There is one true key to successful behavior management. It doesn’t matter how many effective teaching skills and useful behavior strategies you have in your arsenal; without this, your efforts will eventually come unstuck.
The secret ingredient is… the teacher-pupil relationship.
You
see, when you really get to know a pupil you become aware of their
triggers – the things that upset them and cause all sorts of problems
in class. And when you’re dealing with children who carry all kinds of
emotional baggage and flare up for no apparent reason, this is valuable
knowledge.
After all… stopping behaviour problems from occurring is much easier when you know in advance what causes them!
When
you take the time to get to know a pupil, you find out what they enjoy,
what they like doing and what their interests are. With this
information you have the power to make all your lessons instantly
appealing and your conversations with them stimulating.
When
you reach out and get to know any child in school you show them they’re
valued as people. Once they learn this, their ability to take an active
role in other positive relationship is improved; they fit in better and
so are less likely to get into serious trouble and less likely to spoil
your lessons. Also, when you show you're actually interested in
them as individuals they will respect and trust you. Pupils will behave
much better for the teacher they trust and respect.
Once
you get to know them anything really is possible; doors are opened to a
whole new world of communication, cooperation, fun and mutual respect.
The best technique I’ve found for helping you discover their likes, dislikes, hobbies, passions and interests is…
…an age-old salesman’s tool called the ‘Record Card’.
Record
cards are used by salesmen to record a client’s personal information
and so enable him to be more ‘familiar’ on his next visit. Each time he
returns to the same client and has a conversation, more information is
recorded on the card. It might be a chat about the football last night
– revealing his favorite team for example or a few words about his
family.
These
tidbits gradually build up and form library of useful information which
can be drawn on to deepen the relationship during the next meeting.
It’s a well known fact that people would rather have a conversation
about their own lives and interests than anything else, so the salesman
that does this will always make the sale.
The
huge benefit of the information on the record card is that it enables
the salesman to tailor the conversation, and even new product lines, to
the client’s interests, needs and desires. When this is done, the
client is far more receptive and likely to buy.
We
can discover the passions and interests of our students very quickly
through our own simple version of the Record Card – a fun questionnaire
to give to the worst pupils in class as a fill-in activity.
The information you glean from these completed questionnaires is priceless and these are just some of the ways you can use it…
- Tailor
rewards to a pupil’s interests making them have more effect. (if you
have a pupil who’s nuts about a certain breed of dog there’s no point
in giving him a sticker with a car on it!)
- Provide
reading material – magazines, journals and books – that relate to their
specific areas of interest – for break times, quiet reading sessions,
registration etc.
- Plan
really, really interesting lessons! I’m talking about lessons that grab
them from the word go and hold their attention all the way through.
This is only possible when they’re actually interested in what you’re
talking about. You might choose to plan a series of lessons for the
whole class around a topic that several pupils are interested in, or
cover a skill such as narrative writing and encourage them to write a
story about their subject of interest.
- Use them as a relationship-building tool. They enable you to strike up conversation on a topic you know they’re interested in and this is crucial with ‘hard to reach’ kids – it shows you care about them and are interested in them as people. Being able to chat with a pupil on their level is magical and is the short-cut to having far fewer discipline problems.
By Rob Johnson whose courses are here
To discover more effective classroom management tools as well as a free mini-course visit www.Classroom-management.org
You make some good points above.
However, I also think that this can be helpful to you:
Go to: http://www.panix.com/~pro-ed/
If you get this book and video: PREVENTING Classroom Discipline Problems, [it is in many libraries, so you don't have to buy them] email me and I can refer you to the sections of the book and the video [that demonstrates the effective vs. the ineffective teacher] that can help you.
If you cannot get them, email me anyway and I will try to help.
Best regards,
Howard
Howard Seeman, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus,
City Univ. of New York
20 River Court
Suite 1404
Jersey City, NJ 07310
Email: Hokaja@aol.com
FAX: (586) 279-0935
Book, Training Video/CD:
Preventing Classroom Discipline Problems
www.ClassroomManagementOnline.com
The Educator's Support Forum
Posted by: Prof. Seeman | December 05, 2007 at 03:52 AM