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Empowering student voice transforms a learner from being an observer to an initiator. We've all seen students who walk in the door on the first day of school with a fixed mindset. Their previous educational experience may have led them to believe they may be great in math, but struggle in reading. These students come to us expecting to experience the same struggles and emotions they have in past years. Students may lack confidence, and be unwilling to take risks.

As educators, how can we support the development of a growth mindset that will lead to empowerment of student voice? After all, the most valuable voice in the classroom is the student's.
Ongoing Community Building to Support Growth Mindset
Educators grasp the importance of team building, but to take it further in order to shift the culture, I utilize Laurie S. Frank's "Journey Toward the Caring and Collaborative Classroom 2nd Edition: Using Adventure to Create Community." The structures are designed intentionally to support the development of students into responsible risk takers within the framework of experiential learning. Students participate in collaborative activities that work through the stages of cooperation, trust, problem solving and challenge. The debriefing period at the end of each activity is where students make growth in their ability to process, reflect, and emote. This is the foundation of student voice in the classroom as they progress though stages of growth.

Steps to Establishing Community

1. Create an environment of cooperation: move toward collaboration through pushing one's comfort zones.

2. Establish trust: the cornerstone of all learning organizations

3. Problem-solving: The key to learning - "flexible thinking."

4. Challenge: embrace and persist, opportunity for growth.

For example, in one of the problem-solving activities, students would have to toss a small ball around the circle in the shortest amount of time. After each round, it's critical to evaluate the team's results and retool for improvement in the next round. During the debriefing phase students process emotions, reflect on the experience, and then problem solve for an improved outcome. The teacher would facilitate by asking questions such as:

How did you feel during the activity?

When a peer dropped the ball, how did that make you feel?

If you dropped the ball, how did you feel about it?

What made us go quickly? What made us go slowly?

How could we improve? (Problem Solving)

How might this activity make you more of an effective problem solver?

As you can see the steps follow David Kolb's experiential learning cycle, with the final question(s) being focused on application into real life. The debriefing process allows students to practice speaking in regard to their perspective, emotions, and work collaboratively to problem solve. When they are successful as a team, it develops a cohesive culture where students collaboratively develop their collective aptitude (growth mindset).
Habits of Mind
Each month I focus on one trait from the Costa and Kallick's Habits of Mind. These soft skills are the skills and attitudes that support success in school, work, and life. Students use rubrics to monitor and reflect on their growth. Together we practice perspective taking and I structure activities that provide students with the opportunity to remain open minded. You can select traits to focus on that best support your learning environment.

http://www.mindwerx.com/files/Habits_of_Mind_Summary_Outline.pdf
Empowering Student Voice
Strategically establishing a culture that promotes responsible risk-taking opens the gates for the empowerment of student voice. Those who never envisioned themselves sharing perspective, advocating for a cause, or respectfully disagreeing with another's perspective develop the ability to do so. As educators we need to put all the structures in place to support the empowerment of student voice. Integrating community building and the Habits of Mind promotes a growth mindset. In my classroom, when we make mistakes we fail forward together because our classroom environment is supportive and non-threatening.
Classroom Tip
Create an anchor chart on the art of collaborative conversation. Model it, have students practice, reflect, and integrate it as a part of daily instruction in math, ELA, STEM, and Social Studies. Have students' peers assess each other on the Habits of Mind using a rubric. Students can assess themselves and compare rubrics - then reflect for growth. Personal reflection is the core of growth mindset, which in turn creates a positive culture where empowered student voices echo throughout the classroom.

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Empowering Student Voice Through Classroom Culture | Edutopia

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Empowering student voice transforms a learner from being an observer to an initiator. We've all seen students who walk in the door on the first day of school with a fixed mindset. Their previous educational experience may have led them to believe they may be great in math, but struggle in reading.

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Every Classroom Matters With Cool Cat Teacher

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Embracing an Open Culture in Your Classroom

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Our guest believes that the days of teachers working in isolation behind closed classroom doors should be a thing of the past. Join us as we discuss the benefits of an open culture. Follow: @coolcatteacher @gcouros #edtechchat #edchat #edtech George Couros is an Innovative Teaching, Learning, and Leadership Consultant and the author of the book, "The Innovator's Mindset."

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When asking students to explore issues of personal and social identity, teachers must provide safe spaces where students are seen, valued, cared for and respected. It is also important that students have opportunities to learn from one another's varied experiences and perspectives. To create this learning environment, teachers need to skillfully draw on student experiences to enrich the curriculum.

Teachers can show they value students' lives and identities in a variety of ways. Some are small, like taking the time to learn the proper pronunciation of every student's name or getting to know young people's families. Others require more time and investment, like building curriculum around personal narratives or incorporating identity-based responses into the study of texts. At the community level, it is important to understand neighborhood demographics, strengths, concerns, conflicts and challenges. Like students themselves, these dynamics may change frequently.

For teachers whose experiences differ from those of their students, it is critical to exercise sensitivity. They must bring the following to the effort:

An asset-based view of youth and unfamiliar identity groups

A commitment to avoiding and challenging stereotypes

A sense of openness and cultural humility

A willingness to let students define their own identities

Connection to Anti-bias Education

Honoring student experience supports three of the four anti-bias domains: Identity, Diversity and Action. Students who feel their experiences are unwelcome, judged, stereotyped, disrespected or invisible find it extremely difficult to engage in meaningful discussion of identity and justice issues. Those whose stories and voices are heard and reflected in the classroom are more likely to engage with anti-bias curriculum and translate their learning into action.

Knowing and valuing students' lives provides other benefits:

Ability to identify potential "hot spots" on key topics.

Development of caring student-teacher relationships that support effective identity-based learning.

Development of intergroup awareness and understanding.

Direction in the selection of texts that are relevant to a particular class.

Appreciation of student contributions to discussions.

Strategies

Classroom-Reflective Texts Coupled with Nonjudgmental Dialogue

Choosing texts that reflect classroom demographics and following the readings with discussions or reflective writing assignments can provide teachers with powerful information about their students' hopes, concerns, strengths and life circumstances. These practices also open channels of understanding among students. Successful conversations about issues of identity frequently lead to deeper dialogue about students' own backgrounds and the experiences of others.

Share Stories That Make Room for Student Sharing

Personal anecdotes-respectfully and thoughtfully shared by teachers-have great power. Stories should be chosen carefully, kept brief, and told at a level that invites appropriate student sharing.

Community Study or Student-Led Walking Tour

Community studies usually address up to three questions; structure can vary greatly and may involve research, interviews, art, writing, video or other media. A walking tour should also focus on a few themes and ask students to highlight neighborhood places they find meaningful in relation to a relevant social issue. Student age and physical limitations should be taken into consideration when planning a walking tour.

Without saying a word, classrooms send messages about diversity, relationship building, communication and the roles of teachers and students. Consider the different messages sent by these two classrooms:

Classroom 1

Desks are arranged in a U shape. The teacher's desk is in the front center of the room. On the wall is a poster of U.S. presidents, a copy of the Declaration of Independence and inspiring quotes from Winston Churchill, Robert F. Kennedy and Albert Einstein. Students are working quietly on an independent assignment.

Classroom 2

Desks are arranged in clusters of four with students facing one another. The teacher's desk is in the back corner of the room. On the wall is a display of student self-portraits, a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and inspiring quotes from Maya Angelou and César Chávez. Students are working with their table-mates on a group project.

Classroom setup should be student centered. Specifics will vary from teacher to teacher and class to class, but common elements include these:

Classroom milieu. Classrooms should be decorated with multicultural images that mirror student backgrounds and showcase the diversity of our society.

Arrangement of furniture and supplies. The arrangement will look different depending on age group and subject, but all teachers can draw on these goals when setting up a classroom: supporting collaboration, fostering dialogue, encouraging ownership and ensuring comfort.

Student roles and responsibilities. Classrooms will be most effective when structured to maximize student voice and participation.

Classroom norms. Norms and expectations should take into account different cultural and communication styles, as well as gender differences, language needs and the desire to challenge stereotypes. Students should be involved in setting classroom norms to generate buy-in.

Connection to Anti-bias Education

Thoughtful classroom setup and structure supports two of the four anti-bias domains: Diversity and Justice. A welcoming class space sets the tone for participatory engagement. Diverse images affect students' conscious and subconscious understanding of classroom values. Expectations and practices that honor diverse backgrounds also create a more just and equitable educational experience.

Strategies

Classroom "Audit"

A (nonjudgmental) classroom audit involves "reading" the messages conveyed by the images on the walls, the books on the shelves and the arrangement of the furniture with an eye toward diversity, equity and student empowerment. The audit also includes considering the types of interactions that teachers have with students and that students have with one another.

Student Jobs and Ownership of Classroom Space

Many daily tasks can be done by students who, given the opportunity, may create new and interesting ways to approach them. Real-world lessons related to work and responsibility can be reinforced in a classroom. Students can apply for a position and be rewarded or promoted for a job well done. Some classroom jobs might involve passing out materials, documenting or taking notes, managing a classroom library, filing papers or helping with a bulletin board. The job of "peacemaker" can work nicely in classrooms where students have been trained in conflict resolution. Jobs in a responsive classroom can accommodate multiple learning styles such as artistic, kinesthetic and verbal.

Gender-Neutral Practices

Many teachers, especially at the elementary level, seat or group students along gender lines. However, not everyone fits traditional gender categories. Some students may feel they are truly a different gender than their physical bodies suggest; others might not fit neatly into either the male or female identity category. Using gender-neutral categories or allowing students to choose the group with which they identify affirms the experiences of all students.

Differences shape who we are and what we know. Life, history, society and power cannot be understood from a single perspective; we need multiple viewpoints to truly see the world. Because of this, inclusive classrooms must function as learning communities built on shared inquiry and dialogue.

Dialogue is more than conversation. It is also different than debate, in which someone wins and someone loses. Dialogue requires openness to new ideas and collective learning. This is not an easy practice; for students (and teachers) to engage in dialogue, they must build and exercise specific skills:

Listening. Deeply listening to what others say and to the feelings, experiences and wisdom behind what they say.

Humility. Recognizing that, however passionately we hold ideas and opinions, other people may hold pieces of the puzzle that we don't.

Respect. Trusting the integrity of others, believing they have the right to their opinions (even when different from your own) and valuing others enough to risk sharing ideas.

Trust. Building a safe space to explore new ideas and work through conflicts, controversy and painful moments that may arise when talking about issues of injustice and oppression.

Voice. Speaking the truth as we see it and asking questions about things we don't know or understand, particularly on topics related to identity, power and justice.

Connection to Anti-bias Education

Shared inquiry and dialogue support two of the four anti-bias domains: Diversity and Action. Building the skills necessary to explore multiple perspectives fosters critical thinking, complex textual understanding and appreciation for diversity. Dialogue also supports active listening, respectful sharing and conflict resolution. A culture of shared inquiry offers a lived example of meaningful collaborative work and a model for community building.

Strategies

Naming Shared Inquiry as a Goal

Because many students experience classrooms that do not value shared inquiry and dialogue, it is important for teachers to create a safe environment before asking students to engage in this work. Safety can be established by discussing principles of engagement, demonstrating the teacher's commitment to collective learning or creating a set of discussion agreements.

Teaching Active Listening Skills

Active listening is a way of hearing and responding to another person that requires the listener to stop thinking about his or her own ideas and focus on the speaker. Active listening behavior includes asking good questions, listening without judgment and paraphrasing. These behaviors can be modeled through the use of talking circles or ordered sharing. Short practice activities can also strengthen active listening skills.

Rethinking Participation Norms

To most teachers, class participation means contributing to discussions, volunteering to answer questions or otherwise engaging in verbal exchanges. However, participation does not have to be verbal; gender, culture and ability may affect student comfort levels with verbal communication. Modeling equity and inclusiveness calls for a broader definition of participation that includes active listening, written response, artistic response and involvement in small groups. These options should all be valued as classroom participation.

Addressing Conflicts and Hurt Feelings

Teachers need to prepare for possible conflicts or hurt feelings when exploring personally or politically sensitive material. Teachers can encourage students to publicly or privately name "ouch moments"-times when comments or reactions (usually unintentional) cause upset or discomfort. It is also helpful for teachers to check in with students who seem upset as a result of a class activity or conversation.

Social-emotional learning, respect and safety are as important as literacy and critical thinking skills when exploring an anti-bias curriculum. Research shows that students need to feel both physically and emotionally safe to learn. This includes safety from stereotype threat, harassment and exclusion.

Creating a safe climate takes time and work. These are some of the most important components:

Active teaching of social-emotional skills

Attention to creating positive relationships

Bullying prevention and intervention

Community building

Explicit focus on understanding and appreciating differences

Meaningful conflict resolution

Teaching students to challenge bias and exclusion

Upstander training

Work on classroom climate and social-emotional learning cannot simply focus on empathy, kindness and inclusion. Social difference and bias underlie many unsafe and exclusionary behaviors; these issues need to be discussed explicitly. Appreciation for multicultural perspectives is also critical when teaching about relationship building, conflict management and community. This helps students learn to draw on many traditions and experiences and address social divisions in the classroom.

Connection to Anti-bias Education

Prioritizing social and emotional safety supports three of the four anti-bias domains: Identity, Diversity and Action. This practice supports a classroom community in which students feel secure enough to engage in respectful, productive conversations about identity and diversity. This work also models actions necessary to nurture inclusive, respectful connections across lines of difference.

Strategies

Classroom Contracts

A contract of norms and behaviors can help define the classroom community as a socially and emotionally safe place. Students should participate in shaping the contract, identifying a list of agreements about how class members will treat one another, talk together and so on. Issues such as identity, difference and power should be addressed explicitly. For example, a contract could include "Listen with respect to the experiences of others," "Try to understand what someone is saying before rushing to judgment" or "Put-downs of any kind are never OK."

Explicit Anti-bullying or Community-Building Curricula

Many powerful anti-bullying and community- building curricula, when integrated into the regular school curriculum, can build social-emotional skills and teach students to manage conflict. Below are a few suggested resources. Not all address diversity or bias issues specifically; be sure to add these issues to the existing materials if they're missing.

Tribes Learning Community. Research-based approaches to classroom and school-wide community building, social-emotional education and the development of positive learning communities (all grades).

Respect for All Project (GroundSpark). Award-winning films, curriculum guides and teacher training on issues of bias-based bullying, family diversity, gender role expectations and LGBT inclusivity (all grades).

Steps to Respect/Second Step (Committee for Children). Research-based social-emotional learning and bullying-prevention programs (pre-K through middle school).

Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History (Learning for Justice). Documentary and teaching guide about one student's ordeal at the hands of anti-gay bullies and his fight against hate and harassment (middle and high school).

A Guide to the Film Bully by Lee Hirsch (Facing History and Ourselves). Film and discussion guide on bullying and its profound impact on several different students and families (middle and high school).

Participation in Mix It Up at Lunch Day

Mix It Up is a Learning for Justice program designed to help students identify, question and cross social boundaries. Launched in 2001, Mix It Up recognizes that some of the deepest social divisions in schools are found in the cafeteria. Each fall, Learning for Justice sponsors a national Mix It Up at Lunch Day when schools around the country encourage students to move out of their comfort zones and share a meal with peers who are different from them.

Discipline and behavior management are central to classroom culture. How are students encouraged to treat one another? What happens when they make poor choices or present behavioral challenges? What shapes student-teacher interactions? And what happens when conflicts arise?

This critical practice asks teachers to think about behavior management in light of five key principles:

Belief in the dignity of every person

Community building

Equity and fairness

Respect for cultural differences

Respect for the safety and inclusion of all individuals and groups

These values can be creatively infused into disciplinary practices. However, in general, responsive classrooms address three key aspects.

First, behavior management systems must support safe, inclusive communities by enforcing high standards for respectful interaction; incorporating student-generated discipline policies; teaching conflict resolution; and actively addressing all instances of bias, bullying, exclusion or disrespect.

Second, disciplinary incidents must go beyond punishment and be treated as opportunities for growth, restitution and community building. This is not to say that rules violations should not be met with consequences. However, if community respect is to be a core classroom value, students should not be cast out of the group, even if they struggle to live up to expectations.

Finally, behavior management practices must reflect fairness, equity and cultural awareness. Research shows that students of color and special education students face disproportionate rates of discipline, suspension and expulsion. These patterns have devastating social consequences. Applying disciplinary rules fairly requires self-awareness and willingness to suspend judgment (positive as well as negative) about individual students. Culture also plays a role in disciplinary judgments; in some cases, "inappropriate behaviors" may reflect a cultural mismatch between the norms of the school and the norms of a student's home culture. Teachers can better understand the relationship between culture and discipline by working on a related critical practice: self-awareness and cultural competency.

Connection to Anti-bias Education

Taking a values-based approach to behavior management and discipline supports one of the four anti-bias domains: Justice. This practice exposes students to community-building goals and to a system of justice that values all people and builds connections rather than creates divisions.

Strategies

Student-Generated Agreements and Contracts

Involving students in the design of classroom discipline policies can go a long way toward establishing buy-in and shared ownership of classroom culture. Ideally, students will work on the policies as a class, but teachers can also work individually with students who need extra support.

"Zero Indifference" but Not Zero Tolerance

Although zero-tolerance policies are popular, mounting evidence suggests that this approach does not make schools safer. An alternative (recommended by the American Civil Liberties Union; GLSEN; the Anti-Defamation League; the Respect for All Project; and Learning for Justice) is taking a "zero-indifference" approach to bullying, harassment and other disciplinary issues. Zero indifference means never letting disrespectful conduct go unaddressed; school staff always name and respond to behaviors, but they do not implement automatic suspension, expulsion or other punishments.

Restorative Justice

Restorative justice is an approach to school discipline (and criminal justice) that emphasizes repairing harm and restoring relationships rather than simply punishing those who have engaged in misconduct. Restorative justice spans a wide variety of practices and strategies, including peacemaking circles, peer jury processes, mediation, conferencing and classroom discussions focused on building empathy.

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When asking students to explore issues of personal and social identity, teachers must provide safe spaces where students are seen, valued, cared for and respected. It is also important that students have opportunities to learn from one another's varied experiences and perspectives.

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This is part two of the summer PD series, based on the requests I received from the elementary level teachers that I work with. Part one, which is , is about common mental health conditions seen in children who may come into your class.
Maya Angelou was once quoted as saying, "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." When educators make an effort to focus on classroom culture, they take this quote to heart. Many, in the process, find that they also help students make more academic gains as well.

Towards the end of last school year, several staff members came to me requesting any input I might have into establishing, or reestablishing a positive classroom culture. At times things just get out of sync and they were noticing things like decreased effort and increased inappropriate behaviors and as such they were feeling frazzled and were worried about the impact it would have on the lessons that they were trying to teach. When I started looking into classroom culture, I expected to see tons of material available about how teachers can create an environment that supports the learning of all students. Searching for a checklist of sorts that shows educators how to provide structure and allow for individuality and personal attention did not produce many results. Most of what I found about classroom setup was related to classroom discipline, the physical setup of the classroom, and organization. Furthermore, with all the attention given to curriculum and instructional methods it continues to surprise me that minimal attention is given to emotional connection within the classroom, especially given the research that supports the importance of school culture and improved outcomes.

Some of the outcomes that can be directly linked to strong school culture are:

Increases student engagement

Decreases teacher frustration and burnout

Improves student outcomes

Additional benefits like more collaborative relationships between parents and teachers are also common. The question is, how do schools and individual teachers bring the somewhat abstract concept of school culture into more tangible action points? Some schools who've been successful lead us in the right direction.

In his book, Connecting in Your Classroom, Neal Starkman highlighted five teacher attitudes that supported connection between them and their students. He said teachers need to be trusting, engaging, asset-building, caring, and hard-working. These traits really are just the foundation. They assure that teachers are in the best possible position to establish strong attachment with students.

One definition of culture, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is "the attitudes and behavior characteristics of a particular social group." Supporting the development of a shared system of attitudes and behaviors between students in your classroom, who often come to school with a set of beliefs all their own, can be a tall order for educators also trying to help students have academic success. If you're not sure what attitudes or behaviors you really want to focus on for the year, here are a few questions to get your juices flowing:

What feeling do I want my students to have when they are in my classroom?

What kind of relationships do I want my students to have with each other?

If my students could only learn one thing this year, what would I want that one thing to be?

Relationships
Once you've focused on these questions and even brainstormed a few key words that can become the anchor of your classroom culture, then you can look at ways to link these with what I believe are the core principles of a strong classroom culture.
Challenge Question: Having daily emotional connection is critical. Does your class have a check-in, check out system? Look for a quick and easy way to have students let you know how they feel. Whether you have a Twitter board that allows older kids to add a tweet for the day, or smiley faces that younger kids can customize to show what they are feeling, allowing for that safe expression really does help build relationship. Structure
The first core principle is relationships. Relationships between teachers and students and students with each other can either create healthy or defective classroom culture. Like any relationship, connection takes time, but there are some immediate actions that support positive attachment. It is important that we seek first to understand, then to be understood, which can be difficult with 25+ students in a room. But establishing a pattern of spending a little time at least weekly-but possibly daily-on getting to know each other is a good place to start. One technique I encourage is for teachers to give students the love language test by Dr. Gary Chapman. Similar data can be gained from forced choice surveys which force students to pick from two options, like whether they want free time or to have their paper used as a positive example in front of the class. But what this does is allow for praise that is effective for students, and not superficial. These also give students a deeper way of connecting with each other. Maybe you have a group of kids whose love language is all quality time, so perhaps you plan to have an individual lunch with each of them through the course of the semester. For some kids, this might feel like a punishment, but by being intentional you strike a deeper connection.
Challenge Question: What are three areas of your classroom structure where you can give your students some control? If you're feeling a little uneasy about this one, push yourself and come up with a couple ideas and then let the students choose between two options you already approve of. Ideally, you want them to take some ownership, but giving them a vote between two choices also moves things in the right direction. Process
The second principle is structure. This includes things like classroom routines and discipline policies which should be easily accessible and understood by all. Falling under this category includes how students can be expected to learn and relearn content whether it be curricular or behavioral. It's important to note that structure is not about the teacher being in control, but more about the teacher providing a framework of boundaries, and allowing students some freedom and autonomy within that framework. In my book, Drag 'Em Kicking and Screaming: Your 7 Step Action Plan to At-Risk Student Success, my co-authors and I describe practicing the art of facilitation, which is more about guiding and directing than it is about control. Kids need to know that you are there to oversee and maintain order, but they also need to know that they are empowered to handle some challenges on their own. As a wonderful bonus, this also helps to keep you from constantly breaking up disputes.
Challenge Question: How can you recognize, and potentially reward, your student's attention to the process and not the outcomes in your classroom? Can you recognize the amount of time they spend reading and not the score on the reading test? Think of three ways and choose one or two to use regularly.
The third principle, which I like to call the Magic School Bus principle, is about an intentional focus on the process of learning and not the outcomes. I know this can be hard, given the attention to data and common core standards, but students who only care about the grade, particularly when they struggle with grades, can quickly become disenfranchised by academics when they do not reach the achievement that they desire and subsequently throw the classroom dynamics into upheaval. Marcus Lemonis, of the television show, The Profit, uses a tagline about his business interests being about people, process, and product. Make sure that in your classroom, your attention goes in that order. Grades are the product. Sometimes practice on the process takes longer than we would hope, but keeping your students' attention on learning, making, messing, and allowing for mistakes assures that even when they don't achieve perfection they don't discount the journey.

So this sounds easy, right? I know that all of these are all characteristics that teachers naturally strive to have. One might even say that some of these strategies and values are even prerequisites to aspiring to a career in teaching. However, with the attention given to quantitative instructional practices, these traits can unfortunately take a back seat in most of the schools in the country. Intentionally considering these traits, and devoting attention to incorporating them effectively and efficiently is a wonderful beginning for creating a classroom culture that supports student success.

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author: Linda M. Gross Cheliotes and Marceta F. Reilly

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3 Steps to Creating a Positive Classroom Culture - Corwin Connect

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This is part two of the summer PD series, based on the requests I received from the elementary level teachers that I work with. Part one, which is , is about common mental health conditions seen in children who may come into your class.

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September 2018 | Volume 76 | Number 1
Classroom Management Reimagined Pages 12-18

Lee Ann Jung and Dominique Smith

Mr. Hill stops reading aloud to his 4th grade students and turns to Anisa. "Anisa, you're off task. Change your clip. I asked you once and you are still digging in your desk. Walk over and change it now."

Anisa stands and walks across the classroom. Several of her peers make condescending comments under their breath. Anisa moves her clip from green to yellow and returns to her desk and puts her head down. Her nonverbal behaviors indicate that she's angry, hurt, and frustrated.

A few minutes later, Josh raises his hand. Mr. Hill calls on him and Josh responds, "Anisa is off task again."

Mr. Hill looks at Anisa and says, "Again? Please change your clip to red. One more problem and it will be another call home. You have to learn to pay attention."

A Practice That Harms

Scenes like this are common in schools today. Pass through the halls of almost any elementary school and you are likely to at some point hear "pull a red ticket" or "you're on yellow now." Behavior charts-and their variants-are standard in elementary schools throughout the world. They represent a practice long overdue for retirement.

In thinking about this strategy for managing student behavior, we challenge you to ask yourself a question: Why are you are an educator and why do you continue to be an educator? Did you respond with, "to show students who's boss?" or "to help the students who are already doing well to succeed?" Of course not. Your response was probably some version of, "I want to make a difference" or "I want to be the teacher students need in their lives." We posed this question because we can't move forward in the argument we're about to make until we share a strong understanding of our ultimate goal as educators. Most of us are in education to make a difference in our students' lives and help them become their best selves-aspirations that, in our view, aren't compatible with behavior charts.

In working with students, we've often seen adolescents display challenging behaviors that have evolved over years. We've wondered to what extent their behavioral paths could have been corrected in early-childhood classrooms rather than exacerbated by stigmatizing practices like behavior charts. Braithwaite's shaming theory (1989) highlights the connections between stigmatizing shame and later delinquency. According to Braithwaite, "shaming means all societal processes of expressing disapproval which have the intention or effect of invoking remorse in the person being shamed and/or condemnation by others who become aware of the shaming" (p. 100). Although the relationship between shame and later behavior is complex, empirical studies provide enough evidence to compel us to stop shaming young children and instead build strong relationships and seek alternative methods to promote prosocial behaviors.

We present here three reasons to abandon behavior charts. If such charts are used in your school, we encourage you to have an open mind as you consider our reasoning. And we hope you take down those charts tomorrow and consider trying the alternatives we propose to foster positive behavior.

1. Compliance Isn't Our Long-term Goal

Behavior charts do an excellent job of teaching children that they will be punished if they don't comply with directions or rules. Although this may work in the short-term to make some students compliant, compliance shouldn't be our end game. We can shoot so much higher than that! We want students to be engaged and excited about learning, to persist when their work is hard, and to interact with others in ways that will lead to positive social and academic outcomes in the future.

Art Costa and Bena Kallick (2000) have done beautiful work organizing and describing the skills and behaviors educators should cultivate in all our students, what they term habits of mind. These lifelong skills-like persisting, managing impulsivity, and listening to others with empathy-improve students' competence, confidence, and ultimate success across the curriculum and in life. Such skills are arguably more important than the content we teach; the content is merely a vehicle for teaching them. Solidifying these habits is what teachers should aim toward. Otherwise, we run the risk of creating what William Deresiewicz (2015) called "excellent sheep"-students who play the game of school but lack true engagement and critical thinking.

2. Behavior Charts Can't Teach Self-Regulation

Teaching the whole child is our responsibility. If we are to be effective in our work, faculty at all levels must be able to teach habits of mind such as self-regulation, a key skill for shifting toward more positive behavior. Simply rewarding and punishing behaviors is not what helps students learn such habits and skills. It's particularly ineffective with self-regulation.

Punishments work to reduce behaviors by immediately following a behavior we don't want to see with a consequence that the child doesn't like (Alberto & Troutman, 2002). Thus, behavior charts can reduce a student's problematic behavior if the student dislikes negative public attention-or public shaming. This is a questionable strategy to begin with since it's based on stressing out the student rather than cultivating new aptitudes. But for many students, negative attention is something they've gotten used to, or worse, something over which they feel they have no control. Their identity has become "the kid who is bad." Have you noticed that most of the time the student who is "on red" today is the same one who was "on red" yesterday and the day before? And is likely to be "on red" all year long? What does it tell us if the intervention being put in place doesn't lead to a change in students' behavior? Clearly, the strategy isn't working. Why would we continue to use any strategy that isn't working?

Decades of research have led to a body of evidence on how educators can effectively support and teach key skills like self-regulation (Heckhausen & Dweck, 2009). Nowhere in the literature do researchers recommend that we shame children into being compliant.

3. Charts Hurt Students!

The most compelling reason to abandon behavior charts is this: They risk harming our students. Lee Ann still remembers the painful effect of the color behavior chart a teacher used when her son, Spencer, was in 1st grade. Spencer was a sensitive "people pleaser" as a young child. He preferred to do what he needed to do with little public attention, but he valued personal relationships. He was kind to everyone around him and worked hard in school. One afternoon, Spencer came home from school distraught because he'd had to "move his stick." He'd gone to school without a paper signed by Lee Ann and, in front of the class, his teacher reprimanded him and asked him to move his stick from green to yellow. Spencer felt as though he had failed and let his teacher down. He was embarrassed and affected by the event for days.

Fortunately, Spencer's experience was a one-time event. But consider the inner voice of the student who is "on red" nearly every day. When we reprimand a student in front of their peers, we risk changing that student's inner voice, shifting their identity to the "bad kid," isolating the student from peers, and disrupting their relationship with their teachers. At worst, we risk making a student feel unloved. Imagine the devastating effects for a child who gets most of her or his love at school.

Instead of using charts, we could just as effectively reduce undesirable behaviors by dumping ice water on a student or inflicting corporal punishment. Did you furrow your brow at that thought? We would never do that! We would never use physical punishment on a student in an effort to shape behavior-or even want a student to learn to avoid certain behaviors out of fear of physical harm. So why don't we have the same visceral reaction to emotional punishment?

Consider who this practice harms the most. Not the student who has a handle on self-regulation and performs well in school. It's the students who need us the most who we are hurting. Behavior charts are a way to excuse ourselves from the hard work of meeting a student's self-regulation and behavior needs. The fact of the matter is, when we use behavior charts, we are sacrificing student dignity in favor of teacher convenience.

Alternative to Sticks, Clips, and Charts

Perhaps we've convinced you to stand up right now, run down the halls of the school, and tear down the behavior charts. But before you jump out of your chair, you might be asking, "What do we do instead? If I don't have consequences in place, my classroom will be chaos." As we advocate for avoiding punitive approaches within schools, we often hear rumblings that alternative disciplinary strategies are too soft and "touchy-feely." Dominique has even heard restorative practices-that is, those based on reconciliation and understanding-referred to as the "hug a thug" approach.

Rest assured, we don't recommend removing structures or accountability. We advocate for putting behavioral structures in place, just not punitive ones. We want students to be held accountable in more natural ways and to have a chance to learn the impact of their actions on others. We want them to build empathy, persistence, or whatever skills they need to behave appropriately-and for those positive behaviors to become internally driven.

There are effective, humane, growth-producing ways to teach students that their behaviors impact others. True, there may be a bit of an adjustment period when changing to a new system. But our students' self-worth and long-term success are worth any temporary disruption we may encounter. To move away from the reactive approach of behavior charts, we recommend teachers put into place three proactive strategies.

1. "Take Ten" for Each Learner

Set aside 10 minutes each day to sit with one student (focusing on each of your students in turn). Talk about something non-school-related that's of interest to that child. When educators build strong, caring relationships with their students, each student naturally wants to protect that relationship and avoid anything that might damage it. Students' behaviors and approaches to learning in the classroom are then driven by relationships, not fear.

Teachers need to know as much as possible about what makes each student unique and special-her personal interests, what excites him, what delights her, what he fears. We need to understand much more than their academic strengths and needs; we need to know the whole child-who they truly are-and allow them to know our true selves, too.

Students should feel that teachers are on their side. Imagine how differently the opening anecdote might have turned out if Anisa's teacher had built a strong relationship with her.

2. Keep It Off-Stage

Stop making discipline for poor behavior visible. Students tend to react negatively when they're called out in front of others. Instead, when a student's inappropriate behavior needs to be addressed, have a one-on-one conversation with the student, staying calm but firm. When possible, avoid publicly calling a student aside for this talk: Publicly-and perhaps angrily-telling a child to come talk with you can have the same humiliating effect as a behavior chart. Instead, after class invite that student to have a conversation with you or quietly ask them to talk with you at a time when other students are otherwise engaged.

Be calm and supportive in discussing the behavior. To maintain your relationship with the student, always conclude by ensuring the student understands that although you are unhappy with the behavior, you still care about them and are there to support them in their growth.

3. Hear Students Out

Before acting on any student behavior, try to understand why it happened. When a student needs a corrective conversation, first ask to hear his side of the story. Generally, students prefer to have a conversation with a teacher rather than having a teacher conversation happen to them.

There's always a reason why students are acting as they do. Stop asking "What's wrong with that student?" and start figuring out what happened to that student. This may mean asking questions that prompt the student to reflect on the behavior and its effects on others. Students often have a hard time knowing why they acted in a certain way. It's only once their emotion has calmed-and through a guided analysis-that they can identify the reason.

Once a learner understands the underlying reason, we can guide him or her to consider alternatives for next time and discuss any consequence that needs to follow. Even students who are caught in a pattern of disruptive or harmful behaviors-perhaps especially those students-benefit from being heard. Certainly, there are times when we must intervene and stop a behavior, such as if it is causing harm or severe disruption. We may need to remove the student from the situation immediately to restore a calm, safe environment-and later teach that student the self-regulation skills needed to prevent such behavior in the future. The key is that the subsequent conversation should be private and should be about the behavior rather than the person.

Students Deserve Better

Imagine how much better things might have turned out if, in the opening scenario, instead of scolding Anisa, Mr. Hill had tried some of the techniques described here. He might've noted that Anisa was having difficulty remaining engaged in the reading and lesson and, after finishing the group read-aloud, approached her while everyone else was gathering their things and moving to stations for the next lesson. Imagine if he'd said, "Anisa, I saw you were having trouble staying with me today. I'm worried that if you aren't paying attention to the lesson, you'll miss something important to your learning. What was going on today?" Mr. Hill might have found out that Anisa was actually looking for a pencil to write down ideas that occurred to her as he read aloud. He might then have affirmed, "That seems to be happening a lot lately-trouble finding your pencil and other materials. Let's find some time today to see if we can come up with an organization solution, OK?" With such a response, Mr. Hill would've acknowledged the need for a change in Anisa's behavior, but not stigmatized Anisa as a "bad kid;" rather, he would have helped her develop a solution.

All students deserve this kind of supportive response. We are calling out the practice of behavior charts for what it really is: public shaming of children into compliance. We have many good strategies available for teaching self-regulation; humiliation isn't one of them. Let's stop "managing behaviors" and instead guide and support engagement, persistence, and positive interactions. Let's build relationships that promote growth of the whole child-and the skills each student needs for a lifetime of positive interactions and success.

Now, go tear down some charts!

Authors' note: All teacher and student names are pseudonyms.

References

Alberto, A. A., & Troutman, A. C. (2002). Applied behavior analysis for teachers. (6th edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Braithwaite, J. (1989). Crime, shame, and reintegration. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (2000). Discovering and exploring habits of mind. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Deresiewicz, W. (2015). Excellent sheep: The miseducation of the American elite and the way to a meaningful life. New York: Free Press.

Heckhausen, J., & Dweck, C. S. (2009). Motivation and self-regulation across the life span. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lee Ann Jung ( www.leadinclusion.org) is the founder of Lead Inclusion and clinical professor at San Diego State University. She consults with schools internationally in the areas of inclusion, standards-based grading, intervention planning, and progress monitoring. Dominique Smith is chief of educational services and teacher support at Health Sciences High and Middle College in San Diego, California. Follow them on Twitter @leeannjung and @domsmithRP.

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September 2018 | Volume 76 | Number 1 Classroom Management Reimagined Pages 12-18 Lee Ann Jung and Dominique Smith Mr. Hill stops reading aloud to his 4th grade students and turns to Anisa. "Anisa, you're off task. Change your clip. I asked you once and you are still digging in your desk.

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September 2018 | Volume 76 | Number 1
Classroom Management Reimagined Pages 26-33

Mike Anderson

When we step back, however, we realize that the reality of teaching students appropriate behaviors is much more complex. Punishing a student for a misbehavior offers us the illusion that we've held that student accountable, but have we really? Or have we only created a façade of accountability without actually helping that student learn and grow?

Common Stumbling Blocks

Let's consider six reasons educators struggle with consequences, and how we might avoid each obstacle and employ consequences more effectively.

1. "Consequences" Means Different Things to Different People

One reason adults in schools often struggle with reaching common ground on consequences is that when we use the term consequences, we're not all talking about the same thing. There are several different types of consequences for problematic behavior, so we should be clear about which type we're discussing or using.

Natural consequences don't require any adult action or intervention; they simply happen. If Maria doesn't wear a coat to recess on a chilly day, she'll be cold. If Markus cheats while playing a game with other students, they might not want to play with him anymore. Natural consequences can be great learning opportunities for students, as long as they're not overly damaging. We wouldn't, for example, let a kindergartener jump off the top of the play structure. A broken leg is too harsh a teacher. Similarly, we wouldn't allow a sophomore to simply not do any work all semester without support or intervention.

Logical consequences differ from natural ones in that they require adults to implement them. If Brad is getting overly silly while working with a friend, his teacher might tell him to find another spot to work. According to Jane Nelsen , effective logical consequences fit four criteria: they must be related to the behavior, respectful of the student, reasonable for the student to carry out, and (whenever possible) revealed in advance so the student knows the potential consequences of their actions ahead of time. These kinds of consequences can be powerful in maintaining calm, safe, and respectful learning environments.

Punishments are the antithesis of logical consequences. They're often harsh and frequently involve shaming students. Kelly is building towers with her base-10 blocks instead of using them to solve math challenges. Her teacher calls in an exasperated tone, "Kelly! Clip down!" Kelly walks to the front of the room with her head drooping and moves her clip from yellow to red. Jamal is fooling around in the cafeteria and spills milk all over the floor. The staff member on duty declares, "Oh, Jamal! You're going to stay after lunch today to mop the whole cafeteria floor!" Punishments do more harm than good. They can breed resentment and diminish students' sense of self, often leading to even more disruptive behavior in the future. They can even model bullying, in which people with more power (teachers) impose their will on others (students) through force.

Doing It Better

By planning ahead, educators can gain more consistency and ensure they rely on natural and logical consequences rather than punishments, even in the heat of the moment. Why not have a group of teachers generate a list of common behavior mistakes kids make in your school? For each mistake, teachers can consider whether any natural consequence is likely to work, brainstorm logical consequences to try, and consider common punishments to avoid.

2. We Try to Get Consistent with Consequences Before We're Consistent in Beliefs

Many factors go into our personal beliefs about effective discipline. The way we were raised, both at home and in school, is a huge one that often lurks below the surface. Our teacher-preparation programs and internships play a large role in how we view discipline in schools, and even the way we approach problem behaviors as parents can impact how we interact with students. With so many factors influencing how we view discipline and so many various (often conflicting) methods floating around, it's easy to see why approaches can differ greatly from one classroom to the next.

There's an underlying instinct in schools to view discipline the way U.S. society views parenting-you do your thing, I'll do mine, and we stay out of each other's business. A colleague commented that she sees schools having more success adopting (and implementing with fidelity) common academic curricula than behavioral ones. Educators seem to be more comfortable being responsible to each other around, say, literacy strategies than around discipline strategies.

This presents a huge problem when we work toward a more consistent implementation of consequences in a school. In several schools in which I've worked, there's a difference in philosophy between classroom teachers and administrators and counselors, which is evident when students are removed from classrooms for disruptive behavior. Teachers sometimes believe that students should be penalized-shamed and punished-when they're sent out. Counselors and administrators often believe students need to be calmed down-reregulated-so they can get back to class and reengage in learning. Teachers see kids come back to class looking calm (and even in a good mood!) and feel like they haven't been supported. ("I send them out of the room, and nothing happens!") Administrators see teachers looking upset when they bring a student back, and feel unappreciated. ("I helped get an out-of-control kid back in control, and the teacher isn't satisfied!")

While these two groups have a different set of beliefs about the goals and purposes of consequences, it's going to be almost impossible to come to any kind of consistent implementation of practices. Additionally, resentment is likely to build between staff members.

Doing It Better

As a faculty, work at coming to a consensus around a few shared positive beliefs about children and discipline. (Examples: All kids want to do well. All students want to be a positive member of a community. All students need caring adults in their lives.) Begin by having everyone brainstorm their own list. Next, join people together in pairs and have them create a list of positive beliefs they share. Then, have partners join together into groups of four, and again, have groups create one list of shared beliefs-ones that are positive and that all agree on. Continue this process until you have come together as one group. Use this list whenever discussing discipline challenges in the school. Ask, "Are we acting in ways that are consistent with our positive beliefs?"

3. We Want Consequences to "Work," but Haven't Defined What That Means

Teachers often think, "I'm looking for a consequence that works." But what exactly do we mean by "works"? This gets to one of the most complex issues surrounding consequences. Knowing how to choose the right reaction to misbehavior requires us to understand what consequences can and can't do. Let's look at this issue more closely.

Consequences can stop misbehavior in the moment. If we have a class rule that says that we will be safe, and two students are shoving in line, we split those students up. This creates a tone of safety and order.

Consequences can get students back on track. If Jesse is playing Fortnite on his phone instead of working on his research project, and you say "Jesse, put your phone on my desk. You can get it back at the end of the period," you've just acted as Jesse's prefrontal cortex, enabling him to get back to work.

Consequences can be part of how students learn. Stacy is playing with her snack. Her pretzels drop on the floor and she spills her milk, then asks for another bag of pretzels. "Nope," we reply. "Students get one bag of pretzels. Here's a dustpan and brush to clean up the mess." The natural consequence of losing her snack and the logical consequence of having to clean up help Stacy learn to be more careful.

Consequences can't teach missing skills. As Ross Greene notes, punishing a kid doesn't teach that kid the skills he or she needs to be successful. Even natural and logical consequences can't teach capabilities that students don't already possess. If a student doesn't have the self-soothing skills needed to handle frustration, giving her a consequence when she melts down over a test won't help her the next time a test rolls around.

Consequences can't work as our only strategy. Imagine if we tried to teach students to write by simply circling their errors and making them rework their writing. While this might be one strategy to use as students are revising and editing, we know that they'll also need direct instruction in effective writing strategies, time to practice and make mistakes, and a nurturing environment.

So, what should we expect from consequences that "work"? We should expect that consequences will help us manage students' behaviors in the short-term, allowing us to put out little fires as they pop up. If we want to reduce future fires, we'll need to engage in lots of proactive teaching.

Doing It Better

Educators might brainstorm two lists: one of consequences that help manage behavior in the moment and one of strategies other than consequences that teach positive behavior and support long-term growth in skills. The first list will contain things like making a student who runs in the hall go back and walk. The second will include strategies like modeling appropriate behavior or collaboratively creating rules with students. Hang these lists in the staff room as a reminder to use strategies from both lists.

4. We Miss the Middle Ground

When we don't use consequences at all (or wait too long to use them), we become permissive. When adults set limits but don't follow through, students feel unsafe, which often leads them to push limits. It's almost like they're begging us to be in control-to keep them safe. A high school student recently told me about a kid who runs into class and vaults into his chair each day. His teacher always says, "Don't do that again," and he replies, "Okay." The next day, he repeats the performance. The student telling me this story was exasperated at both his classmate's immaturity and his teacher's inaction.

However, the overuse of consequences-especially punitive ones-also leads to an unsafe climate. When teachers yell, levy harsh punishments for minor mistakes, or are overly controlling, the classroom climate becomes one of fear and resentment. Both permissive and punishment-heavy cultures put students, especially those already on the edge, in a place where it's almost impossible to learn well.

An important part of getting to that sweet spot between permissiveness and harshness is getting clear about how consequences feel for students. Again, this is nuanced and tricky. On the one hand, if a student has to leave the classroom because she was out of control, she may feel bad-but we shouldn't make feeling bad the goal. To invoke shame ("Terry! Why am I not surprised that you're out of control again?") isn't productive or respectful. At the same time, we don't want the consequence of being removed from the room to feel like a party. Sitting quietly with a book or working on a jigsaw puzzle might soothe a student's spirit, helping him regain control so he can rejoin class. But if the student's allowed to play video games or is given candy during a time-out, this might send confusing messages and inhibit his ability to calm down.

When we're in that desirable middle ground, consequences help a classroom feel safe, orderly, and predictable. Students understand that mistakes, both academic and behavioral ones, are part of the learning process, and that their teacher is there to support them. They aren't necessarily happy when they experience consequences, but they aren't devastated. The overall tone of the classroom is one of firm caring and support.

Doing It Better

Educators can help one another get a feel for that middle ground. They might brainstorm a variety of different responses to behavior challenges, intentionally coming up with some that feel overly lenient or overly harsh. Teachers could then sort the examples into ones that feel too permissive, ones that seem too harsh, and ones that feel about right, and discuss the scenarios for which they have different opinions.

5. We Act with Emotion, Not Reason

Using consequences effectively requires educators to react with reason and logic when our inclination is to be emotional. When a student says something mean to a classmate, we feel outrage for the child who is insulted. When annoying pencil drumming interrupts a lesson (once again!), we feel frustration grow. When a student flips a desk in rage, we are scared and hurt, which can lead to our own feelings of anger. We may even subconsciously seek revenge, wanting that student to hurt like we do.

Of course, the last thing students need (especially students from backgrounds full of trauma) is more anger in their lives. Our students need us to be strong enough to react with reason, not emotion. They need to see what it looks like when mature adults respond to frustration in calm, respectful ways. And they need to be treated with dignity and respect, especially when they're in a crisis.

Doing It Better

Educators can help one another practice reacting with reason. Small groups of educators might engage in role-plays. Give each group a scenario in which a student is struggling with a problem behavior and the adult must respond appropriately. Let each group choose appropriate responses and then act out the scene. Try each scenario a few times so each teacher can practice being the one to respond to a student.

Create your own personal list of strategies to use for controlling your frustration and anger. Taking 10 deep breaths, consciously relaxing your muscles, or walking a few brisk strides gives you some movement to help calm your emotions. It might be helpful to frame the challenge objectively ("This student is having a hard time") instead of personally ("This student is doing this to me"). Keep this list handy to refer to in the heat of the moment.

6. We Misunderstand Consequences' Role in the Big Picture

There's a common misunderstanding about the role consequences play in the broader picture of discipline. Too often, educators view consequences as the center of the picture and see all other supportive strategies-like teaching skills, modeling appropriate behavior, and building relationships-as tangential. In fact, relationships should be at the center, with all other strategies seen as tangents. Without relationships, everything else falls apart.

This shift in perspective helps teachers change the question they often ask when considering consequences-" What's the consequence that will fix the problem?"-to a better question-" Is there a consequence that might be part of how we help this student?" Instead of looking for the right-sized firehose that will prevent future fires, we look for the one that will help in the moment, and we realize that other strategies will play a greater role in supporting long-term positive behavior.

That shift is especially helpful for our most vulnerable students, those who've experienced trauma and chaos at home. It's a sad irony that kids who often aren't strong enough to benefit from the potential teaching power of consequences are the ones most likely to be hammered with frequent punishments. At the same time, kids who have the emotional stability and behavioral skills to learn from consequences are often excused from them ("She's a good kid and usually on track. I'll just give her a warning.").

Doing It Better

To help shift their view, adults in a school might create their own visual model representing the relationship between consequences and other strategies. Depict relationships at the center and show many other strategies connected to that element. Keep this image where adults in the school can see it as they develop responses for kids struggling with behavior issues.

Digging Deeper

Consequences are tough. On the one hand, they're critically important. Like a rumble strip on a road, they help set clear boundaries and keep students and teachers safe-so that challenging behaviors don't spiral out of control. At the same time, we must not over-rely on them, because they have limited power to teach positive behaviors. Additionally, educators shouldn't adopt black-and-white consequence systems, since children are all different and each situation is nuanced-and yet a school that doesn't have a consistent approach to consequences will create anxiety for everyone. So we must engage in robust conversations with colleagues, developing more consistent beliefs and understandings of the role of consequences and practicing appropriate responses. When we do this, we create a school culture that's structured and safe while also supportive and respectful of students.

Endnotes

Nelsen, J. (2006). Positive discipline. New York: Ballentine Books.

Greene, R. (2008). Lost at school. New York: Scribner.

Mike Anderson ( www.leadinggreatlearning.com) is a teacher, author, and consultant who works with teachers and schools to support great learning. Follow him on Twitter.

KEYWORDS

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September 2018 | Volume 76 | Number 1 Classroom Management Reimagined Pages 26-33 Mike Anderson When we step back, however, we realize that the reality of teaching students appropriate behaviors is much more complex. Punishing a student for a misbehavior offers us the illusion that we've held that student accountable, but have we really?

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seriously...its awesome

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students
by Zaretta Hammond, 192 pages, Corwin, November 2014

This article contains Amazon Affiliate links. If you click these and make a purchase from Amazon, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

For eight years, I taught students who would likely be labeled "at risk." Not all of my kids fit that description, but at least half belonged to the groups we talk about when we talk about the opportunity* gap: Students whose race, culture, home language, or socioeconomic status are not necessarily a match with what many schools teach and value. I did my best to meet their needs, to challenge them and set them up for success in life, but when I look back with the knowledge I have gained over the last few years, I know I did a crappy job.

I think about Dion, one of my seventh graders, who sat listlessly through most of my classes, whose assignments were always half-finished, who always scored low on tests, who used his cute, slow smile as a cover any time I tried to push him to get his work done. I'd keep him in at lunch and after school, let him do piles of make-up work to try to bring his grade from an F to a D, and talk to him about how he needed to change his habits. But none of it worked. All of us, his other teachers and myself, met with Dion and his mom more than once to try and figure out how to get Dion to improve.

The discussion often went like this:

"What do you think is the problem here?" from one of my colleagues.

Dion shrugged. "I'm not doing my work."

From another teacher: "And what do you need to do differently?"

Another shrug. "Start doing my work, I guess."

Nothing changed. Dion managed to keep his grades up just enough to move on to eighth grade. His skills never improved, his habits stayed about the same, and he went on with his life, like hundreds of others moving through that same school system every year.

If we had read Zaretta Hammond's book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain , things could have been completely different for us, for Dion, and for so many other students in our school. This practical, insightful, and absolutely necessary book will help teachers do a better job of teaching a more diverse group of students.

A Brain-based Blueprint for Reaching Diverse Students

Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain is not just a "bag of tricks" teachers can pull from to help students from more diverse backgrounds do better. It is a thoughtful, holistic, brain-based approach to teaching the whole child.

By looking through the lens of neuroscience, Hammond shows us how the brain responds to various teaching approaches and learning environments, and helps us understand why, despite our best efforts, many students simply haven't responded to the kinds of interventions many schools put in place for them. "The problem of the achievement gap won't be solved by simply trying to motivate students of color to become more engaged learners," she writes. "We have to create school environments that welcome their natural ways of learning and shape content so that they see its connection to their lives and funds of knowledge."

The book is built around the Ready for Rigor Framework, four separate practice areas that, if used together, give us the tools for culturally responsive teaching. The practice areas are:

Awareness. Before teachers can truly meet the needs of diverse learners, we must develop the right mindset. This requires us to understand what "culture" really means, fully explore our own cultural beliefs and biases, and study how the brain learns.

Learning Partnerships. To succeed in school, diverse learners need to feel as if they are in partnership with their teachers. To create these relationships, we need to build trust with students, help them develop positive mindsets, and give them the language to talk about their learning.

Information Processing. Teachers need to understand how to expand students' intellective capacity so they can engage in deeper, more complex learning. This requires teachers to learn brain-based information processing strategies common to oral cultures like metaphors, rhythmic mnemonics, and "story-ifying" the content.

Community Building. Culturally responsive teachers work to create supportive, welcoming environments, places that feel socially and emotionally safe, so that students are comfortable enough taking the risks required to stretch their brains.

Apart from being incredibly useful and clear, what's great about this book is that it won't make teachers defensive. Rather than attacking teachers for taking the wrong approach, Hammond simply shows us why some methods are ineffective, then explains why a different approach works better. This lack of judgment is likely to give her message a bigger reach, and to help far more teachers develop the skills they need for this important work.

We Can Do Better

Maya Angelou said, "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." I believe most teachers are doing the best they can to serve all of their students. They just don't have enough tools. This book is without question a way to know better. I urge anyone who works with culturally diverse students, second-language students, or students who have grown up in poverty to read Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain . There's no way for me to reach Dion now, but there are millions of others just like him. Now we have the tools to really change their academic paths.

Now we know better. We just have to do it. ♦

Zaretta Hammond is a former English teacher who has been doing instructional design, school coaching, and professional development around the issues of equity, literacy, and culturally responsive teaching for the past 18 years. To read more of her work, visit her blog, Ready for Rigor, or follow her on Twitter at @Ready4Rigor.
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*Author's note, June 2018: This post has been revised slightly since its original publication in 2015, when I used the term "achievement gap" throughout. At the time, I was not aware of the way this term perpetuates deficit thinking about some of our students. My revisions are an attempt to use language that better represents our need to reach all children in a way that works for them.

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A Must-Have Guide to Culturally Responsive Teaching

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This practical, insightful, and absolutely necessary book is a guide for teachers who want to help culturally and linguistically diverse students not just survive, but thrive.

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Restorative Justice Overview by a GREAT blog: Cult of Pedagogy (definitely a great site to bookmark and get RSS feeds)

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Restorative Justice Overview by a GREAT blog: Cult of Pedagogy (definitely a great site to bookmark and get RSS feeds)

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Listen to my interview with Victor Small (transcript):
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A student threw a chair at a teacher.
That's the story I heard. It was a story meant to illustrate how bad a particular group of kids was, and now I can't even remember who the teacher was or where the school was located, or even the gender of the teacher or the student. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've heard two or three different stories about students throwing things at teachers, each one told with the intent of showing just how bad those kids were.

But every time I've heard a story like that, my first thought has always been, Holy crap. What kind of a relationship did that teacher have with those students? What was going on in the minutes, days, and weeks leading up to that chair being thrown?

And I know how that sounds. It sounds like I'm blaming the teacher. Or that I don't think a student should be held responsible for doing something as awful as throwing a piece of furniture at another human being.

I don't think that. But here's what I think probably happened in all of those schools: The student was removed from class and promptly suspended, maybe even expelled. And if and when that student returned to school, nothing much was done to repair that student's relationship with the teacher. Or to really address the other issues that may have been going on leading up to that chair being thrown. And if that kind of work isn't done, if we focus only on making our punishments stricter, then things like chair throwing will keep happening. And nobody wants that.

Getting students to behave in a way that is conducive to learning is a perennial challenge for teachers. On this site I have dealt with the topic a number of times. And every piece of advice-the tips and hacks and bits of wisdom-they are all useful.

But one approach to addressing problematic behavior-restorative justice-really stands on its own, because it focuses on building relationships and repairing harm, rather than simply punishing students for misbehavior.

I have wanted to share more about restorative justice on my site for years, but every time I started, I found that the topic was just too big, too complex to handle all at once. Usually, I try to share things that teachers can understand and apply right away, and the concept of restorative justice just wasn't letting me package and deliver it in a tidy little bundle.

So rather than try to do that, I'm going to just start with an overview. This will not be a comprehensive study of restorative practices, but an introduction designed for teachers who are just starting to get interested in this approach.

Helping me do that is Victor Small, Jr., a middle school administrator in Oakland, California. He has been using restorative practices for several years and supports other teachers through a Twitter chat-using the hashtag #RJLeagueChat -and a Voxer group called the Restorative Justice League, where educators talk about the challenges they're facing in implementing restorative practices and help each other work through tough situations.

In our interview, Small walks me through some of the basics of restorative justice-called RJ by many of its practitioners-and talks about how teachers can get started. You can listen to the interview in the player above, read a full transcript, or review the key takeaways here.

What is Restorative Justice?

The philosophy of restorative justice has its roots in the criminal justice system. When a crime is committed in a modern society, the typical response is to punish the offender, and that's about it. But societies all over the world have started to recognize that this approach doesn't repair the harm that was done; it also does nothing to address underlying problems that may have led to the offense in the first place. So they are starting to replace-or at least supplement-the standard approach with restorative justice practices, which focus on repairing harm for all parties involved. This process may include some form of punishment for the offender, but the lens is much wider than that.

"Say you stole a car," Small says. "Instead of you necessarily doing jail time, really what you would have to first do is make sure that you restore the situation to the person who you actually harmed, which would be the person whose car you stole, right? So you would have to restore that in some way. Either you'd have to get them their car back or get them a new car and apologize or something like that. Basically, the debt that you owe to society is to that person that you harmed."

This shift toward restorative justice has led to reduced recidivism (repeat offenses), greater satisfaction with the outcomes from all stakeholders, and reduced post-traumatic stress caused by the crime. (These results are summarized in this overview from the University of Wisconsin.)

Encouraged by these successes, educators in some schools have started using restorative practices to address disruptive or harmful behavior. With this shift, schools hope to see improved behavior and to reverse a disturbing trend: The zero-tolerance discipline policies of the past few decades have dramatically increased suspension rates in many districts, which can in turn lower graduation rates and ultimately push more students into the juvenile justice system. And again, those suspensions do nothing to repair harm.

Common Restorative Practices

The thing about restorative justice is that unlike a typical discipline program, it is not a cut-and-dried system with prescribed steps to follow in every situation. If done correctly, schools that shift to restorative justice will approach it holistically, looking at preventing wrongdoing as much as-if not more than-how to address it when it occurs.

"What we're essentially teaching students is your behavior affects people," Small explains, "and so in order to pay it forward or to deal with the consequences of that, you're going to have to figure out how to make things right. When we talk about restorative justice practices, we're talking about the things you're doing to ensure that students are recognizing when they're doing something wrong and finding a way to make it right."

Although restorative justice models vary somewhat from school to school, Small says schools that are doing it right have the following practices at their core.

Building Relationships

Schools that get interested in restorative justice may be tempted to jump right to the alternative punishments, but a true RJ program puts heavy emphasis on relationships. These relationships go in all directions: teacher to student, student to student, teacher to teacher, and between the school and the larger community.

These bonds are not forged overnight. Daily conversations, team-building exercises, telling our own stories and making time and space for students to tell theirs helps build relationships over time. "You've got to give them time to grow with one another," Small says.

And if you do, it pays off. "If you've got everybody in the school liking and getting along with one another, well when they do something wrong, it's a lot easier for that kid to apologize. The reason I'm really a very big proponent of RJ is if you're doing it right, you're going to prevent a whole lot of issues from occurring."

A Mindset Shift

To be effective with restorative justice, teachers need to adopt a restorative mindset, a way of looking at wrongdoing and punishment through a different lens.

"Everything that a kid does shouldn't have to have a consequence," Small says. "I mean if a kid gets angry and says something to another kid, and that kid gets mad, do they need detention for that, or do they need to just fix the problem and not be mad at each other? Probably just fix the problem, not be mad at each other, and go on about their lives. If they didn't do anything wrong to the class or the community and they just did something messed-up to another student, they can handle that between the two students. You could facilitate that. It teaches them, hey, you have to be accountable for your actions, because your actions do have impact on other students, without having them sit in detention, right?"

Circles

Pulling groups of people together into circles for conversation is one of the most recognizable features of schools that have adopted restorative practices. These circles can take many forms: mediation circles when a problem needs to be addressed, healing circles when group members are hurting or grieving, or circles that form just for dialogue and storytelling. When circles are a regular part of the school culture, they give students a vehicle for communicating when problems arise, rather than handling them in less constructive ways.

Where to Start

Small offers this advice for educators who want to get started with restorative justice:

Read about RJ

A lot of excellent books have been written about restorative practices. To make sure you and your colleagues are working from a solid foundation, read up on the history and philosophy before attempting to implement an RJ program. I have listed a few good starter books at the end of this post, and a lot more can be found online that detail specific practices.

Identify Your Biases and Triggers

A big part of addressing student misbehavior and building strong relationships with students is uncovering our own built-in biases. And the first step toward doing that is getting comfortable with the idea that we all have them.

"It's really painful for us to consider this," Small says, "but if we walk into our classrooms and we really try to believe that an approach to colorblindness is one that's effective, we're really shortchanging our kids' lives, because if we're just constantly telling them, 'Hey, I don't see color,' when they leave your classroom, someone's going to see their color. And someone's going to act possibly on the fact that they see their color, so we're setting them up for failure if we don't do our own investigation of, 'Do I have any biases against any particular type of culture, any particular type of culture activity, any of my students? Do I have any things that trigger certain behavior or fears or anger that they do that they do naturally? Taking a step back and wondering, is it me or is it them?'"

Build Culture and Community

If you have a school culture where students feel known, where they feel at home, behavior on the whole will be better and efforts to address wrongdoing will be more productive. Getting to that point will happen if you approach culture-building from a lot of different angles.

"Work on finding ways to include kids in what's going on," Small says, "like allowing more student voice, allowing more student opportunities for them to display their culture, act on their culture, be a part of their culture."

Having caring adults in the building who look like the student body is also more important than many people realize. "You need to give (students) opportunities to learn about people that look like them, that are from their culture, that represent them. If 99 percent of your staff is white and 99 percent of your student body is black and Latino, you're going to need to figure out a way to get more black and Latino staff members in your school." ( This conversation with former teacher of the year Nate Bowling dives more deeply into this topic.)

Finally, schools can work to make the school more integrated into the larger community. "If you can find ways to learn about the neighborhoods, the communities and find ways to bring people from the community and in the neighborhoods into your school, you're creating a school culture that the students can feel more at home in." And when students feel at home, when they know each other, there's less of a need to address misbehavior.

"They just get along better, so they fight less," Small says of his students. "There's less reason for them to fight, because everyone knows everyone else."

Okay, but what about the discipline?

Having finished this overview, I realize I never quite got to the question of How does restorative justice actually deal with the misbehavior?

The answer to this is complicated, because it's not as simple as detention-suspension-expulsion. There are conferences and circles, a lot of discussion about the harm that was done and how it can be repaired. Individual decisions are made on an individual basis. There's more to it than I can cover in one post, but I plan to do more posts later to dig more deeply into the details. I really do believe that restorative justice is the direction we need to be heading to create safer, healthier school communities.

I hope you'll take a step in that direction. ♦

To Learn More

These books offer a great starting point for learning more about restorative practices:

Better than Carrots or Sticks:
Restorative Practices for Positive Classroom Management
Dominique Smith, Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey

The Little Book of Restorative Justice
Howard Zehr

The Little Book of Restorative Discipline for Schools:
Teaching Responsibility; Creating Caring Climates
Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz, Judy H. Mullet

Touching Spirit Bear
(Reader Recommended)
Ben Mikaelsen

You can find Victor Small, Jr., on Twitter at @MrSmall215, and join him every Sunday night at 8pm EST for the #RJLeagueChat.

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Restorative Justice in School: An Overview

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Instead of looking for ways to make punishments stricter, restorative justice seeks to build relationships and repair harm. Learn more about how this holistic approach works and how you can get started.

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"“It’s really painful for us to consider this,” Small says, “but if we walk into our classrooms and we really try to believe that an approach to colorblindness is one that’s effective, we’re really shortchanging our kids’ lives, because if we’re just constantly telling them, ‘Hey, I don’t see color,’ when they leave your classroom, someone’s going to see their color. And someone’s going to act possibly on the fact that they see their color, so we’re setting them up for failure if we don’t do our own investigation of, ‘Do I have any biases against any particular type of culture, any particular type of culture activity, any of my students? Do I have any things that trigger certain behavior or fears or anger that they do that they do naturally? Taking a step back and wondering, is it me or is it them?'”

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Overview of the research in Wisconson

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great resource for so many culture-related school questions

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Tips to foster a safe, respectful and inclusive learning environment.

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more book...good

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Resource Summary

"Let's build dynamic learning communities that engage students, promote deep understanding, and sustain a lifetime of inquiry. Once again we are in the throes of curriculum reforms designed to transform education. However, these efforts generally neglect the vital role classroom and school culture play in promoting learning. Any curriculum, good or bad, will sink or float on the culture of the classroom in which it is enacted. Culture matters not only to realize curricular goals, but also as a shaper of students' development as powerful thinkers and learners. Creating Cultures of Thinking, written by leading Harvard University researcher Ron Ritchhart, builds the case for "enculturation" as the key to deep learning and the development of the habits of mind and dispositions needed in a changing world. He demystifies the process of creating dynamic learning communities by first identifying and then walking us through the eight forces we must marshal to build strong group culture. Case studies, practical guidelines, self-assessments, and inquiry projects enable teachers and administrators-as well as anyone interested in fostering group learning-to understand and shape powerful learning communities."

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Creating Cultures of Thinking: The 8 Forces We Must Master to Truly

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"Let's build dynamic learning communities that engage students, promote deep understanding, and sustain a lifetime of inquiry. Once again we are in the throes of curriculum reforms designed to transform education. However, these efforts generally neglect the vital role classroom and school culture play in promoting learning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
ASCD Express 8.18 - Supporting Self-Directed Learners: Five Forms of Feedback

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Molecules Instructional Segment 1 Example

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Molecules Instructional Segment 1 Example

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Middle School: An Ocean of Plastics | Next Generation Science Standards

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An Ocean of Plastics was designed to help students raise public awareness and take action against the global crisis of plastic pollution by reducing their individual impact, educating their family and communities, and proposing possible solutions to help monitor and minimize the effects of plastic pollution in our oceans.

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Stanford NGGS unit overview sample (good use of NGSS language

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Stanford NGGS unit overview sample (good use of NGSS language

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Core Learning and Principles of the Triad

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From Carmen's Teacher Feature: A Personalized Learning approach developed by Dr. Kathie Nunley with resources that can be implemented to move students through curriculum from basic knowledge into deeper levels of thinking.

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These lesson plans were created by teachers from around the globe. Feel free to browse, borrow, BUT adapt as needed!!
Rememeber, these were made by different teachers, with different students, styles and curriculum. Modify to fit your situation. If you've made Layered Curriculum unit sheets for any discipline or grade level, please send them to share.
(Email them to kathie@brains.org)

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Dr. Kathie Nunley's Layered Curriculum Web Site for Educators

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
These lesson plans were created by teachers from around the globe. Feel free to browse, borrow, BUT adapt as needed!! Rememeber, these were made by different teachers, with different students, styles and curriculum. Modify to fit your situation. If you've made Layered Curriculum unit sheets for any discipline or grade level, please send them to share.