Revisiting
Classroom Management
Module 6
Student Teaching Seminar
As developed in
Tools for Teaching
by
Dr. Fredric Jones
Respond To Several of These:
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To keep students on task, I have them
turn in about half of their homework
before the period ends. What other
ways can I keep them on task without
having to run off hundred of copies
every day.?
Is it appropriate of me to implement a
corporate kind of rule – that is if one
student messes up, the whole class
suffers, but if one student does
something good, then the whole class
gets rewarded?
I have tried calling names at random
many times. I thought this would create
suspense, motivating students to be
quiet, pay attention, and get on task. It
didn’t work. Why not?
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The kids in this school are just too
rowdy. They figured out that I use
proximity to keep them quiet and on
task. Now, it doesn’t work nearly as
well as when I started. What can I do?
When a student is being openly and
publicly rude to me, is it all right for
me to reprimand the student in front of
the whole class?
How do I motivate the students to excel
if the thing that keeps him from doing
what’s right is that he is at this school
and he badly wants to transfer out but
can’t?
What does it look like when a teacher
mixes discipline and instruction? I am
not sure whether I have done it or not,
and I want to avoid it.
Focusing On Prevention
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Traditionally we have
referred to the skills of
classroom management
as a “bag of tricks.”
Why is it necessary to
have a classroom
management system as
opposed to “a bag of
tricks?”
What place will board
or bell work take in
your classroom? Why?
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How does “working
the crowd” disrupt the
disruptions? Provide
camouflage for setting
limits on disruptive
behavior?
Which Patterns of
room arrangements
are you going to use in
your classroom?
Why?
Praise, Prompt, and Leave
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How many “helpless
hand raisers” do you
have in your class?
How much of your
time do they consume?
What other types of
“clinginess” are you
experiencing?

Describe Praise,
Prompt and Leave
beginning with the
relaxing breath. Have
you used it in your
room? How has it
worked?
Exploiting the Visual Modality
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Reflect on the main
characteristics of a
good VIP.
How do VIPs aid the
weaning process?
What are the various
forms of VIPs that you
have used this
semester?

Remember: VIP
stands for Visual
Instructional Plan
Say-See-Do Principles
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The most efficient way to create
comprehension and long-term
memory during the teaching of
a lesson is to teach one step at a
time with a series of Say, See,
Do cycles.
The cognitive overload theory,
typical of “Bop ‘til You Drop”
feeds into the dependency of
the helpless hand raiser.
Structured Practice plays a
major role in skill building.
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The Say-See-Do strategy can
work for conceptual teaching as
well.
It is better to have students
work in pairs than in groups of
four.
You can check students’ work
during each Say, See, Do cycle
in your subject area.
Have you used SaySee-Do yet? What do
you think?
Calm Is Strength
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Are your management
procedures working?
How can you tell?
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What is meant by
“calm is strength and
upset is weakness?”
Do you have any
personal testimonies?
Body Language:
Meaning Business
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Turn in a Regal Fashion
Turn from the top down
in four parts: head,
shoulders, waist, feet
Point Your Toes
Get a Focal Point
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Relax Your Arms
Relax Your Jaw
Two Relaxing Breaths
Focus on passively
waiting rather than
“staring them down.”
Describe how the body language of meaning business has
worked (not worked) in your classroom.
Responding to Balk Talk

Should you receive
backtalk (usually in
response to a verbal
prompt), take two
relaxing breaths so
you do not react
emotionally. Let the
words go “in one ear
and out the other.”

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Wait until the student
runs out of gas. The,
wait some more.
Direct the student back
to work with a visual
prompt if necessary.
Be aware of the “last
hurrah” and the “cheap
shot”
Has a student back talked to you yet? How did you
respond?
Responsibility Training
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Determine the time frame
for giving PAT to your
students, and build your
daily schedule around it
Explain PAT to your class
Give the class a free PAT
so that they know what
you mean by PAT
Ask the group if they
would like to have PAT as
part of their normal
classroom routine
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Post your gift of PAT
on the tally
Explain bonuses to the
class
Explain dawdling and
loss of PAT
How have you implemented
“Responsibility Training in your
classroom?
Omission Training

Omission Training is
the general name
given to an incentive
system that trains a
person or group not to
do something. How
can you reinforce
someone for not doing
something?

What are the key
elements of your
“heart-to-heart” with
“that student.” Have
you had that talk this
semester?
The Backup System

Have you used the
backup system yet?
Describe.

If you answered yes,
why did the other
parts of your
management plan fail?
Wrap-Up
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Dr. Jones classroom management procedures that
are found in your Tools for Teaching book provide
you with cheap and positive procedures for
managing a range of problems that will arise in
your classroom. If you ignore these timeless
principles chances are you will have many
problems in your classroom. If however, you
apply the principles that you learned in the First
Days of School Experience and are now practicing
in your clinical setting, chances are you will
manage an efficient and effective classroom.