End of Quarter Blog Post: Standard 5.4: Managing Student Behavior by Establishing Expectations

Standard to be discussed:

5.4 Component 2d: Managing Student Behavior by Establishing Expectations
1 Unsatisfactory	2 Basic	3 Proficient	4 Distinguished
No standards of conduct appear to have been established, or students are confused as to what the standards are.	Standards of conduct appear to have been established, and most students seem to understand them.	Standards of conduct are clear to all students.	Standards of conduct are clear to all students and appear to have been developed with student participation.

To me, this standard means that all students must understand how the teacher expects them to behave while in class. It also means that, in order to be distinguished, students should have some say in the expectations the teacher sets for the class.

I believe that it’s prudent to set out some basic rules, and allow for some flexibility and student input on consequences (assuming there is no schoolwide policy regarding a particular infraction). I also believe it is best to use positive reinforcement rather than punishments to encourage good behavior, and that a successful teacher is consistent in the setting and maintaining of boundaries. In The First Days of School, Wong writes that “Effective teachers MANAGE their classrooms. Ineffective teachers DISCIPLINE their classrooms” (Wong, Kindle Location 1079). He continues on to state “the most important thing a teacher can provide in the classroom… is CONSISTENCY” (Wong, Kindle Location 1088). Wong also later goes on to emphasize that an effective teacher “establishes consistency in the classroom” (Wong, Kindle Location 1145).

Consistency is a theme in this classic teaching text, and for good reason. In my own experience, consistency is key, and helps maintain order. Consistency helps students feel comfortable and secure in their awareness of appropriate boundaries and acceptable behavior, and once they know these boundaries and behavior patterns, they are willing to work. If there is chaos though, the kids rebel because they need to know where the boundaries are – and if the boundaries fluctuate, anarchy ensues.

For instance, there is, at my school, no set schoolwide policy for the trading of sneakers. Some students, usually athlete boys, enjoy collecting and swapping particularly snazzy shoes. Several of them have tried to carry out these exchanges while I am teaching. I have set a clear boundary that these exchanges cannot happen during class while I am teaching, but are allowed before the bell rings. They know that there will be a brief discussion in the hallway regarding their behavior if they try to swap sneakers in class.

Similarly, there is no school rule regarding fidgeting. That is, and has as far as I am aware always been, at the discretion of the teacher. Most teachers frown on fidgeting. I gleefully allow it and encourage it – and have found that by allowing students some freedom of movement and some input on what they can do with their bodies during class, my students do better and learn more than they might otherwise.

I think to increase effectiveness in the area of managing student behavior by establishing expectations, I could add some of the expected behaviors (and some of the behaviors I expect students to avoid) to the syllabus next year. In fairness to this year, I was not allowed input on the contents of the syllabus, because I was a brand-new student teacher. In the future, I will make my more unconventional classroom expectations clear from the get-go.

End of Quarter Assignment: Professional Issues Course

The Following Chart shows some of my research on professional organizations in my field:

Webquest prompts
Org. name	Area of focus	Membership cost (cite the student teacher fee if possible)	Does the org. publish a journal or newsletter; if it does, is the content helpful, can you provide a sample title of an article or news item?	Does the org. have a conference; if so, when and what is the cost, what is one of the session titles from a past or current program?	Does the organization offer any professional development, if so, what kind?		Does the organization use Facebook or LinkedIn?
State-level organizations
Washington State Council for the Social Studies	Social Studies	Free (from what I can tell)	Yes; The content is both social gathering info and info regarding calls for papers, useful workshop dates and times, and other random minutiae. Sample Article/News Title: “Workshop: What You Need to Know about Japan Since 1945”	It has three yearly conferences. Cost is $70. Title of a session: “Assessing Critical Thinking Through Discussion.” Title of the Conference: “The Future of Civics at the WSCSS 2016 Fall Conference”	Yes – curriculum links, conferences, lesson plans, instruction suggestions.		Facebook: Yes. LinkedIn: No.
AFT Washington (Washington Federation of Teachers)	K-12	Can’t tell – seems kinda fishy to me.	It publishes news, but not necessarily a newsletter or journal, from what I can tell.	Not that I can see. It looks to be a teacher’s Union.	Yes – it offers conferences to members.		Facebook: Yes. LinkedIn: No.
National-level organization
National Council for the Social Studies	Social Studies	$43/Student $85/Regular 1-year	Yes. A journal called “Social Education.” The content seems useful. Sample Article Title: Setting the Stage for Civil Discourse”	Yes – NCSS Annual Conference, held annually. Session Title: “Sunken and Seized Ships: What Warrants War?”	Yes - NCSS Conference, Summer Workshops, state council meetings.
Questions about one organization
Which organization seems worth joining and why? What is one way you could get involved? The National Council for the Social Studies seems worth joining – its dues aren’t too expensive, and it seems to give the most value in terms of material I can use. I could get involved by joining.
Rate the organization using core features from Desimone (2011): 1-Strongly Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-Neither, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly Agree
The organization provides content focus – e.g. emphasis on subject matter and how students learn						5
The organization provides active learning – e.g. opportunities to get involved						5
The organization provides coherence – e.g. consistency across teacher knowledge, beliefs, school goals						5
The organization provides duration – e.g. activities span across the year for at least 20 hours of contact time						4
The organization provides collective participation – e.g. teachers group by subject to form learning communities						5

My professor asked us to respond to the following prompt:

Describe how you have been (or might become) involved in the larger educational community, both on-site in your building and also in the wider field of those in your discipline.  Include specific topical ideas you have gleaned (or would like to) from these professional communities.

 Response:

After some research, I learned that I could become involved in the larger educational community at both the national and state levels. I think the most useful thing to do would be to join the National Council on the Social Studies, because it offers connections to the State Council on the Social Studies. This would give me access to four conferences each year, as well as a professional journal, professional development, honors societies, and much more. I like this organization also because it is specific to my subject area.

Some of the specific topical ideas I have learned from my research, which I would like to start taking advantage of in my classroom, include the information on civil discourse and what warrants war. Many of my students struggle with class discussions, so this would benefit them. Many of my students are also curious as to what makes something a war, a revolution, or a social movement, and how to distinguish between them. Our current unit is “Revolutions,” so this is of particular interest and pertinence to me right now. Another is an article titled “Invoking History in Today’s Politics.” One of my focuses this year is bringing history and current-day events together, to show students that history is relevant. This article is locked and only members can access it, but I would bet it provides interesting ideas to help teachers connect history to present-day goings-on.