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classroom management

Conflict Resolution with a Wheel of Choices Feature Image

A Wheel of Choices for Conflict Resolution

by Emily Horn November 9, 2023

written by Emily Horn

One year, when I was working as a principal, a group of 5th graders seemed to have conflicts many times a day. So much so that it made instructional time difficult, and recess breaks were full of incidents, both verbal and physical. Conflict resolution and management were challenging processes that always required the teacher’s attention. Of course, there are some student issues and conflicts that will always need to be handled, managed, and resolved by an adult. But how can we set students up to resolve conflicts on their own (when appropriate), and why is this important?

Students will eventually need to resolve disagreements and issues independently as they get older. However, some minor conflicts are appropriate for younger students to resolve on their own after receiving tools, guidance, and modeling. One way to help them succeed is by giving them choices for healthy responses to conflict. A visual tool, like a Wheel of Choices, can work wonders! Let’s explore how to get started with this tool.

Why is conflict resolution important?

Conflict and disagreement are a normal part of being human. Unfortunately, we all know this doesn’t go away or decrease with age. And (unpopular opinion alert), it’s important for students to know that they don’t have to like, play with, or be friends with everyone in their class. However, regardless of friendship status, we must treat people respectfully and work through conflicts and disagreements in healthy ways. So, let’s teach conflict resolution skills early on! Learning to effectively navigate conflicts sets students up for more success in life. It helps them:

Deepen relationships
Build resilience
Identify their feelings
Acknowledge the feelings of others
Gain confidence
Build leadership skills
Grow in empathy
Broaden perspectives
Achieve goals
Build active listening skills
And more

What is a Wheel of Choices?

A Wheel of Choices is a visual chart that provides students with healthy ways in which they can respond to and work to resolve conflicts. When a dispute arises, students can reference the wheel and choose a response to try. The goal of the Wheel of Choices is for students to eventually be able to resolve minor conflicts independently, confidently, and successfully. Here are ideas for introducing the wheel to students:

First, talk with your students about conflict. What is conflict? What conflicts have they experienced (without naming names)? How did they work through them? You can also discuss healthy and unhealthy responses to conflict.
Then, reiterate that conflict and disagreement are normal, and they aren’t necessarily “bad”! When issues arise, it’s an opportunity for growth that can help us learn about each other and ourselves.
Next, introduce the Wheel of Choices as a reference tool for students. You can introduce the whole wheel or add one strategy at a time, explaining each strategy and modeling them in brief mini-lessons. You could also brainstorm your own strategies as a class to add to the wheel!
As conflicts arise, begin prompting students to use the wheel. Work with them on choosing strategies to support them in resolving issues together. It may take trying several choices from the wheel to solve a disagreement, and that’s okay!
After some practice and time working under your guidance, the students might be ready to try using the wheel independently.

Tips for Using the Wheel of Choices

After using a Wheel of Choices with the 5th grade students I mentioned at the beginning of this article, here are some things I’d recommend:

Role-play the different strategies with students.
Remind students that respectful dialogue is imperative.
Place a wheel in areas where conflicts tend to happen (playground, cafeteria, etc.).
Give each student their own mini-wheel.
Talk to parents so they can encourage using these strategies at home, too.
Be there for students during conflicts to guide them.
When appropriate, encourage independence.
Celebrate successful resolutions!

Example Use of the Wheel: Jose and Cassandra are arguing over whose turn it is to kick during kickball. Things are getting heated and escalating. Cassandra suggests they look at the Wheel of Choices to help them reach a resolution. Cassandra chooses “Make a deal.” Jose has an idea! Since the two have different opinions, they could play Rock, Paper, Scissors (best two out of three) to decide who kicks first. Cassandra agrees to the deal. Jose wins two out of three. He kicks first, and Cassandra will go next.

Strategies on the Wheel:

Colorful infographic with the strategies from the Wheel of Choices explained. — Created by the author: Linked in the Wheel of Choices template below.

The strategies shown on my wheel are not at all set in stone. Feel free to access the editable template and add your own strategies or ones that you and your students think of together! Let’s explore the choices I included on my wheel:

Share. Listen. Restate. Explain how you’re feeling. Listen to how the other person is feeling. Restate what they explained about their perspective to make sure you understand how they feel.

Take responsibility. Apologize. Make a change. If you make a mistake, own it. Say that you’re sorry, but sorry isn’t enough! Explain how you’ll make a change.

Ask, “How can I help?” If a student shares how they’re feeling, ask how you can help. Then, listen to what they say.

Give a bug and a wish. Share what’s bugging you and then what you wish the other student would do. “It bugs me when you won’t let me have the ball. I wish we could take turns!”

Brainstorm a solution. Work together to problem solve! Brainstorm ideas and pick one to try.

Ask an adult for help. If you need help solving a problem or are hurt, uncomfortable, or unsafe, go to an adult you trust immediately. Tell them what happened.

Use an “I feel” statement. Tell the other student how you feel and what made you feel that way. “I feel angry when you won’t let me have the ball.”

Decide to let it go. Think about what happened. Sometimes, if it’s a small thing or an accident, you can make a choice to let it go and move on.

Make a deal. Work together on a compromise! Find a win-win deal that will work well for everyone.

Cool off! Then, come back to the wheel. Sometimes, taking a break and some deep breaths is good before trying to resolve a conflict. If you need a minute to think and cool down before you can speak respectfully to a student, take the time you need!

End with a… Once a conflict is resolved, choose how you will show it! End with a high five, a hug, or a handshake to show it’s over and you worked it out.

A colorful wheel full of strategies for students to try for conflict resolution. — Created by the author: **Edit** or **Download** (Strategies are explained on page 2.)

We saw a lot of success in resolving conflicts using the Wheel of Choices! Every resolution was celebrated, and students were proud to take ownership and become more independent problem solvers. It’s very brave to be vulnerable and share feelings with another person, whether you’re an adult or a child. However, learning to do so at a young age can build confidence and resilience when students recognize they can overcome difficult situations. What do you think? Is this something you might try with your students? Are there any strategies you would add to the wheel? Share them in the comments!

November 9, 2023 0 comment

high school students sitting around a table

From Chaos to Calm: Effective Classroom Management Strategies

by Dr. Bruce Ellis August 30, 2023

written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Dealing with difficult students can be extremely frustrating when you have to alter class lessons or activities. And, if we aren’t careful, bad behavior can spread by empowering other students to misbehave and add to the off-task or inappropriate behavior. While there are many research-based classroom management strategies to consider using, let me highlight a few to incorporate, if you are not already doing so.

1. Build Relationships

One of the best classroom management strategies you can employ to minimize student disruptions is to build relationships with students. Get to know students’ hobbies, preferences, and interests. Include these in your content when possible. When you see students between classes, engage in small talk. Don’t try to be “one of the students,” but also, don’t ignore them when you are with peers. Building relationships with students can help create a positive classroom environment where students feel comfortable and respected. This can lead to fewer disruptions and a more productive learning experience for everyone. Additionally, by getting to know your students, you can tailor your teaching methods and content to better meet their needs and interests, which can increase engagement and motivation.

2. Set Clear Expectations and Consequences

It is easy to assume that the students understand the rules and consequences as well as you do. But, that may not be the case. Even if it isn’t an issue of “cheating,” students may have a vague idea of what a particular rule looks like or the nuances of the rule. A student may have another or previous teacher who did not enforce the rule/consequence, so the student believes that the rule/consequence isn’t really valuable or expected. Regardless of the grade level you teach, reviewing the rules and consequences is a good thing. Ask students to participate in setting the rules and consequences. In doing this, I found that the students could be harder on the group than I would have been in which case I had to temper the expectations to be less punitive and more realistic.

3. Use Restorative Justice

Restorative justice in the context of a classroom is an approach to discipline that focuses on mediation and agreement rather than punishment. It aims to get students to take responsibility for their actions, understand the harm they have caused, and make restitution to those affected. This approach can help create a positive classroom environment where students feel comfortable and respected, leading to fewer disruptions and a more productive learning experience for everyone. Restorative justice is not just a tool to use in a crisis, but can be used proactively to build and nurture meaningful relationships and a strong sense of community within the classroom. This setting doesn’t create a teacher versus student environment but instead uses positive peer pressure to help maintain order and promote a classroom environment that all students enjoy.

4. Establish Earned Empowerment

Some students respond well when they are allowed to make choices. Initially, you may be making assignments such as the seating arrangement, groupings, etc. As students demonstrate on-task behavior and respect for you and others, consider moving to an earned empowerment environment. This is one in which students have earned the ability to make choices because they have previously demonstrated good choices (doing homework, supporting peers, following classroom rules, etc.). When you move to this philosophy, be sure that you are fair and equitable as to how various levels of empowerment are earned.

5. Document, Document, Document

As educators, documenting student behavior and progress can be extremely time-consuming. However, a lack of documentation can actually undermine your success and your students’ ability to receive help based on trends or habits that they may be exhibiting in your classroom. Consider creating a Google Form that you can fill out as you walk around the room to document when needed. Include fields for student name, period, student behavior, and any notes. If you want the students to complete the form (highly advisable), then also include sections for them to identify what the expectation was and how they plan to correct the behavior or behave next time. Once students show you the completed form, you then approve them to click the Submit button for it to be added to the documentation spreadsheet. This helps you know that it was filled out correctly and holds them accountable to truthfully telling what happened.

6. Get Feedback from Others

Sometimes we have students who are difficult, and we have no clue how to help them. Our personalities might be completely different or we lack the experience to pull up the strategies that are needed to help those students. In these times, consider talking with the parent(s), a peer teacher, and/or the school counselor for input. Sometimes solutions can be very simple, yet we fail to see them for some reason. For example, a student may be struggling with a subject because they are not getting enough sleep at night or they are dealing with personal issues at home. By communicating with the parents and other professionals, we can gain insight into the student’s life and find ways to support them. Additionally, seeking advice from experienced teachers can provide us with new strategies and techniques to try in the classroom.

Photo of a classroom with six classroom managements from the article listed on top of it.

The challenge of handling difficult students in the classroom isn’t isolated to any one educator; it’s a universal experience that teachers confront at various stages of their careers. The classroom management strategies highlighted in this article, from building genuine relationships to consistently documenting student behaviors, offer a comprehensive approach to fostering a positive classroom environment. As educators, it’s our duty not just to impart knowledge but to shape the environment in which learning occurs. Each challenging moment is an opportunity for growth—for both the student and for you. Always stay curious, remain empathetic, and be proactive in fostering a classroom where every student feels valued and understood.

August 30, 2023 0 comment

Blended Learning Classroom Management Content Areas

Five Tips for Great Classroom Center Management

by Emily Horn June 6, 2022

written by Emily Horn

Who loves classroom centers? *Raises hand* Classroom centers can be fantastic and versatile spaces within the classroom. They can offer student choice, movement within the room, and provide enrichment, extension, and reinforcement. They can also allow for interaction between content areas, technology, and hands-on experiences for students. The content, supplies, and types of centers will vary depending on grade level. For example, preschool centers will include centers like dramatic play and art, while upper elementary grades will most often include content-based centers like math and writing. Whatever your grade level, whether you teach preschool or grade 5, here are some of my favorite tips for classroom center management.

1. Avoid traffic jams.

Limit the number of visitors per center at a time. This also challenges students to try new things when their preferred center(s) aren’t available. In each center, I placed a visual with the center name. Next to the center name, I placed a numbered name tag chart, with attached velcro. I printed these on colored card stock and laminated them. Some centers were only open to one student while others would be open for three to four students at a time. I placed the other side of velcro on the back of these coordinating student name tags (which I also laminated). Students placed their name tags at the center of their choice, and when the number cards were full, the center was no longer available. This worked amazingly well in both my preschool and second grade classrooms. Also, strategically space centers throughout the room and create flexible workspaces for students in different areas. Students can also work at their desks!

2. Create resource-rich workspaces.

Make sure students have access to everything they will need at their center. Set up areas with supplies, resources or reference materials, digital devices, clear instructions, and opportunities for partnered or independent work. It’s great to offer students several activity options at varying levels. But students should have everything they need at the center in order to be most efficient.

3. Set very clear expectations.

And stick to them! With your students, establish very clear guidelines and determine what the consequences will be for not following them. This includes behavior, noise level, working habits, and clean-up expectations. What are the expectations for students if they have questions, but you’re busy? “Ask three, then me” is a great routine to put in place. Here is an entry with several additional suggestions. Also, one of my expectations was that students should complete an activity before moving on to a new activity.

4. Provide a checklist, choice board, or extension menu.

Set up a system for students to track their work to prevent them from starting a lot of activities that they don’t finish. One way you can do this is by giving them a weekly or daily checklist listing their “must-do” activities and several “can-do” activities. You can also use a tic-tac-toe choice board. Check out these great posts about choice board creation.

5. Model tracking and organization.

Coach your students to track and organize their center work. Each of my students had an individual folder. They put their “to-be-completed” activities in the front pocket. Completed activities were hole-punched and put in brads. They loved seeing their folders fill up, and we celebrated this together!

What’s worked in your classroom for classroom center management? Do you have additional ideas or strategies to share? Please add them in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!

June 6, 2022 0 comment

Blended Learning Classroom Management Content Creation Good Teaching LMS Web 2.0 Tool

Top Five Tech Tools for New Teachers

by Miguel Guhlin April 5, 2022

written by Miguel Guhlin

What are the essentials you need to share with new teachers? I can’t tell you how many workshops I’ve put together that addressed the needs of new teachers. What combination of must-haves do new teachers need? I asked Clint ISD’s Crystal Fuentes, “What are your ‘top five’ for new teachers every year?” Let’s explore her responses. But before we do that, let’s revisit a related important high-effect size instructional strategy.

The Power of Collective Action

Want to know which is one of the toughest strategies to take advantage of in a school? Collective Teacher Efficacy (CTE) is the one that most often comes to mind. With an effect size of 1.36, many instructional leaders look at that and say, “Why not us?”

Collective Teacher Efficacy can be defined in the following way:

Through collective action, a staff can have a positive influence on student outcomes. This includes disengaged and/or disadvantaged students.
Meaghan Loftus, Associate, CT3

But how do you achieve CTE in your school? It is suggested that you have these six influencers:

Advanced Teacher Influence. This happens when an organization listens, acknowledges teachers, and teachers influence decisions made at school.
Goal Consensus. Teachers set the goals for the school, not only the leadership. Who’s writing that campus improvement plan? If it’s your assistant principal on a weekend at home, then this is a #FAIL.
Teachers’ Knowledge about One Another’s Work. This involves teachers getting to know what each other is doing. More importantly, getting to know how each other’s work impacts their own.
Cohesive Staff. This refers to how teachers agree with each other on core educational values or issues.
Responsiveness of Leadership. When leadership listens to teachers and works to cut distractions, that’s responsiveness.
Effective Intervention Systems. This ensures there is structure to support teachers and students.

When working to set up new teachers, it’s worth considering these contributing factors. As Meaghan Loftus points out, together, these six points ensure CTE. And when you are preparing new teachers, much of their success depends on these six elements. Without them, new teachers, no matter how enthusiastic and tech-savvy, will struggle.

Now that you have some background on CTE, let’s take a look at Crystal Fuentes’ suggestions.

Tip #1: Classroom Management Tech Tools

Dealing with problems and developing solutions as they arise is one way to manage a classroom. Another way is by empowering students to make choices. Then, permitting them to learn from the consequences of those choices.

My favorite approach to classroom management involves building teacher-student relationships. That is, getting to know students and building trust. The best classroom environment I experienced involved building relationships with students. While disagreements occurred, having a family environment worked best with my bilingual class.

“One technology tool that’s in my top five is ClassDojo,” says Crystal. “I want teachers to know how to use ClassDojo.” No surprise, ClassDojo has these goals for itself:

Create a positive culture.
Give students a voice.
Share moments with parents.

The ability to access ClassDojo on any device makes it handy. For language diverse situations, its message translation is invaluable. And for some too committed to being accessible, you can set quiet time hours.

Tip #2: Learning Management Systems

Do learning activities revolve around ancient, paper-bound curriculum resources? You may not be pulling activities from a file cabinet in old manila folders. Instead, you may be relying on primary sources and current information available online. You may be co-constructing rubrics with your students. Sure, you can limit yourself and your students to paper. But who wants to shuffle papers, deal with 3-ring binders, and worry about missing work?

A better way exists if you have robust internet and device access for students. Learning management systems make it easy to:

End the paper chase.
Distribute resources as needed in an instant.
Timestamp student and teacher work.

Today, there is no shortage of learning management systems. That is, digital classroom supports that make access to resources easy. What’s more, they ensure you can connect with students in academic ways. While ClassDojo may be a classroom community builder, LMSs ease the paperwork. And that’s a huge benefit.

Crystal suggests relying on tools like the following:

Google Classroom is the learning management system, and Little SIS provides more granular administrative control over Google Classroom. Skyward is a student information system (SIS) and digital gradebook. There are many combinations of solutions. I would be remiss to not point out other popular options. Those include:

Microsoft Teams, OneNote, and the SIS tool of choice (e.g. Skyward, TSDS/PEIMS)
Instructure’s Canvas and SIS
PowerSchool’s Schoology and PowerSchool SIS

There may be other options, but these are some I have seen in Texas schools.

Did You Know?

Learn more about your learning management system of choice via TCEA’s online, self-paced courses. These affordable sessions ($29 each) provide you with what you need to know to get started. Courses available include Google Classroom, Canvas Educator, Schoology Educator, and Microsoft 365 (covers Teams and OneNote).

Tip #3: Collaborative Tech Tools

Collaboration and discussion of academic content can have a powerful impact on student learning. Consider this tidbit of research:

If students know content, coming up with explanations helps fellows strengthen their understanding. Even when they don’t know content, conversations increase learning (adapted from source).

To aid collaboration, there are many tools. Clint ISD’s Crystal Fuentes recommends Padlet and Google Jamboard.

Tip #4: Lesson Delivery Tools

While you can still stand and deliver lessons in a classroom, there are alternatives. Now, you can do that, AND make your Google Slides deck available to students. You can mix in checks for understanding as well as turn and talk opportunities. And teachers can put in place low-stakes assessments with rapid-response measurement. What’s more, the right set of lesson delivery tools empowers student voice and choice. They also make it easy to engage students in bell ringer activities.

Crystal suggests these tools that work with Google Slides:

You may find this comparison of the two similar tools by Rachelle Dene Poth (@rdene915) helpful.

Learn more about the research and best practices for using choice boards in the classroom. Take the TCEA online, self-paced course, Choice Boards for Educators. If you’re ready to become a choice board pro, this course will make you shine. Choice boards promote student choice and voice while providing differentiated instruction. How fantastic does that sound? Not only that but they’re proven to work.

Tip #5: Tech Tools for Creation

To round out the list, Crystal shares two powerful creation tools. These are tools every educator needs to know about. She suggests that new teachers know how to use the following:

LucidPress. This tool makes it easy to design visual resources, newsletters, and more. Some may substitute this tool with the free for educators, Canva.
Flipgrid. A free, no-cost tool available to support video recording and communication. This is a must-have tool to make student reflection, interviews, and more possible.
Screencastify. A screen recording tool that makes flipped classroom lessons a breeze. Students can also record videos and create screencasts.
Choice Board Menus. A powerful tool for supporting student choice in learning. This suggestion is less a technology tool and more of an instructional strategy. Yet the ability to blend multimedia sources into choice boards transforms this strategy.

A final tool that TCEA Board member Crystal Fuentes finds a powerful aid in Clint ISD: Promethean Panels. Be sure to reach out and follow her on Twitter to learn more. As Crystal shared in one of her tweets:

“Teaching is the one profession that creates all other professions.”

April 5, 2022 1 comment

Classroom Management Social-Emotional Learning

Transforming Interruptions in the Elementary Classroom

by Emily Horn March 4, 2022

written by Emily Horn

We’ve all been in this situation. You know– the situation when we are running a small group or teaching a lesson or working individually with a student– only to be met with (wait for it…) interruptions. Note: To be clear, I’m definitely not talking about emergency situations when interruptions are 100% necessary. There are many reasons that students might interrupt, and some interruptions are important and necessary. But there are some that could be solved by the student with guidance from visual tools, class procedures, and their peers. Let’s take a look at strategies that can empower students to own their learning and problem solve before seeking help from the teacher. And they can also help build a great classroom community.

#1 “Ask Three and Then, Me!”

This is one of my favorites. It’s simple! Before asking the teacher, the student asks three different peers for help. If their question isn’t answered or the problem isn’t solved, the student seeks out the teacher. When a student comes to the teacher for help, the teacher asks, “Have you asked three?” If the student hasn’t yet, they know to seek out a peer. Most of the time, the problem is quickly solved after the first or second peer is asked for help. It’s a great strategy that also fosters a positive community within the classroom. And students know that the teacher will assist after they tried first with their peers.

Ask three and then me - prevent interruption

#2 Start a Support Specialist Program

Creating a Support Specialist Program in a classroom can be amazing for students. It empowers them to help each other and can be a great reminder that everyone has strengths, weaknesses, and is a leader in their own way. And we all need help sometimes. Every student in the class can have the opportunity to “apply” to be a support specialist if they’d like to be one. After applying, they “interview” with the teacher. During the interview, you can ask students the following questions:

Why do you want to be a support specialist?
What gifts do feel you’d bring to your class as a support specialist?
In what areas do you think you can best support your peers?

After applying and interviewing, students receive their Support Specialist certificates, which are displayed in the classroom. I find that this system and the fifth system on this list work very well together. Students really felt proud to be official support specialists and took the job seriously.

#3 Create a “Parking Lot”

You can use a digital tool like Padlet for this, but you can also use post-it notes. Designate a space in the classroom (it would be a whiteboard or poster board, for example) as the “parking lot”. Students can write down their activity-, content-, or assignment-related questions on post-its and then “park” them in the parking lot space. Then, once they’re available, the teacher or class support specialists, can address questions and provide assistance.

#4 Brainstorm Things to Try Before Asking the Teacher

This one is pretty self-explanatory, but here is a visual tool for students to help remind them of five things they can try (in any order) before asking the teacher:

Revisit and reread the instructions.
Ask peers for help.
Use available resources (notes, dictionaries, clasroom posters, etc.).
Try it a different way.
Take a one-minute break and come back to the work.

You can brainstorm ideas for this list with your students and make your own classroom poster together!

#5 Student-to-Student Signaling

This procedure works well with any of the above. These cards can be laminated and given to students, or you can create your own with your class. There are many ways to display the cards, but I found that velcro on the desk and back of the cards works well. Students display the appropriate card on their desk to signal their peers, changing them as needed.

A red card means that the student is unavailable. So they should not be visited for assistance.
A green card means the student is available to assist others. So other students can come to ask them questions if needed.
A yellow card signals that a student is in need of assistance. They’d like a classmate, when they’re available, to visit them.

I hope that you find some of these ideas helpful, or that something sparks an idea in you. If you have ways you empower students and transform interruptions in your classroom, please share them in the comments below.

March 4, 2022 0 comment

Classroom Management

Classroom Contracts: An Excellent Strategy for Student Behavior Management

by Dr. Bruce Ellis January 28, 2022

written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Do you ever have recurring dreams or have a similar dream several times a year? I do. Actually, I have several. One is that I’m back in college and can’t find my math class. I’m worried that I’m going to be late. The other is that I’m teaching elementary school again, and I’ve returned to campus only to find that my students are no longer well-behaved. They are running wild! I’m worried that the principal will come into my classroom at any minute wondering why they are misbehaving. Fortunately, these dreams weren’t realities for me, and I hope they are not for you either.

However, if you need help with classroom discipline or know a colleague who could use some support, then here is one proven strategy that can help change your class for the better. It’s true that when student discipline is not an issue, students feel the classroom is a safe place to learn, better learning takes place, and students can have better relationships with each other and the teacher.

Restorative Discipline

First, check out Diana Benner’s post on Restorative Discipline. Regardless of what behaviors need to be corrected in the classroom, restorative discipline should be the mindset and goal. As Diana shares, the end results of restorative discipline should be accountability, community safety, and competency development. Punishment, shame, and bullying only promote worse behaviors in students and teachers. Now that we have that as our basis, let’s look at using classroom contracts.

Two-Part Classroom Contracts

Classroom contracts have been around for a while, but few teachers make use of them. In the grown-up world, these might be called “team norms.” Establishing a classroom contract (or team norms, if you prefer, for older students) can go a long way in minimizing misbehavior in class. Ideally, a classroom contract is created at the beginning of the year or semester. But you can pause to have your students create one at any point in the year. Classroom contracts have two parts: the expectations and the responsibilities. And if you have multiple classes, each class should create its own. Because the personalities of each class are different, each class’s product will likely look slightly different. What might need to be said for one class may not be an issue for another.

Classroom Expectations

For the expectations portion, you lead students through a discussion on what they want the expectations to be for classroom behavior. Allow them to pitch different ideas. Some may be quite extreme, so you may need to reign them in at times. Have them think through these norms as what will be expected of all students in your class. Once everyone has agreed on the tenets of behavior for your class, then it is written down (or printed out), and everyone signs it. This becomes the guiding force for your classroom. Everyone is responsible for following the agreement and for maintaining order. The great thing about a classroom contract is that it removes the teacher as the sole authoritarian to manage behavior. It is now the responsibility of all students to manage behavior so that the best learning environment is fostered.

Student Responsibilities

The responsibilities aren’t like the traditional rules, rewards, and consequences that you may have had (or have) on your classroom wall. The responsibilities delineate what everyone actively does to support the expectations. For example, this part of the contract can outline how to help remind someone when they are breaking the agreement. This, too, is a discussion with the students to develop behaviors that everyone can use to help make corrections and maintain a positive and robust learning environment. This list should also be written out (or printed) to be a visual reminder for students and can be referred to as needed. Before having students sign this document, have them discuss what these responsibilities will look like in the classroom. For example, they can explain how they might support a friend who isn’t following the agreement. Additionally, discuss the benefits of working together to maintain unity in learning.

Practicing Classroom Contracts Through Role-Play

Once both documents are on the wall, have students role-play and discuss how expectations and responsibilities might look in class. Ask them to partner up and create a story to tell the class. The story should be a relevant example of expectations being met or unmet and how a student responded correctly to the situation based on the agreement. Here are two examples:

[corrective story] “While student are working in small groups discussing cell division, one student gets upset with another student because he isn’t doing ‘his fair share’ of the work. The angry student says something derogatory to the other group member and calls him stupid. This is a clear breach of contract based on what we agreed upon. Fortunately, the third member in the group reminds the angry student that his behavior is out of line and no one is to be put down in class. The third student reminds the angry student to consider taking a minute or two away from the group to calm down and consider his actions…which the angry student does. Upon returning to the group, the (previously) angry student apologizes for his behavior and shows effort to make appropriate amends. The group is back on track and begins work again. “
[nurturing story] “Dr. Ellis assigned some problems for the class to solve. They recently learned about binomials and were now solving binomial equations for x. After writing a problem on the board, the students volunteered to solve it out loud for the class. Robert volunteered to solve the problem, which he did well. Upon finishing, Carol, another student, complimented him out loud and said that she like the way he included all the steps and spoke clearly and loudly so she could hear him.”

Encouraging Positive Behavior in All Grade Levels

Another great thing about classroom contracts is that they can work in kindergarten classrooms up through college classrooms. You may have to make the contract very visual for younger students, refer to it often, and have students share stories regularly. As the teacher, be sure to “catch the students being good,” as the late behaviorist Madeline Hunter would encourage. Just because students demonstrate the right behaviors doesn’t mean they are aware of it. And encouraging students by noticing and acknowledging positive behaviors goes a long way to reinforce the contract. It also encourages other students to do the same.

Have you used team norms or classroom contracts before? Jump in the comments and share how it made a difference. Or, if you have a tip for implementing classroom contracts, please share with us below.

January 28, 2022 0 comment

Good Teaching

Why Classroom Routines Are Important

by Andrew Roush March 31, 2021

written by Andrew Roush

Routines are an important way to establish norms, set expectations, and otherwise build positive relationships in the classroom environment (and the workplace). They help everyone involved be on the same page.

Of course, these established patterns of behavior can also become ruts. Many know the dangers of approaching something “the way we’ve always done it,” especially in institutional situations like schools and districts. Even in our own individual classrooms and teaching practices, taking time to reflect on, and potentially renew, our practices can be powerful and can help revive your personal passion and energy and your teaching practices.

So let’s look at some ways to refresh our teaching by reviewing (or re-establishing) our routines, a skill that should be considered as you finish out the spring semester, reflect on your successes, and plan for next fall.

Defining the Why and How of Routines

At the outset of any project, it’s important to define why we undertake it and how we put it into practice. For classroom routines, that means analyzing our routines with this question in mind: Does this help students reach their full potential and reach it most efficiently? After all, routines are all about saving time, managing expectations, and making behavior choices easy for students.

Making the right choices easy for students also raises an important consideration. By defining procedures, are you teaching students a routine or are you simply announcing the rules?

Investing time in the teaching of classroom procedures is a classic example of proactive versus reactive management. As always, prevention is cheaper than remediation. But prevention is not free. You must invest “up front” if you want to reap the dividends for the remainder of the semester.
Dr. Fred Jones. “Rules, Routines, and Standards in Elementary and Secondary Grades.” Education World.

Managing Behavior and Investing Responsibility

By approaching routines, either established or new, by teaching your expectations, you save time trying to control a class later. For that reason, defining why you have routines and how to convey them is important. This way you can remove the guesswork and rely on students to take active responsibility for their own learning.

Behavior management is perhaps the most obvious “why” when it comes to laying out behaviors. In fact, there are many sources of inspiration for managing behavior specifically. But when it comes to reviewing those routines, make sure you take the “how” to heart.

Types of Routines

While setting expectations can happen through student-teacher agreements, syllabi, and more, routines come in many forms, beginning before students even set into the classroom.

Consider these questions. Do students have routines they follow?

How should students manage their traffic flow in and out of the classroom, library, or other learning space?
How should students behave when arriving to class?
How do students access learning materials? How are these materials kept or managed, online and off?
How is the class dismissed?

These seem like obvious functional questions, but the goals of each portion of the class period may be different, activities have different levels of commotion, and even the time of day might affect how you approach behavioral and procedural expectations.

All that is to say it’s vital to consider the type of routines you establish once you’ve defined your reasons behind them. Are the start and end of the class session the same? Should students behave the same way throughout? Are some routines solid and others flexible? A number of individual and student-centered considerations should be made to make routines well-understood and effective.

Revising the Rules

When thinking about rules versus routines, many argue that broad rules can be kept to a minimum, thus increasing a reliance on the active feedback of a routine.

Rules have consequences, and routines have reminders. What worked for me was far fewer rules and many, many more routines and procedures. …
All the other students are watching and expecting the follow through. If we just sigh, shake our head, and let it slide, students will not see being on time as a rule. We need to be selective when choosing that small handful of rules because those will need to be enforced.
This selective and thoughtful use of rules is one reason why applying a critical, active, and evolving lens to our routines is so useful. That way you can focus time and energy throughout the semester on what matters: Encouraging behaviors that lead to learning.
Rebecca Alber. “Rules and Routines in the Classroom.” Edutopia

Data Tools and Self Assessment

A number of tools exist to help you review and reignite your routines.

The Classroom Check-Up includes a full suite of worksheets and tools to help you complete and review your routines.

Check out three ways to bring data to bear on your routines here.

How you establish, review, and teach routines in your classroom. Sound off in the comments!

Image by Stefan Meller from Pixabay

March 31, 2021 4 comments