Classroom Management: What Can I Do?

1. Janice Reese April Strumpf
Janice_L_Reese@mcpsmd.org April_C_Strumpf@mcpsmd.org
Special Education Paraeducators Montgomery County Public Schools, Montgomery County, Maryland
National Paraeducator Conference March 1-3, 2012
Please individually complete the T-chart in your folder.
Focus on classroom management.

2.  Understand the importance of behavior
management in a classroom
 Identify causes of inappropriate
classroom behavior
 Learn proactive ways to decrease
inappropriate classroom behaviors
 Explore strategies to address
inappropriate classroom behavior
 Understand how behavior management
affects classroom management

3. “You can be the reason some student gets
up and comes to school when his/her life
is tough.
You can be the reason some student
‘keeps on keeping on.’
Remember that as long as you are a
[paraeducator], even on your worst day
on the job, you are still some student’s
best hope.”
Larry I. Bell, Strategies That Close The Gap

5.  Predictable and reasonable
consequences to student behavior
◦ Consequences can be positive
 Consistent use of routines and limits
 Feedback that encourages
independence and success for all
students
 Modeling for students appropriate
behaviors and high expectations

6.  Discipline
 Arbitrary and excessive
consequences
 Inconsistent limits and routines
 Negative, non-productive
comments
 “Do as I say, not as I do”

8. “There is no
such thing as
unmotivated
behavior.”
Jane Bluestein, The Win-Win Classroom

10.  Students are bored or frustrated with
academics
 Students lack the ability to do assignments
 Students see no relevance or real world
application for work
 Students may not understand behavioral
expectations in the classroom
 Students lack self control
 Adults send inconsistent expectations
 Students may experience external problems:
home issues, lack of food, sleep, medication,
and/or affection
 Lack of classroom structure
 Medical conditions or diagnoses
 Adults lack classroom awareness
 Other classroom issues: situational crisis,
other student’s behavior

11.  I discovered that…  I learned that…
 I rediscovered that…  I relearned that…
 I plan to…  I intend to…

12. Building personal relationships
Communicating expectations
Using time and space

13.  Know your students
 Have a good lesson plan
 Model appropriate
behavior
 Be ultra aware
 Emphasize safety

14. Think about one educator who had a
positive influence on your learning
and another who had a negative
influence…
What qualities
did he or she possess?
Think for a minute or two and share
with your neighbor

15.  Fairness  Courtesy
 Appearance  Active
 Humor listening
 Respect  Reestablishing
 Realness contact
from The Skillful Teacher

16.  Great first draft!
 We’ll try later.
 This isn’t working.
 I know you wish you could…
 That won’t work for me.
 Think of a solution that will work for both of us.
 Can you live with that?
 Tell me what you just agreed to do.
 Humor me.
 Because we’re all different and everyone gets to succeed.
 Equally appropriately challenged.
 We don’t say that here.
 My door is open.
 We don’t need to talk about that.
from The Win-Win Classroom by Jane Bluestein

17.  Quality and quantity of work
 Work habits and work procedures
 Business and housekeeping
routines
 Interpersonal behavior

18.  Clear
 Win-win
 Proactive
 Positive
 Shared
 Have consistent follow through

19.  Have all materials and supplies ready
before the students arrive
 Keep focused on the lesson or the
material the students don’t know
 Move from one question or task to the
next
 Tell the students what to do with
his/her work when finished and what to
do next

20. In terms of teacher stress
and
lost learning time,
what is the biggest
classroom management
issue?

21. The small disruption that
occurs at a high rate
80% consist of students talking when
they should be doing their work.
Another 15% consists of students
being out of their seats when they
should be doing their work.
from Tools for Teaching by Fred Jones

22.  I discovered that…  I learned that…
 I rediscovered that…  I relearned that…
 I plan to…  I intend to…

24.  There is no response to backtalk.
 Take two deep breaths.
 Relax.
 Do not speak or sigh.
 Do not take it personally.
Backtalk = Power Struggle

25.  Flatface response
 Broken record technique
 Planned ignoring
 Non-verbal cues/interventions
 Signal interference
 Support from routine
 Remove the seductive object
 Supportive removal (also
known as antiseptic bounce)

26. Proximity
X

27. Using interpersonal
relationships
 Interest boosting
 Direct Appeal to values
 Support through humor

29.  There is no response to backtalk
 Flat face response
 Broken record technique
 Planned ignoring
 Non-verbal cues
 Signal interference
 Support from routine
 Removing the seductive object
 Supportive removal (antiseptic bounce)
 Proximity
 Interest boosting
 Direct appeal to values
 Support through humor

30.  PBIS - Positive Behavioral Interventions and
Supports (National Technical Assistance Center on Behavioral
Interventions and Supports and U.S. Department of Education,
Office of Special Education Programs)
 Baldrige - (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
 PMAB – Prevention and Management of
Aggressive Behavior (State of Maryland Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene)
 Non-Violent Crisis Intervention (Crisis Prevention
Institute)

31. Guided imagery helps you
Use your imagination to take
You to a calm, peaceful place.
Progressive muscle relaxation
is a method that helps relieve
tension.
Breathing exercises can help you relax, because they
make your body feel like it does when you are already
relaxed.
“My life is in the hands of any fool who can
make me angry.” Fred Jones

32.  I discovered that…  I learned that…
 I rediscovered that…  I relearned that…
 I plan to…  I intend to…

33. What is going well for you? What are some challenges?

34.  Activating Prior  Graphic Organizers
Knowledge  Ice Breaker
 Audio Visual  Investigation
 Book Ends  Non Verbal Cues
 Cooperative  Reflective Journal
Learning  Think, Pair, Share
 Examples of  Wait Time
Equitable Practices

35.  Larry I Bell, Strategies that Close the Gap
 Jane Bluestein, The Win-Win Classroom
 Fred Jones, Tools for Teaching
 Ellen Kronowitz, Teacher’s Guide to Success
 Nicholas Long, William Morse, Ruth Newman,
Conflict in the Classroom
 Kelly Jo Rowan, beesburg.com
 Jon Saphier, Robert Gower, The Skillful Teacher
 University of Michigan (UofMHealth.org)
 Ruth Musicante & Betsy Povtak, MCPS Dept. of
Professional Growth Systems
 Polynesian Spa music

36. “You can be the reason some student gets
up and comes to school when his/her life
is tough.
You can be the reason some student
‘keeps on keeping on.’
Remember that as long as you are a
[paraeducator], even on your worst day
on the job, you are still some student’s
best hope.”
Larry I. Bell, Strategies That Close The Gap