“If you give them a warning that there’s going to be a transition, the kids get on board faster and with less protest.”

This right here is why I chose this topic for my research this semester. I accepted a long term substitute position in April that made me consider leaving the profession. Some of the behavior I was facing made me question why I chose teaching. I would leave so frustrated and defeated that children wouldn’t listen to me or respect me. It made me question why I would choose a profession that made me angry and upset so frequently. 

-Seek to understand the kids, start with something simple like an apology 

-Teaching kids to say: “I was somebody when I came. I'll be a better somebody when I leave”

-Building students' self esteem is the start to building a positive and well managed classroom 

-detentions and time outs don’t work, it’s inaction disguised as action 

“Children don’t walk into a room saying I’m abused or a plaque that says I’m anxious” (No Such Thing as Naughty). Their emotional needs are harder to detect but so essential.

“Educators should emphasize, in a positive manner, the people, holidays, and events of the culture of the student body throughout the entire school year…teachers can include the accomplishments of multiple civil rights leaders” (p. 21). Teachers can and should make curriculum relevant to each student.

“Teachers can develop the rules and expectations with the students’ input, discuss with students why certain rules must be present, provide them with rationale, and clearly state and post rules containing no ambiguity” (p. 22). This can be done through modeling and roleplaying.

-Examples of restorative justice include, “victim-offender mediation or reconciliation, restorative conferences for resolving conflict, and peacemaking circles” (p. 58).

-“One of the underlying assumptions of RJ is that behaviors are precipitated by unmet needs”

“Zehr (2002) indicated that there are three pillars of human need: autonomy, order, and relatedness. When these needs are not met, students may go to extremes to meet those needs” (p. 58).

-Restorative justice is about making things right and having accountability for those you have wronged or harmed in any way.

-“The effectiveness of a restitution plan is contingent on the offender developing and being responsible for the plan, rather than having that plan imposed on them by an authority figure. In this way, the restitution becomes not only a way of repairing harm but also an opportunity to learn” (p. 59).

-Restorative justice focuses on relationships not rules.

-Repeat directions 

-“Predictable routines and procedures in the classroom allow students to focus on what they are learning that day, rather than trying to figure out what is going on around them” (p. 16).

Going along with the main idea that inappropriate behavior needs to be stopped right away, consequences must be given. The study found that when consequences weren’t given, teachers faced problems. In fact, “as a consequence of the lack of follow through on the warnings, some children tended to push the limits, causing more problems” (Emmer, Evertson, Anderson, 1980, p. 226). 

-“Temperament is also a social processing system through which children view and interact with the world, thus altering the responses of others and contributing toward their own development” (p. 35).

-Teachers should recognize the temperaments of students and then act accordingly so they don’t make situations worse.

-Teachers should modify their behaviors based on student characteristics.

-teachers need to have their classroom ready every single day

-send a letter home to parents and to students before school begins 

-visit homes before school begins 

“Your very first priority when the class starts is to get the students to work” (p. 121) 

-Don’t roll call right away , start the class with an assignment immediately 

-Make sure consequences are logical 

-Example: if a student walks in noisily, the logical consequence is to have them walk in again and the illogical consequence is the teacher ignoring the behavior 

-How to quiet a class can be ringing a bell and standing up with your hand raised 

practice this several times with students and ensure they’re freezing, getting quiet, turning and facing you and paying attention , rehearse it and reinforce it.

-”Students should pass their papers across the rows, not up the rows” (p. 189). It’s too disruptive passing them up.

-If a student is misbehaving you should talk to them in a gentle manner. For example by saying: "your school work is fantastic I’m surprised you talk to people that way. Did you know words can hurt?" (p. 110).

-Ask students what’s motivating their unpleasant behavior and talk about how you can restore the harm caused by the actions.

-Acknowledging behavior

-Apologizing 

-Expressing repentance 

-Committing to not repeat the offense 

-Offering to make amends 

The idea that behavior is a form of communication.

• Acknowledge students feelings and refuse to take student outbursts personally, keep our egos out of it as teachers 

-To help understand student behavior you can give a student sample survey to all your students that includes the question :

“Is there anything happening in your life outside of school and that affects your work and behavior in class?” (74)

-One explanation for disruptive behavior is incomprehension of instruction. When spoken to, one student said:

• “I’d rather be bad than stupid” (51)

• Some students who are disruptive just need more instructional support.

“Praise them!  Praise them individually and as a class.  You will see a huge difference.  Say things like 'I am so lucky that I get to teach you guys.'  or 'My job is the best because I get to hang out with all of you!'".

“At the beginning of the year, have your students address an envelope to themselves, or a postcard if you want to get fancy.  Then, spend some time within the first months of school writing a letter to each kid.  This takes time, but it is such a personal gesture that will go a long way in building relationships.  Brag on things that you’ve noticed about them, even those kids who may seem to be giving problems".

“Another way that you can build relationships is to ask your students a question as they enter your classroom.  We all know that we should greet them at the door.  Why not greet them with a question that will help you get to know them?  One fun thing you can try, even if it’s just once a week is a 'would you rather question'.  Ask each kid the question as they come in and get their response.  Then, when you start class, you can repeat the question, tell them your answer and have them stand up to show who answered what.  This would only take seconds, and if you want to only do it once a week, you could call it 'Would You Rather Wednesdays'.  If you don’t want to use would you rather questions, you could just ask regular 'get to know you questions' like Do you have siblings?  Dogs or cats? What’s your favorite candy?".

• Erase boards: the teacher asks a question, students write their answer down on the white board and hold boards up for teacher to read.

• “Guided notes take advantage of one of the most consistent and important findings in recent educational research: students who make frequent, relevant responses during a lesson learn more than students who are passive observers” (p. 360).

“Increase the amount of space in a classroom” (p. 358) 

“Error corrections or reprimands that were loud in tone were less effective than quiet or discreet corrections” (p. 365)