I like Steve's suggestions. He is absolutely 100% correct. Build
positive relationships with your students. You will eliminate
most of your behavior issues.

> I get the feeling that you are trying to use force to get what
> you are expecting. This won't work. I say this and will also
> tell you that you do need to have consequences as part of your
> approach. If your approach is health, consequences should be
> few and far between.
>
> I get the feeling that you might be in a very tough district.
> If that's the case, you may not be able to have the total
> impact you want. Despite this, you can make a huge impact by
> changing a few things first.
>
> I have 20 routines in my book that are also posted online on my
> website below. The book goes into detail but you can get the
> basic idea from the list. Posted below is something that I
> tell all my student teachers and something that I have posted
> on a few threads. If you email me, I'll give you a copy of my
> presentation on classroom management.
>
> steve@pianodesk.com
> ----------------
> Three basic facts about education:
>
> 1. Ninety percent of the problems an educator experiences
from
> students in the classroom will appear to be discipline related.
> In fact, this is not the case. Most of these problems can be
> solved by changing the approach.
>
> 2. Delivering a rich educational environment and providing
> rigorous content into the classroom is only half of your job as
> an educator.
> o Delivery and content is what you are currently
> learning as a student of education.
> o Learning delivery and content will be useless without
> knowing what moves the message across to the student.
>
> “Being perfect in your area of knowledge is not enough.
> Perfection without personality is merely content without
delivery.”
>
> 3. You will fail as an educator if you miss the second half
of
> your job.
> o Many educators fail at their job continually and many
> fail for an entire career without realizing the other half of
> their job.
>
> The second half of your job is to care about the students you
> teach, even when they defy you.
>
> --------------------
> (some of these concepts come from a book by George Thompson
> called Verbal Judo. It's worth reading)
>
> So, what’s the answer?
>
> Four steps to building your foundation as an educator. There
> are a million actions you can take to become a great educator.
> These four will make the greatest difference and are a basic
> foundation for excellence.
>
> 1. Don't show bias. Keep you anger, emotion and condescension
> out of discipline. Within the tone of your voice and the words
> you use, you can either turn off a kid forever or create ground
> for him to walk with you. Remaining “Calm and Assertive” is
> the key. The inner voice is normally angry so ignore it.
> Learn to control it and make it obey. Angry emotion only
> builds ground for the student to stand against you.
>
> 2. Praise often and be specific. Don't just say "Good job
> Tom." Be specific. "Tom, I loved the way you read that story.
> You showed so much emotion. It was hard to believe you kept
> yourself so focused. I am impressed. I can't wait to hear you
> again tomorrow." Avoid praising for meeting expectations.
> Instead, praise for exceeding expectations. Avoid praise for
> stopping poor behavior. “Please be quiet, thank you!” “Thank
> you for being quiet.” I catch myself saying these
> occasionally. If you reinforce poor behavior with praise, you
> ask for a repeat performance.
>
> 3. If you are going to correct, do not praise first and
> whatever you do, avoid criticism. "I loved the way you wrote
> that sentence Tom, but you need to stay away from passive
> voice." This is an ineffective way to praise and correct
> because the students learn to anticipate "but" as a negative at
> the end of all your praise. On the other hand, if you
> criticize first and then praise, the praise is the focus of the
> argument and will assist you in building ground with the
> student. "Tom, I notice you used lots of passive voice. We
> can work on that but I was very impressed with the thoughts you
> put into the story." This "but" comes across much better.
> Your "but" should have as much impact as possible. While you
> are laughing at that last sentence, remember to use humor
often.
>
> 4. Create context when there is a problem. Ask for what you
> want and be specific. Give a positive context answering the
> "why" of the argument. State a negative or "why not" and then
> state a positive again. "Tom, can you please refrain form
> blurting out (ask)? The class will run much more efficiently
> if only one person speaks at a time (positive). In addition,
> you avoid taking the chance of getting in trouble (negative).
> You will have a much better chance of avoiding a detention if
> you show me that you can be respectful (positive)." Creating
> context will also involve answering the why for everything you
> teach. Why is this important to me? Use the same techniques
> outlined above.
>
> All of these suggestions create a basic foundation for pushing
> students to create their own high expectations and walk with
> you instead of against you. It is one thing for the teacher to
> have high expectations for their students, but when the
> students create their own high expectations because they love
> their teacher, you are likely to minimize the need for
> consequences altogether.
>
> Steve

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