Classroom Management

Matthew Lynch published in Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech, Education Leadership, Teachers

What is the Future of Classroom Management?

While conceptualizing this article, I reminisced about my first teaching job. It was as a fifth-grade social studies teacher in my hometown. To be honest, my first year wasn’t necessarily a stellar one. In some ways, I felt overwhelmed, even inadequate in the classroom, especially when it came to classroom management. But with the help of veteran teachers and an understanding principal, I completed that year and became a master teacher by my third year.

My experiences are not at all uncommon. Ask any teacher what their biggest challenge is on a daily basis, and most will say classroom management. Consider, the following classroom scenario. You are a fifth grade English teacher who has just started a lesson on action verbs, but your students have other plans. Matthias interrupts you with a question or an opinion about an unrelated topic, Rebecca is talking to her friend while you are attempting to redirect Matthias, and Susie, who is worried about her mother in the hospital, starts to cry incessantly. On top of that, while you are distracted, Alfred is posting hurtful comments about Rebecca on Facebook. This episode is just the tip of the iceberg, as sometimes these scenes get even more convoluted.

As modern students change their learning styles and expectations for their educations, the way that educators approach classroom management must be modified to meet the needs of today’s K-12 classrooms. So what does the future of classroom management look like? Not an easy question to answer, is it? My thoughts: we must find new and innovative ways to help teachers better manage their classrooms, and we must do it fast.

How is edtech shaping the future of classroom management?

Over the last decade, edtech companies have been experimenting with innovative ways to use technology to help teachers efficiently manage their classrooms. Thankfully, several of these companies are getting it right and are really doing a great job. One company, in particular, NetSupport, has done an excellent job of creating a comprehensive suite of applications designed to help teachers manage their classrooms, and schools maintain the school-wide learning environment.

In this article, I will discuss how two of their solutions, NetSupport School & NetSupport DNA-IT Asset Management & Internet Safety for Schools, can help educators and administrators prevent cyber bullying and academic failure. These tools can be used either as a standalone solution or as one complete suite. NetSupport School is an award-winning classroom management solution, designed in consultation with teachers, to provide dedicated assessment, monitoring, collaboration, and control features to help orchestrate and deliver lesson content – plus maintain students’ focus in technology-led teaching and learning. NetSupport DNA is a complete IT Asset Management & Internet Safety solution that helps technicians to track, monitor, and manage IT assets across the school and district. Although these apps perform different functions, they were created to work in tandem.

Preventing threats of cyber bullying.  

Bullying is a common problem in schools. Most children have either been bullied or have known someone who has been bullied. Bullying is no longer confined to the school playground, cafeteria, hallways, or the walk home from school. The newest form of bullying is cyber bullying, which is bullying through the use of electronic media and devices, such as e-mail, text messages, or social media. The online environment is a place where students may have threatening messages sent to them, or embarrassing things said about them, over which students may feel they have no control.

Over 4500 students commit suicide every year because of the psychological effects of cyber bullying. Teachers and other school employees serve as the eyes and ears of cyber bullying awareness and prevention. NetSupport School & NetSupport DNA, have several features that place the odds in educator’s favor, helping them recognize and respond proactively to instances of bullying and cyber bullying.

Irrespective of the devices students are using in a classroom, with NetSupport School educators are able to view their student’s screens at all times. These features can be useful for ensuring that students are on task, but also can help teachers monitor instances of traditional bullying and cyberbullying in real time.

Educators can monitor internet usage and allow lists of approved and restricted websites to be applied at certain times of the day; which can protect students from their own curiosity. This also ensures that they are aware of what sites are safe and helpful and which ones are dangerous. As a result, students increase their digital literacy. The app comes with a “Help Request” feature that was initially designed to allow students to seek academic support, but it can also be used to report instances of cyber bullying in real time. With NetSupport School, nothing goes on in your classroom without your knowledge.

NetSupport DNA offers a “Report a Concern” feature that allows students to swiftly and anonymously report any problem (e.g. cyberbullying) that they may have encountered to a staff member that they trust. NetSupport DNA even includes the contact information for national support resources so students can reach out to these support organizations if they are in need. Now, students can feel empowered to confront bullying without fear of retribution from their tormentors.

School IT administrators can use NetSupport DNA to setup real-time monitoring and look for exact keywords or phrases in several languages to keep an eye on student activity. These keywords are displayed in a word cloud format, along with other insights so school officials can spot trending topics across clusters of students. If phrases that you think suggest bullying/harassing behavior or may place the student at risk show up, they will be displayed in the word cloud. Not only does it display the word cloud, but it also puts the word into the context it was being used.

For example, a triggered phrase being used in a Word document during lesson time would be perceived as a lower risk than if the same phrase was being used in a messenger app during lunchtime. Within NetSupport DNA, the system can determine the severity of the phrase used and assign different sensitivity levels based on those conditions. Another useful feature that educators find helpful is the ability to capture screenshots and video clips to assist in more serious instances of bullying. Educators can also use the word cloud feature as a starting point for discussing the importance of leaving a positive online footprint. This can help teachers curtail cyber bullying and assist students in learning valuable digital literacy skills.

Preventing academic failure.

Every day, teachers all over the world have to figure out how to serve students who are operating on various levels of understanding. The most challenging and exhausting part of this Rubik’s Cube is identifying and helping students who at risk of falling behind academically. In spite of these challenges, teachers all over the world manage to help at risk students succeed successfully. They don’t ask for awards or praise for their superhuman efforts, but wouldn’t it be nice if we could make their jobs a little easier?

Thankfully, NetSupport School has found a way. With NetSupport School, educators can write personalized lesson plans, create learning journals (that teachers can share with students), and gamify formative assessment with an assortment of collaborative activities. Teachers can even use the app to facilitate group work. Tablet based apps are also available for teaching assistants so that they can support the teacher and at risk students within the classroom. These features can be helpful in letting teachers use technology to get beyond teacher-centered activities and put more emphasis on student engagement and learning. This helps teachers engage at risk students in the learning process, which allows them to take ownership of their own education and construct their own knowledge. As a believer in the constructivist approach to education, I was deeply impressed by this.

The student app provides a toolbar so students can receive rewards from the teacher, view lesson progress, see their learning objectives for the day, and view their learning outcomes. Also, teachers can assess their student’s comprehension and understanding using a range of audio, visual and text-based questions. Assessments are auto scored, and the results can be displayed to students. Students who are at risk are usually afraid to ask questions, but with this app, students can request help from the teacher anonymously without alerting the rest of the class. Also, if teachers see students struggling, they can intervene by initiating a virtual chat with them.

Teachers can also use the chat feature to model appropriate online communication with students while monitoring the information they share with others. As a result, students pick up valuable digital literacy skills. In addition to the chat feature encouraging positive online etiquette, students also have a chance to instruct while using the “Group Leader” feature. This unique feature allows students to take the lead in sharing their digital literacy skills, while encouraging responsibility and independence in a constructive way.

Teachers can transform their device into an interactive whiteboard, and then broadcast that whiteboard out to students to see or interact with. If they find a cool website and want to share it with their class, they can. These are excellent ways of ensuring that all students can see the example you’re giving. Also, educators can add in multimedia resources, or whatever they need to, and then swiftly share that out to their class. If you don’t want students to use their device while you are instructing, you can lock their keyboard/and or mouse. With NetSupport School, academic failure doesn’t stand a chance.

Final Thoughts

By using the technologies that I talked about in this article, teachers can face this upcoming year of teaching with a quiet confidence and a voice in their head saying, “You got this!” Instead of spending countless hours preparing for class or dealing with problem behavior and other distractions, they can focus on helping students learn.

What apps or tools do you use to manage your classroom or school?

 

 

 

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Education Leadership, Teachers

St. Louis Public Schools Reduce Suspensions and Referrals; Expands Kickboard School Culture System From 5 to 25 Schools

NEW ORLEANS — Nov. 30, 2016 — After implementing the Kickboard school culture system in five schools and seeing dramatic reductions in suspensions and discipline referrals — and sizable increases in positive behaviors — St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) is expanding the use of Kickboard to 25 schools this fall.

Carver Elementary, Farragut Elementary, Lyon Academy at Blow Elementary, Patrick Henry Downtown Academy, and Sigel Elementary began using the Kickboard school culture system to help teachers and administrators establish consistent behavior expectations; collect, analyze and act on real-time behavior data; address behavior issues; conduct responsive interventions; and create a more proactive, positive learning environment. The schools also participated in Kickboard’s Leadership Coaching to help leadership teams drive school-wide improvement.

“To maximize learning for every child, it’s essential to focus on academic rigor and school climate and culture,” said David Hardy, deputy superintendent of academics for SLPS. “Before we began working with Kickboard, we couldn’t pinpoint some of the key challenges our schools faced. Kickboard identified these missing data points to show our schools where they were struggling, and support them in creating action plans to transform their cultures. The Kickboard software and coaching are pushing our schools to think differently about what makes students and teachers successful, how they can create stronger cultures, and how they can sustain this improvement over time.”

During the 2015-16 school year, the pilot schools saw substantial improvements. For example, at Carver Elementary, the number of office referrals dropped from 250 per week to only 35 per week — an 86 percent decrease. Farragut Elementary recorded an 84 percent decline in recess detentions, and a 64 percent drop in suspensions. Lyon Academy saw a 79 percent decrease in referrals to the school’s reflection room. At Patrick Henry Downtown Academy, the number of suspensions fell from 48 in 2015 to only seven in 2016.

“Kickboard allows us to dive deeper to see what’s behind the numbers, so we can intervene before small problems become large. Our use of school culture data is changing the way we’re supporting our students to be successful,” said Hardy.

In addition, Kickboard enables school leaders to accurately measure the impact of positive culture programs, such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). For example, in 2015-16, Patrick Henry Downtown Academy recorded a 149 percent increase in the number of occurrences of “active learning” taking place in the classroom.

“With Kickboard, we have much greater insight into how to effectively use school culture data to improve student outcomes,” said Hardy. “Instead of looking only at suspension rates and attendance, we’re now looking at data such as the ratio of positive to negative behaviors in the classroom or in a school. Having that data available helps us align our thinking around the culture and the behaviors we want to see in our classrooms. It allows us to look at each child holistically, so we can provide targeted support to meet the needs of our students, teachers, leaders and schools. Our students and staff are truly invested in our partnership with Kickboard and in the results we’re achieving.”

About Kickboard

The Kickboard school culture system is a configurable, web-based platform used by K-12 educators to improve school culture through positive behavior reinforcement, intervention management, classroom management, and district-wide school culture analysis. This unique combination of features allows schools and districts to directly impact student achievement, attendance, discipline, and more. For information or to sign up for a free school trial, visit https://www.kickboardforschools.com.

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Contact:

[email protected]

314-965-1776

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Teachers

The trendy classroom management strategy you should never use

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

A guest post by Michael Linsin

There is a lot of bad classroom management information out there.

Now more than ever.

Not a month goes by that we don’t hear of another irresponsible method being promoted.

We hope to list our top ten worst strategies in a future article, but today we’d like to cover one in particular that is gaining considerable traction.

It’s a strategy that both surprises us here at SCM and leaves us dismayed anyone would think it’s a good idea.

Yet, it’s actually being encouraged in many school districts.

It’s a close cousin of the “caught being good” strategy, which we also don’t recommend, but is far more damaging to the targeted student.

The way it works, in a nutshell, is that when you notice a student misbehaving, you would first approach them so they’re aware of your presence. Then, instead of confronting them directly, you would . . .

Praise the students around them.

That’s right. You wouldn’t say a word to the offending student, but instead gushingly tell the students near them how well they’re doing.

“Wow, I love how you’re working, Ana!”

“You too, Javier. Way to go!”

“Emily is also working beautifully.”

You would give the students within proximity of the misbehaving student an enthusiastic pat on the back for not misbehaving.

The idea, in theory, is that the targeted student would see their tablemates receiving praise, and thus they too would begin behaving properly.

They too would desire your praise. They too would seek to be recognized for doingwhat they’re supposed to do.

Setting aside the troubling and bar-lowering message you’re sending to the entire class by offering false praise—which you can read about in Dream Class—the strategy attempts to manipulate or fool the offending student into better behavior.

It’s the classroom management version of a magician’s sleight of hand. But it’s cruel and dishonest and doesn’t help the student actually change their behavior.

It offers no helpful feedback, no meaningful lesson, and no opportunity to reflect on their misbehavior.

Although it may work in the moment—which is why proponents of the strategy are quick to cite its “research based” credentials—it will quickly weaken over time and train every student in the class to become extrinsically motivated.

It will make difficult students less inclined to get back on track in the future and turn your classroom into a petri dish of neediness, dependency, and underachievement.

So what should you do instead?

Well, first imagine yourself on the receiving end of such a strategy. How would it make you feel? How would you feel about a teacher effusively praising everyone around you while you’re being ignored?

Is this someone you would trust or admire? Of course not.

Like your students, you too appreciate a straight shooter. You too appreciate a teacher who tells the truth rather than tries to manipulate you, toy with your emotions, or underhandedly bend you to their will.

Being a leader students look up to and want to behave for isn’t so difficult. Have a classroom management plan that clearly lays out the rules and consequences of the class.

Hold all students equally accountable by letting them know exactly how they’re misbehaving (feedback) and what the consequence is.

Follow through. Be a person of your word. Do what you say you will.

Sadly, most difficult students have been on the receiving end of an endless procession of strategies that attempt to appease, manipulate, and deceive them into better behavior—which only makes them worse.

What they really need is your honesty. They need your truth and forgiveness. They need your accountability, your leadership, and your consistency.

They need your praise based on genuine achievement. The kind of praise that is real and heartfelt. The kind of praise that uplifts and informs.

That stirs internal motivational engines.

That matters now and forever.

PS – If you’re a principal and would like to improve recess behavior, click here.

Also, if you haven’t done so already, please join us. It’s free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.

This post originally appeared on smarclassroommanagement.com, and was republished with permission

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Michael Linsin is the founder of Smart Classroom Management, the top classroom management blog in the world with more than 60,000 subscribers.He has taught every grade level from kindergarten to eighth grade over the past 24 years, and is the author of three bestselling books about classroom management. He holds teaching credentials in Elementary Education, English, and Physical Education.

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Matthew Lynch published in Matthew Lynch, Policy & Reform

Future Trends in K-12 Classroom Management and Discipline

K-12 Classroom management and discipline is all about the balance between learning within the classroom and discipline. Today, various trends are currently popular. Strategies that come to mind include Wong’s Pragmatic Classroom, which stresses the need to define expectations for students, and Canter’s Behavior Management Cycle, which emphasizes a distinct discipline model.

So far, though, despite the range of strategies and their fluctuating popularity, all strategies applied to date have their pros and cons, their various strengths and weaknesses.

Above all, there is an increased importance applied to classroom management these days. A relatively new open-mindedness also applies to classroom discipline strategies (the recognition that it is not, after all, better to punish the child for inattention or some indiscretion).

What does this point to? Inevitably, there are several trends to be aware of:

• We are likely to see an increase in success for one strategy or another. Existing strategies for classroom management and discipline approaches tend to be, in general, quite effective. Inevitably, there is also the need to make some allowances for teaching style. Some teachers excel with one approach to classroom management and discipline. Others prefer alternative methods. While this is unlikely to change because it is unlikely that there will be a single strategy deemed more effective than the rest, we can be fairly sure that the handful of top recommended strategies will see an increase. We should see an increase in their strengths and a corresponding reduction in weaknesses as overall efficiency and effectiveness are improved.

• Because of the increased use of technology in the classroom, we can certainly expect to see more of an integration of technology within the classroom, in part as a management approach but perhaps also as a discipline approach. Teachers may well find means of applying technology. Whether it is some sort of integrated system used via a system like the iPad (with more and more public school classrooms enjoying access to this type of technology) or some online database for monitoring student behavior in class will depend on the circumstances. It is likely that teachers will have increased scope to experiment, very likely knowing ten or fifteen years down the line precisely which of these various resource types is likely to be the most effective.

• With a bit of luck, although this trend is less certain, teachers may well also see a greater transfer of learning responsibility to the child. A further advantage of the integration of technology to the classroom is the increase in scope for independent activity among children. In many other areas of school life (for instance, library use and general self-care areas), children are already encouraged to take a lead, to the effect that they learn relevant skills faster and that much more effectively. Very likely, teachers will have means of encouraging students to be more independent in their discipline – in their self-discipline –and, depending on the way in which curriculum and standards develop, perhaps also in terms of how they go about learning within the classroom, moving from task to task and perhaps even having independence in their learning choices.

One thing is for sure though — we can expend change to classroom management and discipline strategies in public education classrooms. We may not have the full story yet on what is likely to happen five to ten years down the road, but we have some signs of change, some definite evidence of the types of shifts. How exactly these individual shifts play out? Only time will tell.

 

 

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