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What happens when we welcome our students ...

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What happens when we welcome our students ...

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Greeting each student at the door with a positive message brings benefits for both students and teacher, according to a study.

A widely cited 2007 study claimed that teachers greeting students at the classroom door led to a 27 percentage point increase in academic engagement. The problem? It included just three students.

Now a new, much larger and more credible study -comprising 203 students in 10 classrooms-validates that claim: Greeting students at the door sets a positive tone and can increase engagement and reduce disruptive behavior. Spending a few moments welcoming students promotes a sense of belonging, giving them social and emotional support that helps them feel invested in their learning.

The first few minutes of class are often the most chaotic, as students transition from busy areas such as the hallway or playground. Left unchecked, disruptions can become difficult to manage, but a proactive approach to classroom management can help students get focused and ready to learn. Rather than address disruptive behavior as it happens, proactive techniques-like greeting students at the door and modeling good behavior-reduce the occurrence of such behavior as teachers and students build a positive classroom culture together.

In the study, when teachers started class by welcoming students at the door, academic engagement increased by 20 percentage points and disruptive behavior decreased by 9 percentage points-potentially adding "an additional hour of engagement over the course of a five-hour instructional day," according to the researchers.

Ten middle school teachers were randomly assigned by the researchers to one of two groups. The first group started class by greeting their students at the door, saying each student's name while using a nonverbal greeting such as a handshake or nod. The teachers also used precorrective statements -reminders of what to do at the start of class like, "Spend the next few minutes reviewing what we covered yesterday." If a student had struggled with their behavior the previous day, the teachers often gave a positive message to encourage them to improve.

Teachers in the second group attended classroom management training sessions offered by their schools, but they weren't given any specific instructions on how to start class.

Researchers observed classrooms in the fall and spring, looking at academic engagement-how attentive students were to their teacher or classwork-and disruptive behavior, including speaking out of turn, leaving one's seat, and distracting classmates. Both measures improved in classrooms where teachers greeted their students, confirming what many teachers already know: Meeting students' emotional needs is just as important as meeting their academic needs.

"The results from this study suggest that teachers who spend time on the front end to implement strategies such as the PGD [positive greetings at the door] will eventually save more time on the back end by spending less time reacting to problem behavior and more time on instruction," the study authors write.

Building Community

Why do positive greetings work? When teachers use strategies like this, they help "establish a positive classroom climate in which students feel a sense of connection and belonging," the study authors write. "This is particularly important considering the research demonstrating that achievement motivation is often a by-product of social belonging." In other words, when students feel welcome in the classroom, they're more willing to put time and effort into learning.

Nonverbal interpersonal interactions, such as a friendly handshake or a thumbs-up, can help make greetings feel authentic and build trust -as long as students feel comfortable with physical contact.

Say the student's name

Make eye contact

Use a friendly nonverbal greeting, such as a handshake, high five, or thumbs-up

Give a few words of encouragement

Ask how their day is going

When greeting students at your door:

Addressing Underlying Causes of Misbehavior

Disruptive behavior is contagious-if one student misbehaves, it can quickly spread to other students. And while most teachers try to respond immediately, punishment often backfires. Research shows that trying to fix student misbehavior may be futile because doing so can spur resistance and more misbehavior instead of compliance.

"Despite overwhelming evidence that such strategies are ineffective, many teachers rely on reactive methods for classroom behavior management," explain the study authors.

So instead of asking, "How can I fix misbehavior?" teachers could ask, "How can I create a classroom environment that discourages misbehavior in the first place?" In many cases, low-level disruptions and disengagement have less to do with the student and more to do with factors that the teacher can control, such as teaching style and use of stimulating activities. For example, a study found that when teachers encouraged students to participate in classroom activities rather than lecturing to them, students were more likely to stay on task.

Another recent study provides additional insights: When teachers focused their attention on students' positive conduct and avoided rushing to correct minor disruptions, students had better behavior, and their mental health and ability to concentrate also improved.

Benefits for Teachers, Too

A welcoming classroom environment doesn't benefit students alone-it can improve the teacher's mental health as well. Slightly more than half of teachers- 53 percent-feel stressed by student disengagement or disruptions. The consequences can be serious: A 2014 study found that "teachers report classroom management to be one of the greatest concerns in their teaching, often leading to burnout, job dissatisfaction, and early exit from the profession."

All too often, teachers spend time and energy responding to misbehavior with corrective discipline, such as telling students to stop talking or giving them a time-out. These may work in the short term, but they can damage teacher-student relationships while doing little to prevent future misbehavior. Research shows that it can be beneficial for student and teacher well-being to instead focus on creating a positive classroom environment.

The takeaway: Starting class by greeting your students at the door helps set a positive tone for the rest of the day, promoting their sense of belonging, boosting their academic engagement, and reducing disruptive behavior.

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Greeting each student at the door with a positive message brings benefits for both students and teacher.

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Check out this study on the effects of Greetings!

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Check out this study on the effects of Greetings!

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Abstract

A multiple baseline design across participants was used to determine how teacher greetings affected on-task behavior of 3 middle school students with problem behaviors. Momentary time sampling was used to measure on-task behavior during the first 10 min of class. Teacher greetings produced increases in students' on-task behavior from a mean of 45% in baseline to a mean of 72% during the intervention phase. Teacher greetings represent an antecedent manipulation that can easily be implemented in classrooms to improve students' on-task behavior.

Keywords: antecedent, on-task behavior, middle school students, teaching, teacher attention

In secondary education classrooms, the first several minutes of a class period are crucial for completing a variety of administrative tasks such as taking attendance, collecting assignments, and making announcements. To facilitate completion of these tasks, Emmer, Evertson, and Worsham (2006) suggested that teachers assign an activity for students to perform independently during the first 10 min of class. However, it can be challenging for teachers to achieve and maintain student on-task behavior while simultaneously completing administrative tasks. Given these competing demands, teachers may be likely to inadvertently reinforce students' off-task behavior by attending to students only when they are off task. When this occurs, classroom contingencies are likely to promote off-task rather than on-task behavior.

A growing body of research identifies the benefits of manipulating antecedent variables to reduce problem behavior and increase appropriate behavior (see Kern, Choutka, & Sokol, 2002, for a review). For example, McComas, Thompson, and Johnson (2003) decreased attention-maintained problem behavior displayed by elementary students by delivering attention as an antecedent. Relative to some consequence-based interventions (e.g., extinction) antecedent interventions can be more easily integrated into a classroom teacher's pedagogy. Thus, additional studies that evaluate classroom-based antecedent interventions are warranted. The intervention implemented in the present study involved an easy-to-use antecedent manipulation designed to increase on-task behavior during the first 10 min of class; teachers were asked to greet target students as they entered the classroom.

Results and Discussion

The percentage of intervals with on-task behavior for each participant is illustrated in . Teacher greetings were associated with an increase in on-task behavior for all participants. Tim was on task during a mean of 37% (range, 26% to 43%) of baseline observations and a mean of 66% (range, 43% to 82%) of observations during the teacher greeting phase. Kay's on-task behavior increased from 52% (range, 43% to 60%) during baseline to 87% (range, 80% to 93%) when she was greeted upon entering the classroom. Jon was on task during a mean of 48% (range, 25% to 68%) of intervals during baseline and 67% (range, 55% to 78%) of intervals during the teacher greeting phase. The effects of the intervention are less clear with Jon because three points from baseline (during which a movie was shown) overlap with results obtained in the intervention condition.

There are several plausible interpretations of these results. First, it is possible that antecedent attention provided during the greeting reduced or eliminated the establishing operation for attention-maintained off-task behavior, thereby increasing on-task behavior during the initial portion of class (e.g., Laraway, Snycerski, Michael, & Poling, 2003). However, in the absence of a functional analysis of off-task behavior, this account remains speculative. Second, teacher greetings may have functioned as a discriminative stimulus indicating the availability of attention as reinforcement for appropriate behavior. Third, increases in student on-task behavior may have been a result of unprogrammed changes in the reinforcement schedule for appropriate behavior. Data on teacher implementation of the programmed intervention, as well as other potentially influential interactions with students (e.g., consequences for appropriate behavior, number and type of instructions), are necessary to draw conclusions regarding the relation between teacher greetings and on-task behavior.

Teachers often report being overwhelmed by the many noninstructional responsibilities of their profession. Furthermore, they frequently balk at implementing complicated and intrusive interventions for individual students. Sprague and Walker (2000) stressed the importance of intervention research being practical for implementation in the schools. The current research suggests one quick, simple antecedent intervention that can increase student on-task behavior during the first 10 min of class. Merely greeting a student at the door with his or her name and a brief, genuine pleasantry increased student on-task behavior. Future research should evaluate the effects of this and other easy-to-implement antecedent interventions on a wider variety of student performances (e.g., attendance, academic progress) during more extended observation periods. In addition, it would be valuable to identify the conditions necessary for long-term maintenance of these effects. For example, it is possible that high levels of on-task behavior would be maintained with intermittent teacher greetings.

References

Emmer E, Evertson C, Worsham M. Classroom management for middle and high school teachers (7th ed.) Boston: Pearson; 2006.

Kern L, Choutka C, Sokol N. Assessment-based antecedent interventions used in natural settings to reduce challenging behavior: An analysis of literature. Education and Treatment of Children. 2002;25:113-130.

Laraway S, Snycerski S, Michael J, Poling A. Motivating operations and terms to describe them: Some further refinements. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 2003;36:407-414. [PMC free article]

McComas J, Thompson A, Johnson L. The effects of presession attention on problem behavior maintained by different reinforcers. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 2003;36:297-307. [PMC free article]

Sprague J, Walker H. Early identification and intervention for youth with antisocial and violent behavior. Exceptional Children. 2000;66:367-379.

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Effects of Teacher Greetings on Student On-task Behavior

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A multiple baseline design across participants was used to determine how teacher greetings affected on-task behavior of 3 middle school students with problem behaviors. Momentary time sampling was used to measure on-task behavior during the first 10 min of class.

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I Don't Have Time for a Greeting:                                 It only takes 1 minute 

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I Don't Have Time for a Greeting:                                 It only takes 1 minute 

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Morning Meeting: One-Minute Greeting | Responsive Classroom

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Carolyn Bush prepares her fourth grade students to start their Morning Meeting with a successful, safe, fun "One-Minute Greeting."

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Responsive Classroom Morning Meeting is a powerful way to create a classroom climate of respectful, engaged learning and the greeting component sets the tone by helping all students feel noticed and appreciated at the very start of the meeting. But how do you help ELL students participate fully in greeting? Here are a few ideas:

Whenever an ELL student joins your class, whether at the start of the year or part way along, have your class use simple greetings that require only a word—or no words at all. You could begin with just a wave and a smile.

After a few days, if your ELL student seems comfortable, add simple words or phrases such as “Hi,” “Hello,” and “Good morning.”

Give the ELL student a chance to practice the greeting with a partner or small group first.

Do a bit of research to find out if people have a different way of greeting in your ELL student’s home culture. For example, as a sign of respect, your student may have learned at home to avoid eye contact, especially with adults. If that’s the case, you could teach the class to turn their bodies toward the person they’re greeting without requiring direct eye contact. Greeting will still help everyone feel that they’re welcomed and respected members of the classroom community.

Have all students learn to greet each other in the home languages of the ELL students. The ELL students may feel more welcomed, and the native English speakers may gain some insight into the challenges of functioning in a new language.

Try greeting with songs or chants. They may help ELL students become comfortable with new language forms, since phrases that are hard to say fluently can be easier to manage when chanted or sung. (Be sure to display the words.) Here’s a simple but fun example for K–2 students:

Friends in Our Class

Children snap their fingers and sing to the tune of “The Addams Family”
theme song—or they can simply chant rhythmically

Friends in our class [snap snap] Friends in our class [snap snap] Friends in our class, friends in our class
Friends in our class [snap, snap]

There’s [Robert] and there’s [Lia],
There’s [Wen] and there’s [Ian],
There’s [Tyler] and there’s [Lebron],
We’re here to learn and play!

As the class sings or chants together, insert the names of the first six children in order around the circle. Repeat the refrain and then continue around the circle, adding six more names. Continue until all students have been named. As everyone becomes comfortable with the greeting, you may add a friendly gesture (a bow or a wave) for students to do as they hear their names.

For many more Morning Meeting greeting ideas:

80 Morning Meeting Ideas K–2

80 Morning Meeting Ideas 3-6

The Morning Meeting Book, 3rd Edition

99 Activities and Greetings

Tags: Conversation Skills, ELL (English Language Learners)

Related Resources

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Adapting Morning Meeting Greeting for ELL Students

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Responsive Classroom Morning Meeting is a powerful way to create a classroom climate of respectful, engaged learning and the greeting component sets the tone by helping all students feel noticed and appreciated at the very start of the meeting. But how do you help ELL students participate fully in g…

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In your text, read pgs. 51-67 to understand the vital role that greetings play in fostering positive and authentic relationships with our students. It also helps to foster a deep connection as a classroom community. Make sure to look at pages 68-83 that have many examples of Greetings to use!

After watching the videos and doing the readings and in your text;

Choose 10 Greetings you will use at the beginning of the year to start off your classes work in Morning Meeting and building that solid and vital structure in the morning.

- Make a list of the 10 greetings you will use (ideally in the order that you believe will work the best at the beginning of the year and grow throughout those first few weeks)
-and list the materials you will need for each greeting

This way you will be ready to go at the beginning of the year :)