A small change--a huge result

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Classroom Discipline Chatboard

A small change--a huge result

by Thomas Chamblee

Mar 20, 2017

Dear Teachers

You are the hard working, responsible and ethical support for the nation's children and their parents. It is because of you that children read, write, and gain knowledge. You are underpaid and you work at night for no pay. I'm going to try to help you in your classrooms by revealing a small change that worked for me after my graduate studies in Manchester, England. I have no intention of changing your philosophy or style. The English were very strict about school discipline until cities were bombed in World War II. To protect the children, they moved school into the open spaces of the country. Thus, “Open School.” The British can be literal at times. While fearing that the scores of the children would “plummet,” the scores rose higher. I saw methods that I couldn't use here because my school and yours remain rooted in the belief that children are a problem unless strictly controlled by seating arrangements and quiet. So, I made a small change that saved...See More Dear Teachers

You are the hard working, responsible and ethical support for the nation's children and their parents. It is because of you that children read, write, and gain knowledge. You are underpaid and you work at night for no pay. I'm going to try to help you in your classrooms by revealing a small change that worked for me after my graduate studies in Manchester, England. I have no intention of changing your philosophy or style. The English were very strict about school discipline until cities were bombed in World War II. To protect the children, they moved school into the open spaces of the country. Thus, “Open School.” The British can be literal at times. While fearing that the scores of the children would “plummet,” the scores rose higher. I saw methods that I couldn't use here because my school and yours remain rooted in the belief that children are a problem unless strictly controlled by seating arrangements and quiet. So, I made a small change that saved me and served my kids. Here it is in brief: The first day of school I told the class that we have an hour to do math. They groaned. I then stated that IF we could finish in 45 minutes, that we then had 15 minutes to spare for ourselves. This 15 minutes was to be used as free time reward for completing the required math. Now we have English to do. IF we finish in less than an hour, I guess that gives us more time for ourselves as reward. We made a list of the stuff we could do—legally--which happens to be an English lesson on note taking. The kids chose reward activity ( that they wanted to do.) Two rules: 1. you can't do anything dangerous—duh, and 2. you can't make noise that bothers other classes and such (halls for instance.) Each subject was similar in form. I had no disciplinary troubles after a few days. I found Kids hushing other kids who were off task. What about the kids who couldn't or didn't finish early? They spent their 15 (or so) minutes with me doing their lesson. They hated it, but they did their work because they wanted to join the others.

MY MESSAGE TO KIDS TO SOLVE DISCIPLINARY PROBLEMS.

1. "The school is built and I am paid to make you smarter and better. In the math class, you will be smarter at the end than you are right now. You will also be better at the end of class than you are right now. 2. How smarter? You will learn skills that make you smart. How better? You will be a nicer,more capable person in 45 minutes than you are right now--at least that is my plan for you to be happier and make more money as a grown- up. BONUS: The “smart kids” who learned quickly could (for extra credit) help the others during the lesson. Now I have several teachers and individual helpers to be even more efficient. The class is easier for everyone (me too) and we finish early for reward for the class and maybe time for me to plan or complete other teacher tasks that usually keep me past dismissal. I have no intention of changing your teaching philosophy or style. There are lots of successful styles! The small change offered here is meant to reduce wasted time, increase class attentiveness and get adult behavior from our children while you use the same class structure that works for you. It also reduces stress for the teacher, shortens time spent in discipline, and provides cooperative students working for adult goals that we all expect. Bonus: I was shocked to find that the students disciplined themselves so they could complete their tasks (the way we all hoped they would.)

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Samantha M Interesting approach, I am currently teaching at a Restitution school, this is a school in which we cannot give rewards. We are not to use the language "if you do this then you get that." we are to believe the student should behave because it is the right thing to do. This way the reward isn't expected every time they complete a task. Do you ever f...See More

Sep 27, 2017

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Alexandra Sletten @ Samantha -- I have so many questions. How did your school become a restitution school? I love that philosophy, because I am so tired of kids asking "what do I get" when they simply do what they are supposed to do. Is there a philosopher tied in with this?

Sep 30, 2017

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Alexandra Sletten @Thomas--

I do something similar! I tell the students that when they finish up early, they can do a choice based art activity that relates to the lesson. They LOVE these activities. They are free choice, but I don't feel guilty about what they are doing being random, because it relates to the lesson. Do you have an administrator that take...See More

Sep 30, 2017

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