The Bell

You are a teacher, and you would like to talk to all of your students at once occasionally, right? The problem is it is difficult to do that when there are twenty wild things in your room! You need a signal. Someway to tell those wild things that it is time to FREEZE and be QUIET, so that you can impart your infinite wisdom.

One tool is bell: a cowbell, a tinkly bell, any bell will work.
Have the student practice freezing to the bell and time them to see how long it takes; challenge them to make it less and less each time.

The same system could be used with a whistle, a gong or turning off the lights/music.

Make sure you don't give up and try and yell into the jungle! WAIT.for quiet

Classroom Management circa 1947

This is an entertaining video on classroom management from 1947!

The Skillful Teacher- Jon Saphier

This is a book that every teacher should have. I swear! Is is sometimes painfully dry to read, but it becomes exciting quickly as you apply the ideas and principles outlined in the very clear and concise chapters. The pyramid I have posted here is great! (it is from the Introduction)

Part I is called "Introduction to Management", how great! That's just what we want to know about. Within this section are chapters devoted to: Attention-Momentum-Space-Time-Routines and Discipline.

Within the Discipline chapter Saphier describes 6 different methods of discipline objectively for you to experiment with.
They are:
Behavior Modification
Self Awareness Training
Personal Influence
Logical Consequences
Reality Therapy
Teacher Effectiveness Training

The Dead Poet's Society, 1989

The "rip it out" scene!





What is this great scene from The Dead Poet's Society an example of?
It could be an example of Lowenfeldian teaching at the college level.
Viktor Lowenfeld was an Austrian (b 1903- d 1960) who studied art history,sculpture, psychology and art education. Lowenfeld believed that a persuasive "Motivation" was important to activate the students. "Every teacher knows how a classroom motivation can become 'contagious.' Getting hold of all the children, such as a football game with a large attendance" (Saunders)
You can clearly see the contagious factor in this scene, as first one and then all of the students begin to follow the strange directions. Why not have a classroom like a football game, as long as you're the coach!

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club takes place in a Saturday detention. This detention is the perfect setting for an iconic 80's movie, but was it effective discipline?

According to the "Logical Consequences" model outlined in Saphier, it is not.
This model aims to "eliminate the authoritarian use of power by parents and teachers" (Saphier 130) and to generate responses to misbehavior from a "social reality" context, in other words, the punishment fits the crime. Detention is a one size fits all model of authoritarian punishment that might lead to "outright warfare" (Saphier 130) from rebellious youngsters, according to proponents of this model.

Teaching for Artistic Behavior

Teaching for Artistic Behavior, or TAB, is: "a nationally recognized choice-based art education approach to teaching art. Developed in Massachusetts classrooms over thirty five years, and through courses and research at Massachusetts College of Art.

Choice-based art education regards students as artists and offers them real choices for responding to their own ideas and interests through the making of art. Choice-based art education supports multiple modes of learning and assessment for the diverse needs of students." (www.teachingforartisticbehavior.org)

Many teachers have found that switching over to a TAB transforms the classroom from a place where they were always battling for control, to a place where they can effectively facilitate the student's art making.

This may be because in a choice based environments students are invested in their work (because they CHOSE to do it) and because they can work at their own pace and are not hurried or bored, which often leads to misbehavior.