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.