Classroom Management and Discipline

Why Do I Have a Problem?

There are many reasons why discipline can be a problem in your
classroom. One of the reasons could be your teaching style. If you
aren't reaching every one of your students, they can become bored,
disinterested and restless. As mentioned in the section
on instruction, every student has their own learning style and an
area where they excel. If you are reaching these students by using a
variety of methods, they are motivated and less likely to cause
trouble.
Another reason for discipline issues is that you may be dealing with
students with many personal problems. I have personally dealt with
students who witnessed their fathers being gunned down, their
mother throwing them out of a moving car on the expressway, their
fathers beating them so much they were hospitalized, a family
member (usually a step-father) molesting them, being forced into
the drug trade by their parents, and rape. How can a student learn
when all they can think about is what they are going home to later
that afternoon? Will their rage transfer to the classroom?

Any abuse you discover

must be reported to the proper authorities. In most states, the
department of child protective services are overworked and
understaffed. You will probably get little help from them. What can
you do to address the issues? Will you have time to act as counselor
in addition to your regular teaching duties?
Following are a few strategies to deal with troubled students:

Refer them to the school counselor. If your counselor is

unable to squeeze the student in or is relegated to performing
administrative duties by the principal, go to step 2.

Refer them to a local social services agency. There are

many that are either free or low in cost. For example, the Fan
Free Clinic offers low cost substance abuse services, affordable
housing, medical treatment, and a food pantry. Many local
churches also provide free services.

Contact your local United Way agency. They distribute

their money to many social organizations and can give you a
list of potential agencies. The Salvation Army is one of the
largest social care providers in the world. They can also give
you important advice.
In larger urban areas, gang activity affects discipline. As part of
initiation, students who become members are forced to perform a
crime. This crime may occur in your school. Students involved in
gangs should be immediately referred to the school administrator.

There are ways to recognize students involved in gangs and head off
problems early. Following are helpful websites:

National School Safety and Security Services- The have

information about gangs and managing them.

National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center- This

site includes violence prevention, urban networks, best
practices and effective programs.

ERIC Digest- This site includes many articles on gang

activity in the schools. There are also articles on how violence
affects children.

Managing gangs in schools: Prevention strategiesExplains why students join gangs and how to prevent them.

Additional ideas and information about classroom

management.
What Does My Principal Expect of Me?
Your principal will expect you to take care of discipline problems
and only send students who either have severe misbehavior or
habitual offenses. Gum chewing and talking out are not reasons to
send a student to the office. I have heard many principals say, "I
knew that this student must have been a big problem because Mrs.
___ rarely sends students to the office and when she does it's for a
good reason." You will get much more support from your principal if
you take care of the vast majority of your discipline problems.
If your principal doesn't ask you for a copy of your discipline plan,
give him/her a copy of your plan so he or she knows exactly what a
student has to do in your classroom to be sent to the office. Sending
a student to the office should be a last resort.
Unfortunately, there are many philosophies and styles of discipline
and it can be hard to decide what works best for you. What works
for one teacher may not work for another. The best thing to do is to
pick one that you think will be successful and make adjustments
later if you have problems. Most experts will say it is better to err
on the side of being too strict because it is much more difficult to
later raise the bar.
Classroom Procedures

Another important component of a successful classroom

management program is a clear set of procedures. Once students
know exactly what they are expected to do with repetitive daily
procedures, there will be less behavioral problems. This PDF
document on Art Room Procedures
will be helpful when coming
up with procedures.

Common Discipline Methods

Assertive Discipline
This is the one I used for classroom discipline. It was created by Lee
Canter. Canter believes that if you "catch" a student being good by
recognizing them when they behave, they will work harder at
behaving. He also believes that there should be consistent
consequences of breaking the rules that are very clear.
In a nutshell, the teacher comes up with no more than five rules for
the classroom. Each time a rule is broken, a consequence is given. If
the misbehavior continues, the consequences get more severe every
time. At the same time, students are rewarded for behaving
properly. This can range from a field trip, pizza party, and a snack.
More on Assertive Discipline...

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

This is a fairly new system that rewards positive student behavior.
Introducing, modeling, and reinforcing positive social behavior is an
important step of a student's educational experience. PBIS focuses
on these four items:
1) Outcomes
2) Data
3) Practices
4) Systems
More on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports...

A Primer on Classroom Discipline

Thomas R. McDaniel published an article that has become a very
popular manual for classroom management. There are eleven
techniques that are explained that help you achieve control. The
methods are Focusing, Direct Instruction, Monitoring, Modeling,
Non-Verbal Cuing, Environmental Control, Low-Profile
Intervention, Assertive Discipline, Assertive I-Messages, Humanistic
I-Messages, and Positive Discipline.
More on Primer on Classroom Discipline...

Discipline With Dignity

This controversial discipline program, created by Richard L. Curwin
and Allen N. Mendler, is based on the premise that students are
treated with dignity at all times. It is meant to build self-esteem and
encourage responsible behavior. This program is especially helpful
in severe situations that frequently occur in inner-city schools.
Typically a contract is created by both the student and the teacher.
The contract includes prevention, "action dimension," and
resolution. Your rules must make sense and be fair.
Prevention is done with pre-planning to eliminate possible areas of
problems. Make sure students are aware of what is expected of
them. The action consists of record keeping and classroom
management. Finally the resolution component is dealing with the
continual rule breaker. Discipline should not interfere with
motivation. Teach responsibility rather than obedience.
The controversy with this method is the length a teacher goes to
protect student dignity and the fact there is no punishment.
Students frequently select their own consequences. Teacher
responses to severe discipline problems is unusual. In this author's
opinion, use this program when others fail. Read more about the
program here.

Reality Therapy (RT)

This program was created by William Glasser. The emphasis of this
program is to help students connect behavior with consequence.
This is done with class meetings, clear rules, and contracts. This
also includes Positive Approach to Discipline (PAD), which is based
on Reality Therapy.
More on Reality Therapy...

Transactional Analysis (TA)

This program by Dr. Eric Berne, is based on the premise that every
human has a child, adult, and parent psyche. Students and teachers
are encouraged to stay in the adult domain and avoid a parent/child
relationship. Problems are dealt with cooperation and goodwill. Like
Discipline With Dignity, there is a strong focus on self esteem and
motivation.
More on Transactional Analysis...

Teacher Effectiveness Training (TET)

This is another popular student discipline strategy. The purpose of
TET is to increase time on task. There are seven skills that are
taught in a TET classroom. The curriculum design is based on a fourstep learning model, SIPA.
More on Teacher Effectiveness Training...

Other Methods
There are many other discipline methods out there. Some teachers
may find that they do best by combining several methods together.
Every teacher is different and go with what works for you. Following
are other methods:

Adlerian Approaches

Student Team Learning (STL)

Tribes Learning Communities - Focuses on creating a

positive classroom environment to improve behavior.

Golden Rules About Classroom Management

1. Ensure that you have clearly stated rules and procedures with
established consequences that are expected and reviewed regularly.
All students must know the rules, routines and expectations.
2. Never continue on with instruction when the rules are being broken
- pause, delay and ensure that you have your student's attention.
3. Catch your students using appropriate behavior and praise them!
4. Use behavior contracts when necessary and follow up with
appropriate incentives.
5. Be sure that your instructional periods are NOT too long, students
need to be mobile throughout the day.
6. Provide individual , personal cueing and prompts to certain students
as needed. Sometimes just touching a student's shoulder will bring
them back to task.
7. POST the important rules - keep it short, no more than 6 and refer
to it often. These should be posted after the class has brainstormed
them.
8. Make sure you are teaching to all the various learning styles your
students have. A students who is not being reached is more likely to
be a problem.
Consistent approaches to classroom management will work,
effective classroom management takes time and should be seriously
implemented at the beginning of the year. Show your students
respect at all times, students who think they're not liked will
become your biggest behavior issue. For tips on dealing with
specific behaviors (aggression, tattling etc.) try the tips here.
Children with ADHD present unique problems. These students have
short attention spans and need to be in motion. There is a great
article by Harlan Brownlee [Archive] that offers tips for managing
them in the art room. It offers suggestions to control movement so
that chaos doesn't ensue.

Teacher Ideas

A reward system is also important for good discipline. You can use
"Mona Bucks" to give to students. These can either be used as
certificates or traded in for prizes at the end of the semester/year.
From Lisa
"We came up with a "peace box" in which students refer other
students who are representing best practices of the problem solving
steps. These students would be announced on a certain day. When
students get positive referrals they receive a panther buck, a
positive note or call home, and a get to be part of a group picture
that is hung on the wall. This website was suggested to give us
some ideas on where we want to go with our problem solving steps.
We are also thinking about lessons that we used in our Second Step
Program that helps teach social skills.
The following discipline ideas have been posted on the art
education list group:
"I give "quiet lotion". Just a small squirt of lotion to remind them to
be quiet (they can smell it to "remind" them to be quiet) really
works! Kids just say no thanks if they don't want it. Suave in the big
bottles is what I use sandalwood/cinnamon rocks. I also erase one of
three smiley faces on the board for noise control..." - Ali
"I found that if I started with the expectation that the kids needed
to get quiet before we started as well [as] quiet before I left (5
minutes each) the students were responsive. I would have an
activity to begin with, such as looking at a work of art, a "silent
game" where "winners" could get their supplies first (and thus get
the "best" supplies -- sharpest crayons, best choice of paper color,
coolest instrument... or just get the chance to start sooner, which is
rewarding in itself!). I would have clean-up about 5-10 minutes
before the end (depending on media) and then another "silent
game"... such as turn lights off, put heads down, and surprise their
teacher by being still and silent, acting like we don't exist." - Becky
Hopkins
"...To transition students, we gather in meeting area-children called
over by table as soon as they are quiet - for
discussion/demonstration-then when done, tell class that quiet

"ready" children get their paint or clay/supplies first-everyone wants

to get going, so this works-Second idea I do in classes with teachers
who need strict order upon return is to carry a little booklet of
stickers; after clean up children who are quiet and ready at their
desks get one-this seems to work well too." - Georgia in Boston
From Jenny: Several suggestions regarding classroom management
Have everything in order before the students arrive, down to the
smallest details.
- Think very carefully about where you want each student to sit. If
you have tables, make sure the dominate students sit facing you
and are spread around the class.
- Keep changing their seats every class until you find a composition
that works for you and don't just change the students you are
having a tough time with - change them all. Put a post it with the
student's name on it on the table so they know where to go and
have a chart in your had so you can show them where to go.
- Meet the class at your door and do not let them in until everyone
has arrived and they are all calm. Smile and make sure you say hi to
each student before they enter.
- Have a short, detailed drawing activity for them to start the
moment they sit down. I usually give them a handout as they enter
the class and provide a sharp pencil for them so they can start
drawing. The most successful handouts are the how to draw...
animal, car, football player... that show several steps. I usually find
them on the internet.
- While they are drawing walk around and make several positive
comments.
- Introduce the activity of the day before all the students have
completed the short drawing activity. Don't wait until they are all
done and talking.
- Transitions are usually the most difficult times. Have all your
materials organized and ready to go. The less the students move
around the class, the better. As you gain better control of the class,
you can allow for more flexibility.
- Have one on one conversations with the students in the hall away
from the rest of the class.
- Find a strength in each one of your students and tell them when
they are doing something well. Don't make stuff up and go over

board. Every part of a work of art has a strength. Point to the partial
area and tell the student how great it is and why you think so.
- Stay calm.
- Find projects that students will be proud of when they are done.
Pick challenging ones, that you break down the steps so that they
do not get overwhelmed.
- Get to know the individuals in your class. Ask them questions
about their time outside of school.