non-compliance of their part of the agreement, is the first of many different strategies that can be implemented in the classroom. Some other strategies are standing in proximity of a misbehaving student, giving a hand signal to or making eye contact with students who are off topic, doing something that is unexpected, such as playing a song or flickering the lights. Humor can also be used to bring the students attention back to you, a small humorous comment about the noise in the classroom, such as “Ms. Smith, from down the hall, just called to complain that she can hear us working in the classroom.” There are aspects of recovery that need to always be addressed, such as making sure positive actions are commented on in the hopes of encouraging more of these actions (Olsen 2009), discovering what the epicenter of recurring problem is rather than trying to manage the episodes shows the students that you are not only worried about them as a person, but also interested in their life and their concerns (Lederach 2003), and maximizing the classroom environment so that it is conducive to learning for all students (Kohn 1996). These are important tools to learn and use because they allow the teacher to maintain control of the classroom while maintaining their own dignity as well as the dignity of every student.
Level 3 - Life Skills
This level is important because it extends the learning beyond co-existence in the classroom, to making sure students are able to extend the niceties of human interaction to the greater global world. In my classroom, students will use I-Messages and active listening to problem solve (Claassen & Claassen 1997), these are skills that are taught both as a formal lesson as well as mini lessons to help refresh the skill in their minds. For larger problems, especially for those between the teacher and the student, there is the Student/Teacher agreement form, and the 4 Option Model (Claassen & Claassen 1997). These strategies are used in conjunction with each other. The 4 options model allows the two parties to agree on a method in which to work out their problem. The first option is where the first party has all of the power and the second party agrees to whatever the first party decides upon, the second option is pulling in a third party to act as a mediator and it is the mediator who makes the decisions and the two parties agrees to whatever the mediator decides, the third option is when a third party is pulled in to act as a witness to the mutually agreed upon decision between the two parties, and the fourth option is when the two parties can come to an agreement on their own without a mediator or witness. My preferred option is option 4 because it allows for both parties to be heard, understood, and be active in their own problem solving. Once an option has been agreed up, then the Student/Teacher agreement form is used as a tool to begin the actual problem solving. The solutions to these problems need to be authentic and manageable for each party (Kohn 1996), and both parties should make sure that the solution is both being followed, and that it is effective through the use of a follow up meeting (Claassen & Claassen 1997), and if there is a visible change with the student then this needs to be acknowledged with a small celebration (Olsen 2009). There are other life skill strategies that are incorporated into this level, such as the ability to participate in Project Based Learning (Olsen 2009) which encourages students to think outside of the classroom and the resulting grade, the Think-Pair-Share engagement which allows students to work with and better understand their peers, teaching students to accept responsibility for their actions (Wong 1991), as well as True Personality Colors Test (Elsbree 2016) which allows students the opportunity to begin understanding that type of person they are, as well as how best they may learn. These are all important strategies to use in the classroom because it allows the students to be active members in their own education, as well as engraining in them tools they can use to problem solve when not in the classroom.
Level 4 - Somewhere else to Plan
This is a level that is used what there is a problem that arises that either needs to have a cooling off period for either party, or if there is not an immediate ability to correctly address the misbehavior. There are a few strategies that are used. The one that is the least punitive is the Quick Walk (Wong 1991), in which a student that is showing frustration at a situation, or simply cannot hold still any longer, can take a quick walk around campus. There is a specialized pass that is given to the student from the teacher, that has the student's name, time they left class, and the time they are expected to return. This allows the student to leave for a short amount of time, thinking critically about what is bothering them, or simply work off some extra energy. The second strategy is The Thinkery (Claassen & Claassen 1997), which can take the form of a Time-In (Olsen 2009), in which the student does not leave the classroom or Buddy Classroom, in which the student goes to a secondary designated space, such as another teacher's classroom, the counselor’s room, or, if the school site incorporates the Restorative Justice Program, then an actual classroom that is designated at the Thinkery. This is not a time out, or a detention, and may not last the whole class period. It is simply a separate space for the misbehaving child to think over their action and think of solutions to help them be better citizens of their classroom community. There is a form for them to fill out and help guide their thinking while they are in the Thinkery. These tools are great to use in the classroom because it allows each party to maintain their dignity by not allow situations to escalate into a yelling match between the two parties, and the end goal of each of these strategies is that restoration (Kohn 1996), not simply a solution, is used to regain peace in the classroom.
Level 5 - Wrap Around Support
This last level is one in which there is involvement from parents or the school as a means to support the teacher, the student, and by extension the classroom, find the best solution to help the classroom community thrive. There are many ways of doing this, the last method, I feel, should be School Authority Structure, which is when the school punishment system is allowed to take place potentially leading to suspension, expulsion, or transfer of the student. Before the measure is used, there are different measure I would wish to take as a teacher. The first would be to call home and talk with the parents to see if they will be willing to assist in helping their child become a better classroom citizen (Wong 1991), the second steps would be to arrange for a Family Conference (Claassen & Claassen 1997) in which the teacher, student, parents, and administration come together to create a solution for all members of the meeting, this is a larger version of the Student/Teacher Agreement. IF these steps do not work, we may try a Student Study Team meeting (Lederach 2003), in which the teacher, student, parent, school support personnel (may include a Special Education teacher) get together to determine why the student is not being successful in the classroom, and what can be done to facilitate a better environment for them by adapting necessary measures. The SST meeting may lead into an IEP or a 504 Plan for the child, in which the accommodations are formalized and then added to the student's file to help them when they change classrooms, schools, or districts (Elsbree 2016). The goal of the wrap around support is not to remove the student from the school or classroom, unless absolutely necessary, but to support both the teacher and the student's as much as possible so that the environment of the classroom community remains effective and fruitful to education. To make this possible, each member of the different meetings needs to be committed to take the time (Lederach 2003) to making the meetings as purposeful and effective as possible by not rushing through, being willing to listen to all sides, find a potential solution, and then after implementing the solution, determine if it is the most effective solution for the teacher, student, and the classroom.
References
Claassen, R. & Claassen, R. (2008). Discipline that Restores: Strategies to create respect,
cooperation, and responsibility in the classroom. South Carolina: Booksurge Publishing
Elsbree, Anne-Rene Information taken from
http://secondaryclassroommanagementplan.weebly.com/ or from in class discussions.
Kohn, Alfie. (1996). Beyond Discipline: From compliance to community.Alexandria, VA: Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Lederach, John Paul. (2003). The Little Book of Conflict Transformation: Clear articulation of
guiding principles by a pioneer in the field. The Little Books of Justice and Peacebuilding Series. Intercourse, PA: Good Books.
Olson, Kristen. (2009). Wounded by School: Recapturing the joy in learning and standing up to
old school culture. New York, NY: Teachers College Press
Wong, H. & Wong, R. (1991, 1998, 2001, 2009, 2013) The First Days of School: How to be an
effective teacher. Harry Wong Publications.
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