Are you familiar with Fred Jones? His approach to classroom management has been extremely effective in my classroom. He focuses on practicing procedures. The first two weeks of school is pretty much practicing how to do all sorts of things. This is a proactive approach to stopping behaviors before they begin. I have also used the Jones approach with my centers. We practiced how to do it so much that the class is very independant, and they work well with the responsibilities they have. Maybe if you used this approach with your eigth graders, they could handle more responsibility. Just a thought.

I am a 3rd year teacher working in a 6th grade Language Arts class. I also have been working on giving the students more room to have responsibility in the class. I have found a strategy that has worked out for me. After we have read a short story, I have the students brainstorm and create different follow-up activities that we could do based on the story. I felt that since they were given the opportunity to create the assignment, they felt they were more responsible and participated more in class. One challenge I have is that we are an open room concept. I worry that my class will distract the other classes with there being no walls. How would you handle this situation?

I would agree that practicing schedules and routines at the beginning of the year help drastically. Last year I taught a new reading program called Read 180, within this class the students need to do a lot of work on their own while the teacher works with a small group. This class was very hard for me to do at first, because I had to be able to let go and trust more than half of the class to complete the work they have been asked while I give a small group my undivided attention. I would also like to add that this concept of giving up a exact teacher led structure is very hard and took me a quite awhile to feel comfortable, so don't worry if you have a hard time letting go. I did notice that with most of my students they were able to easily adapt and succeed in these settings. However, the first two weeks of school were spent practicing and 'mocking' a regular day so the students knew exactly how to react. These two weeks are crucial!
Since I am now teaching a different program, I am having a hard time coming up with activities for the students to have more responsibility with.

I agree with Nikki. Fred Jones procedures are great for any classroom.

I am also a 3rd year math teacher at a middle to upper class urban high school. I have found that starting the year off democratically helps a lot. I let the students come up with their own class rules, with a few of mine if they don't touch on them. The entire class then signs the rules and I post them in the room. This way everyone has agreed on apporiate behavior and I can give them more freedom.

Fred Jones sounds very similar to H. Wong, who has a book called "The First Days of School." He focuses a lot on procedures and effective classroom management.

I agree with many of you. I teach high school foreign languages. I have found that the best way is best explained in the following book. The author is Ron Morrish and the book is titled "With all Due Respect". It explains in detail how to maintain a high level of respect in the classroom with minimun discipline problems.

I'm a big fan of group learning, as long as it's done right. If it's done incorrectly, a group feeds off of one person, and most of the members do not contribute anything.

I know a college Greek professor (obviously a different situation, but the idea is still pertinent) who assigns take-home tests and encourages students to work together. The students work together to get through tough spots.

Naturally, a group of highly engaged students wouldn't allow someone to be a part of a group if he/she didn't contribute anything. Students work harder so they have something to offer others in return for their help.

You might want to look into the Responsive Classroom
techniques. Lots of great ideas and examples of language and teaching techniques to get the students to internalize learning behaviors instead of having them imposed on them.

I too feel very strongly that students should have more of a say in what goes on in the classroom. I believe that students should be treated with respect and like young adults. If we show them respect we in turn get it back. I struggle often with how much "freedom" to give my students. As a teacher of 8th grade, I think that they can handle more repsonsibility but I often lose students who can't step up to the challenge. Then I feel guilty that I hung them out to dry. I am going to look into Fred Jones that some of you mentioned. This year my school is convinced that using the "jigsaw" method is the answer but I still am not sold on that. In 8th grade they seem to socialize more than work. I also am using the "Y-chart" method at the beginning of the year to start out class rules. I think that the idea of balancing repsonsibility between the teacher and the student is a fine line. I have a colleague who uses the saying "guide on the side" when referring to the role of the teacher in the classroom.