What Great Teachers Do Differently (Study Guide) Read online

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  Group Activities

  Stop the Thumping!

  On page 14 of the text, a scenario is described whereby the school principal only adds to the “problem” of thumping by announcing an edict regarding such behavior during the middle of an instructional period. In groups of five to seven, have participants come up with other ways in which teachers actually create additional misbehavior by focusing on currently occurring misbehaviors. Each group should act out its classroom scenario for the entire group. After each group presents, have them discuss ways in which the misbehavior could have been handled differently.

  Expectations, Rules, Consequences

  Have three large pieces of chart paper posted around the room labeled “Expectations,” “Rules,” and “Consequences.” Have participants work in pairs to brainstorm as many examples as possible for each category. Allow time for each pair to share their lists with the entire group. Ask one member of the group to record each response on the appropriate chart, listing each item only once, but placing a sticker next to an item each time it is repeated. After all responses have been recorded, take time to note which list is the largest and which is the smallest. What does this suggest? Are any “rules” listed that a school can live without or that can be restated as expectations? Are there any “consequences” listed that seem unnecessary or are there other, less punitive options that have not been included as a consequence? Are all items listed as “expectations” truly expectations or did some “rules” sneak onto this list? Remember that the order of emphasis when ranking these three items should be expectations, rules, consequences.

  Application

  Visit three to five classrooms at different grade levels throughout your school. Take note of any classroom rules, guidelines, expectations, and consequences that are posted in the room. Analyze what you find in light of the information presented in Chapter 3. Are your findings consistent with the principles presented or are most classrooms focusing on rules and consequences for violating rules? Be prepared to share your findings at the next session.

  Part Three

  Chapter 4: If You Say Something, Mean It

  Key Concepts

  ♦ When the very best teachers say something, they mean it. They do not depend on a commanding presence or a booming voice to manage their classrooms; rather, students respect their authority because they communicate expectations clearly and follow through consistently.

  ♦ Great teachers focus on the behavior they expect of their students, not on consequences for misbehavior.

  ♦ Threatening students is ineffective in creating enduring change. Like shouting or sarcasm, threats may work for a while, but in the long run, the situation gets worse. Effective teachers understand the trade-off between short-term and long-term gains.

  ♦ All teachers get upset at times. When teachers who are upset blurt out something, it is not likely to be what they would have said had they taken the time to reflect. Therefore, great teachers consciously stop themselves from blurting things out “in the heat of the moment.”

  ♦ Whenever possible, effective teachers wait to deal with misbehavior until they are ready to do so, giving themselves time to calm down and think about the best approach to take.

  ♦ Maintaining self-control is a critical attribute of great teachers. Great teachers make sure that the expectations and procedures they establish for their class make sense and that they will be able to adhere to them consistently throughout the year.

  ♦ Classroom management has a lot more to do with class than with management. One way great teachers exhibit such class is by thinking carefully about—and adhering to—the things they say to students.

  Discussion Questions

  1. Why does Whitaker share the story about the football coach? What does it have to do with classroom teachers?

  2. Instead of following the adage “Don’t smile until Thanksgiving,” what does Whitaker suggest?

  3. In the section “When You Are Ready,” Whitaker shares two anecdotes from his days as a young student with two different teachers. Describe the situations in both classrooms and what they suggest about how effective teachers deal with misbehaving students.

  4. Describe three suggestions Whitaker offers regarding calling parents of students who misbehave.

  Notes

  Journal Prompt

  In this chapter, Whitaker emphasizes the importance of “saying what you mean and meaning what you say.” As an example, he tells a story about a football coach who did not follow through on threats he made to his players. Think about a time when a supervisor you worked for (or currently work for) verbally stressed the importance of some rule, procedure, policy, or expectation regarding employee performance but never really followed through or held underperforming employees accountable. Was this supervisor respected? Did all employees consistently adhere to the verbal admonishments over time? Did employee performance and morale improve or decline as a result of these idle threats? How would you have handled that particular situation differently? In what ways does it apply to your classroom and what you say to your students?

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  Group Activities

  Trust Me

  Ask participants to move to an open area of the room. Share the following statement with the group: “Students will perform better both academically and behaviorally if they trust their teacher.” Ask participants to consider the statement for a minute and then find a partner nearby. Once in pairs, identify one participant as the listener and the other as the speaker. Allow two minutes for participants to speak about the topic of trust and how it impacts relationships in the classroom. Then find a different partner and repeat the process, varying who speaks and who listens. Repeat the process a third time, but this time ask partners to discuss the following seven trust actions:

  ♦ Be there.

  ♦ Show you care.

  ♦ Communicate regularly.

  ♦ Celebrate success.

  ♦ Value diversity and dissent.

  ♦ Address underperformance.

  ♦ Demonstrate personal integrity.

  Ask each pair to pick the two they think are most important to establishing trust in their classrooms, explaining why they picked those two and what each looks like in practice. In addition, ask each duo to come up with three more things that teachers can do to establish trust with students (and parents) so that their list of seven becomes ten. Have each pair share their top two actions from their Top 10 list.

  Calling All Parents

  In the section “From Four to Three” in this chapter, Whitaker offers advice on calling parents. Arrange the group into five teams and have participants discuss this section, noting whether they agree with the advice herein and why. Continue the discussion on calling parents by sharing these five possible guidelines:

  1. Call early.

  2. Call often.

  3. Be honest.

  4. Find the good.

  5. Listen.

  Ask each group to discuss these five guidelines, answering the following questions for each: (1) What exactly does this guideline mean to you or look like in practice? (2) Why would someone suggest this as a guideline for calling p
arents? (3) To what extent do you agree with the guideline? Next, have each group rank the guidelines in order of importance to them, from most to least important. Finally, call on each group to report their answers by assigning one of the five guidelines to each of the five groups. Have groups first report their ranking of importance for all five guidelines and then share their answers relating to their assigned calling-home guideline.

  Notes

  Application

  In this chapter, the author contrasts the way two different teachers—“The Hammer” and “Mrs. Pro”—reacted to his own misbehavior in their classrooms. Mrs. Pro achieved her desired outcome of improved student behavior by depriving students of the attention they were seeking, focusing on preventing future misbehavior rather than consequences for previous misbehavior, and dealing with individual student misbehavior when she was ready, only after giving herself time to think, calm down, and figure out the best approach. Mrs. Hammer, on the other hand, tried and failed to discipline students through impassioned outbursts and threats.

  Upon your return to school, take some time to carefully examine the names of every student on your class roster. Assign students to one of three different categories according to how often they exhibit disruptive behavior in your class: (1) never (2) rarely (3) often. How many students did you put in each category? What have you tried that has worked—and has not—with those students you assigned to Category 3?

  Focus on a few students you placed into the third category and try again to reach them in a way that results in improved student performance. The next time these students misbehave, find some time after class or during lunch to speak with them individually. Let them know in a calm, caring, yet firm way that certain behaviors they are exhibiting are negatively impacting themselves, their classmates, and their teacher. Focus on the problematic behaviors rather than the students themselves, explaining why these behaviors are detrimental and cannot be tolerated. Enlist their support in devising a plan for future behavior and ask if they would like you to call their parents so that they, too, can be aware of and support the plan. If they choose not to have their parents notified, say that you will honor that request for now but you will call home if their behavior does not improve, and make sure to follow through on this warning. After meeting with those students who are causing the most disruptions in your class, reflect on whether these private meetings and/or parent phone calls impacted their subsequent behavior. Did it make a difference? Why or why not, in your opinion?

  Notes

  Part Four

  Chapter 5: Prevention versus Revenge

  Key Concepts

  ♦ Effective teachers are motivated to prevent misbehavior; ineffective teachers are motivated to punish students who misbehave.

  ♦ Effective teachers focus on the future and what they have the ability to influence, rather than on what has already happened.

  ♦ Angry students are a problem, not a solution. When a student misbehaves, effective teachers do not want the student to leave the classroom angry; they want the student to behave better in the future.

  ♦ All teachers have the same “bag of tricks” available to them in dealing with student behavior.

  ♦ The variable is the teacher: great teachers choose wisely from this bag of tricks.

  ♦ Students know the difference between right and wrong and generally want the teacher to address inappropriate behavior—in a dignified and respectful manner.

  Discussion Questions

  1. Discuss the differences in the ways that effective and ineffective teachers react when a student misbehaves.

  2. What do effective teachers need from the principal when they send a student to the office?

  3. What are some variables that separate effective classroom managers from ineffective classroom managers?

  4. What must teachers do to keep students on their side in supporting appropriate classroom behavior?

  5. What are three specific teacher behaviors in every teacher’s bag of tricks that great teachers never exhibit?

  Notes

  Journal Prompt

  Reflect back on a situation (or imagine a situation) in your classroom when, despite your best efforts to clearly establish proactive expectations, you were compelled to refer a misbehaving student to a school administrator. Write about what behavior prompted the office referral and the result of the student’s visit to the office. Did the student’s behavior change? Did the student come back from the office angry? How did you follow up on the student’s misbehavior in the days that followed? In hindsight, would you have changed how you handled the misbehavior? Do you feel that the school administrator should have handled the referral differently?

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  Group Activities

  A Bag of Tricks …

  On page 27, the text explains that all teachers have similar options in dealing with student misbehavior, but that great teachers differ from ineffective teachers both in the quantity and quality of “tricks” they employ. Distribute ten slips of paper to each member of the study group. Have each participant list ten different options available to teachers when dealing with student misbehavior, one on each of the ten slips of paper. These should be placed in a bag in the front of the room. Then “pull several tricks from the bag.” Take a minute to discuss the relative merits of each option and how many people placed the same or similar option in the bag. End with a discussion of when and how often the study group would choose an office referral as the appropriate action.

  The Top Twenty

  Have participants read the list of twenty statements related to classroom management below. In small groups, ask them to rank the list in order of importance for establishing an orderly and respectful learning environment. Volunteers can then share their top five and explain their reasoning for choosing these items.

  ♦ I am friendly but firm with my students.

  ♦ I treat each student with kindness and respect.

  ♦ When a student or students act inappropriately, I remain calm and composed.

  ♦ I display enthusiasm and a sense of humor with my students.

  ♦ I give my students a pleasing greeting each day and wish them a pleasant weekend.

  ♦ In order to know what is going on in my classroom, I generally spend my class time on my feet.

  ♦ When I correct student misbehavior, I communicate in a private, positive, and respectful manner.

  ♦ I admit that at times student misbehavior is a result of something that was my fault.

  ♦ I carefully plan each lesson so there is no “dead time.”

  ♦ I adjust my daily lesson planning to take into account my students’ span of attention.

  ♦ I think through discipline decisions before acting.

  ♦ I make only those discipline decisions that I can enforce.

  ♦ I make discipline decisions after the “heat of the moment” has passed.

  ♦ When a student misbehaves in class, I find a way to correct the behavior privately, perhaps by moving near the student and whispering a correction.

  ♦ While I take attendance or perform other necessary tasks, often at the outset of each class session, my students are working independently, perhaps on a brief assignment or problem on the overhead or board.

  ♦ I establish time-saving routines for collecting papers and distributing materials or supplies.