Nonreward-based Motivation System

Reward-based Motivation System

Celebrations Further Explained

The celebrations listed in the previous chart serve as rewards for individual students and the whole class based on their accomplishment of a certain objective. The list of ways to earn celebrations, posted in the same document as the celebrations, provides examples of the types of objectives students will receive rewards to accomplishing. These rewards or celebrations will be given intermittently, coupled with a nonreward-based motivation system, in a low structured classroom. In a high structured classroom these same celebrations will be incorporated into a reward-based motivation system. Please see the next few posts for an example of a possible plan for implementing each motivation system.

Classroom Celebrations

How to Build Positive Relationships with Students

What does this mean to me?

Building positive relationships with students is a fundamental part of teaching. Furthermore, “an increasing body of research indicates that students have higher achievement and engage in fewer behavior problems when they have a positive relationship with their teacher” (Sprick, 2009, p. 278). These positive relationships are built by through making an effort to provide every student with noncontingent attention and positive feedback. As an educator I plan to prompt myself to provide additional attention to my students by creating daily and weekly goals. At the end of each day/week I will reflect on my performance and make adjustments as necessary.

Daily Goals for Interactions with Students

• Greet students as they enter the classroom
• Say goodbye to each student at the end of the day
• Discuss student work with at least four students during each independent work session
• Give accurate feedback that is immediate, specific, and descriptive
• 5:1 Ratio of Interactions

Weekly Goals for Interactions with Students

• Eat lunch with students once a week and have open conversations
• Have a student of the week who will have the opportunity share a little bit about themselves during our classroom meeting
• Have a separate “conference” with the student of the week to celebrate their strengths/accomplishments (both at school and home) and create a few areas to work on
• Monitor, reflect, and collect data on…
• Students’ opportunities to respond
• Students’ understanding of and demonstration of behavioral expectations

What does it mean to monitor students' academic progress?

I feel as though this question is hard to answer without having a classroom with actually students, knowledge of school policies, and other factors. As a teacher I want to be sure that I am monitoring ALL areas of academic progress for each student. Areas that I feel are important to gather data on are:

• Attendance/Punctuality (and reasoning)
• Percentage of In-class completed work
• Percentage of Completed Homework
• Grade of EACH and EVERY assignment (including scored rubrics)
• Number of books read
• Family/Student satisfaction survey (both school and homework)
• Student’s goals
• Student Portfolio of work
• Progress in achieving long-term goals/standards

  

These data collection sheets would look differently depending on grade level, school, and possibly even vary by state.

Using Data to Monitor and Adjust My Classroom Management and Discipline Plan

Sprick (2009) uses chapter 6 to discuss various methods for collecting data within a classroom. I found this chapter, and its resources, to be VERY helpful in terms of categories of data that would be important to collect. Below is a list of these different categories and a short explanation of how I would use it.

Daily Reality Rating Scale – This data collection chart contains a list of all of the CHAMPS behavioral expectations along with a five-point Likert scale. The purpose of this scale would be to assist reflection on students’ ability to achieve behavioral expectations after each activity and transition. In addition to simply recording my observations, I would also make place to note any specific circumstances that could potentially be affecting student behavior. The addition of these notes may help to better analyze and make connections later on.  I would use this type of data collection as often as possible. The more data collected, the more likely I will be able to draw accurate conclusions about my students’ unique needs.

Interactions Monitoring Form – This form serves the purpose of determining whether a teacher is responding to a student because of they are meeting/exceeding behavioral expectations (praise) or for correction. Collecting data based on time of day, behavior, or student would give the teacher specific data based on their need. I would use all three of these forms throughout the school year. I would begin with the time of day data collection and from there determine which would best meet my specific need. I would then use the data I collected to analyze my performance and create a plan to modify my interactions.

Recording Student Misbehavior - Data collection of student misbehavior is important as it helps teachers to identify patterns of student misbehavior and can be shared with students and their families if necessary. Chapter 6 presents four different misbehavior forms that could be used to record data by student daily or weekly. Each of these charts contains the student name and a small box to note misbehavior using a letter code. This type of data collection is useful, but I feel that it would not be comprehensive enough to notice patterns with. Similar to the previous forms, I would add space to write additional notes in. These notes would help to identify more accurate patterns of misbehavior. After noticing a pattern I could then more closely observe that single student and collect data in a more concentrated manner. This practical and accurate method for tracking a student’s targeted and problematic behavior would be somewhat easy to use and would only consist of a form/observation sheet to record on. If students’ behavior persists I would then ask another teacher or faculty member to come into my classroom as it is often difficult to collect every data point while teaching the whole class. This faculty member would observe and collect data on ONE student, at three separate times. Then together we would analyze the results and create an action plan.

Verify Students' Understanding of Behavioral Expectations

Teaching expectations is important, but it is also important to verify that your students have learned the behavioral expectations. In chapter 5, Sprick (2009) describes two techniques teachers can use to better understand what their students have learned, quizzes and interviews. For the purpose of this blog I have focused my classroom management and discipline plan on third grade students. With this age group, and my personal preferences, I feel that I would best verify my students’ understandings by conducting interviews with my students. I am a firm believer in using qualitative approaches within a classroom whenever a reflective analysis is needed. Since interviews are time consuming I would choose a representative sample of students, four to six students of differing ability levels, to see where approximately most of my students’ misconceptions or deep understandings lie. Using the information I gained I would then re-teach as needed.

Note: Interview questions would simply be derived from CHAMPS expectations and be asked in as an open-ended question as to not be leading. 

First Day of School Letter to Families

Families and the First Day of School

As mentioned in previous posts, I will meet with parents prior to the first day of school to try and eliminate the number of parent questions on the first day of school. Thus, on the first day of school I will attend to families by greeting them in a friendly way and then give them a prepared note asking that they please contact me at a later time (see example that will be posted next). By using this technique I hope to spend more time teaching and assisting students in adjusting to classroom procedures.

Summary of Classroom Management and Discipline Plan

Lesson Plans for Teaching Behavioral Expectations

Each and expectation will be taught using Responsive Classroom's Interactive Modeling. This means that much of the first few weeks of school will consist of reteaching expectations. As tedious as this may seem, it is incredibly beneficial and will ensure behavioral expectations are explicit and well understood by all students – even the expectations which occur during the most complex and potentially problematic transitions and activities. I believe that interactive modeling is a successful approach to teaching expectations as it provides a very high-structured lesson and requires full student participation. In the previously blog post I have provided a step-by-step interactive modeling lesson plan format as well as an example of what it might look like in action. For more information you can check out this link from Responsive Classroom or watch the youtube video below.

Interactive Modeling Guide and Sample Lesson Plan

CHAMPS Expectations for Transitions

·         Entering the classroom in the morning

 C – Students may engage in conversation at a 1-2 voice level with teacher and peers while putting away their belongings. Once they transition into completing the morning task the voice level should be at a 0 or 1 if they need to whisper a question to their neighbor.

 H – Students may ask for help by using our classroom Help! Strategies

 A – Teacher will greet students as they enter the classroom and will write the morning task on the board. Within 2-5 minutes of entering the classroom students will have all of their belongings put away and be seated at their desk working on the morning task.

 M – This transition requires students to sit in their seats. Once students do so they may move throughout the room as needed to sharpen pencils and get ready for the day.

 P – As soon as students put away their belongings they are looking/reading the morning task and then working on completing it using a 0 voice level.

 S – Success!

·         Class Travel (i.e. lining up, traveling to/from specials, assemblies, or within the classroom from whole group to independent/small group and vice versa)

C – Students will have a 0 voice level unless they are asking a question or for conversation such as greeting someone, saying please/thank you, or saying excuse me ( 2 voice level)

H – Students may ask for help raising their hands.

A – Teacher will sound the symbol and announce to students where the class is going. The students will quietly line up once they are called on. Students will pick up anything they need, push in their chairs, and walk to the designated line up area. All students will be in line and ready to go within 30 seconds.

M – This transition requires students to line up when they are called upon. Students will be asked to not move anywhere else in the classroom as they wait to be called on.

P – As soon as the sound and instruction is given students will line up quickly and quietly and wait for further directions. Students will be in a single file line (facing the back of the person in front of them). Talking will only occur for reasons above.

S – Success!

·         Taking out materials (i.e. independent reading book/transitions between subjects)

C – Students will have a 0 voice level unless they are whispering to their neighbor to ask what the directions were.

H – Students may ask for help by first asking looking for directions on the board, then asking their neighbor, and finally by raising their hands.

A – Teacher will write on the board and announce to students what they need to take out or put away. Students will quickly and quietly follow the directions and will be ready within 15 seconds.

M – This transition only requires movement if the materials are located away from desk area. If this is the case the students will be called to grab their materials and then return to their seats (similar to the class travel transition).

P – As soon as the instruction is given students will get out/put away their materials quickly and quietly and wait for further directions.

S – Success!

·         Clean up at the end of the day

C – Students may engage in conversation at a 0-1 voice level with peers as they walk around the classroom cleaning and organizing it and their desks.

H – Students may ask for help by using our classroom Help! Strategies or by asking the teacher.

A – Teacher will begin the mystery object game and play about a minute of a song. During this time students will pick up anything and everything they see out of place with the goal of finding and putting away the mystery object.

M – This transition requires students to move about the room cleaning, organizing, and throwing away garbage. Students should be following classroom rules and moving throughout the classroom only if they are participating.

P – Students clean up the classroom at a 0-1 voice level, while keeping all hands and feet to themselves, and then when the music stops, students will have a seat at their desks and wait for instruction.

S – Success!

·         Getting ready to go home

C – Students may engage in conversation at a 0-1 voice level with teacher and peers while backing away their belongings. Once they are ready to go they will read their independent reading books with a 0 voice level.

H – Students may ask for help by using our classroom Help! Strategies or by asking the teacher.

A – Teacher will begin playing the song of the day and within 2-5 minutes all students will have their backpacks packed and ready to go. Students will then sit at their desk or designated reading area and read silently until dismissal.

M – This transition requires students to move about the room packing their backpacks. Students should not to be doing anything else that does not involve getting ready to leave.

P – As soon as students pack their belongings they are reading their independent reading book using a 0 voice level.

S – Success!

CHAMPS Expectations for Instructional Activities

·         Independent work/tasks (i.e. math review exercises, reading, journaling, or exploration of a new concept)

C - During this type of activity students can talk to one student at a time with a 1 voice level to ask questions or clarify misunderstandings. Students must work to keep conversation to 5 minutes at most.

H – As part of our Help! Strategies (posted previously) students can ask for help by following the progressive list of strategies. If they decide they need help from the teacher, they can place their name on the board and then continue working until help is received.

A – At the end of this work time it is expected that students are completed or have mostly completed the task at hand. Remaining work may be completed as homework depending on specific task.

M – Students may fluidly move throughout the classroom to get a drink, use the restroom, or sharpen a pencil. Students may also stand to complete work and at times may even find a quiet place, other than their desk, within the room to work.

P – Students who are participating fully and responsibly are following classroom rules, looking at their work, working on the task with a 1 voice level, and following our Help! Strategies if needed.

S – Success!

·         Teacher – facilitated or directed instruction (Class read-aloud, whole class discussions/debrief, interactive modeling)

C - During this type of activity students may not engage in conversations with each other and will have a 0 voice level. However when asked to participate or asking questions this conversation piece changes.

H – Students may ask for help during teacher-directed or teacher-facilitated instruction by raising their hand to get teacher’s attention. As students wait for help they will continue to have their hand raised while sitting patiently and quietly.

A – At the end of this instruction time it is expected that students will begin working on a related task that has just been presented, corrected, or clarified by the teacher. Active student participation is also expected throughout and at the end of this activity.

M – Students are free to move throughout the classroom only if it is an emergency or imperative that they must do something (i.e. bathroom, tissue, etc.).

P – Students who are participating fully and responsibly are following classroom rules, looking teacher or whoever is talking, giving a thumbs-up symbol to answer questions,  sitting quietly with 0 voice level, and participating in conversation as directed/facilitated by teacher (increasing voice level to a 1-3 which would be explicitly stated by teacher).

S – Success!

·         Cooperative Group Tasks (i.e. with partner or small group)

C - During this type of activity students may engage in conversations with their partner or small group members and will have a 1-2 voice level. Students may carry on on-task conversation throughout the entire length of the activity.

H – Students may ask for help during cooperative tasks by following the Help! Strategies. If students are waiting for teacher assistance they will continue to work on the task.

A – At the end of this instruction time it is expected that students will have completed the task(s) assigned to them and that each group member had actively contributed.

M – Students may fluidly move throughout the classroom to get a drink, use the restroom, or sharpen a pencil if the action is keeping the student from participation. However students must inform their group members each time to hold them accountable. Students will always be asked to keep unrelated or unnecessary movement to a minimum.

P – Students who are participating fully and responsibly are following classroom rules, looking at their task and group members, talking only to their group members using a 1-2 voice level, and working on completing their task.

S – Success!

·         Testing of any kind

C - During this type of activity students may not engage in conversations with each other and will have a 0 voice level.

H – Depending on test, students may ask for help by raising their hand and quietly waiting for assistance. If it is a test that is likely to bring about a multitude of questions than the teacher may utilize the help sign (writing name on the board).

A – At the end of a testing session students are expected to have completed the test to the best of their ability.

M – Students must ask permission, by raising their hand, before moving throughout and will only be given permission if it is an emergency or imperative that they must do something (i.e. bathroom, tissue, etc.).

P – Students who are participating fully and responsibly are following classroom rules, looking at their task, not leaving their seat, and working with a 0 voice level.

S – Success!

Clarifying CHAMPS Expectations for all Classroom Activities

As previously mentioned, the importance of classroom management plan is to explicitly define clear and consistent behavioral expectations for all instructional activities and transitions. Thus the first step is to create a list. Then, using this list, an educator can apply the CHAMPS acronym (conversation, help, activity, movement, participation, and success!) to each activity to help define specific expectations during that time. In the next two posts I will give examples of utilizing CHAMPS for instructional activities and transitions that would occur in my third grade classroom. On a side note, I would also be sure verbally give expectations to students before the lesson as well as post the CHAMPS expectations during the activity (such as in the photo shown below).

Progressive Consequence Visual

Corrective Consequences

“For corrective consequences to reduce or eliminate purposeful or habitual misbehavior, they must be implemented consistently.”*

Considering what corrective consequences educators will implement and how is a very important aspect of classroom management. Educators must define what expectations are not appropriate and then implement consequences consistently. If there is no consistency in corrective consequences then it will be very difficult for students to know what is and what is not acceptable behavior. It is also important to be sure that the corrective consequence fits the severity of the misbehavior, the frequency, and is unattached from the educator’s emotions. Lastly, it is important for educators to only briefly interact with the student as to not disrupt the rest of the class. These key points should play an active role within the corrective consequences.

Below is a description of my progressive corrective consequence system. This system also includes positive, appropriate behaviors with the goal of teaching students how to recover from their mistakes. These positive, appropriate behaviors provide educators with additional opportunities to acknowledge student behavior and give praise. In this system all students will begin on the green ready to learn level. From here students will be asked to move their clips (clothes pins) up or down one level based on their behavior. Before a student is asked to move their clip down I will always utilize three techniques, pre-correction, proximity, and praise. Through the use of these techniques I will rule out the possibility of unclear expectations.

1. Role Model  

2. Excellent Effort

3. Ready to Learn  

4. Make Better Choices

• When students arrive at this level they are asked to complete a short behavior improvement form. This form will give students an opportunity to reflect and write on their behavior and how they plan on recovering from it.

5. Teacher’s Choice

• When students arrive at this level there will be three corrective consequences based on which classroom rule was broken. The educator will briefly inform the student of the consequence and then increase the amount of praise and positive reinforcement given to students exhibiting the appropriate positive behavior. Students will also be asked to fill out a behavior improvement form.

1. Restitution – Students will be asked to repair damage caused by the misbehavior (i.e. cleaning their writing off of a desk or other classroom materials)
2. Positive practice – This corrective consequence will involve students positively practicing the behavior at hand (i.e. student practicing walking in the hall as a result of running in the hall earlier that day)
3. Time out – This corrective consequence involves removing the student from the opportunity to earn positive reinforcement (i.e. student who is asked to sit quietly in the time out area for two minutes before returning with their completed behavior improvement plan)

6. Parent Contact and/or Office

• This action will be taken immediately or later that day depending on its offense. If it is something that breaks school rules, the student may be immediately sent to the office. If it is a situation where the student was just having a rough day and their behavior landed them at this level than a phone call would be made home later that day. Regardless of what time the action is taken, students will be asked to complete a behavior improvement form, which will be sent home and returned the next day signed by their parent or guardian.

Side note: All of these levels will be thoroughly discussed and explained to ensure expectations are explicit. These discussions will incorporate classroom rules through presenting students with specific positive/negative scenarios and how they would play out within this system.

* (Ackler & O'Leary, 1988; Alberto & Troutman, 2006; Scheuermann & Hall, 2008; Sprick, 2009)

Classroom Rules Visual

Classroom Rules

Classroom rules are important to have and post throughout your classroom as they communicate specific expectations to students. These rules must reflect the misbehaviors that an educator thinks may occur most frequently. In order to do this before meeting your students one might consider the grade level, any typical developmental characteristics of that age group, and classroom schedule, routines, and procedures. From these dynamic factors an educator would plan classroom rules, six at most, which would be best for their classroom. Limiting the number of classroom rules ensures that both the teacher and students can keep track of and enforce the rules. Sprick (2009) provides further guidelines to keep in mind when developing classroom rules (p. 116).

• Rules should be positively stated.
• Rules should be specific and refer to observable behaviors.
• Plan to teach your rules using positive and negative examples.
• Rules should be posted in a prominent, visible location.

In my classroom I would want to create these rules with my students to give them a sense of ownership and increased accountability. The process of creating the rules would be facilitated by me and I would work with the students to come up with the list of rules I had previously planned. We would begin by brainstorming rules as a class, using our classroom guidelines as a start to support our thinking. I would then prompt students to draw out similarities between ideas and work with them to create rules with language that is specific and relates to observable behaviors.

Keeping in mind Sprick's first two guidelines, here is what I would plan my classroom rules to be:

1. Stay on task during all work times.
2. Follow directions quickly the first time they are given.
3. Allow others to work and play without disturbance or interruption.
4. Move from place to place in a quiet and orderly way.
5. Take care of all school supplies and equipment.

(I will post a more creative version of these classroom rules which would be displayed in the classroom)