Who says ninth graders can’t learn to function in self-organized task groups to plan and organize a project?
Every year, we work with at least one or two excellent teachers who are tal- ented and caring people but whose effectiveness is reduced by their ambiva- lence about expectations. They are unsure how reasonable it is for them to ex- pect and to push students toward more responsible and attentive behavior in class. They see the irresponsible behavior of students who appear out of control but have family and other problems and feel they must make allowances. Thus they undersell the students and undershoot with their goals for student be- havior. Who says first graders can’t sit still in a circle and listen to each other for a 15-minute meeting? Who says ninth graders can’t learn to function in self-organized task groups to plan and organize a project?
Again and again, we have seen it demonstrated that teachers can get what be- havior they want if they work hard enough at it, are tenacious and determined enough, are committed to the idea that it is right and attainable behavior for their students, and are willing to teach the skills their students may need to function at that level. This is true even for some disturbed students, though they
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are more taxing, the setting may need adjustment, and this work will take con- siderably longer. Expecting anything less is ultimately a disservice to students. What you decide to “want,” of course, can be unreasonable and age inappropri- ate, in which case what you get is what you deserve.
If you have a clear notion of what you want, and you keep expecting, expect- ing, expecting, and say so out loud to students, with consequences when they don’t measure up, with explanations of “why” over and over again, and with as much kindness and rationality as you can muster, you will get there. But first you must make some decisions about what is acceptable and unacceptable be- havior and decide in order of priority what you want and that you will commit to getting it.
The Taboo Exercise is a useful first exercise for faculties to do together to get clarity, consensus, and conviction about behavioral expectations. A version of this is a built-in feature of PBIS. Through the exercise, and the discussion it necessitates, people get clearer about distinctions between the most serious and unacceptable student behaviors that warrant uniform, immediate, and consis- tent responses and consequences from the whole staff, and about behaviors that are important to address or extinguish but far less serious and therefore not worthy of community time and investment. In the latter case, individuals decide how to address them. (See the Taboo Exercise on The Skillful Teacher website at www.RBTeach.com/TST7.)
Do Students Know What Is Expected of Them? The prerequisite for strength in this area is that students have a clear and unam- biguous picture of the expectations for their behavior. Something must happen to get that information across. There are numerous ways this may be done: tell them directly, make up a chart, brainstorm, or negotiate the class rules at a class meeting. Expectations are sometimes not codified as formal rules or laid out all at once, but they become known to students through what a teacher reacts to consistently. Students must be clear about what we want from them. We save a lot of time and energy if we communicate expectations directly rather than leaving it to chance that students will figure them out.
Furthermore, expectations must be specific so there is no misunderstanding or room for argument. It may not be enough to call for silent reading time; the class may need clarification on what silence means. Does it mean absolute silence, or whispering, or quiet talking? Can the students see the difference and modulate in a controlled way between those levels? If “silence” really means “quiet,” then perhaps it really should not be called “silence” and vice versa. If students are supposed to arrive on time for class, does that mean being no more than two minutes late, being in the room when the bell rings, being in their
Taboo Exercise
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seats, or being in their seats with notebooks open and ready to go? Where these boundaries are drawn is less important than that they are established clearly. There must be no doubt as to when a rule has been broken.
You Have the Right:
p To be called only by your given or chosen name.
p To do your work without being disturbed by others.
p To be treated with the same respect that all people should have.
p To have your personal property rights respected.
p To ask questions when you don’t know until you understand.
p To get a good education and do your best work.
p To have and express your own opinion, even when you disagree with others, including the teacher.
p To know how you are doing in your schoolwork.
p To be safe from someone hitting or harming you.
p To have fun and play safely on the playground without being bothered by others.
p Not to be criticized for things beyond your control or for things that you didn’t know about.
p To be by yourself.
p To speak and listen to language that is appropriate for school.
p Not to be teased for being different.
Adapted courtesy of David Crump, former principal, Harrington Elementary School, Lexington, MA.
Exhibit 10.1 Sample Bill of Rights
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A Social Contract Mendler and Curwin (1999) describe a comprehensive strategy for involving students in rule making—called the social contract—to promote responsibil- ity and respect and ensure there are clarity and buy-in regarding the rules of classroom interaction. (See “Creating a Social Contract” on The Skillful Teacher website at www.RBTeach.com/TST7.)
Some teachers call this beginning-of-the-year rules exercise “constructing a classroom constitution” or “bill of rights and responsibilities.” A colleague of ours and a former classroom teacher, Dave Crump, used to start each school year by having his students develop a list of what they wanted to be able to count on as rights to be respected in their classroom that year (see Exhibit 10.1). Once they had generated a good list, they would discuss what each idea meant and why it was important. Finally, they would vote on their top priorities and construct a manageable list of 10 to 15 rights that everyone promised to abide by. The final document was prepared, and each student signed it.
When infractions occurred or conflicts arose around behavior, Crump would send students straight to the “Bill of Rights” to determine which of their rights had been violated—or which right they had violated—and to decide what a fair consequence might be. Frequently, this deliberation and discussion diffused tension between peers, and by the time they were reporting back to Crump they had pretty well resolved their issue.
Expectations need to be repeated often. That means, especially in the beginning of the year, restating and reminding students about expectations and eliciting expectations from students just prior to events that may strain the behavior. It might sound like this: “We’re going to the auditorium now. What might it be like there as we walk in? What will we need to do? What should we keep in mind for our behavior as a good audience?”
Home Contact Another useful strategy to clarify and reinforce expectations and build rela- tionships with families is early home contact to establish a positive connec- tion long before problems arise, and to enlist their support and cooperation throughout the year in reinforcing the class contract. See The Skillful Teacher website at www.RBTeach.com/TST7 for “Guidelines for Home Contact” pro- vided by Fred Jones (2013).
Attitude of Positive Expectancy Teachers should have an attitude of positive expectancy embedded whenever they state and restate expectations. Positive expectancy has two aspects. The first has the sense, “Why of course you’re going to do it!” This is not something
Creating a Social Contract
Expectations need to be repeated often.
Guidelines for Home Contact
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the teacher says outright, but it is the assumption conveyed by body language and attitude. The other aspect of positive expectancy is encouragement and confidence—the “I know you can do it” attitude. It is often associated with posi- tive statements of specific behaviors or questions (“Remember you want to raise your hand”) rather than direct desists (“Stop calling out!”).
Explicit verbal “positive attribution” conveys expectations as well. Consider the following scenario:
The little boy, Albert, was standing near the teacher’s desk and when he saw the drawings he promptly remarked, “They stink.”
Brigit’s smile vanished. The teacher took Albert aside, bent down to him and said, “You may not know it, but that hurt Brigit’s feelings because she really worked hard on those pictures. Now, I’m sure if you knew that you were going to hurt her feelings, you wouldn’t have said that about them. I don’t think you’d ever want to be that kind of boy, would you?”
Albert swallowed, and with his face down, he muttered, “No.” His teacher then took his hand and said, “Come, let’s take a good look at her pictures together, and we’ll tell her which one we like best.”
The teacher did not simply scold and disapprove, although her approval was certainly at stake for Albert. What she did was remind him of a standard he already understood, but that had not yet become a guiding principle for his actions. Even though she didn’t state the standard formally, her reminder that “It’s bad to hurt people intentionally” came through very clearly.
Albert was induced to apply this standard to his actions because of two things his teacher did:
• She attributed underlying good intentions to him (“I’m sure if you knew that you were going to hurt her, you wouldn’t have said that”). By doing this, she was granting him membership in the good persons “club”—a membership she assumed he desired. If he continued to ignore the standard, he’d lose his “membership”—not just because his teacher disapproved of him, but because the categories “per- son who intentionally hurts others” and “good person” are mutually exclusive. Research on children’s understanding of logic shows that even five-year-olds can understand the idea of mutually exclusive categories.
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• She asked him to define the kind of boy he didn’t want to be (one who intentionally hurts others). By doing this, she was forcing him to choose whether or not he wanted to keep his status as a good person. If he did, he’d have to use the standard as a guide for his behavior toward Brigit, as well as his future behavior toward others. (Shulmand & Meckler, 1994, pp. 113–114)
Another way to convey positive expectancy is to be assertive in requesting ap- propriate behavior. Lee Canter (Canter & Canter, 2001) calls for using one of four attention moves—eye contact, proximity, mentioning the student’s name while teaching, and proximity praise—to redirect students back on task. Here’s an example he gives for mentioning the student’s name:
While at the board, the teacher notices that Tanya and Michael are off task and not paying attention. The teacher, in a matter-of-fact manner, continues the lesson saying, “I want all of you, including Tanya and Mi- chael, to come up with the answer to this problem.” As soon as their names are mentioned, Tanya and Michael immediately begin paying at- tention. (p. 135)
If students counter with excuses or other diverting moves, Canter recommends the broken record technique:
Teacher: “Sue, I want you to raise your hand and wait to be called on before you speak.” (Statement of want)
Sue: “None of the other kids do.”
Teacher: “That’s not the point. I want you to raise your hand.” (Broken record)
Sue: “You never call on me.”
Teacher: “That’s not the point. I want you to raise your hand.” (Broken record)
Sue: “Okay, I will.”
In this interchange, the teacher kept repeating (broken record) what she wanted from the child and would not become sidetracked by Sue’s re- sponses. The teacher maintained control of the interaction with the child.
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In using this technique, you first need to determine what you want from the interaction with the student (for example, “I want Sue to raise her hand”). This becomes your statement of want and the gist of your interac- tions. You can preface your statement of want with, “That’s not the point, but I want you to raise your hand” or “I understand, but I want you to raise your hand.” No matter what manipulative response the student presents, if you respond with your statement of want—“that’s not the point, I want you to . . .” the statement will be more effective. (Canter & Canter, 2001, pp. 79–80)
This technique can be surprisingly effective, especially with students who are verbal. When you use it, you must know what consequences (or range of con- sequences) you are prepared to deliver if the behavior persists. Without that clear image, your assertiveness will be hollow. Furthermore, after reasserting the expectation three times, you must be ready to implement a consequence.