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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Fair but not Equal

"I'll Treat Everyone Fairly but not the Same"

Ø Treating everyone fairly does not mean treating everyone the same:  Students need to realize that fairness does not mean treating everyone the same.  Fairness is providing students the individualized approaches they need to be successful.  This means giving some students with special needs the extra attention, support or modified assignments that other students might not need.
Ø Fair is not equal discussion:  The following discussion should be held with the students at the beginning of the year:  "Class, I want everyone to understand that we are all different.  We have different hair, different skin, different eyes, etc. We also have different ways of learning.  Some people may need different types of help in order to do their best in this class.  Please understand that this is why at times I will treat people differently".
Working Successfully With Difficult And Disruptive Students Strategies That Work (resource handbook by Mark Boynton)

Have you ever used a wheelchair ramp instead of the stairs when entering a building?  Although it was built to accommodate a handicapped person, we all benefit.  That idea carries over to the classroom.  When a student's behavior has improved because of an intervention, everyone gains.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Effective Teacher Commands

As classroom managers, teachers regularly use commands to direct students to start and stop activities. Instructors find commands to be crucial tools for classroom management, serving as instructional signals that help students to conform to the teacher's expectations for appropriate behaviors. Attached is a form to use to self monitor commands.
Teachers frequently dilute the power of their classroom commands, however, by:
·         Presenting commands as questions or polite requests. Commands have less impact when stated as questions or requests, because the student may believe that he or she has the option to decline. The teacher who attempts, for example, to quiet a talkative student by saying, "Tanya, would you mind keeping your voice down so that other students can study?" Should not be surprised if the student replies, "No, thank you. I would prefer to talk."
·         Stating commands in vague terms. A student may ignore a command such as "Get your work done!" because it does not state specifically what behaviors the teacher expects of the student.
·         Following up commands with excessive justifications or explanations. Because teachers want to be viewed as fair, they may offer long, drawn-out explanations for why they are requiring the class or an individual student to undertake or to stop a behavior. Unfortunately, students can quickly lose the thread of the explanation and even forget the command that preceded it.
Using Effective Commands-Teachers can reduce problems with student compliance and make their commands more forceful by following research-based guidelines (Walker &Walker, 1991) 
Effective commands:
·         Are brief. Students can process only so much information. Students tend to comply best with brief commands because they are easy to understand and hard to misinterpret.
·         Are delivered on one task or objective at a time. When a command contains multi-step directions, students can mishear, misinterpret, or forget key steps. A student who appears to be noncompliant may simply be confused about which step in a multi-step directive to do first.
·         Are given in a matter-of- fact, businesslike tone. Students may feel coerced when given a command in an authoritarian, sarcastic, or angry tone of voice. For that reason alone, they may resist the teacher's directive. Teachers will often see greater student compliance simply by giving commands in a neutral or positive manner.
·         Are stated as directives rather than questions. Perhaps to be polite, teachers may phrase commands as questions (e.g., "Could we all take out our math books now?". A danger in using 'question-commands' is that the student may believe that he or she has the option to decline. Teachers should state commands as directives, saving questions for those situations in which the student exercises true choice.
·         Avoid long explanations or justifications. When teachers deliver commands and then tack lengthy explanations onto them, they diminish the force of the directive. If the instructor believes that students should know why they are being told to do something, the teacher should deliver a brief explanation prior to the command.
·         Give the student a reasonable amount of time to comply. Once the teacher has given a command, he or she should give the student a reasonable time span (e.g. 5-15 seconds) to comply. During that waiting period, the instructor should resist the temptation to nag the student, elaborate on the request, or otherwise distract the student.
Reference Walker, H.M. & Walker, J.E. (1991). Coping with noncompliance in the classroom: A positive approach for teachers.  From the website http://interventioncentral.com
Jennifer Gnau
Behavior Coach
SEC 339-4054
M-F  8:00-12:00

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

School Tools (fidgets)

School Tools (Fidgets)
for the Classroom

*Attached you will find guidelines for implementation and a rule book that can be adapted for your age group. 

Where and When?
Use school tools during meeting or group times, in a quiet area, or for specific lessons.
If the tool distracts the student or their neighbor, it needs to be put away then and
reintroduced.

Why?
School tools help children regulate their nervous system. They give proprioceptive feedback allowing children to settle and are alerting to help children listen and focus.

Who?
Tools can be for everyone! Even you! Invite your whole class to use a school tool. If you set up rules and the students view them as part of your classroom, you will discover how helpful they can be. Over time, these learning tools will eventually be used by those who really need them.

How?
Have a basket of tools in your meeting area. Introduce them with a lesson explaining why you will be using the tools and have the children create rules for using them. Rules could include that the tool must stay in the lap or that it must be used as a tool vs. toy. Also, decide on what will happen if a rule is broken. This way you set up exactly what is expected and can welcome everyone to use them.

Some Considerations
· Do you want them all to be the same to avoid arguments or different to invite variety?
· How durable are they? Can they be picked, pulled, or otherwise destroyed?
· Make sure they are quiet to avoid distraction.
· How will you store them?


http://www.therapro.com/Tools-for-the-Hands-C5977.aspx?p=0