Over on Math Stories, Mr. K. has some comments about classroom discipline that are worth reading. Try this for example:
What the “good” teachers do
So, at this school at least, discipline is a huge part of being able to teach at all, much less well. Many of the teachers are successful. They have well run organized classrooms, their students are engaged and learning, and succeeding at it. In talking with one of them, we came to the realization that there are a lot of different styles, but they all have at least one thing in common:The classroom is a culturally isolated from the rest of the school.
Teachers stand at the doors, and do a brain check on each kid as they come into the classroom. Every kid is given some sort of reminder that that door is a threshold, that when they cross it, the rules change, the expectations change, and their behavior better change. Those classrooms are little individual fortresses, and the successful teachers bring in the kids, but have set up barriers to keep the bad behavior out.
This reminds me of a study that I use sometimes in class. Allday and Pakurar (2007) examined the effects of having teachers greet students at the door. They found pretty clear increases in students’ attention to task during the class periods when the teachers complimented students as they entered the classroom.
Read Mr. K.’s full entry. Flash of the electrons to Liz Ditz for her post for alerting me to this. You can download a PDF the full version of the study by Allday and Pakurar for free.
Sphere: Related Content
Yet another good article.
Reminds me of how the same technique is applied in any Special Forces division of the military branches. After months of boot camp where drill instructors are yelling in your ear, cursing. All of a sudden in SEAL camp, you’re unexpectedly brought into an environment that instructors dress in golf shirts and baseball caps, speak to you calmly like a professional, and explain the reasoning behind every exercise.
In a classroom environment, this reminds me of Starbucks “third-place” principle of success. Everyone has a work environment and a home environment. But people long for a “third” environment that’s not quite either… a sort of a fulcrum that balances the other two.