How do I eliminate disruptions while building student responsibility and ownership?
“Discipline” addresses the question, How do I eliminate disruptions while building student responsibility and ownership? Vigi- lance in other management areas lays a solid foundation on which to build this sixth area of management. In this chapter, we highlight the interconnectedness of areas of performance other than management: personal relationship building, clarity of instruction, design of learning experiences, the appropriateness of objectives, and the need to estab- lish, communicate, reinforce, and uphold clear standards and expecta- tions for behavior in order to help students learn what is appropriate and inappropriate, acceptable and unacceptable in a communal envi- ronment. Teachers also need to be prepared for the small percentage of students who, for any number of complex reasons, require something more. The chapter explains models of discipline that teachers can add to their toolkits over time for use with the most resistant students.
Attention to each management area—and the conscious choices made within them—can have a positive impact on the climate and tone of day-to-day class- room operations. This in turn will create an environment conducive to learning and achievement.
5. Attention PART TWO | MANAGEMENT | ATTENTION
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Management Attention
Management:
Attention
Focusing student attention on learning experiences is perhaps the most fundamental management challenge a teacher faces daily, hourly, and moment to moment in any classroom. In many ways, “Attention” is the bellwether area of performance among the group of management areas. Un- less students are paying attention to the instruction, it does not matter how good the lesson may be. Engaging and involving students on task in large- group, small-group, or individual learning experiences is what “Attention” is all about—indeed, what management is all about. It is the precondition for instruction, the sine qua non for curriculum implementation.