Teacher training programs and well-meaning professional development continually drive teachers toward creative and instructional excellence. New technologies and re-packaged strategies come at us from every angle, and despite all the new information directed toward school leaders and staff, students across the country are failing to achieve and teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate. Many schools push new strategies, curriculum, and ideas before the previous ones are given time to integrate. Perhaps we should push “pause” on the constant professional development and latest idea and ensure our learning environments are suitable and sustainable for students and staff.

Don’t reinvent the wheel. Fix it.

Healthy learning environments have routines and systems that allow students and staff to flourish. These environments permit its members to collaborate for meaningful learning experiences, develop and discover learning outcomes, and create resources that support learning in the classroom community. For some teachers the prospect of a classroom that looks like this is but a dream, but for others it is a near reality. Wherever you place yourself on this continuum, there are a number of classroom management strategies that can help you develop your school’s co-constructive classrooms. 

Planned Transitions

The most challenging behaviors often occur during unstructured transitions, including that small gap of time between lessons and recess, after lunch, etc. This lack of structure can create anxiety of uncertainty for many students, and undesirable behaviors often occur as a result. By planning independent activities ready for students when they return to class, we can create the predictability they need to lower the anxiety levels and give them something to look forward to upon returning.

The 3-Rule... Rule

I’m sure we’ve all been in the classroom where lists of rules line the front of the classroom (if not, consider yourself fortunate). Effective school rules are clear, minimal, fairly applied, and have positive outcomes. Having clear, simple rules like these can create accountability within your classroom where students can support and depend on one other. The best classrooms have a small number of clearly stated rules, and every desirable student behavior will fall under one of these three:

1. Be Safe

2. Be Responsible

3. Be Respectful

‍
When we see a student doing something they ought not do, we can ask them “Is that respectful?” or let them know if it is or not. The same is true for positive behaviors- if a students demonstrates respect, safety, or responsibility, we can acknowledge this through SPIT praise.

SPIT Praise

Students with behavior challenges have a negative script about themselves that plays on repeat in their psyche. It can take years to resolve, but we can help them “flip the script” and give them some SPIT praise to help them recognize their successes and give them a new script. SPIT stands for:

S- specific to a skill or action 

P- positively stated 

I- instructional, in that it provides detailed information on what they have done well

T- true, in that it is accurate and exact so it can be repeated

Seating arrangement

It is less common nowadays, but seating students (age 10 and older) in rows rather than in groups can actually improve their response participation. (Kem & Clements, 2007). This seating may not encourage immediate group discussion, but desks can be easily re-arranged for these types of lessons and give you greater flexibility.

References

Kern, L., & Clemens, N. H. (2007). Antecedent strategies to promote appropriate classroom behaviour. Psychology in the Schools, 44(1), 65- 75.

‍