|
|
|
|
The goal of discipline is to create a safe and effective learning environment for all students. I will not tolerate behaviors that compromise the safety of my students. When disciplining students, I will remember discipline is not an emotional process and misbehavior is a teachable moment. I will start the year as an interventionist. I believe it is imperative to clearly identify my expectations of behavior in the classroom to my students. I will not assume that my students arrive in class knowing any behavior patterns—it is my responsibility to teach appropriate behavior. I will provide examples of good and bad behavior to ensure all my students are knowledgeable of my expectations. I will model the behaviors I expect of my students. Students learn much from examples. I will pre-teach behaviors to ensure students remember the proper behavior. This is especially important after breaks from school and when using students will be expected to behave properly in situations that are not used every day. One example of an infrequent skill would be reminding the class of good audience behavior before student assemblies. As an interventionist I will also organize my classroom to provide structure for learning. Classroom rules for participating in discussions, location of student classroom materials as well as how to hand in work will be clearly explained. While at first blush these types of rules may seem simplistic, if the basic rules for the classroom are established, students can focus on learning and not worry about how to turn in papers or where materials are located. When my students understand my expectations, and behave appropriately, I will be able to use a more interactionalist style of discipline. Some components of interventionist will remain intact like the classroom organization rules and the rules of behavior. However, with expectations established the students will have skills to be able to negotiate and communicate reasonably in the classroom setting. My goal is to teach students correct behavior so they can internalize and regulate their own discipline. My students will be able to have more choice in lesson activities since I know they can behave. Group work can be distracting for students if the baseline rules are not established. My students will understand that while they can have more input into the classroom, I still have veto power over ideas that I feel will be disruptive to a safe learning environment. While in the acting in interventionist and interactionalist styles, I will incorporate some tenets of the non-interventionist style into my classroom. Humor is a great technique to lighten the mood and make constructive criticism or direction easier to accept. I will also employ non-verbal communications, like the “teacher stare” to address lapses in discipline that do not warrant more serious consequences. I will also directly question student actions as needed to maintain discipline. Ideally, I would like to teach in a non-interventionist style. To guide self-directed and motivated students in pursuit of knowledge would be my dream teaching job. I believe that it is possible to have students grow into the ability to be more responsible for their own learning and still meet educational objectives. At middle school and even high school, the students still need to learn social skills before they are ready for full independence. Yet, it is possible to let students be in control for some learning activities. I continue to research discipline as I feel it is the greatest challenge of a classroom teacher. Discipline is intertwined with motivation. I feel that having many discipline tools allows me to pick and choose the tool that best fits the problem at hand. I firmly believe in the Boys Town education methods of social skill instruction. School is a social activity. In order to make it a purposeful social activity, students need to have appropriate social skills. A key part of this methodology is students accepting responsibility for their own actions, respecting the rights of others, and making good choices. These social skills allow the classroom to function as a safe learning environment. For practical solutions to classroom discipline and organization, I like the methods of Harry K. Wong. Mr. Wong’s book, How to be and Effective Teacher: The First Days of School, is full of specific ways to make your classroom a learning community. Mr. Wong also writes that positive expectations can lead to positive student behavior. I firmly believe this is true. If you expect students to misbehave, they will misbehave, but if you expect students to behave, they will behave. Another resource for discipline ideas is Randall S. Sprick’s book, Discipline in the Secondary Classroom. Dr. Sprick’s theory is planning and organization can prevent many discipline problems in the classroom. In his book, he also gives specific steps to solve common discipline problems like apathy. For me, it really helps to see another person’s ideas on solving problems. I do not adapt those ideas verbatim, but I tailor those ideas to suit my teaching style and students. I believe that discipline in the classroom is essential to learning. Without discipline, you cannot teach subject matter effectively. I also believe that no one style or type of discipline will work in all situations. Like so many other skills that support teaching, you must adapt to a style that works for your students. |
|
Last Update: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 Copyright © 2006
|