What's The Best Classroom Management Advice You've Gotten?

Mr. Sullo and Dr. Garrett--I am definitely not kidding when I say that a teacher should have as many rules as they want. I respect your opinions on this issue(and they are shared by many in the education field), but I think that approach is outdated. I have 52 rules in my high school classes(some punishable, some not). Other teachers like Ron Clark, who wrote a book about his 55 rules(The Essential 55), have had similar ideas. It is not the number of rules that make students want to rebel(or make things rigid and cold), it is the approach of the teacher in their excecution of the rules and consequences that makes students feel threatened. That can be true if you have 2 rules or 100. I wrote a book about this called Discipline Without Anger: A New Style of Classroom Management(on Amazon). I also have a website at withoutanger.com. I welcome any discussion on this topic. The way many teachers handle discipline today is the biggest problem in education.

Also, if you would like to see how rigid and cold some of my students feel about the way handle discipline, I invite you to take a look at my student made promotional video on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KD5oJaOKrU

Mr. Campbell,
I really have no interest in getting into an online argument, so I suspect this will be my last comment. I did take up your offer to watch the promotional video your students made. In a previous comment, you suggested that Dr. Garrett and I have "outdated" ideas. I have never met Dr. Garrett and don't speak for her, but I find it interesting that you characterize our positions as "outdated" while you offer Rule #32 ("Never miss an opportunity to be a gentleman") and Rule #1 ("Respect the ladies." I can't capture the tone of voice in words). Both of these seem a decidedly "dated."
I taught English for a number of years. I'm not certain that Rule #48 ("This isn't therapy time") is a rule. It's a simple statement of fact for your classroom.
I stopped counting all the "don't" rules in the video - a mere sample of the 52 - but a host of "don't" rules seems incongruous with Rule #12 ("Positive energy only.")
I'm sure I missed things, but it looked like a room with fewer than 10 students. Lot of rules for so few students.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I got the sense in watching the video that the students genuinely like and respect you. I have the strong impression that you are a charismatic teacher who builds strong relationships with his students. I'm guessing you have lots of success and your students learn a great deal from you. I bet my own three kids would have enjoyed having you as a teacher. Where you and I disagree is that I think your 52 "rules" have little to do with your success. I think you succeed and your students thrive because you develop strong relationships, run an organized class, and engage the students in meaningful work.
Enough said. I wish you continued success.

The best classroom advice that I have ever gotten was that you need to be stern with the students the first couple weeks of school, so that they know you mean busy. After they have learned the rules then your classroom will run smoothly. You can always start hard and turn softer but you can never start soft then turn hard. The students willl respect the rules in classroom if you require respect of the rules. It is also very important to earn respect from your students. Once they have your respect they will give you theirs.

Mr. Campbell, I really like your point that:

It is not the number of rules that make students want to rebel(or make things rigid and cold), it is the approach of the teacher in their excecution of the rules and consequences that makes students feel threatened.

A teacher's attitude makes all the difference, and developing habits that help us respond to student misbehavior is surely at the core of your methodology. I am so glad that your students were part of a class with a teacher who understands the difference between punishment and discipline. No doubt they responded well to you as a role model. : >

However, depending on the age of the student, a "list" of rules can be counterproductive. I've found with high schoolers that the use of ONE RULE helps offset more behavioral issues. Further, by NOT establishing consequences up front, but clarifying that whatever occurs will be handled fairly, teachers can breathe more easily about how they determine what constitutes a misbehavior and how they handle the consequences for misbehavior.

For the most part, my classes self-regulated. For example, if a student said something disrespectful to me or another student, generally, that student apologized and attempted to redeem him/herself WITHOUT my having to say a word. That is the difference between their embracing the principles of a rule and complying with many.

I write about this in my book: Transparent Teaching: Creating the Ideal Class for Students and Teachers. : )

Best,
Mrs. Keller-Kyriakides

Mr. Campbell,
Thanks for sharing your video. I enjoyed watching it! And, yes, Ron Clark was the first person who came to mind when I watched it. It is obvious your students care and respect you. As I mentioned previously, I ground a lot of my classroom management philosophy in the idea of developing caring relationships with students and implementing engaging instruction. However, by no means does that negate the need for clear rules and routines and a thoughtful and purposeful physical design of the classroom. I have a feeling that our philosophies are probably not as different as they sounded in our posts. I think the way your first post reads can possibly catch people off guard and create an image that is different than the one that is presented in the video, which is perhaps, one of the downfalls with communicating this way. I teach two sections of Effective Classroom Management every semester and it is completely full with preservice and novice teachers who learn how to effectively manage a classroom by balancing the five tasks I mentioned in my previous comments. I have also conducted over 175 professional development workshops on the topic. Therefore, I am very confident in saying that there is nothing outdated about my approach or philosophy. Recently, I created an app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod. You can check it out at www.classroommanagementessentials.com. I love to talk about classroom management, but something is lost when everything takes place online. Good luck and thanks for sharing.

Being a positive role model is the most important goal for me as an educator and promotes a positive learning environment for my students. This is especially important to me being a male elementary school teacher in a female dominated field.

Joel

Mr. Sullo,
I am also not interested in arguments or trying to win debates. I think everyone who has been involved in this discussion with me has the same goal--to help teachers improve their classroom management skills in an effort to become better teachers overall.
I like your counter points to some of my statements. I will see if I can defend and clarify some of those things and leave it at that:
*I agree that my rule to "Respect the Ladies" may seem dated. Maybe that was a poor choice of words on my part. Some dated things can be better than the way things are now. My point is that many of the old ways of handling discipline are no longer as valid as they once were.
*My rule that "This isn't therapy time" is not just a description, it means that classtime is not the appropriate time for students to talk about their personal problems.
*There were 10 or fewer students in the video because we were acting. My typical class size is about 20 or so. I would have the exact rule and consequence structure if my classes had 5 or 40, however.
*I disagree that my 52 rules have little to do with my success. They are a key part. They are not the only part, however. What I do agree with is that caring about students and relationships is maybe the most important key to a teacher's success. I think most teachers would agree with that one. If I had said that in my original comment, though, I wouldn't have really added anything to the discussion. I chose my comment about rules because I knew that it may be a different approach than what people are used to discussing.

I enjoyed the discussion.

Enough said. I wish you continued success.

Mrs. Keller-Kyriakides

You make good points. The difference in punishment and discipline is huge. I have heard about other teachers who had success without having any structure and winging it when it came to discipline.

Believe it or not, I am actually suggesting that every teacher have 52 rules, or that every teacher try to be like me. What I am saying is that each teacher has the power to develop their own discipline style. I am a math teacher--very black and white thinker. Black and white rules work for me. It would drive me crazy to have to figure out what to do as each misbehavior happened and I would find it impossible to be fair and consistent.

This is not a battle of the tons of rules camp versus few rules camp. The mistake is in dismissing either one simply because it does not work for you, or that you have a theory that says your way is the only way. The real way for a teacher to have successful discipline is to figure out what works for them and know what they are going to do before it happens.

Mrs. Keller-Kyriakides

You make good points. The difference in punishment and discipline is huge. I have heard about other teachers who had success without having any structure and winging it when it came to discipline.

Believe it or not, I am actually suggesting that every teacher have 52 rules, or that every teacher try to be like me. What I am saying is that each teacher has the power to develop their own discipline style. I am a math teacher--very black and white thinker. Black and white rules work for me. It would drive me crazy to have to figure out what to do as each misbehavior happened and I would find it impossible to be fair and consistent.

This is not a battle of the tons of rules camp versus few rules camp. The mistake is in dismissing either one simply because it does not work for you, or that you have a theory that says your way is the only way. The real way for a teacher to have successful discipline is to figure out what works for them and know what they are going to do before it happens.