Classroom Rules and Procedures - Praising and Reinforcing Behavior

Classroom Rules and Procedures - Praising and Reinforcing Behavior

This week I will explore an important aspect for a successful classroom management and key ability to any teacher: the importance of reinforcing classroom rules and procedures.

In my opinion, teachers and students need to have a two-way trust, and that starts with clear and well-communicated classroom rules and procedures, learning goals and evaluation criteria, setting academic and behavior expectations at the beginning of the school year, and praised and reinforced as necessary.

For example, let´s watch the video below:

The teacher is clear with his procedures and classroom rules, interacting with students and bringing out their best behavior while demonstrating some of the methods.

Now let´s watch the video below and compare the techniques:

In both scenarios the teachers have pre conceived  ideas on how they will manage theirs students. The difference is how effective the teacher applies it and how they are willing to adapt while facing a misbehaving student. 

In this situation I find very effective to follow an intervention plan, with multiple alternatives for good and challenging behaviors. Below is an example of behavior strategies chart:

For example, let´s exercise the strategies above portraying a real situation. 

Example 1 - A middle school math classroom: the class is about to start and the teacher is finishing welcoming the last students entering the room. One of the students is David, a 12 years old boy that is very active and popular, and enjoys very much a side-conversation while the teacher is giving the instructions for today´s class. 

The teacher notices he is talking to Carl, his buddy, and tries to control it by asking for the attention of the whole class for his explanation:

Teacher: - 1,2,3 eyes on me!

Students: - 1,2 eyes on you!

Teacher: - very good everybody, let´s start our day by reviewing our notes from last class.

At this point David is controlled, but the teacher needs to guarantee he got his attention and engagement. 

Teacher: - Hey David, could you remind us where we stopped last class?

If the student responds well to the request, even partially, the teacher should praise his efforts and move on to the construction of the theme, giving chances to others to participate and moving on with the class.

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Example 2 - A HS english class: Meryl is a brilliant student that has great writing skills and enjoys receiving a lot of attention about her work and participation. Unfortunately this might be disruptive at times, so the teacher tries to contain her impetus.

Teacher:  - Good morning class let´s see who read the assigned chapters from last class. Can anyone point out what happens with the main characters?

(Meryl raises her hand, along with two other students)

Teacher: - Very well, let´s stat with Chuck, then Meryl then Anna. Each will describe one important fact. Remember, everyone is allowed to participate and all opinions are welcomed.

Again the positive feedback was given, and also used to control disruption. Note that even a great student can be disruptive and harmful for the class, as his action could block other students to express themselves, which can lead to a conflict. It is very important for the teacher to reinforce rules and procedures whenever possible and as quick as possible.

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Positive feedback is always useful for the students, and should be given without moderation, specially for students that are early identified with potential to disruptive behavior. The more these students receive the teacher's appraisal and figure out that a good behavior is valued and rewarded, the better the whole class will progress with their learning and the easier it will be to enforce expectations and procedures. 

It is also important to check the effectiveness of the strategies. Some of the challenging students might take longer to respond  and cope with rules and procedures, reason why there should be always enough opportunities for the teacher to understand the student and work in different approaches. Speaking with other teachers, division counselors, administrators and parents is always valuable to find the right connection to the student. 

Another important element to sustain classroom strategies, rules, procedures and expectations is to take notes about what happens ins the classroom, specially if there is an event of disruption. I would keep short notes for every student, after class then reflect from time to time on these notes, and use them to adapt instruction if time permits. 

Also, these notes are important for report card season, the main opportunity to bring parents on-board. Parents participation is key for student commitment, specially for those with difficulties. They should be always included if an important decision is taken, and their lack of commitment if happen, should then be minimized by the school professionals, always thinking about the educational experience of the student, after all, this is the reason why we all teach!

High Performance Learning Environments - Academic and Behavior Expectations, Norms and Procedures

Hello everyone!

This week we are exploring resources on how setting high expectations for our students can influence their achievements, being academic or behavior, and how norms and procedures can help teachers and students reach excellence in the classroom.

In these 3 videos below, we can find different classroom situations with different approaches and techniques to ensure engagement and clearly communicate expectations towards the students, and I have added my considerations about how the way teachers set their academic and behavior expectations, with the use of clear norms and procedures, can help students achieve great results.

Roller Coaster Physics: STEM in Action

Link to the video: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-stem-strategies?fd=1#

This class shows very important elements for a successful learning environment. From the project starts, where the teacher outlines the main characteristics of the roller coaster, to the simulation using different learning tools and resources, the teacher makes clear statements that translate into high expectations in academics. Using the right terminology when labeling their sketches (like clothoid loops, kinetic energy, centripetal force, friction) is a good example of enforcing academic expectations for the science they learned. She also emphasizes behavior expectations through collaboration and other strategies, but she is specially effective when she uses chimes. Students will discuss their findings, debate their attempts, successes and failures, all together to achieve greater results. 

As the project moves on, students assume other specific roles, to ensure the success of the groups project. One member needs to be the recorder, which will be responsible for taking notes, about the materials used and the modifications made. There are specific rules and limited resources that each group need to control. So another one of the members becomes the accountant, that will control the costs for their project, keeping it under budget. The relation to real world problems brings more  meaning to their learning.

Speaking in resources,  she deliberately limits the amount of materials, and will release more alternatives as their problem solving skills develop, and the inquiry grows. Also, during this skills developing process, she is always making meaningful questions regarding their choices and decisions, becoming a continuous formative assessment for her. This allows her to identify low-performance students and make adjustments.

I really enjoyed to watch this class, as a DI team manager it gave me lots of ideas to apply to my future teams!

3rd. Grade Chinese Math Class

In this video, class management techniques are very effective, as the teacher controls the students very well. Even though I could not understand the language, I could notice that the students responded to her voice command very well, and she asked constantly for student participation. She uses gestures, with her voice, and students also respond to attention commands with gestures. While explaining the math concept, she would move from one student to another permitting more than one student to participate. 

The Chinese method to teach math is based on repetition and memorization, and that is also clear in the video, where she counts with the students, and uses her fingers to help them counting, while they repeat the times table.

In my opinion, the teacher is very effective in class management, but I could not identify guidelines for academic expectations. In one moment the students seem to exceed her expectations when over-counting her, but I could not find any other evidence. On the other hand, there is a very clear sense of behavior, and seems that all students are meeting the expectations. Except for one blonde boy in the back, that seems to be not paying attention, but she does not address this issue in the video. 

Whole Brain Teaching

During this geography class, the teacher uses Whole Brain Teaching techniques, to engage and set expectations to her students in a very clear way. She uses gestures to emphasize information, displayed in the screen by the overhead projector. Students follow instructions, and use peer instruction, repeating what was taught in the class by the teacher. This helps students with difficulties understand the content and meet academic expectations. 

She uses the same strategy for class rules and behavior expectations. Using gestures and verbal repetitions, students seem to engage and understand clearly, and class participation is pleasant.

I liked it very much. It seems to me that students feel included, accepted and welcomed. The teacher when applying the techniques seem to have full control of the environment, but I would like to see a couple of minutes of a previous moment of this technique, showing a not so evolved class to compare with this one that seems to be very advanced. 

Summary

After watching the videos and read the complimentary documentation, I would try to enforce the following in order to maximize my students outcomes, already putting in context I will be teaching 6-8 grade ICT:

• Everybody is welcomed, and will be noticed, valued and respected and part of our classroom and community;
• Collaborate! Give your inputs and listen to your peers. They might have the missing part of the puzzle;
• Got a question? Ask! You can ask you teacher, your peers, or research using your online resources, but don´t leave with a question unanswered;
• Clear evaluation rubrics, open buy-in code of conduct, allowing students to participate and be co-responsible for it. 
•  When developing a project, specially with multiple attempts, documentation is the key, so make sure to take notes, and share them with your peers. 

Thanks! See you next week.

Creating an Inclusive, Diverse and Safe Classroom Environment

I am a strong believer that to build and establish a positive and safe classroom environment teachers need to address two or tree things tho theirs students:

First and foremost, know your students. In international schools, it is common to find one small world in every classroom, with a rich and multicultural background and different life experiences, so is mandatory that teachers know where their students come from, their likes and dislikes, families. This should be enough to get started, but still only the first step. In order to build strong relationships with each other, there must be an exchange of experience and information. Teachers need to get students to know them as well, and as the interactions move on, students will provide valuable information about themselves, which leads to the second pillar of this post. 

Create a safe environment for everyone. By knowing the students, teachers can plan and design the classes and the classroom accordingly. A place where everyone feels safe, respected, represented and 
encouraged to participate. All the information students provide (and of course, the teacher must keep on record) is essential for this. After all, they will spend as much time as home, if not more, at school, in classrooms. There are numerous strategies that teachers can adopt, but I have identified myself with these two:

• Give them voice: students need to feel they count, they are relevant for the learning experience. Allowing them time to reflect and speak up can build up self esteem, create alliances among peers, encourage others to speak. Then respecting their opinions and building content around it will be the climax for the students, making students take ownership of their learning.

• Use anti-bias materials and avoid and challenge bullying behavior: In an effort to build up respect, compassion and empathy for their peers and themselves, teachers should emphasize the importance of this subjects through their practices. Creating a clear set of rules and a classroom contract, for example, with expectations and consequences aligned to schools policies, but with focus on growth, not punishment, is the ideal tool to provide structure and build a safe environment for students.

The third pillar I would like to mention is communication. Teachers and students should have enough trust in each other to communicate properly, and through many channels. In fact as many channels as possible. There should be specific channels for bureaucratic interaction (assignments, requests) but teachers should make themselves available as much as possible. There will be students that need more attention and those that need more time to trust, but teachers should take the initiative and approach them, make themselves available, maybe even give an extra incentive in order to solidify a good trust relationship. It is extremely important that students feel they can count on their teachers to externalize their struggles, being emotional, on merely instructional. 

There are hundreds of other good practices and strategies to build a positive and healthy classroom environment, that values the students diversity and learning styles, but they all converge to the same objective: putting the students on the center of their learning experience, with the best environment and resources as possible, so they can develop and discover themselves as learners, and be happy with it. 

Farewell Graded, Hello SSIS!

Moving to China!

It´s Official. Visas are ready and we are good to go. At least, we hope so.

After 17 years at Graded School-The American School of São Paulo, I will be embarking with my family in my first overseas working experience. I will be assuming the Senior School ICT Head of Department position at the SSIS -Shanghai Singapore International School, in Shanghai-China. I´m very excited to join this community of very passioned and caring individuals. 

It was a hard decision to take, but after this long time ( okay, turning 40 also helped...) I felt that a change would have a positive impact in my career. But I wanted to keep working in education, even more than that, I wanted to teach and keep working with children and enabling education through educational technology. 

During this few past months, I have concluded all classes of my Post-Graduate course, and started my teacher certification program, to become a fully-certified teacher, to be as ready as possible to support my colleagues to integrate technology and digital tools in their classrooms, and my students, to understand the world of computer science.

I am truly grateful for all the opportunities Graded has given me, to grow as a professional, as a person, and as a father. I appreciate every day I had to come to work for this outstanding institution, a place I will always recall fondly. Afterall this will be the school my oldest son will graduate. 

I also want to thank the SSIS HR and the Leadership Team for the trust and support, I look forward to meet you all in person in August 3rd, when we arrive. Also, thank you to all my relatives, good friends and fellow educators around the world that helped and supported my family and I on this transition. Not mentioning any names, thankfully too many. It´s good to know people are there for you. 

Thank you all, see you around and let me know if anyone comes to Shanghai, I will have a spare room to anyone who want to go out and about around here...

Xiè xiè! / Thank you! / Obrigado!

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Mudando Para a China!

É oficial. Vistos estão prontos e nós podemos ir. Pelo menos é o que esperamos. 

Após 17 anos na Graded School - The American School of São Paulo, estarei embarcando com minha família para a minha primeira experiência profissional fora do país. Irei assumir a posição de lider do departamento de TIC na escola SSIS - Shanghai Singapore International School, em Shanghai, China. Estou muito animado para me juntar a essa comunidade de apaixonados educadores.

Foi uma decisão difícil, porém depois de tanto tempo ( tá bom fazer 40 também pesou...), senti que uma mudança teria um impacto positivo na minha carreira. Mas eu queria continuar trabalhando em educação, alem disso, eu queria dar aulas e continuar trabalhando com crianças e possibilitando a educação através de tecnologia educacional.

Durante os últimos meses, eu consegui concluir as minhas aulas de pós-graduação, iniciei  meu programa de certificação de pedagógica, para me tornar um professor licenciado, me tornando o mais pronto possível para apoiar meus colegas na integração de ferramentas tecnológicas e digitais em sala de aula, e também meus alunos a entenderem o mundo da ciência da computação.

Sou verdadeiramente grato a todas as oportunidades que a Graduada me deu, para crescer como profissional, como pessoa e como pai. Valorizo cada dia que eu tive para trabalhar nessa instituição tão importante, um lugar que me guardarei ótimas lembranças. Além do mais, esta será a escola que meu filho mais velho se  formará.

Quero agradecer ao time de gestores e de RH da SSIS pelo apoio e confiança, aguardo anciosamente para nos conhecermos pessoalmente em 3 de Agosto, quando chegaremos. Tambem agradeço a toda a minha família e a todos os meus bons amigos e colegas educadores ao redor do mundo, que ajudaram e apoiaram a mim e a minha família nessa transição. Sem mencionar nomes, por sorte muitos. Bom saber que posso contar com vocês.

Obrigado a todos, vejo vocês por aí e me avisem se vierem a Shanghai, terei um quarto de hóspedes para quem quiser explorar e passear por aqui...

Xiè xiè! / Thank you! / Obrigado!

Educação no Brasil - O tamanho do problema

POr favor leiam o artigo abaixo, publicado hoje no jornal O Estado de S.Paulo. Precisamos nos mobilizar para mudar esse quadro, deixar de acusar apenas aqueles que colocamos no governo, mas participar mais ativamente de nossas comunidades.

Jamil Chade, correspondente de O Estado de S. Paulo

GENEBRA - Com um dos piores ensinos de matemática e ciências do mundo, o Brasil reduz sua capacidade de adaptação ao mundo digital. Um informe apresentado nesta quarta-feira, 10, pelo Fórum Econômico Mundial aponta que o País subiu apenas da 65.ª para a 60.ª posição entre as nações mais preparadas para aproveitar as novas tecnologias em seu crescimento.

Além do ranking sobre capacidade de adaptação ao mundo digital, o Fórum divulgou outros dois, referentes ao ensino de matemática e de ciências.

Entre os 144 países avaliados, o Brasil aparece no 116.º lugar em educação, atrás, por exemplo, de Chade, Suazilândia e Azerbaijão. Em ciências, Venezuela, Lesoto, Uruguai e Tanzânia estão melhores posicionados no ranking que o Brasil, que ocupa a 132.ª posição.

O resultado é uma estagnação no avanço da tecnologia no Brasil, apesar dos investimentos públicos em infraestrutura e de um certo dinamismo do setor privado nacional. Na América Latina, países como Chile, Panamá, Uruguai e Costa Rica estão melhores preparados para enfrentar o mundo digital que o Brasil.

“Apesar desse progresso, a tradução dessa maior cobertura em impactos econômicos em inovação e competitividade está estagnada”, alerta o documento. Um dos motivos é a “qualidade do sistema educacional, que aparentemente não garante as habilidades necessárias para uma economia em rápida mudança em busca de talentos”, indicou. Mesmo em países pobres como Senegal, Quênia e Camboja, o acesso de escolas à internet é superior, segundo o informe.

O ranking é liderado pela Finlândia, seguida por Cingapura e Suécia. O Brasil, de fato, vem ganhando posições. Mas os autores do informe estimam que a posição hoje do País no ranking não condiz com uma das sete maiores economias do mundo.

O informe considera que a maioria das economias em desenvolvimento continua sem conseguir criar as condições necessárias para reduzir a falta de competitividade existente na área da tecnologia de informação, em comparação às economias desenvolvidas. “No Brasil temos grande desenvolvimento por parte de empresas multinacionais para melhorar a competitividade, mas esse empenho não se estende por todo o setor privado”, alertou o editor do informe, Beñat Bilbao-Osorio.

Internet

A subida de posição do Brasil no ranking vem dos avanços em infraestrutura e do fato de o País ter dobrado a capacidade de uso de banda larga, além de ampliar a rede de celulares. Em bandas fixas, o Brasil é o 11.º colocado no ranking.

Outro problema sério, porém, é o ambiente para promover inovação e burocracia, além do custo dos celulares, um dos mais altos do mundo. O Brasil aparece na 130.ª posição entre os 144 países, superado pelo Gabão.

O número de usuários de internet no Brasil, em 2011, também não chegava ainda a 45%, o que deixa o País na 62.ª posição nesse critério, abaixo da Albânia. Apenas um terço dos brasileiros tem internet em casa. A taxa despenca para apenas 8% se o critério for o número de casas com banda larga.

O Brasil não é o único a passar por essa situação. “Os Brics (Brasil, Rússia, Índia, China e África do Sul) enfrentam desafios”, diz o informe. “O rápido crescimento econômico observado em alguns desses países nos últimos anos poderá ser ameaçado, caso não forem feitos os investimentos certos em infraestruturas, competências humanas e inovação na área das tecnologias da informação”, alerta.

“A digitalização criou 6 milhões de empregos e acrescentou US$ 193 bilhões à economia global em 2011. Apesar de positivo, o impacto da digitalização não é uniforme nos setores e economias – cria e destrói empregos”, disse Bahjat El-Darwiche, Sócio, Booz & Company.

RANKING
Segundo a capacidade de adaptação ao mundo digital

1. Finlândia
2. Cingapura
3. Suécia
4. Holanda
5. Noruega
6. Suíça
7. Reino Unido
8. Dinamarca
9. EUA
10. Taiwan
60. Brasil

Princípios e Valores

O assunto que ocupou mais espaço na mídia na última semana foi o trágico acidente em Oruro Bolivia, durante um jogo do Corinthians e o San Jose local.

Depois de passada mais de uma semana, eu resolvi dar minha opinião, mesmo com o tempo curto devido a inúmeros motivos, mas mais porque não achava que nada era digno do meu esforço nesse início de ano.

Pois bem. O que me fez iniciar os trabalhos desse blog esse ano foi o conjunto de acontecimentos e desdobramentos após o ocorrido. Uma vida foi perdida, devido principalmente a imprudência de um ou um grupo de torcedores, e da irresponsabilidade da Conmebol e da Polícia local, que respectivamente, não se responsabilizam pelo torneio, através do regulamento, e não fiscalizam os torcedores e adjacências do estádio para evitar e coibir confusões e violência.

Essa situação toda me fez refletir sobre como a situação da educação do Brasil e da América do Sul (das quais tenho mais contato e exemplos) está deteriorada. Um jovem brasileiro, menor, desacompanhado, consegue viajar durante uma semana, entrar no estádio com um sinalizador (naval!), disparar e matar um outro jovem, de 14 anos.

Certamente ele não era o único nessas condições, e isso é o mais preocupante.

Em uma sociedade organizada, certas ações são necessárias para coibir erros futuros, especialmente de julgamento, de tomada de decisão. E isso começa em casa e, posteriormente na escola. Desde a primeira infância, os indivíduos devem presenciar demonstrações, ser encorajados e orientados a tomar decisões que possam suportar seus desdobramentos, e como consequência, construir valores importantes que possam mantê-los no caminho certo durante sua vida.

Voltando ao caso do Corinthians, um exemplo de má formação de princípios foi o que fizeram 9 torcedores, que solicitaram liminares para assistir o jogo. Inicialmente achavam que estavam apenas exercendo seu direito como cidadãos, o que não é errado. Mas esqueceram do fator moral. 5 Deles desistiram, mas não pelo incidente trágico, mas para não prejudicar ainda mais o clube. Uma luz, ao menos.

Pior ainda fizeram os quatro remanecentes. Certos que estavam no seu direito, e estavam (vejam aí a distorção da formação de valores da sociedade em geral), entraram para ver o jogo. Deram entrevistas, foram filmados, apareceram. E escancararam para o mundo não só o seu egoísmo, mas a mediocridade da sociedade que vivemos.

Uma tragédia como essa deve servir de fator de mudança. Revisando conceitos, políticas, pensamentos e atitudes, levando a um melhor relacionamento entre as pessoas e transformando indivíduos e sociedade. Mas infelizmente o que vemos é uma exploração sensacionalista, e pessoas no comando que ainda não são capazes de abrir mão de vaidades individuais  em prol do bem coletivo.

Não tem preço

Existem coisas na vida que fazem jus ao título deste post. Nossas famílias, amigos, certos acontecimentos que são verdadeiros presentes, momentos especiais por que passamos.

Esse aqui é um vídeo de um desses momentos, do sortudo do meu brother Marco Antonio, que foi para o Japão ver o Corinthians campeão do mundo novamente.

Não nos falamos pessoalmente ainda, para que eu pudesse sentir dele a emoção que ele passou naqueles dias, por enquanto apenas imagino mas não posso dizer que sei como foi.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200253333999381

Valeu Marquinho, Deus te abençoe e que vc continue com essa estrela! Virado pra lua esse cara!