Classroom Management and Student Behavior Policies
“An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure”
That familiar saying is as true for education as it is for healthcare. With good planning and the building of relationships, teachers can avert many problems that might otherwise diminish the quality of education for students and teacher alike.
The Foundation for Good Classroom Management
What is “good classroom management”? Is it having all the students seated and listening quietly to a teacher? Or is it having students engaged in active learning stations? It is both of these and more.
Good classroom management means that ALL students are learning, are “on task,” are behaving in a cooperative way so that individual and class learning goals can be achieved. To reach students with different learning styles, aptitudes, and interests, teachers must vary their curriculum and instructional methods on a daily basis. What goes on in a classroom will vary from minute to minute, from day to day. But all instruction should occur in an environment of order, respect, and cooperation. And that requires good classroom management.
There are four elements that provide a solid foundation for good classroom management:
- Building relationships
- Effective rules and procedures
- Effective curriculum development and instructional methods
- Effective ways to reduce stress and prepare for optimal learning
Research has verified the important of each of these areas, and has identified effective approaches. Carolina International School will draw on this research and these tested approaches to optimize our learning environment.
1. Building Relationships
There is another old adage in education: “Win their hearts, and they’ll follow you anywhere.” A teacher who sincerely and earnestly invests time in getting to know each student is establishing a classroom atmosphere of respect and appreciation. Students—at all ages—need to know that their teacher knows and honestly cares about them as individuals.
As one educator writes, “Teachers should be effective instructors and lecturers, as well as friendly, helpful, and congenial. They should be able to empathize with students, understand their world, and listen to them. Good teachers are not uncertain, undecided, or confusing in the way they communicate with students. They are not grouchy, gloomy, dissatisfied, aggressive, sarcastic, or quick-tempered. They should be able to set standards and maintain control while still allowing students responsibility and freedom to learn.”
CIS teachers will begin building relationships with our students by developing Individual Learning Plans. By coming to know each student—even before school starts—the foundation for classroom management will be laid, and “Well begun is half done.”
2. Effective rules and procedures
Students want order in a classroom. They may enjoy moments of spontaneous chaos, but they will quickly lose respect for a teacher that cannot establish and maintain policies for orderly behavior.
Research has shown that designing and implementing rules and procedures for classroom management have a profound impact on student behavior and learning. It is also known that when students have input into the rules, when rules are explained and discussed, students are more willing to comply. The most effective teachers take the time to develop or explain rules with students, rather than just imposing rules on them.
The difference between rules and procedures. A rule is a general standard; a procedure describes expectations for a specific situation. For example, in the beginning of the year CIS teachers will work with students to develop a brief set of general classroom rules, like “Respect others and their property.” But they will also develop procedures for the many specific situations the students will encounter: in seatwork, group work, on the playground, in the hallways, on fieldtrips, etc.
3. Effective curriculum development and instructional methods
How do curriculum and instruction affect student behavior? If the subject is relevant to students and presented in an interesting way, students are less likely to misbehave. That means good lesson planning and execution by teachers are crucial.
Finding the “zone.” But how do you reach every student with a lesson? The respected Russian educational psychologist L. S. Vygotsky contributed the concept of the “zone of proximal development.” (ZDP) This simply refers to the focus of study: is the material too easy (boring to students), too hard (discouraging to students), or in the “zone of proximal development” where they are challenged but able to achieve. When teaching consistently misses “the zone,” misbehavior often results.
The teachers at CIS will be targeting the ZPD for every student, through several means. First, we will conduct diagnostic testing to see where students are in reading and math skills. Then, in our math and literacy labs, we will encourage students to progress at their own pace, with the teacher’s guidance.
Second, the inquiry approach to instruction in the International Baccalaureate’s Primary Years Program gives the students more choices for how they will study a topic, again with the teacher’s guidance.
Third, by knowing students’ learning styles, strengths of intelligence, and aptitudes, our teachers will be able to address students’ unique characteristics. The better we know our students, the better we can help them find the ZDP that will result in optimal learning.
The joy of learning. Our teachers will be life-long learners and they will infuse that joy of learning into the classroom. They will use a variety of approaches to make learning engaging and exciting: individual and group projects, displays, hands-on activities, fieldtrips, etc.
Efficient procedures and “sponge” activities. Oftentimes, student misbehavior occurs during gaps in instruction, or transitions between learning activities. CIS teachers will design efficient procedures to take attendance in the morning, and to transition to other activities during the day. One technique for these times is the use of “sponge” activities. These fill in unstructured time (e.g., if a child arrives early to class) with subject-related puzzles, riddles, games, and other challenges. Students can be quietly engaged in these while awaiting the next class activity.
4. Effective ways to reduce stress and prepare for optimal learning
Fundamental to all these aspects of classroom management is the condition of a student’s nervous system. If he/she feels tense or anxious or tired, it is difficult to pay attention and learn.
To prepare for optimal learning, Carolina International School has DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time at the beginning of each school day. This gives students the opportunity to read, make journal entries, or do other silent activities. DEAR time is an investment, a way to encourage reading and to start the day in a clear, calm, collected, and purposeful way. CIS students will also have physical activity every day to help dissolve stress and rejuvenate their bodies.
All of these strategies reduce the incidence of student misbehavior. If, despite these efforts, it still occurs, the CIS discipline policy takes effect.
CIS Student Behavior Policy
The purpose of the Student Behavior Policy adopted by the Carolina International School Board of Directors is:
- to create an orderly environment where students can learn;
- to teach expected standards of behavior;
- to help students learn to accept the consequences of their behavior;
- and to provide students with the opportunity to develop self-control.
Applies the following principles in managing student behavior:
- Student behavior management strategies should complement other efforts to create a safe, orderly and inviting environment.
- Responsibility, integrity, civility and other standards of behavior should be integrated into the curriculum.
- Disruptive behavior in the classroom will not be tolerated.
- Consequences for unacceptable behavior should help a student learn to comply with rules, to be obedient at a minimum, and when able, to learn to accept responsibility and develop self control.
- Age and developmentally appropriate strategies and consequences are to be utilized.
- When feasible, consequences for unacceptable behavior should take into account differences in how individual students respond to discipline strategies.
The CIS Director and Assistant Director will share responsibility for enforcing the Student Behavior Policies, which are described in the Student-Parent Handbook given to each family at the beginning of the school year. The School will address each situation with a conscientious effort to match the consequences with the misbehavior, and to use the incident as an opportunity to teach responsibility for one’s actions. The School will apply consequences ranging from verbal or written apologies, restitution, or detention (after-school or Saturday) to suspension for more serious offenses.
2005-06 Student-Parent Handbook and Forms to Download
Peer Mediation
For minor situations involving peer disputes, the School will use a Peer Mediation program as one element of its Student Behavior Policy. This approach has proven effective in many schools. This program demonstrates the School’s commitment to:
- conflict resolution through non-physical means,
- developing student communication and leadership skills,
- a “solutions approach” to problem solving, versus a punishment model
Participating students will receive extensive and on-going Peer Mediation training. School staff members will carefully monitor and evaluate the program.
Summary
This combination of preventive approaches, peer mediation, and the implementation of a school-wide Student Behavior Policy will ensure a safe and orderly learning environment for all of our Carolina International School students and teachers.
