Classroom Management

Mrs. M's rules follow closely with PBIS. Students have chances to engage in good behavior, and when they do, they are given tickets, which they can redeem them for rewards such as having lunch with Mrs. M, which many of the students desire apparently. When students are not behaving according to expectations, Mrs. M pulls the student aside or keeps them for a few minutes after class to explain and discuss with the student what needs to be done correctly next time, essentially reteaching the expectation to them. Students who regularly do not follow the rules and expectations are given a quick slip, which goes to their homeroom teacher, letting them know what rule or expectation they did not follow. If this continues, a note goes home to the parents. And if students get 3 quick slips, they get an office referral. Students who are frequently getting quick slips get a clipboard that they have to bring to every class, and at the end of class, the teacher goes over behaviors and expectations with them and, according to their behavior for that day, will give them a smiley face, a neutral face, or a sad face. The expectations and rules are posted in the classroom at the front. To monitor her class, Mrs. M has the word "Art" written, each letter on a separate page, clipped up front for students to see. If the class gets too rowdy, Mrs. M says she is taking the "A" down. Every time a letter is taken down, students lose certain privileges.

When it comes to bathroom and drink breaks, students are required to ask Mrs. M. Most teachers take a bathroom or drink stop before stopping at the classroom. Because of this, Mrs. M does not usually allow students to go to the bathroom or get a drink. Some students also use these breaks as an excuse to get out of doing projects, with these students, Mrs. M only allows them to go if it is an emergency.

In the schools, safety is an issue that is covered regularly. Mrs. M talks to her students throughout the year about what supplies they will be using with each project, and not to misbehave with the supplies, as they can hurt someone. If Mrs. M sees someone misbehaving while handling a hazardous object (like scissors), she will remove that object from the misbehaving student. Depending on the class, if Mrs. M feels that students are not capable of handling tools correctly, she will not assign a project, as it can become hazardous.

Mrs. M will sometimes allow students to borrow materials if they are behind on a project. At S. Elementary, not a lot of the students have markers, colored pencils, or other such materials, and are nervous to ask to borrow some, so Mrs. M will sometimes sneak some supplies into the students' backpacks if she has large quantities. She also gets a lot of requests from students to borrow her drawing books, so she will make a copy of the page they want to look at and give that to the student.

I think Mrs. M's rules lining up with PBIS is a good behavior monitor and motivator for the students. I remember when I was in elementary school how I would behave well in order to get tickets and redeem them for little prizes, or to have lunch with one of my favorite teachers, as we had a similar system when I was young. I think reteaching expectations is an excellent way to promote good behavior and let students know what that looks like. I like how there are not too many rules, in that students feel that they have no freedom to express themselves or do anything, but not too few in that students run wild in the school. I may try to model my own rules using PBIS in order to promote good behavior amongst my students, and if they misbehave, reteaching them the expectations that I have for the classroom.
In monitoring her class, I think using the "ART" method, where she takes a letter down when students are getting too rowdy is a great idea. No student wants to lose privileges, so after being warned once that they are one step closer to getting privileges revoked, of course they will quiet down.

Mrs. M's way of handling bathroom and drink breaks makes sense, especially if students had the chance to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water before class when their teacher had them stop by on the way. I can also understand why Mrs. would be wary of letting students go to take a bathroom/drink break, as they could try to get out of working on a project for a time, I remember doing that with math when I was in middle school.

In regards to Mrs. M's approach to safety, I think I would take the same approach. If I felt that my students did not seem like they were capable of handling tools correctly, I think I would revise my projects to not include certain tools if I know that students cannot handle them correctly.