Showing Proof

Years ago, when I was a novice hiker, I was hiking with our local hiking group. After starting the hike, the temperatures dropped and it began to rain pretty hard. Another couple, Don and Jean Arthur, who was hiking with us, said they were not going to continue on the hike. They said that they didn’t need to prove anything to anyone so they were going to find a place to eat lunch and enjoy each other’s company.

Those words have meant a lot to me over the years and really shaped a lot of my decisions. They helped steer me in the right direction when I wavered over what I should do.

Many times, I had to make a hard decision and agonized over what I should do. I am the type of person that wants to please everyone else even if it causes trouble for me. I might not have the time or the skills actually to do what is asked of me but I have trouble saying no. Others knew that I had this problem so felt comfortable asking me to do things.

After hearing Don and Jean say this, I realized that I don’t have to prove myself to anyone either.

What a revelation that was to me!

Now, when I’m asked to do something, I think about those words. If it doesn’t feel right or I just don’t want to do it, I hear those words in my brain and I’m able to say no. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone except myself. I know if I’m doing my best at something and if I’m not, I’m just disappointing myself. If I don’t think it is right, then I shouldn’t do it because I’m accountable to myself.

Thanks to Don and Jean Arthur for making such an impact on my life!

This is what I want my students to learn. I want them to be accountable to themselves which helps them be independent. Don’t do something just because others are doing it. Do something because it is right for you. At the end of the day, if you can be proud of yourself, then you have made the right decisions. If you are miserable and unhappy, then maybe you have done things just to prove yourself to others and you should rethink your decisions.

When you remember this, you will be more successful in the classroom and in life!

Accountability

Recently in a discussion with friends, we discussed accountability and responsibility. So many of my students do not seem to understand either concept.

I had a couple of students give me excuses for not turning in their work on time. One excuse was that they forgot to hit submit but they had actually completed it days earlier. That is not my problem. That is why you should always go back and check that your work is turned in!

Another student did not complete an assignment properly. The students were supposed to send me a copy of a research-based article for approval. It had to be peer-reviewed, have a literature review, followed by methodology, followed by results, ending with discussion. This student sent me a link to a web page and no article. Others sent me the citation of the article and others sent me articles that were not research-based. It was as if they just wanted credit for turning something in even if it was wrong.

One student disagreed with the zero that she earned. She said she didn’t understand why she got a zero when she turned in her work on time. I took a screenshot as evidence that she turned in her work three days late! It is one thing to turn in late work but another to lie about when you turned it in! Students need to understand that this makes their integrity very questionable.

I repeatedly ask students to proofread their work and then check that their work is submitted. It is not my responsibility to do these things.

I’m not sure how to teach students that they need take responsibility for the decisions that they make. They need to understand that they will be held accountable for these decisions.

Do you have any suggestions? Please share.

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Why I’m Opposed to School Choice

In Why School Choice Does Not Lead to Fair Competition Or Innovation In Public Schools from Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator, Lisa Nielsen states,

“Charters and privates can provide child-centered, innovative learning environments that the government prevents public schools from embracing.”

The government has rules for public schools that are different than those for charter and private schools. Then everyone talks about how much better charter and private schools are. The government is holding public schools back from succeeding. So, I don’t want my tax money to support charter and private schools. Instead I want my money to support public schools and make them better. It seems like the government is setting up public schools to fail and then have the public blame the public-school educators.

I think we need to start asking the legislators questions such as why they are allowing this to happen? Why do we allow charter and private schools to do the things that public schools should be doing? If this was the case, maybe we wouldn’t even need charter and private schools!

People say they like charter and private schools because they are innovative and meet the student’s needs. That is because they are not being restrained by all the regulations that public schools are being strangled with. Public schools used to be innovative and meet student’s needs so why not return to doing so?

If these regulations are so important, why aren’t charter and private schools held to the same standards? Some people say that this will keep them from succeeding. Isn’t that what we did to public schools?

If the government knows that charter and private schools are being successful with innovative measures, why don’t they stop strangling public schools and allow them the same flexibility? Why do they continue to insist on holding students back and blaming it all on public school educators? Many in the public don’t understand educational strategies like educators do and the only thing they want are results. The public is being sold a bill of goods that stinks like rotten cabbage. Students in public education can be highly successful if they let educators go back to educating and politicians, who have no clue, move out of the way.

I think it is time for the public to stand up for public schools and insist that our tax money goes to making public schools effective for everybody. We shouldn’t go back to the dark ages where education is only available for the elite. Some people will say that is the purpose of giving school vouchers so that everyone who wants to can attend private schools. Isn’t that the purpose of public schools? Public schools are available for everyone at no extra cost and that is the way it should be. If people want to send their children to private schools for religious purposes, we should not be mixing money between church and state.

How do you feel about the school voucher system? Please share.

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Holding Public Officials Accountable

In Texas Bill Would Make Recording Police Illegal, a Texas representative is trying to pass a bill that would not allow a private citizen to film police within 100 feet of an officer.

I don’t understand what they are afraid of? What are they afraid that someone will record?

It seems to me that this is a safeguard for the police and the person involved. Neither party can say something happened and this is evidence that shows the incident. The more people who film what happens make the evidence stronger. If one video shows one thing and another shows something different, one of the videos has been tampered with.

I feel the same way about my classroom. I don’t care if anyone videos my class or not because I don’t do anything in there to worry about. I should be acting the same way whether I’m being filmed or not. Since I felt this way, I assured parents that they were welcome to observe my class but they just had to check in with the main office first for security reasons. I didn’t care if they let me know because I was proud of my students and the way I teach. If I worry about doing something that someone might see, then maybe I need to reexamine the way I’m teaching.

When I was in fourth grade, I had a teacher who physically abused the students in her class. I believe if there had been a video on this teacher, this would never have happened. I don’t understand why the other teachers didn’t do something about it either because they would have heard or seen something that went on.  She would scream at us if we got a wrong answer and then drag students out of the chair by their hair and bang them up against the cement wall. Luckily I was a good student and studied so that didn’t happen to me! I think back and wonder what ever happened to many of these students. I wonder if they suffered in future grades because of the trauma that happened there.

I also had a former student teacher that was accused of abusing a student. The student was angry because he failed a test that the student teacher gave him. This was his way of getting back at him. Luckily I had been in the back office and the angry student didn’t realize this. I was able to vouch for the student teacher that nothing happened. If this student teacher had been alone, this could have ruined his future career! If there were cameras to video the classroom, this would not have even been an issue.

I think filming public officials helps hold them accountable. If they are in a public place, than anyone should have the right to film their actions. This is America and not some dictatorship! Taking away this right is one more example of how the government is eroding our rights little by little.

What do you think? Should this bill pass or not? Why or why not? Please share.

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The Job of Being a Student

In Help Wanted, An Effective Behavior Management System for High School Students

from CEC Blog, John talks about wanting a behavior management system for his class. He asks,

“My question now is how can the students earn these rewards? Should students earn reinforcers on a weekly basis, daily basis or monthly basis? Should I make “prices” for the reinforcers that the students have to earn points towards (token economy system)? My only stipulation for a behavior system is no stickers. Any system that requires stickers will be rejected. My classmates during my undergraduate years can attest to the fact that I have a thing against stickers in my classroom. So stickers aside, I’m open to any and all suggestions.”

In my high school self contained occupational diploma class, I used a token economy system. I started the year off explaining that my class was more than a class. It was a job. They were given a document explaining their job duties and the salary that they would receive for each class. Along with the salary, there would be fines and bonuses. Throughout the year, they would be able to spend their “money” and certain goods and privileges which were also spelled out for them.

Students didn’t actually get any real money or even fake money. I used an excel spreadsheet that became a weekly accounting sheet for each student.When students arrived in my class, they were given a folder with their name on it. Inside the folder were any assignments, notes, for them along with this accounting sheet. At the end of class (or classes), they would turn in this folder to me. Each day I tallied up accumulated earnings for the day along with any fines, or bonuses. Usually fines and bonuses were recorded immediately rather than at the end of the day. When a student spent money, this was also recorded on the sheet. The fines were recorded right on the sheet so it was a good way to record behavior problems. At the end of the week, the sheet was collected and filed and a new sheet was given the next week. I also explained my system to the administration because sometimes my students would talk about their “money” outside of class and I didn’t want anyone to misunderstand what we were doing.

Some students did not buy in to this program at first but once they saw classmates buying things or getting rewards, they tended to join in. This usually took no more than two weeks. Sometimes I would throw out bonuses if the whole class did (whatever). At the end of each nine weeks, I would do something special if all of the students had a certain amount of money still in their account. After checking with the administration, if all of the students had $400 in their account, I would buy the class a pizza or cake or something mutually agreed upon. Near the end of the nine weeks, some students would pressure others to do their homework, behave, or do whatever to earn as much salary as possible.

The funny part was that at times, many students didn’t want to spend their money. They were so proud of accumulating tons of money (even though they knew it wasn’t real!). They would gloat about their earnings! In fact, they were so proud of it, that at times we shared the accounting sheets at parent conferences.

The negative aspect to this is that at first, it takes a lot of teacher time and organization. It takes time to write their names on each sheet and put them in folders for the first day of the week. It takes time to tally each sheet at the end of the day. And it takes time to file these at the end of the week. I usually wrote names on all of the sheets for the one week and then made 9 copies of each for the following weeks. That helps at the beginning of the week.

The positive aspect of this is that it really works. I used this kind of system for over 20 years and my students responded well to it. The key is being consistent. Students need to know that I will follow through and keep the record going. When they see that I won’t let the system fall to the wayside and let them have privileges even thought they didn’t have enough money, they will work harder.

Using this system, I rarely had behavior problems in my class. I have written less than 30 referrals for students in my own class in over 30 years of teaching.

If you are interested in seeing my list of job duties or my accounting sheet, please email me at successfulteaching at gmail dot com.

Do you use some kind of successful behavior management system? Please share the details!

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Behavior Accountability

In When Apologies are Empty from ksquirkyteacher, ksquirkyteacher states,

“If there is one thing I would like to instill in my students this year it is this: an apology means nothing unless it is backed up by an attempt to fix the situation.”

This post had me thinking about how I make my students accountable for their actions. I realized that sometimes my students go through the motions of apologizing because that is how they were taught but they aren’t always sincere about it. Sometimes they don’t even really understand or believe that they did anything wrong.

During early years of training, I remember observing some students were sent to time-out (sitting facing a wall for about 5 minutes). Then they were asked to tell what they did wrong and to describe how they will act differently next time. If they wouldn’t answer, they returned to the time-out chair. After the second time, they either answered or they truly didn’t know what they did wrong or how to correct their actions. I thought this was an excellent way to debrief a student!

I have used this method over and over through the years and it was has really been effective. Before any situation arises, I inform parents of my discipline procedure and explain that they will be involved if the student refuses to go to time-out. At first students wanted to argue and refuse to go to time-out which usually results in an immediate call to the parents. Once the students know the routine and that I will be consistent, they usually have no problems with the procedure.

This time-out gives students and me time to calm down and get perspective. When I talk to students about their actions, we usually can calmly discuss it. This is not a time to discuss if the student was right or wrong. The two questions I ask are a) what did you do to result in your removal from the group? b) How can this be avoided next time?

I also use this same technique if students are so uncontrollable that they need to be sent to the office. I work it out with the administration that before they can be returned to the classroom, they need to fill out a form answering the same two questions. When they return to my class, they need to bring that form with them.

Many times my special ed students have a lot of trouble understanding their behavior. I can’t just assume that they know what they did wrong and how to change it. That is why I discuss this with them and help guide them to pinpointing exactly what they did wrong. I also help guide them to learning the appropriate way to act.

For example, one of my students offends another student and this results in name calling, yelling, and aggressive behavior. I remove that student to time-out. When we discuss the behavior, he doesn’t understand how his being “honest” was a reason for him being disciplined. That gives me a chance to talk about other people’s feeling and putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. Usually after some reasoning and discussion, the student understands that his behavior was not appropriate and how to correct this behavior.

What discipline technique works for you? Please share!

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

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Act No Differently

I recently read the article Teachers Caught on Tape Bullying Special Needs Student and appalled by the behavior of the teachers.

I will again say something that usually horrifies the teachers in my graduate classes. There needs to be video cameras in the classrooms. With the ability of using cellphones to record what goes on in the classroom anyway, teachers need to think about their own behaviors. We spend a lot of time focusing on the behavior of our students in the classroom, out of the classroom, and even online. But teachers need to start behaving professionally in the classroom and I feel this is a non-negotiable. There is absolutely no excuse for poor teacher behavior in the classroom and if it is going on, it needs to be stopped. It is these kinds of teachers that are giving our profession a bad name. Maybe with recordings on teacher behavior, it may be easier to get rid of bad teachers faster. Let’s face it, in a student’s twelve year career as a student, we don’t have a lot of time to waste with providing them with a terrible teacher.

I have seen two teachers on separate occasions be suspended because their behavior was captured on a cell phone. I have even felt resistance from teachers when I have recommend that students with learning disabilities to tape record a class so they can have the lecture to use for studying purposes. I remember doing this when I was in college so wouldn’t we be teaching them a skill they can use in the future?

In my classroom, I had a video camera set up on Day 1. The light was covered with black electric tape so the students never knew if it was on or not. Parents signed a permission slip for students to be taped to improve classroom instruction and strategies and would not be used in any public way. I would turn it on as soon as the students arrived in class and turn it off when the last student left. If I had a problem with one student, many times I would turn the camera towards that student. Even if the camera didn’t always show what I was doing, the audio was clear enough to hear what was being said. I would have 3 tapes for each day and label them A, B, C that would be reused over and over.

This protected me and the students. I never acted any differently in my classroom with the students if I was alone, being taped, or had visitors. My behavior needed to be consistent for the students. If it wasn’t, then I needed to take a hard look at what I was doing and why.

If a student makes allegations that I did something in the classroom, I would be able to show the tape to protect myself. I could also show parents the behavior that I wanted to correct, especially if the student denied doing it. Many times I could even show the student the behavior that he sometimes didn’t realize he was doing. I would have the student tally each time he saw the behavior that was inappropriate. We started to keep charts and the student could see his own improvement. It was a great way for self monitoring.

Highway Patrol cars in our state have a camera on the front of their cars which again protects them and the person they are stopping. I have seen it used many times. When my husband was a judge, he used one in his courtroom. Again, in both situations, the person in charge needed to act no differently, whether on camera or off. In both cases, when they first started, there was opposition but later the positives outweighed the negatives.

Many of my teacher-students tell me that it is an invasion of privacy. They complain that it could be used against them. Yes, it could. But if the teacher was acting appropriately, why would that person care who saw it? In this day and time where everyone is suing everyone, I would want as much evidence on my side to protect myself. I know I’m a good teacher and that I work hard. I don’t care who sees what I do in my classroom.

Parents were invited unconditionally at any time as long as they checked in with the administration first (according to school safety policies). This opened up a relationship of trust between me and the parents. Parents felt assured that I was doing all I could to help their child.

There are too many situations where teachers are getting so much bad press for doing terrible things. Maybe the press is only focusing on the bad things but that is what sells news. Maybe we need to focus on how we can get this behavior to stop or at least decrease. If forcing some teachers to change their behavior by videotaping them is one way, then it is time to start doing this.

Do you tape your classroom? Have you ever done it? Has a student ever done it and showed it to you or put it on youtube? If so, please share your experience.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

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Helpful Checklist

In A Good Thought from Educationally Minded by Anthony Purcell, he shares,

“Yesterday was a great day! I had a different student sitting next to me working (it is mandatory he sits next to me). He does not stay on task very well and does not want to write the math problems down.”

Again I am reminded of a checklist that I had for students. I liked for them to do a lot of self monitoring and I think once they learned the process, they could see how it helped them. I spent too much time doing the “housekeeping” chores which took away a lot of teaching time. Too many times I had to ask them to write their name on their papers, put the page number of the work they completed, and other things that I required them to do. Finally I made up a checklist that they had to complete before they asked for help or turned their paper in. At the bottom of the paper they had to write the statement, “ I completed the checklist – (signature of student)” and if they wrote that without actually completing the checklist, they had to copy the whole checklist down.

Checklist:

1. Name is on the paper.

2. Page number is written on the paper.

3. Class Motto is written.

4. Complete Sentences are used.

5. Work is shown for all math problems.

If the student completes the checklist, I’m not wasting time asking them to do routine tasks. By following this checklist, it also puts some responsibility back on the student instead of on the teacher. I no longer have to argue with the student about doing simple tasks that do not need explanation. I also explain this very carefully to the students so they understand why they are doing things like this.

At first the student will write the ending statement and sign it without actually following the checklist. But I stand fast and consistently have them copy the checklist down if they fail to follow it. This does not have to happen too often before they learn to follow it. The key is that I am consistent and fair with this rule. I do not let anyone have a second chance, even if they beg for it. They learn quickly that this simple checklist is not to be ignored.

Using a checklist like this can help both the teacher and the student be successful in the classroom. It enables the teacher to be more effective in the classroom and helps the student be more independent.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

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What is the Real World?

In This World, That World and Some Other World from Education On The Plate, Deven Black states,

“I don’t like the term ‘real world.’

It is often used in sentences like ‘Every lesson in school should relate to the real world.’

Formulations like that make me think schools are like the Floating World of ancient Japan or the artificial world of the holodeck on some Star Trek spaceship.

Schools are the real world, just as much as slums or split-level suburban homes are.”

As soon as I saw this, I knew, as my husband hears frequently, I feel a blog post coming! I use the term “real world” a lot because I think it distinguishes it from a different time in people’s lives when they are sheltered and protected. I feel the real world makes people vulnerable and I need to prepare my students so that they can enter situations supplied with whatever tools and strategies necessary to keep them safe and independent.

I do not feel like a school situation is the “real world.” Parents, Teachers, and Administrators are able to manipulate the environment in different ways to help a student and this is not possible in the real world. I have worked hard at the beginning of the year to help my students succeed in different situations so they can use their confidence in trying more difficult assignments. There are also laws that protect children in schools that help them get accommodations and modifications to instruction if needed (IDEA and 504, for example). Administrators may use different discipline techniques to help students learn social skills necessary to get along with others. Special Education students are protected under special ed laws that enable them to continue with their education even if they are removed from a regular school environment.

It kind of reminds me of times I have seen football teams practice or play scrimmages and how they differ from real games. The real games are the ones that count. They count towards statistics, records, and championships but practice games and scrimmages do not. Practice games and scrimmages are a way to practice plays or move players to different positions and try them out. This is the time to explore different possibilities without it actually hurting statistics or records.

When a student causes minor problems in school, there are repercussions and this teaches a student how to be accountable for his actions. When a person gets in the “real world,” this student is usually of legal age and being accountable for his actions may involve money or even jail time. This does not usually happen at school age unless the student has broken a major law. I have seen students show violence in schools that will not be tolerated in the real world. Law enforcement will not care if this student has a disability or comes from a bad home life when protecting other citizens.

In school, if you misbehave, they send you to the office and pay the penalty, and then return to class. Unless you are expelled (and schools must have a good reason), you return to class. In the workplace (the real world), employers don’t tolerate people who won’t do their job. Employers want someone who will show up for work regularly, get the job done, as well as get along with other workers. There are too many people who need a job and want that position if you don’t follow the employer’s policies. If you can’t do the job for some reason, they can fire you.

In school, the system makes sure that students get fed. There are free and reduced lunch programs to feed children. If a student does not have lunch or money continuously, someone is notified about this problem (social worker, DSS etc.) In the real world, many people go to work hungry and go home hungry. Many people work so that they can pay bills and buy food.

Even when I went to college and lived on campus, I do not consider that the real world. I paid tuition and room and board as well as books but those were my major expenses. Many other students had their education paid for by their parents. When I graduated and got my first apartment, I never realized how much money was needed for deposits as well as electric, water, and phone bills. No one prepared me for these real world situation.

So, I guess I really don’t feel that school is the real world. And yes, I do feel that my lessons should be related to the real world so I can prepare my students for things that they may face. I might not be able to cover all of the situations they may face, but I hope that I give them enough tools and information so they can go find the answers they need.

What do you think? Is school the real world or not?

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

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