Classroom Management Strategies to Teach Respect
Teacher’s Improve Classroom Control by Teaching Respect
Oct 10, 2009
Jeff Paulson – an elementary teacher, instructional coach, and educational consultant – works with teachers to improve instructional practice. He has also contracted with the U.S. Department of Education to conduct nationwide professional development for teachers. Here, he shares effective classroom management strategies that can help educators improve classroom control by teaching respect.
Gain Classroom Control by Teaching Respect From Day One
On the very first day of every school year, Paulson lays a foundation for classroom control by teaching respect. He begins by pointing out a prominently displayed poster with two class rules in bold lettering – #1. Respect, #2. Remember rule #1.
Paulson follows this demonstration up with a class discussion on the significance of these guidelines. “On the first day of school I conduct a Socratic Seminar on respect,” he explains. “I ask questions like, ‘how do we look and act when we respect ourselves? How can you tell when someone respects their own things? What quality of work will you do if you have self-respect? What happens when you respect other people? What if you respect other people’s things, or the things of the classroom?’”
Effective Classroom Management Techniques for Establishing Student Expectations
Once the important issues of teaching respect are hashed out, Paulson moves on to the finer points of effective classroom management. “The class rule is my rule,” he comments, “It’s not negotiable. But I do let the kids create a list of expectations for the class. I ask, ‘What does this class need to be like for you to be able to learn really well?’ And the kids often say things like, ‘It’s got to be silent during tests so I can think’ or ‘It needs to be kind of quiet during work time’ or ‘When one person is speaking, everyone else should listen’.”
Paulson writes the students’ expectations on a class chart. The ideas vary from year to year. Sometimes students include ideas such as, "I like to have fun and to laugh" or "I like challenges" or "I want choices."
All of this input goes up on the expectations chart, and Paulson refers to it often. On any given day, he might say something like, "Remember what you all put on our Expectations Chart? Jake is speaking, so we should all be listening to him."
Classroom Control Involves Teaching Respect Throughout the School Year
Paulson takes the foundation of a classroom culture built around respect and uses this to maintain classroom control throughout the year. Examples of this show up in many of his classroom management techniques.
“I read somewhere that when a person hears something negative about themselves, it takes 14 positive things to undo the damage,” he remarks. When students in Paulson’s class says something disrespectful about another student, they don’t get recess again until they come up with a list of 14 genuine positive things about the child whom they insulted. If they can’t think of 14, then they do research by asking the student’s friends, previous teachers, or parents for deeper insight.
As might be guessed, instilling a climate of respect has an enormous impact on classroom control. In related articles, teachers can discover the impact relevant learning also has on effective classroom management, how new classroom technology is an asset to this relevant learning, and tips for classroom control when it comes to small group instruction, group projects and centers.
Quotes and information gained through conversation with Jeff Paulson on October 9, 2009.
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