Empathy is the idea of being able to understand and share the feelings of someone else. In the classroom this is especially important as a classroom management strategy. When a student is not working on what they are supposed to do, using empathy you invite them over to your desk or a place in the room where people are not around. Point out the behavior to the student. If they get defensive over you pointing out the issues you noticed then you sympathize with them a bit saying something along the lines of “I understand how you feel” or “I can imagine where you’re coming from”. Often times students get taken aback by this since many times they don’t expect you to be understanding towards their situation or misbehavior. The key point is that this allows for a discussion instead of a confrontation. This allows for the decision making process to be more on the student so the issue can be solved without the frustration and stress commonly associated from a teacher if they were to not use empathy.(p152)
2. Rewards and Incentives Being able to use rewards and incentives is a way to build a more positive climate in the classroom. By doing so your able to “add interest or excitement to the class routine while directing attention toward appropriate behavior and away from inappropriate behavior" (p137). Appropriate external incentives are key but first need to be approved by either the school or district just to ensure your able to implement them. Being able to connect incentives to grades in order to improve behavior is a way to motivate students towards wanting a better grade (p138). Being able to give public recognition and acknowledgment is a good method but in a group setting so as not to embarrass students. Name off a few students who are doing a good job so as not to put one student on the spot. Additionally giving out “certificates, stickers with designs appealing to teenagers, or treats” (p138) can be useful too.
Rewards can also take the form of activities. Activities might include being able to work with a friend, have time to spend on a tablet (iPad, etc), a field trip, a class party, no homework, being able to listen to music during class, or playing games (p139). Finally rewards can take the form of material incentives such as food, games, and books. Being able to reward students for these might be because of following rules and procedures or turning in homework (p139).
Consequences for Rules & Policy Infractions Along with positive behavior interventions and supports, there have to be interventions for situations in order to solve them. These can be broken into minor and major interventions.
Minor Interventions 1. Make eye contact and increase how close you are with a student. You might shake your head while the student is looking at you to negative the behavior (p134). 2. Mention that other students are following directions and complement them. This is in order to help guide the student at hand with correcting themselves (p134 Classroom Management Book). 3. Redirecting students to work on the assignment at hand (p134). 4. Tell student to stop doing the behavior (p134).
Major Interventions Problem Solving Conferences 1. Identify the problem to the student after class in private. That way you can allow time for the student to explain how he or she feels about the situation. An alternative is presenting the issue to the student without using their name in order to have them come up with their own solution (p155) 2. Have the student come up with a solution to the problem themselves. This allows the student to be active in the process while the teacher is still able to maintain control. Being able to also provide students with two choices can help them in the decision process (p157). 3. The next step is to ask the student when they think their behavior will improve. Then hold them accountable and if they need a contract then to hold them further accountable. A reminder on my calendar will then be set in order to meet with me at a later time to reevaluate if behavior happened to change (p157).
Talking with Parent 1. Thank them for coming in to meet. (p159). 2. Focus on the “choices the student is making and what can be done to encourage better decisions” (p159). 3. Make parents feel they are a part of a team and that you’re willing to work with them. (p159).
Special problems/concerns Some things to think about that might be relevant when thinking of these things: - Be careful with using rewards (p141). - Don’t have students fall into the trap of only doing something because of the reward instead of for the sake of doing it (p141). - Don’t assign a boring assignment on purpose for the sake of assigning a reward (p141). - “When rewards are used, they should support students’ engagement and self-management rather than emphasize teacher control over student behavior” (p141).