Relationship Building Activity

With the first week of school underway, this short video outlines a great activity to use in the classroom for relationship building.  Discipline problems decrease when we have developed positive relationships with, and between, students.  It's labeled for grades 6-12, however, the activity will work for younger grades as well. 

 “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 

-Maya Angelou

Beginning of the Year Procedures

As you are getting ready for that first day, remember to teach your expectations for routines and procedures that you want students to follow.  Teach your expectations BEFORE your students engage in an activity.  MONITOR their behavior during the activity.  Then give students FEEDBACK (Both constructive feedback and positive feedback).   Continue to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, and PRACTICE!  Practice later that first day; practice the next day; practice later that week; and continue to practice throughout the year. 

Examples of important routines/procedures to teach could be:

1.     How to sharpen pencils:

·        When should they sharpen their pencils?

·        Can they talk while waiting in line to sharpen pencils?

·        How many students are allowed to be in line at the pencil sharpener?

·        What path do they take to and from the sharpener?

·        How many pencils can they sharpen at a time?

Other suggested procedures or routines to teach might be:

2.     Restroom use

3.     Getting a drink of water

4.     Lining up

5.     How to get teacher’s attention

6.     How to walk in hallway

7.     Lunchroom/playground behavior

8.     Assembly behavior

*Check out this list developed to help you walk through the steps needed to prepare in detail for classroom procedures and routines.  Not all will apply to you, but it’s a great tool to remind us of all the things to plan for.  Hope it is useful for you.

(Thanks to Mike Otto, principal in St. Joseph, MO, for sharing the list linked above)

Student Satisfaction

Asking your students their opinions can provide invaluable information.  This information can help you determine how your student's perceive various logistic and organizational features of your room.  I received the following information and Satisfaction Survey from the book Discipline in the Secondary Classroom by Randall Sprick, Ph.D.

Why

• To help you identify those aspects of your classroom program that are working well and those that may need modification
• To help you identify whether there are aspects of your classroom program that you need to communicate more clearly to students and their families

When

• Last 2 weeks of school
• Midyear (optional) 

How

1. Check with your administrator to make sure that there are no policies or procedures that giving a survey of this type would violate.
2. Make copies of the 2 page reproducible form. (The survey can and should be modified to reflect your classroom program and any areas of concern that you may have.)
3. Determine if you will have students complete this independently in class or if you will try to involve students' parents.  Recognize that attempting to involve the parents reduces the probability that you will get survey back from all students.  If you plan to try to get these from parents, determine how you will let families know that the survey is coming and the logistics of how families will receive and return the survey.  For example, you could send the surveys home with students and have them returned by students.  Or, if your school can budget for postage, you could send the surveys by mail with preaddressed, postage-paid return envelopes enclosed. 
4. If you are giving the survey in class, remind students that the surveys are anonymous, but you hope they will give honest and productive answers to help you become a more effective teacher.  Let them know that you have a box by the door in which they can place the completed survey so you will never see who made particular responses.
5. When all surveys have been returned, analyze the results.  Keep in mind that although the information is subjective opinion, it can help you identify aspects of your classroom that may require further review.  For ex., if 50% of the families respond that students didn't have enough homework, you should carefully consider whether the amount of homework you assign is sufficient. 

Giving a survey of this type can be unnerving for you.  As you examine the results, remind yourself that you cannot take critical information personally.  Rather, you are looking for patterns of information that will help you fine-tune your classroom program.  

Problem Solving

Teaching students problem solving techniques is a life skill that will benefit them long past the time they spend in the classroom.  I wanted to share some materials that I've found very useful for this.  There are examples for all ages.  For most students, I asked the questions, and wrote their answers for them.  This helped me to keep them focused on their answers, not their ability to write them.

How to Solve Problems 5 questions to guide the student to a solution

Problem Solving Poster  (primary elementary students)

SODAS Method of Problem Solving teacher form (upper elementary-high school)

SODAS Method of Problem Solving student form (upper elementary-high school)

Big, Medium, Small Problems teaches students definitions for different levels of problems

Behavior Lesson Plans

Check out this manual of behavior lesson plans to find reproducible lessons for:

Teaching Rules
Teaching Procedures
Teaching Social Skills
Teaching Character Traits

Written by:

Bob Algozzine
Kate Algozzine
Tina McClanahan