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Example of a Sequence of Behavioral Corrections

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Example of a Sequence of Behavioral Corrections

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Mrs. Cellini's Must Have Class Library List

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Mrs. Cellini's Must Have Class Library List

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The Brief & Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Kindred by Octavia Butler

The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

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Being Fair & Consistent w/ Behavioral Correction

Though I believe it is more important to focus my efforts on preventing and lessening disruptive or inappropriate student behavior, I know that difficult situations, which will require my intervention, will arise. I plan to create a list of sequenced behavior corrections which are both fair and offer an immediate way to address behavior.

Sequenced behavior corrections follow a logical progression, in accordance with how many times a student has repeated a specific behavior and the severity of that behavior (Kellough & Kellough, 2011, p. 118).

For example, the first time a student talks out of turn, address the behavior- not the student- by reminding the whole class to raise their hand before speaking. The second time a student talks out of turn, talk to the student privately, reminding them of the importance of respecting others by listening until they are called upon to speak.

In order for sequenced behavior corrections to be effective, I believe that students should be informed of what the sequences are, both verbally and in writing, so that the results of inappropriate behavior are clear.

Once sequenced corrections are in place they must be used consistently. If a teacher fails to follow the system of corrections, students will either lose respect for the system, fail to correct their behavior, or both.

I plan to use a  detailed log of corrections given, to what students, and for what offenses, which will help me keep track and remain consistent.

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The Importance of Procedure

“In the beginning it is important that there be no more procedures than necessary to get the class moving effectively for daily operations,” (Kellough & Kellough, 2011, p. 115). Too many procedural expectations at the beginning of the year can create confusion or be overwhelming.

Some examples of simple procedures, using “Do” language in lieu of “Do Not” language:

Do arrive on time and be ready to begin class by the time the bell rings

Do practice actively listening when others are speaking

Do show your teacher, as well as each other, respect

Do raise your hand when you’d like to express yourself in class or ask a question

Do wait patiently at the end of class by staying seated till the bell rings

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Create a Positive Atmosphere

Positive atmosphere in a classroom is an important component of classroom management, as it can provide an environment which is more likely to prevent inappropriate behavior before it begins.

Do not only recognize behaviors that need correction, but instead frequently recognize positive behaviors and individual successes.

When the need for behavioral correction does inevitably arise, “help the students know that any denial by you of a student’s specific behavior is not a denial of that individual as worthwhile person who is still welcomed into your classroom to learn as long as the student agrees to follow expected procedures,” (Kellough & Kellough, 2011, p. 110).

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"Given the diversity of students in my classroom and the unique ways each one learns, how can I provide a range of growth opportunities that motivate and engage my students, both collectively and individually?" (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012, p.1)

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"Knowing your students is at least as important as knowing subject matter content." (Hoffman & Levak, 2003)

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"Knowing your students is at least as important as knowing subject matter content." (Hoffman & Levak, 2003)

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"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all." -Aristotle

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I think the most effective way to share these beliefs and understandings with my students will be through clear, supportive, open communication. “Students work best in a positive atmosphere when teacher expectations are clear to them; procedures are stated in positive terms; [and] standards are clearly understood and agreed upon…” (Kellough & Kellough, 2011, p. 115).

My teaching philosophy will be clear to my students in the syllabus, in my explanations of class activities, and in visual reminders throughout the classroom. To keep this communication as effective as possible, I will use positive language, focus on “do’s” instead of “do not’s”, and remind my students that the overarching goal of the class is to support their individual learning processes.

Effective communication, however, doesn’t begin or end with me simply telling my students my expectations and my values.  So often in education, teachers are portrayed as the singular voice within their classrooms, and while its true that a teacher must maintain respect to be effective, it is also important that every voice in the secondary classroom be heard. Teachers who realize “that to have students listen to them, they, too, had to listen and hear their students when they were trying to convey their desires in the classroom,” can work “...to infuse the needs of their students into the curriculum without sacrificing standards or high expectations,” (Winn & Johnson, 2011, p.8). Therefore, I also want to have conversations with my students about their educational values and their expectations. This process begins with me listening, and modeling for my students what active and engaged listening looks like.

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Critical Components of Classroom Management

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Critical Components of Classroom Management

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The Link Between Curiosity & Independent Problem Solving

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The Link Between Curiosity & Independent Problem Solving

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(Eva, 2018)

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What makes your students curious? When do you see their faces light up with interest at school?

At home, my teen stepson is all about cars, all the time. My daughter is currently obsessed with astrology, while my husband can talk for hours about Roman history (really!). It's worth noting that my kids' passions aren't related to school at all.

As educators, we have the opportunity to create more spaces and places for joyful exploration. Our classrooms can become curiosity centers where students share what fascinates and energizes them.

But each student will be curious in their own way. According to fascinating new research, there are several different types of curiosity-which affect what students are interested in and what that interest looks like. If we welcome and celebrate all types of curiosity at school, we can not only help our students learn but also contribute to their well-being in life.

The five dimensions of curiosity

Researcher Todd Kashdan claims that curiosity simply can't be defined as a single trait; it actually has multiple dimensions. After synthesizing years of research in the field, Kashdan and his team conducted three studies of nearly 4,000 adults in total to test a new model of curiosity.

They found evidence for five specific dimensions of curiosity:

1. "Joyous Exploration" Curiosity: You are filled with wonder and fascinated by the world-like when you travel to a new place, discover a new artist you love, or pursue a new hobby like geocaching.

2. "Need to Know" Curiosity: You feel uncomfortable because there is a gap in your knowledge, and you have to fill that gap-like when you're prepping for the science fair, and the robot you built just went belly-up, literally. What do you need to know in order to fix it? (This dimension is technically called "Deprivation Sensitivity.")

3. "Social" Curiosity: You want to know more about another person, so you watch them and talk to them-like when you try to find out what makes your new friend laugh.

4. "Accepting the Anxiety" Curiosity: You tolerate any uncomfortable feelings that may come with a new experience, and they don't hold you back-like when you join a new hip hop club even though you don't know any of the other members. (This dimension is technically called "Stress Tolerance.")

5. "Thrill Seeking" Curiosity: You take risks because you enjoy new and exciting experiences-like when you run for president and give a speech at school or go snowboarding for the first time. You don't just tolerate the anxiety; it actually feeds you.

Although these dimensions have only been studied with adults so far, it's worth knowing that people who took Kashdan's curiosity survey fell into four specific curiosity types:

1. The Fascinated (28 percent): high scores on all the dimensions of curiosity, especially "Joyous Exploration."

2. Problem Solvers (28 percent): medium scores on all dimensions, but a high score on "Need to Know" curiosity.

3. Empathizers (25 percent): medium scores on all dimensions, but a high score on "Social" curiosity.

4. Avoiders (19 percent): low scores on all curiosity dimensions, especially "Accepting the Anxiety."

We don't yet know the benefits of each particular type of curiosity; however, research suggests that curiosity in general can be quite rewarding for young people.

Why is curiosity so important?

Apart from intelligence and effort, researchers claim that curiosity-" a hungry mind "-is actually one of the three key predictors of academic achievement. We spend a lot of time pondering our students' ability levels and whether they have the capacity to persevere in school, yet curiosity, the least-studied ingredient in the mix, may be the most vital.

For example, researchers at the University of Michigan recently discovered a link between curiosity and academic success in early childhood. In their 2018 study of 6,200 children, Prachi E. Shah and her team found that curious kindergarteners had higher scores in both reading and mathematics.

Other research with teens in Hong Kong indicates that, when school is more challenging, curious students perform better than their less curious peers on academic achievement tests. According to a 2014 study, our brain chemistry actually changes when we become curious, which helps us to learn and remember information.

And in terms of students' well-being, a study of over 400 Serbian teens found that students with high levels of curiosity reported greater life satisfaction, positive emotions, hope, and purpose in life. In a 2018 study, more curious teenagers also tended to be more self-compassionate. If you are open to exploring and appreciating new experiences, you may be more kind and accepting of yourself-and the unpredictable nature of life.

Broader research with adults also suggests that curious people tend to be more tolerant of anxiety, humorous and playful, emotionally expressive, and non-defensive and non-critical. Curiosity appears to be a force within us that not only enhances learning, but opens us up to more positive perspectives and experiences.

Five tips for cultivating curiosity

Whether our classroom is filled with "The Fascinated" or we have a lot of kids who seem to be "Avoiders," what would it look like if we all focused a little less on student performance and a little more on curiosity?

1. Model and encourage academic risk-taking. If "avoiders" are struggling with accepting the anxiety that comes with new experiences, we can help them by modeling risk-taking, all the time, in our classrooms. Solve a math problem on the board with your students (and mess up). Or write a poem, live, in front of them while sharing all the stops and starts and moments of struggle that occur as you think aloud.

Students need to see us falter, and they need to feel like it's okay to be unsure of themselves when they try something new. Otherwise, we will continue to have "avoiders" in our classrooms.

2. Normalize fear and anxiety. For people who score highly on "thrill-seeking" curiosity, risk-taking actually makes them feel more excited and alive. They thrive on the anxiety. What can we learn from them?

At the very least, there are ways to accept the fear we sometimes feel rather than fight or ignore it altogether.

Mindfulness and self-compassion practices provide us with practical tools for tolerating stress and navigating the frustration, fear, or anxiety associated with trying new things. You can adapt simple practices for your classroom like Mindful Breathing, the Self-Compassion Break, and the Body Scan Meditation and share them regularly with your students.

3. Provide challenging group project options. Based on the research mentioned above, we know that curious students do not necessarily get higher grades and test scores unless they believe that school is challenging (and perhaps worth their time?).

So, this tip packs a punch. According to a 2016 report, not only should students' learning tasks be challenging (and well-scaffolded), but they should also center around group inquiry (e.g., experiments, expeditions, and other research) driven by higher-order questions (the why's and how's) and supported by cooperative group structures where students can work interdependently.

For example, you might create a geometry scavenger hunt where second graders work in cooperative pairs (with designated roles) to find a range of shapes in their school or playground (like triangles, squares, and rectangles); then they can explain why the shapes they select meet the appropriate criteria. Or you could design a project around an environmental issue of your students' choice. Assign students to cooperative groups where they work together to research the issue, debate the pros and cons, collect school polling data, and finally vote on the issue.

4. Link the boring stuff with things kids want to know. Of course, learning isn't always fun and exciting; there are some things we just have to know and do, whether we like it or not.

For those skills, try to find ways to make learning more enticing. If you need to teach students to write topic sentences or research papers, have them choose something of interest to explore (an animal they love or a musician they're obsessed with, how cars work or how to run a political campaign). Or, if you need to teach basic measurement skills to elementary students, get them outside measuring their three favorite playground objects (or their pets at home). If you want to teach argumentation skills to secondary students, have your students examine the pros and cons of active social media use.

Wrap the interesting stuff around the seemingly boring stuff; it will be much more memorable.

5. Let curiosity drive goal-setting and growth. Research suggests that curious people may also be more hopeful and purposeful. So why not think more about how curiosity can inform your students' short- and long-term goals? What units and subjects most excite them at school? What do they dream about exploring, but haven't yet? What careers are most appealing and interesting to them?

In a 2015 study, researchers discovered that curiosity actually makes progress feel more satisfying. In other words, when you meet a goal that is driven by your authentic desire to learn, you may get a more lasting boost in well-being. In this case, your academic goals become less about performance and achievement and more about personal growth.

Finally, what if we, as educational leaders, took this message to heart ourselves? If we focused a little less on numbers and a lot more on our own professional learning together, wouldn't school be more fun for us, too? How might a widespread focus on curiosity shift our school climate?

With all of the standardized tests and academic hoop-jumping we do these days, we need to hold on to the fun and joy of learning-all of us. We can take advantage of our human capacity for curiosity and all the energy, interest, and enjoyment it brings.

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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How to Cultivate Curiosity in Your Classroom

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Curiosity comes in different forms, and we can encourage it in the classroom to help our students thrive.

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Eva, A. L. A. L. (2018, September 25). How to Cultivate Curiosity in Your Classroom. Greater Good. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_cultivate_curiosity_in_your_classroom.

Kellough, R. D., & Kellough, N. G. (2011). Chapter 4- The Classroom Learning Environment . In Secondary school teaching: A guide to methods and resources (Fourth, pp. 102–149). essay, Pearson.

Plotinsky, M. (2019, October 10). Creating a classroom culture of shared ownership. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/creating-classroom-culture-shared-ownership.

Toshalis, E., & Nakkula, M. J. (2012). Motivation, Engagement, and Student Voice. Jobs for the Future, 1–42. https://doi.org/https://studentsatthecenterhub.org/wp-content/uploads/Motivation-Engagement-Student-Voice-Students-at-the-Center-1.pdf

Winn, M. T., & Johnson, L. P. (2014). Writing Instruction in the Culturally Relevant Classroom. National Council of Teachings of English.

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I value "student centered and inquiry driven," (Winn & Johnson, 2011, p. 4) learning, and because of these values, I will work to effectively foster and support the individual development of curious and empathetic students. I value ownership over your education as a key source of motivation, and therefore I will strive to give my students frequent opportunities to be involved "...in every aspect of their learning, including the planning of learning activities, thereby giving them partial ownership and responsibility for their learning.” (Kellough & Kellough, 2011, p. 10). I will foster and encourage an environment of collaboration and connection. I will not only teach, but also mentor my students, so that when they leave my classroom they are motivated to meet the challenges of the world around them, because they truly believe in their ability to do so.

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Guiding Beliefs About Teaching & Learning

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Guiding Beliefs About Teaching & Learning

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Teaching requires a desire to work with people and for people, and to be personable but professional while doing so. I believe empathy is a critical component of building rapport and creating connections with your students. A student-teacher relationship which is based on understanding lays the foundation for mutual respect, which in turn can aid with student engagement and class behavior.

I believe that the most effective learning occurs when students are encouraged to “buy into” the learning process, or in other words students are shown that the material they are being taught is relevant to their lives. “To make the learning meaningful and longest lasting, [teachers should] build the curriculum around student interests, capacities, perceptions, and perspectives,” (Kellough & Kellough, 2011, p. 111). This idea ties back into my earlier discussion of empathy and rapport building with your students. In order for a teacher to effectively facilitate student interest in the learning process, they must create learning opportunities tailored to that individual student, “therefore, you need to know your students well enough to be able to provide learning experiences that they will find interesting, valuable, intrinsically motivating, challenging, and rewarding,” (Kellough & Kellough, 2011, p. 111).

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Example of an Empathy Building Literature-Based Activity in Secondary School

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Example of an Empathy Building Literature-Based Activity in Secondary School

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An Argument for Student Ownership & Empowerment in The Classroom

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An Argument for Student Ownership & Empowerment in The Classroom

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In my opinion, a critical component of classroom communication is accepting student input and working “...to give students a sense of empowerment or ownership,” (Kellough & Kellough, 2011, p. 115) in the classroom. By acknowledging and welcoming the voice of my students into class planning, organization, and content, I can increase their sense of motivation and engagement with the learning process.

Here are some examples of promoting student ownership and the inclusion of student voice in the secondary classroom:

Give Choice

There are many different ways you can give students choice in the classroom, for instance you could allow them to decide what activities they work on for a day or in what order activities should be completed. Another idea, is allowing students choice in terms of how they demonstrate mastery of a certain skill. This could mean working with the students to decide whether to use an assessment, presentation, essay, group project, or other means, to demonstrate their proficiency and then allowing them to complete the chosen medium.

Have Students Self-Assess

Student self-assessment can be used in multiple ways. One way is to have students grade themselves, following a rubric, or grade others anonymously. A different way in which student self-assessment can be used is through non-graded reflection activities. For example, if students collectively score very high on a reading quiz in a new unit, perhaps the teacher could give them a self-reflective assignment on why they believe they did so well. The students may tell the teacher something crucial to class planning, like that the new reading was more relatable or that the sentence structure was easier to understand (Plotinsky, 2019).

Redefine Class Participation

Not every student wants to raise their hand and express themselves audibly. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t want to engage in class activities. To truly promote ownership in the classroom, a teacher has to be willing to hear out each student, in the way in which the student wants to be heard. A teacher should give “students a variety of ways to express ideas,”  (Plotinsky, 2019). For example students, “can share thoughts with silent discourse—the process of writing a thoughtful comment or question and passing it to another student,” or “they can put sticky notes on the board with their thoughts and place check marks next to ideas that have appeal,”  (Plotinsky, 2019). By using a variety of methods you give every student a chance to participate.

Giving your students ownership in the classroom, “...is the antithesis of depersonalized, standardized, and homogenized educational experiences because it begins and ends with the thoughts, feelings, visions, and actions of the students themselves,” (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012, p.23).  I believe “...that the more educators give students choice, control, challenge, and collaborative opportunities, the more motivation and engagement are likely to rise,” (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012, p. 27).