It seems that day one is a very important day to stress/explain classroom rules.
In my classes I also reach back on teaching experiances from the past 12 years, I have had to evolve as the student evolved.
I engage them in the challenges and solutions to make the class run smoother. I play Devil's advocate and have scenerios to share with them and get their feedback.
The term Dicipline means to be taught (the taught ones) and in todays acadamia(classes) we have many students that have ADD and other learning challenges, and I have learned (the hard way) that by me being adaptable and having them participate in the solutions, many dicipline challenges disappear.
I find that they are more than adequate as a group to maintain dicipline in my classes as it benefits all of them to enchance their learning experiance, and to enforce it to their peers(peer dicipline).
Letitia, can you share any specific techniques you are looking to implement within the next couple of weeks?
James Jackson
James, I totally agree with making eye contact with the person disrupting your class. It let's them know you are aware of their behavior and it is not acceptable.
Using notes is an excellent idea this one of the few things that I have not used to deal with a disruptive student. But I have started using "I" and found it to be quite effective. The classroom management ideas in this course will be very helpful to use going forward.
Susan, some students are also just so competitive that they will argue a point that they even know they may not win simply to see if they can turn the decision in their favor. There are many testing systems in a number of industries where there may be several answers that are close to being correct but one will always stand above the rest. In the world of technology and Microsoft Certifications, this is the case and the industry exams will always have one best answer with the others being very close. This is done to ensure the test takers have actual knowledge of a system versus just book knowledge. You are doing your students a great service preparing them for such assessment instruments they may encounter in the "real-world".
James Jackson
When you have the student who argues about test questions having more than one correct answer or stating they were unclear as to what was being asked in the question, I have found it most helpful to have those students look up and/or do research on the rationale for the correct answer. In doing so they not only understand that there is only one correct answer, but learn and understand the answer. The student who argues it was unclear as to what was being asked, I inform them that if in the future they feel that anything is unclear to ask the instructor to clarify. I also explain to that student if I were to add anymore to the directions it may confuse the issue even more.
Vivian, I agree that tardiness can be disruptive. You may also want to consider talking to your admissions team and make sure you understand how the college is sold to students. In some cases students ask ahead of time if their busy work schedules can receive some accommodations with respect to balancing work and school. The concept that attendance is related to being on time for work is somewhat vague and school policy is a critical part to consider. If the uniform culture of the institution is being on time is priority one and the school is sold this way then you have a very valid case with respect to a strict attendance policy. If however the student was sold on the school as catering to busy adult learners then you are sending a mixed message which can result in student attrition issues that are not academic in nature. What is your school policy on working with busy adult learners? Thanks for anything you can share.
James Jackson
I always find out my classroom age on the first day of class. I have had students from 18 y/o to 60 y/o in one classroom and this can be a challenge not only in teaching but dealing with behaviors and discipline. Sometimes there is a problem with tardiness and this can be very disruptive to the class. What I have learned from my past experiences is to tell my students on the first day of class that they are adults and I expect them to be responsible and be on time for class as they would if they were going to their place of employment. I also meet with that person individually after class to see if this is an isolated event or there is a continuous problem that they need to see administration.
ibrahim, being prepared for each lesson and respecting the time of your students are also some great techniques to add to your awesome list. Thanks for sharing.
James Jackson
Marcelo, discussing the rules with students and getting them to share their ideas in appropriate repercussions can also be a very powerful technique. Since the students are determining the appropriate direction for an instructor to take, they really have a hard time being critical of those actions when you are forced to use them.
James Jackson
Dennis, a silent pause along with a brief look from the instructor can be a very powerful tool.
James Jackson
Scott I agree with you whole heartely. However, what happenes when the students report the instructor for following these guidelines to rigidly? I have had this happen to me on several occasions.
Annette
My Techniques for Better Classroom Discipline
1- Be sure you have the attention of everyone in your classroom before you start your lesson
2- Uncertainty increases the level of excitement in the classroom
3- Get up and get around the room. While your students are working, make the rounds. Check on their progress
4- “Values are caught, not taught.†Teachers who are courteous, prompt, enthusiastic, in control, patient and organized provide examples for their students through their own behavior
5- Non-verbal cues like facial expressions, body posture and hand signals
6- I-Messages are statements that the teacher uses when confronting a student who is misbehaving
7- Make ample use of praise. When you see good behavior, acknowledge it. This can be done verbally, of course, but it doesn’t have to be. A nod, a smile or a “thumbs up†will reinforce the behavior.
Dr/Ibrahim
I realized that if I set up the standards about the classroom environment and explain the repercussions of not following them the first day of class, students tend to appreciate it very much and adhere to them. By explaining some of the standards and the exercises behind it, they understand the reason why they must follow certain protocol or line of behavior. In addition, setting up the levels of professionalism adheres to the classroom standard as well. In congruence, discipline and professionalism go hand on hand.
Explaining students the reason and outcome of a set up standard made them feel part of the process and motivates them more as well.
I agree with the silence technique. That will get their attention and with nothing said. Dennis
Michael, hard for me to assist you when I have not sat in the class so please take these recommendations with a grain of salt but I will provide what I can. The girls implied that they felt the lectures were boring. Did you take any opportunities to discuss with the remainder of the class? If the majority feel the course structure needed to be adjusted then that is where I would change things up. I had similar situations when teaching some technology courses back in 1999 and was new to working in the Higher Education classroom. Some of my students suggested a new teaching style where I get them more involved and I started assigning specific topics to specific individuals and teams and we allowed them to present some of the materials during the classroom periods. We also included different games such as Jeopardy and gave out simple prizes in the classroom for the teams or individuals with the most points. To make a long story shorter, I had the highest overall retention rate of any class in our system and students would ask to be in my class by name. Not trying to change the focus to me as this is not the intent but wanted to suggest you consider other ways of getting your information out to your students and become more innovative with different delivery methods to reach out to different learning styles. Hope this helps. Happy to discuss more if you can share more of what you have already tried in your classroom.
James Jackson
Steven, another angle to consider on such issues is to find different ways to embrace such technology in the classroom and get students connected to your lessons plans through the use of such resources. If our students are more interested in their gadgets than they are in our message, forcing them to ignore these tools is not going to get us any closer to accomplishing our lesson objectives. By finding different ways to get students to make use of their gadgets within the classroom environment, we may be able to reach them in ways we never thought possible.
James Jackson
jason, well stated. Each group of students and each student will act differently. Knowing your students and knowing how to regain their focus is important. One technique that is used is to include a discussion on day one of your classes that has each student describe how they feel the instructor should respond should that student be found not to be paying attention or behaving in an inappropriate manner. The instructor then can use these techniques later when students are not behaving in an appropriate manner. You can also remind them of the day one conversations and just use that as a way to get them to realize you are concerned with their current behavior.
James Jackson
James, silence can be a great tool to regain control within a classroom environment. Direct eye contact with those not behaving in an appropriate manner is also effective.
James Jackson
Scott, I understand what you are saying and I also understand your desired outcome. I do have to say however this simply is not always the case. Just being over the age of 18 does not make anyone an adult, or at least in the sense we tend to think within the context of Adult Education. If your course is focused on weeding out the less capable students then I can see how the process you describe will do the trick but if your focus is to get them to behave like your vision of an adult, not sure I have seen any data that suggests this is the way to go. If you are graduating 100% of your students then obviously do not read any further as you are doing something awesome and the information that follows simply may not apply. Higher Education gets confused on what the word "Adult" implies as it is not directly related to age as much as a level of maturity. Mature adults take ownership of their educational goals while adolescents need a coach, mentor or guide at a much higher level. You are just as likely to encounter a 22 year old adult as you are to encounter a 35 year old adolescent so knowing your students and building professional relationships will be critical to progressing them along the maturity line. We may simply agree to disagree on methodology here but simply telling someone they are now an adult because they are over 18 years of age may not be the lesson plan that gets them to that next level. It may tell the student to only ask certain questions or let them know your course policies but may not impact their learning. What types of results are you getting with respect to students moving on to other courses where yours is a pre-requisite? Is your methodology providing them the skills they need to be successful in higher level courses? You may be on to something here so this would be a great topic to discuss further. Looking forward to better understanding some of your results.
James Jackson
