Entry # 11: Middle school kids
need a lot of structure

"There's so much chaos everywhere. The bad kids get all of the attention."

On Thursday while I was at the NMSA conference here in St. Louis, the seventh-grade language arts teacher, Mrs. F, had a heart-to-heart chat with Tina, a student I'd had last year. They were discussing whether the school had improved at all from the year before when Tina made the above statement.

Is there chaos in my school? On Thursday alone, the following occurred:

= Chuck got into two fights before actually getting suspended. Apparently, since he is classified behavior disordered, he can only be suspended for a total of ten days unless his IEP is modified, and he has already used up those days.
= Charlene punched another girl in the face by the buses.

= Brad is suspected of pulling the fire alarm.

= A teacher's keys were stolen, and the assistant principal did nothing in response.


It sounds bad. However, on Thursday, the following also occurred:
= Mrs. M, a sub, had my kids and said, "they were very well-behaved."

= Mrs. F had a good, peaceful day with her classroom.

= Darlene didn't jump in on the fight that Charlene had, which, in days past, she would have.

= A teacher who left Turner when we became a magnet school and rejoined our staff this year said the kids we have now are not as rough and the staff we have is much better qualified.

How is it possible for such opposing behaviors and beliefs to be found at my school? If you believe what Harry Wong, author of the book The First Days of School, said Thursday evening at the NMSA conference, "The bottom line is that there is no way to create good schools without good teachers...and it is the teacher who creates a good classroom." Furthermore, according to a study that reviewed 50 years of research on student learning, "The number one factor governing student learning is classroom management."

Classroom management vs. student discipline

According to Wong, classroom management is a far cry from student discipline. A teacher with good classroom management skills has clearly defined classroom procedures and routines that he or she has taught and practiced with the students. Once students know what to do in any given situation, they are more likely to be focused and attentive in the classroom resulting in more time on task and fewer discipline problems. A failure to follow classroom procedures results in more practice, not disciplinary action.

In the past I have been very good about doing just what Wong suggests. Even this year, I have taught my students many procedures, and they have been quite successful in those areas. However, in some areas, notably group work, I have neglected to specifically teach and practice group procedures. No wonder group work has been a difficult task for me this year!

For the two weeks before the NMSA conference, I drilled the procedures for my absence into my students' heads. Daily I covered my expectations and what they should do in every conceivable situation that might arise. I appointed "sub helpers," showed everyone where I was leaving their assignments and how it looked, described what I wanted my room to look like when I was gone, even what to do if the sub refused to give them their work. I knew, before I left, they were prepared, and according to the reports from a co-worker, they lived up to my expectations.

I think the difference in behaviors at our school rests with the simple premise that middle school kids need a lot of structure. As I think about it, I'm realizing that the teachers with the fewest discipline problems are the ones who have all their expectations for their students spelled out, and those with many discipline problems have rules and structures that change from day to day. As I examine the list of incidents above, I now notice that most of them took place outside of classrooms, in the school at-large.

As a school, we lack structure

As a school, we have no unified discipline plan, few carefully crafted routines or procedures. I imagine much of the chaos that Tina refers to would dissipate if we, as a staff, created procedures, taught them and then practiced them with our students. It is such a logical, simple solution. Why then haven't we done this? Perhaps it is because we forgot, or perhaps it is because it is so much easier to blame children for our own shortcomings.

I know now that I need to go back to school on Monday and start focusing in on those difficult areas and giving my students the tools they need to feel comfortable and knowledgeable in my classroom. I feel like such a fool. I was in such a rush to get my students to the same level my students from last year were at the end of the year that I forgot that it took a lot of time, planning, and effort from me to get them there in the first place. In my impatience I skipped the most important steps.

I want to be more deliberate in my teaching. Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed by the number of tasks and strategies I am supposed to be implementing simultaneously that I fall into that dangerous pattern of "accidental teaching." I think that is why planning time is so sacred and necessary. Part of becoming a really excellent teacher is being able to be deliberate in our planning, instruction, task creation, and assessment.

How can we be sure we are accomplishing what we need or want to accomplish with our students each year? What if I didn't reflect on my teaching? What if I never took the time to step back to examine my practices? Failing to do so results in accidental teaching, and I cannot afford to do that. None of us can.

Brad Update

A few weeks ago the resource teacher convened an IEP committee to conduct a reevaluation on Brad's special education placement. The IEP committee decided it would be in Brad's best interest at this time to place him in a self-contained special education classroom. (See earlier entry.)

Since the district's policy is that students assigned to self-contained classrooms must be placed in a different school, we have been waiting for the papers with his reassignment from the Special Education Office.

Amazingly, last Tuesday we received the new placement papers for Brad. Beginning on Monday, November 6, Brad is supposed to be in a self-contained classroom at a different school. Personally, I will believe it when I see it. As of Wednesday afternoon, Brad had no knowledge of this move.

I have so many emotions regarding this move. I am angry, because he should never have been removed from the self-contained classroom. He has missed a full quarter of instruction, time he will never get back. Furthermore, had he remained in a self-contained classroom when he came to us from elementary school, he would be able to remain at Turner. Now he has to transfer schools mid-stream and start all over. I am sad, because I failed him. Our lack of skills has cost him dearly. Finally, I am hopeful. I hope that he gets a good teacher, one who will know how to engage him and help him develop the self-control he so desperately needs.


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