You don't know what I know

As a principal, I have to interview, or interrogate students all the time about different problems that happen in my building. Often, teachers also have to do the same thing to sort through a situation in the classroom. So how do you get a kid to tell you the truth and the whole truth? Well, there is no guaranteed formula. But, I do have a system I usually try to follow.

1. Earn their trust. First, I talk to the student about trust and respect. I ask them if I have ever done anything to disrespect them. Usually, they say no. I tell them I want to be their friend, and I tell them I respect them. Now, please realize that when I tell them I want to be their friend I am speaking their language. While I believe I should be friendly to students, my job does not call for me to be friends with students.

2. Convince them I will know if they are lying. I might say, "Now Johnny, I've been talking to several people about what happened before class. I need you to tell me the truth. You're at a disadvantage here because you don't know what I may know. It's very important that you tell me what happened." I try to make the student believe that I already know what happened.

3. Questions become more narrow. As I begin to ask what happened, I ask less threatening and more general questions. Then, as I believe I'm getting somewhere, I go for the questions I really want answered.

Caring about students prevents behavior problems

One of the things I regulary talk about with teachers is how important it is to maintain a good relationship with each student. More specifically, teachers need to make sure every student in class think that the teacher likes him or her. I specifically chose the word thinks in the previous sentence because we as educators are human. It is inevitable there will be students in your classes that rub you the wrong way and that your personalities just don't mesh well. However, it is still the teacher's responsibility to make sure every student believe they are liked. Moreover, author and speaker Todd Whitaker says, "In the great teacher's classroom, every student feels like they are the favorite."

I don't know how many times I have dealt with a student discipline issue, and the students says, "Well, she just doesn't like me." Then the student points to other students in the class who have done the same thing and haven't been punished. Making the student believe they are liked will help eliminate, or at least limit, this type of thinking. Now, the critic might argue that my advice is asking people to be sincere. My response: It is your job to make student's believe they are liked. And moreover, what kind of results will you get with students who believe you do not like them?

By the way, classroom management expert Marvin Marshall has a great website with more information about establishing a caring, positive system for motivating students to exhibit positive choices in the classroom.

Let students know you are in control

In an earlier post, I discussed the importance of NOT losing your temper or becoming angry with your students. When you as the teacher are upset, or angry, these emotions convey a lack of control. In my experience, it is always best to maintain a classroom persona that is pleasant and friendly, but always in control. While you might be frustrated on the inside, it is much better to keep it there.

While the teacher must remain calm, a good classroom instructor must let students know he or she is in control. I would encourage teachers to be prepared to address any challenges to the teacher's authority. Often, we want to address these challenges to our authority head on, but this only leads to power struggles. Stay in the alpha position without an outright battle by asking questions. For instance, if a student is rude, or questions your competence, or undermines your authority, ask them one of the following questions: "Johnny, when you did this (whatever they did), how did you intend for me to feel?" or "What did you mean by that comment?" or "How did you think I would react when you did this?"

Always think through how students might respond to your question. If you are caught off guard by a student comment and aren't sure what to do then don't respond right away. Instead, use this delay tactic. "I'm am very concerned about what you said just now. I'm going to think about what is an appropriate response to that." This one has always worked great for me!!

Dealing with the difficult student: He who angers you conquers you

Do you have a student in your class that knows just how to push the right buttons make you feel angry? Maybe you felt a little like the guy in the picture? When that certain student is absent, do you secretly do a happy dance? We've all been there as teachers and educators. I have often thought, "If Chris (or supply your own name) wasn't in this class, then I could help the other students so much more!!!"

As a young teacher, these students would make me angry. I would get SO VERY MAD that they were acting up and causing so much trouble in the classroom. In fact, I would let it get personal. Instead of realizing I am the adult, the teacher, the one who should have a more clinical approach to addressing these behavior problems, I would raise my voice at the student: "If you don't sit down in your seat and shut your mouth, you're going to the principal's office!!!!!"

Over time, I realized this approach was ineffective and harmful. Consider the words of poet Elizabeth Kenney, "He who angers you conquers you." Remember, you want to change the behavior, you want to win! When we allow the student to make us angry, he or she wins. They are getting the attention, control, and power they desire. Furthermore, you are losing credibility with the rest of the class. When we are demonstrating anger in our classroom, we are showing the same lack of self-control that we are trying to help our students overcome.

Now, I'm not suggesting that you will never feel angry. But do your best to control these strong emotions. The difficult student needs to see that you are in control, that you are not going to react to his or her behaviors, but that you will respond logically to create the best learning environment for your students.

Arkansas teacher kills racoon with nailgun???

This story just came over the AP wire, and while it is really much ado about nothing, the teacher certainly could have exercised better judgement. Here's basically what happened:

At a school in Arkansas, a high school agriculture teacher had planned to demonstrate to the class the process of skinning a coon. Well, the student who was supposed to bring the animal to school for the demonstration brought a live racoon instead of one that was already dead. Now, it's not a good idea to skin a live coon in front of your class. Therein lies the problem. The teacher, wanting to salvage his lesson plan, simply takes the coon out back and procedes to eliminate the animal with a nail gun. My first question: were any students witnesses to this coon getting nailed? The answer: no, apparently no students witnessed the cute, cuddly coon at the end. Still, the killing of the animal on school grounds has caused the story to make the news and has caused the school to comment that animals will not be slaughtered on campus in the future.

Clearly, I have a relaxed approach to this story. Why? Although I am not located in Arkansas, I am a principal in rural Missouri, where probably 70% of our students will deer hunt this season. Something like what happened with this coon would not surprise or offend 90% of my students. Still, teachers have an obligation to think about all of the possibilities and what unintended consequences may occur from one's actions. Killing a coon at school with a nailgun? Probably not the best idea!

Bell Work

In my last post, I discussed the importance of meeting students at the door with a smile. As the saying goes, "The students don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." But what about after they get in the classroom? What is the next step to provide a well-managed classroom?

For my teachers, I suggest they assign bell work each day at the beginning of class. Bell work is a short assignment that is posted on the board or somewhere else in the classroom. Students know they will have a bell work assignment each day, and they begin working on it as soon as the bell rings to start the class period or to start the school day. It should not take long to complete--maybe five minutes. Students should be taught from the very beginning to expect bell work everyday. This routine should be taught and reinforced from time to time, but more frequently at the beginning of the school year.

While students are completing bell work, the teacher is able to take attendance, return graded papers, or take care of other "housekeeping chores." I found that by using bell work in my classroom helped establish the right tone from the very beginning. If there is no structure at the beginning of class, students will find ways to fill the time, and these options will not be the preferable ones to the teacher. Once students get off track, they are more likely to drive the teacher nuts! That's right, it will be much harder to refocus them after things are loose, than to start focused from the beginning.

Try to keep your bell work assignments related to the instruction currently the focus of the class. It's best for bell work to tie into the normal classroom studies. There are lots of ideas about the types of assignment that will work for bell work.

Meet them at the door

One of the best strategies for dealing with discipline problems in the classroom to prevent them in the first place. A great way to prevent problems is to invest in building appropriate relationships with your students. Be in the hallway between classes and before school. Sit down in the school cafeteria and eat lunch with your students from time to time. And, of course, meet them at the door. When they arrive for class, greet them with a smile. Talk to a student about something totally unrelated to your class that interests him or her. When a student has a problem, ask this question, "How can I help you?" Make the investment of your time up front and save the need to correct negative behaviors later.

Don't do this, don't do that

Consider the lyrics of the famous rock band, Pink Floyd:

We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

"Wrong, Do it again!""If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding.
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?"
"You! Yes, you behind the bikesheds, stand still laddy!"

I find it a bit amusing that as a veteran educator currently working on a doctorate in educational leadership, I still have this song downloaded on my computer from iTunes. After all, it does seem contrary to my value system. I'm sure my students would find it really amusing and probably be unable to hide their disbelief that a school principal could listen to such sacrilege.

But, perhaps there is something to be learned from the famous British rock band. I can't help but find the teachable moment here. The truth is that many individuals have gone through school and had BAD experiences with education. Experiences that have made them feel controlled, looked down upon, and unsuccessful. How else would the song resonate with so many if there was not an audience who shared this experience?

As a principal, my goal is to help students not feel the way the persona feels in the PF song. All of us have the inherent need to feel free, valued, and successful. When educators or parents are constantly saying don't, stop, you can't, and other negative phrases, it wears on a kid's sense of autonomy and freedom. Granted, all kids need limits. Don't think I'm not for saying no or being firm. However, I think instead of saying things in a negative way, we can usually teach and guide without the negativity. I'll discuss some of my ideas on how to do this in my next post.

For now, I'm going to listen to some more Pink Floyd and then maybe some Def Leppard. My students probably think I listen to classical music all the time????

Stop bullies in their tracks

Bully
Originally uploaded by xmasons

We all know how it feels to be bullied, some of us more than others. As a child, I was often the target of bullies, especially in the middle school years. As a youngster, I thought I was bullied because I was overweight, didn't wear the right clothes, and didn't have the right friends. While that was partly true, I think the biggest reason I was bullied was that I hadn't developed the social skills to stop bullies in their tracks. Unfortunately, some students never learn to deal with difficult people, and they continue to be a doormat throughout adulthood.

When I deal with students at school who are the victims of bullying they often have received bad advice about how to address their problems with this issue. Often they are told to "just ignore" the bullying and it will go away. Or, they are told to "punch the bully" in the nose and that will teach him or her a lesson. When students try this approach, it may help lessen the bullying for a time, but it will not solve the ongoing problem. Moreover, if the victim decides to take matters into his own hands and physically fight back, it will probably result in a suspension or other disciplinary action.

So, what is a bullied child to do? How can you help a student stop a bully in his tracks?

1. It all starts with ATTITUDE. The victim must let the bully know that he or she does not need the bully's approval. This attitude in itself is very powerful anti-bully armor. Unfortunately, many victims desperately need approval from peers so it is very difficult for them to get past this one. I try to help my students understand that they don't need the bully or anyone else to be the best they can be and to be proud of who they are.

2. Give SHORT RESPONSES. When attacked verbally by a bully, the victim should only give short responses. It doesn't work to explain things to a bully. They don't listen anyway. Often, a victim tries to explain or defend themselves logically to the bully because, guess what, they want the bullies approval. See #1!!!! The victim has to remember rule #1 and think: I don't have to explain myself or defend my actions or appearance to this person. I don't need his or her approval.

3. LOOK THE BULLY IN THE EYES, pull the shoulders back, and tell them how you feel. Body language is very important communication. It communicates that the victim will not tolerate the abuse.

loose change

Have you ever had a couple hundred quarters go spilling onto your classroom floor?

While I was still teaching high school students, we had a situation that occured during summer school. It came to my mind earlier today. I thought I would write about it on the blog. The local vending machine rep was in our school to collect the money from the machine and restock it with items. When he returned some items to his truck, he left the money bag sitting on top of the machine.

Well, of course, a student stole the money bag, which contained a significant sum. The police were called to school and a search was started room to room. When they asked for a certain student in my classroom who sat at the back, he rose to leave the room. As he made his way from his chair quarters and other change went everywhere onto the floor. It seems he became aware the police had arrived at school. He was trying to balance the money back on his chair, but when he stood, it all fell to the floor. Busted!!!

I don't really have any words of wisdom to go along with this. It was just a decent story I thought of today. One thing about education is we always have interesting things happening!

You better say you're sorry...or else!!!

angry kid
Originally uploaded by tomneil04

Have you ever been tempted to make kids in your school say they're sorry? You know what I mean. Dustin punched Chris because he wouldn't give him his pencil back that he loaned to him two weeks ago when the substitute teacher was there and now he's really mad because he doesn't have a pencil and he needs one...whew! Now you are the one who is brokering peace! Is it a good idea to make them say they are sorry to one another?

Actually, we'll get to that in a minute. First of all, we have to get these boys to admit to what they've done. The detective...err, the teacher needs the facts...just the facts. Once you have the facts established, each student must take responsibility for what he or she has done. Here's how the conversation might go:

"Chris, was Dustin being a good friend when he loaned you his pencil?"

"Yes," says the student.

"Dustin, I understand you really needed your pencil back. Two weeks is a long time to go without your pencil. That's a real problem. Do we solve our problems by hitting?"

"No," says the student.

"It seems that Chris didn't choose to return a pencil to it's owner, and Dustin didn't choose to solve a problem by talking instead of hitting, right?"

"Yes," the boys agree.

Now here is the magic question that will usually result in the apology that is needed in this situation:

"Boys, what do you think we should do next?"

If they don't suggest apologizing to one another, give them another prompt:

"What do we do when we make mistakes?"

Maybe you won't have to MAKE them apologize after all.

We don't argue

I believe it is very important NOT to argue with students. However, they can be very good at engaging teachers into arguments about just about everything. Here is some good advice someone once gave me about not arguing with your students. Just don't do it!

Let's say you catch a student cheating on a test and you call them on it. They say they weren't cheating (even though you caught them red-handed). You tell them you will have to give them a zero on the assignment, or whatever your normal discipline would be. They want to argue about it? Don't fall for it. Just repeat your observations, tell the student you will not argue, and move on.

"Johnny, I observed you looking off of Amanda's paper and your answers are all the same. I'm sorry you made this choice, but you will receive a zero on the quiz, and I will have to call your parents."

"I was not cheating," says the student. "I was looking over that way because the sun was shining through the window in my eyes. You are always picking on me. Suzy cheats all the time."

"Johnny, I clearly saw you looking off of Amanda's paper. I will have to give you a zero. I'm not going to argue with you about this. If you wish to discuss this further, see me after class."

Paper wads in the classroom!!!

Please note: As with all of my posts here, names are changed to protect privacy!!

As a first year principal, I knocked on Mrs. Gregory's classroom door and didn't have a clue as to what was about to happen. I had been regularly visiting this teacher's 9th grade English classroom to read to her students. She had been struggling with a variety of classroom management issues, and I was glad to have the opportunity to visit so I could offer any assistance. However, when I opened the door this particular day, Mrs. Gregory's students unleased a barage of paperwads that pelted me viciously from head to toe.

I remained completely stoic throughout the entire episode, calmly said, "I don't think I feel like reading today," shut the door firmly and walked back to my office fuming on the inside. I waited patiently. I waited for Mrs. Gregory to come visit me in my office. Sure enough, she walked in with a big smile later that day.

She said, "I am so sorry about what happened this morning. That was just part of my lesson plan. I had the students write down their vocabulary words and then I told them to wad them up to throw at you. I respect you so much and how you make the students smile and I just knew you would know what was best."

This incident was one of several bizarre situations that occured in this classroom. For our student's sake, I'm thankful this teacher moved on from our building.

By the way, I was later informed that several of the students in Mrs. Gregory's class questioned whether throwing paperwads at the principal was a good idea or not. She told them if anyone didn't throw paperwads at me, then the rest of the class was to throw paperwads at them. Help, this teacher is driving me crazy!

Dealing with underhanded comments...

"Boy, did somebody wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" This comment is just one of many wiseguy comments I have heard from my students. Sometimes they are harmless and the student is just showing they are really comfortable with me and feel they can be casual in their conversations. Still, I try to make it very clear to my students the line between respect and disrespect. If this type comment is from a student I know is not intending to be adveserial I would probably just ignore it. But, if this comment was from a student intent on showing his or her bad attitude I would stop what I was doing, walk over to the student, pause again for extra dramatic effect, and simply ask, "Exactly what did you mean by that comment?" Typically, the result is the student is backpedaling at this point, and you have established you as the teacher are clearly in control of the situation in a nonthreatening way. Here's what usually happens next: The student says "I really didn't mean anything by it," or "nevermind," or even "I'm sorry." I'm always prepared; however, for the student who might say "I meant you're in a terrible mood," or "you're acting like a real jerk today." To that I would simply remain calm and ask another question, "In that case, was your comment courteous and polite?" The student will say no, and I will remind them that all comments in class to students and teachers should be courteous and polite. I realize I am teaching more than communication arts, or math, or science, I am teaching them the acceptable behaviors for the classroom.