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November 5, 2002
SELF-PERCEPTION INFLUENCES PERFORMANCE
Self-efficacy is self-confidence in ability and skill. Self-efficacy influences (1) what activities we choose; (2) how much effort we put forth; (3) how much we persist in the face of difficulty; and (4) the difficulty of goals we self-set. A few years ago, I heard Del Siegle (Boise State University) discuss research about ways teachers support and (unwittingly) undermine student self-confidence. He noted: "By the end of elementary school, children's perceptions of ability begin to exert an influence on achievement processes independent of any objective measures of ability . . . and by the time students are college undergraduates, self-efficacy has a significant relationship to academic performance, even when ability is controlled." The kicker: Teacher behavior is linked to student self-efficacy. The unpleasant half: a teacher may be unaware that unsolicited help, or communication of praise on easy tasks, function as low-ability cues. The good news: Teachers can learn specific skills, behavior, and new classroom groupings and strategies that positively effect self-efficacy. Communicate the ability to do well through compliment on specific skills. Mention specific goals and progress. Have students of known skill or competence model parts of a daily lesson for others in a class. Be alert to new opportunities to learn these skills.
(Taken in part from handout notes in a Siegle workshop at the ASCD Annual Conference, 1997)
November 2, 2002
BUFFER PROCEDURES AND ACTIVITIES
Some students have finished a group activity, and larger or slower groups are still working. Or: Students finish an individual test solo activity at different times. For a teacher without knowledge of buffers, these moments can be challenging, and as troubling in small college classes as in elementary or secondary groups. The simple reason: Students will do what they want unless you have taught them what you want. A buffer is anything students can do when they are waiting: beginning of class, end of class, and in between. To build a buffer procedure, figure out exactly what you want students to do (and not do) when they finish an activity. Then, before you ever do the activity, teach these options. In teaching, give and ask for examples. It's easy to make this fun and humorous, and offers a golden opportunity for positive, non-judgmental interaction with your least-likely-to-interact-kids. You can respond to discussion so that no one is ever wrong! You will get excellent behavior, but there is a major secondary benefit: You are teaching the expectation that time will be used to profit, and encouraging individual thinking about how to do this. Here is an example, sample-scripting an after-test-behavior buffer for middle-school or high school students:
T: Tomorrow is our chapter test. So tomorrow, before we begin, you'll learn about some things to do when you finish the test, while you wait for others to finish. Let's make an idea list now. Something you could do is . . . work on homework for this class, due the next day. Who has another idea?
S (volunteers): I think I could do reading for English class. Or my Math homework.
T: Good idea. You just need to bring the book and have it under your seat so you do not have to leave your seat to get it. Another idea?
S (volunteers): I could get ready to leave, go and get my backpack.
T: Yes, you could arrange your backpack to get ready, but you could only do that at your seat. Remember, youll be staying in your seat and not moving around.
. . . and so forth.
To these student examples, I would also add some inappropriate behavior, and get reaction. For a work-alone test, in high school classes, I might ask students to identify the paper, fold, close and place it at the corner of their desk - a signal to me to pick it up. No hands are raised, there is no calling out, and I need not move other than for usual monitoring. I would review the buffer procedure orally before handing out the test, and might post ideas on the chalkboard the test day. Note: A teaching discussion with younger students might not work well unless you have taught behavior appropriate to the discussion setting.
October 25, 2002
WRITING AS A TOOL FOR SELF ASSESSMENT
I use simple writing assignments, given and completed in class, to help assess intellectual understanding, to offer practice and reinforce group support, and to reveal student thought patterns and misunderstandings. For teachers, student writing can be a wondrous window into the thinking process, in any class context. In math, for instance, asking students to write about how they reached a solution offers feedback about misunderstandings and accomplishments. For a student, the effort invested to express thoughts in writing (or orally) helps clarify thinking and/or reveal the need for greater clarity. Once a student has learned this basic truth, the struggle to express is freshly motivated. In a basic biology (non-lab, non-major, required undergraduate) class at Hawaii Pacific University, I use small, focused, graded in-class writing assignments for both purposes, as well as to teach students how to support one another in writing and to seek support from others. They write in teams of two or three; one person in a team is the author, and is responsible for the assignment, graded on a simple rubric. The other student(s) edit, check, spell, research in the text, and assist in other ways. All roles are rotated, and specific support behaviors were identified before the first assignment. Every student becomes an author several times during each term, and I do this activity weekly in classes that meet three times each week. Each writing activity takes about fifteen minutes; initial instruction and comprehension check take about eight minutes. Questions are short and focused to be answered briefly; content is easily evaluated. All questions use material learned earlier in another setting. I encourage students to write legibly but not to avoid corrections. (I sometimes comment on clarity or grammar, but precision and correction of detail are not objectives of the activity.) Ask by e-mail at mdabney@hpu.edu for more information or a specific example from one of my lesson plans.
October 15, 2002
TEACHING WANTED BEHAVIOR
If students are often off-task and a classroom is often chaotic, chances are good the teacher is not clear about how to identify and teach wanted behavior. There are four steps:
(1) Identify and describe your common learning settings. For instance, lecture or directions is a setting; group-of-four task is another. You might use settings such as solo seatwork, entering the room, or testing. You will think of others.
(2) Next, for each such setting, identify wanted behavior and describe it in clear, observable language. Adjust the language to student age and skill.
(3) Next, figure out how to teach this behavior to students. Teach the behavior expectations separately (not all at once) and take time to check comprehension. Make it humorous and fun.
(4) Re-teach expectations or re-check comprehension when student behavior tells you its time to do so. Here is an example: For lecture/directions in a high school class, I might teach students to
- keep eyes on me, or the chalk/white board, or on notes or visuals
- ask questions (related to the lecture or directions) by raising your
hand and waiting for me to request your question
- keep objects unrelated to the task out of sight and quiet
In my consulting practice, I design and deliver teacher training that results in comprehensive classroom management plans, including age-appropriate procedures and how to teach them.
September 15, 2002
REACHING PARENTS WITH THE Thursday Envelope
Improve parent communication by sending home (from your class or school) a weekly manila envelope with a dated notice of contents inside. Parents return the envelope the next day, signing off on its contents. I saw this tool successfully used in 1997 at Honaunau School, on the Kona coast. Since then, I've seen it in many other schools. Would it help in your school or classroom? Parents come to expect this regular weekly communication, and to look for it or ask for it, if their child does not offer the envelope. Re-build parent-school communication culture for your own class, or pilot the strategy in a few classes to work out kinks.
September 7, 2002
FORM QUESTIONS TO INVITE ORDERLY PARTICIPATION
Revise questions to a form that invites participation, to encourage involvement from students who resist your attempts to include them. Eliminate shouted-out student responses by adding behavior instructions to your question. For example: What was George Washington's birthday? can become Show me your hand if you think you know what month and year George Washington was born. . . or . . . Show me your hand if you know which US President was born in 1732. The "show me your hand" strategy reduces the risk and increases safety for anxious students, and helps reach those who might hold back if you questioned them directly. When students are working in sit-together pairs or triplets, pose a question and teach the group a signal to use when they agree on an answer. This forces discussion and explanation inside the group; you then call on anyone in the group.
August 28, 2002
ALFIE KOHN ON THE GOALS OF DISCIPLINE
My argument is that our first question should be "What do children need?" followed immediately by "How can we meet those needs?" -- and that from this point of departure we will end up in a very different place than if we had begun by asking "How do I get children to do what I want?"
- quoted from Beyond Discipline - From Compliance to Community (Alfie Kohn, 1996, Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development)
August 28, 2002
SEVEN TEACHER BEHAVIORS promote classroom success
1. As an elementary, middle school, or secondary teacher, I have (or am actively developing) a plan that provides for handling routine and severe behavior problems without sending students to an administrator. I have consulted with an administrator to get agreement to any part of the plan that involves sending a student out of class. When a student is dismissed from the classroom, control of discipline is surrendered.
2. I plan ahead to deter problem behavior, and teach (or are developing) routines and social skills to prevent problems. I perceive student behavior--even problem behavior--as useful feedback about what routines and skills students still need to learn. I think of discipline more as an opportunity to redirect behavior and help students learn self-management than as a structure within which to reward and punish them.
3. I plan academic lessons that promote student emotional safety, success, and involvement, and am actively involved in learning how to improve my skill in designing such instruction. Lesson planning includes
- motivational structures and tasks that connect learners with curriculum goals . . . Why should they care?
- clear delineation of what academic content I want to teach . . . What should students understand and be able to do when teaching is complete? What does "understanding" mean?
- clear delineation of instructional strategies . . . What activities will students do in class, and with what curriculum goals are these activities aligned?
4. I believe all students can learn and be successful, recognize that students possess different learning strengths, and am actively engaged in understanding those strengths and in designing teaching that helps students use their skills and develop new ones.
5. I believe that hurting people intentionally is not part of the teaching or learning process, and am intolerant of abusive behavior between students. I do not personalize hurtful behavior from students. Slow to anger, I avoid talk or confrontation when anger appears. Instead, I stop to think. Students are taught problem solving alternatives to violence.
6. I am positive, encouraging and accepting of mistakes -- my own and those of students -- and regard mistakes as learning opportunities. I model this belief in my conversations, instruction, and behavior management choices.
7. Open to continual learning and opportunities for growth in professional practice, I view cross-consultation with colleagues as normal, not as a sign of weakness. I have (or am actively developing) a vision of who I want to be as an education professional, and I regularly read and seek ideas, expertise, and help from others to complement my experience and support my growth.
- adapted from workshop materials designed by Michael W. Dabney
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