Posts Tagged ‘Classroom management’

Part Two: Teaching Class Expectations

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

By Matthew Bassett

Part 2 of a 2 part series.

scavenger hunt mapm Option #2 (Movement Oriented Activity)
A second way to cover your expectations has a movement focus.  Students are given the expectations handout at the start of class (with lots of blank lines on the handout) and told that they will be completing a scavenger hunt for class. I divide the students into groups of two or three students.  Each group is given a scavenger hunt map before starting.  My biggest rule for the scavenger hunt is to stay together.  Students can run, walk or jog but they have to stay with their partner/group. I also have listed a well defined boundary for the activity since I cannot allow the students to wander across the whole campus.  I typically keep them on our athletic field for this activity. I make sure to tell the students where I am going to stand (in the middle of the activity area) so they can come to ask questions if they need help.  It is important to also make sure you cover how you are going to stop the class at the end of the period before you dismiss the students since they have not learned dismissal procedures this early in the year.

This method of presenting the expectations has been enjoyable to watch. Students would rather learn the information while moving.  The students also enjoy the social aspect of the activity.  The competitive students run the whole time and the non-competitive students walk.  My students do not have to change for PE so this works well even if your kids are not required to dress out already.

Closure
Both of these methods have proven effective for teaching my students about my expectations.  The greatest part of getting students moving is that after a long summer my voice doesn’t take a beating the first week of school. Students are able to learn the materials just as effectively as through lecture and they enjoy the method of learning way more than if I was lecturing. Maybe it’s time I try and develop more lessons from information I thought could only be learned by lecturing.

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A New Approach to Teaching Class Expectations

Monday, August 24th, 2009

By Matthew Bassett

Part 1 of a 2 part series.

The start of the year is right around the corner or has already started for some of us.  Its the yearly trek down expectation lane for every teacher.  In the first week of class we always cover our rules/expectations, grading, absence procedures, dress code, non-participation rules and a host of other important things.  This information takes time to get across and the most common way to present this information is by lecture.Expectation #1 poster

I’ve always felt that specific types of content are more effectively taught through lecture, while the students are sitting at a desk.  The first week of school is a very boring week for students.  Every teacher tells their students all about their expectations.  I have some students who have fallen asleep during the first week because everyone is lecturing about expectations.  A few years ago I decided to try a change based on a professional challenge to find ways to get kids moving.  This was a very difficult proposition for me because I was worried that students wouldn’t understand the information as well if I didn’t give them a lecture.  As a result, I created two different types of activities for my students to cover expectations.

Option #1: (Team Building Focus)
I take my expectations and create small (paper sized) posters.  Each poster lists one of the expectations for class and I also create one poster for each of my grading criteria.  Lastly, I count the number of students in my class and cut all of the posters up to match the class size.  For myself, I have 34 students in my fifth and sixth grade classes.  I take my 8 posters and divide up the posters to have 34 pieces.  I make sure that I place the poster pieces in a plastic bag to keep them all in the same location.

Upon entering class and introducing myself on the first day, I give a little story for my students.  I tell them that I have made these great looking posters about my expectations, but during the weekend someone came into school and decided to cut the posters up into little pieces.  I need help from my students to put them back together.  I promptly hand out the puzzle pieces–one for each student.  Students then use a classroom to walk around and find where their puzzle piece belong. When all of the puzzles are assembled we stop the activity.

Expectation #4 posterThere is another way to use the posters, as well.  Students can use them to write down the expectations on a worksheet.  They can continue to walk around the room and find the information needed on each puzzle.  This option makes the activity an individual activity for each student.  To continue to work on the team building/group focus, you can also have students become experts in their “field” (or experts on their poster). You can perform a jigsaw teaching program by having one person at each poster match up with someone from all the other posters.  The students use their expertise to teach their new teams their piece of the information.  Students learn from each other.  The key is that students are learning the materials, but you don’t have to lecture them about the process.

I’ve done this activity with first graders through seventh graders.  I’ve modified the activity for the younger students by printing each poster on a different color of paper.  This allows them to find their poster quickly and not walk around aimlessly for the whole period.  For the older students, I have printed the posters on the same color paper.  This makes the activity a lot harder and more complicated.  They really have to focus on the poster and match up words and pictures.  I typically try to use a different cutting pattern for each poster.  One poster I will make round cuts while another poster will be straight.  I might also use more square pieces in one poster and diamonds in another, the difference being the direction of the text and pictures compared to the cuts.  I usually spend a little time before letting students start by asking the students how they could tell the differences in the posters. This gives some clues on how to find your poster among the numerous pieces.

Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of the series.

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Dressing for Physical Education

Friday, August 21st, 2009

By John Kruse

September is almost here. This means that teachers will be working on class descriptions, class rules and communicating expectations to students. So it only seems fitting to discuss the subject of dressing for physical education.

Dressing for physical education seems to be a real pet peeve with our profession. I’m amazed at how often we find ourselves speaking about dressing any time you get a group of physical educators together. In addition, the amount of non-suits in a class seems to be used as a measure of teacher effectiveness when “sizing up” a colleague. To follow, are a few issues and and tips as they relate to dressing for physical education.

Grading

Giving students points for dressing or taking them away for not dressing seems to be common. I can’t say that I approve of this practice. In fact, I’m pretty certain there isn’t a state or national content standard that addresses dressing for physical education. As one colleague of mine puts it, “Did you or their parents teach them to dress? If there parents taught them to dress, then why give them a grade for it?”

“A friend of mine (who is a college professor) and I were discussing the issue of universities not including the grade from high school physical education in the grade point average used for admissions. As we talked, a number of high school physical educators were sitting nearby and were engaged in their own conversation about grading. As I challenged my colleague about why she didn’t approach her dean on this matter, the high school teachers were discussing the number of “non-suits” that should result in an F in physical education. My colleague turned to me and said, ‘That’s why!’” — Mohnsen, “Teaching Middle School Physical Education”

Work habits/Cooperation

Unlike academic grading, using dressing for class seems to help determine a work habits and/or cooperation grade does seem appropriate. If a student chooses not to dress for class, they are telling you something about a lack of work habits or effort. Also, as educators, we have put out the expectation that students are expected to dress for class. Not doing so is certainly a form of defiance and a sign of uncooperative behavior.

Participation

I have also witnessed teachers who don’t allow non-suits to participate in class as a consequence. I’m amazed at the ineffectiveness of this strategy. Does this teacher realize that perhaps this is exactly what the student wants? In this type of class, students know that by not dressing, they get a free pass out of participation on any day they choose. A better approach is to have students participate anyway. After-all, they need the exercise. I’ve found that this is a better strategy since students eventually get the message that they participate regardless. Most students figure out that if they are going to participate anyway, they might as well dress for class instead of getting their regular clothes dirty and sweaty.

Be Creative

Derek Mena shares an excellent strategy. Derek, is physical education department chair at A.C. Stelle Middle School in California. A.C. Stelle is home of an award winning physical education program. Derek’s team has created a right of passage for the eighth grade students. Eighth graders wear different colors than the sixth and seventh graders. This allows eighth graders to stand out from the lower grades in the school–kind of like seniors in high school and has proven effective in getting the eighth grade students, who are often apathetic, to dress for class.

Conclusion

I’ve discussed the major points that I find to be at the heart of this issue. Hopefully, I given you some food for thought. Dressing for physical education can be a hot topic in our profession and I invite you to keep the discussion going by posting a comment on this blog post. Feel free to share your own philosophy on this topic. Have a great school year!

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Eight Helpful Hints for using Pedometers

Saturday, July 18th, 2009

By Matthew Basset

Part 2 of a 4 part series.

After purchasing pedometers you should spend a lot of time learning how to use them yourself.  After you’ve become familiar with this new piece of technology, you should think about teaching cues that will be necessary.

Here are some helpful hints to think about:

  1. Storage. Make sure that you use a storage system for your pedometers.  You can use a pedometer storage chart that can be purchased from a physical education catalog or you can use a tackle box from a local fishing supply store.  The key is to have the storage organized (and even numbered) so that the students know exactly where their pedometer belongs.
  2. Markings. Make sure you have the pedometers marked. This will not only allow for the storage to be organized but it will also allow you to find out who hasn’t turned in their pedometer.  No one will admit to having lost a pedometer or that they forgot to put the pedometer in the storage box.  Knowing that the pedometers have marked numbers on them will allow you to find the missing pedometer and, more importantly, know who was responsible.
  3. Distribution. A teacher must have a way to pass out and collect the pedometers.  This still goes with the storage system but if you have one long line of students waiting for the pedometers you might be wasting valuable time.
  4. Tracking of data. You need to know how you are going to track the data. Will you have a master sheet for yourself?  Will the students write down their scores on their own tracking sheets?  You can save yourself some trouble by not having the data recorded the first few times.
  5. Placement. A teacher must teach the pedometer placement.  A student should wear the pedometer on the waistband or belt above their right knee. Having pedometers secured on their right sides will allow you to see if a pedometer has dropped accidentally.  Some students will need to move their pedometers around the waist to the side to pick up more movement.  These are all things that a few class periods of practice can help students work out.
  6. Responsibility. A student must be taught to be responsible for the pedometer.  This not only includes putting the pedometer away at the end of class but also includes how to use a safety strap with an alligator clip.  These straps are designed to help avoid a pedometer being lost from dropping of the waist.
  7. No touching. Students need to avoid touching the pedometer while in the middle of class.  Most of the students will want to look at their scores.  The pedometers will not gather data while it is open, at least not effectively.  Also, students can use their hands to hit the pedometer and cause the pedometer to count steps when the student is not moving.  Not only should we be teaching about personal responsibility and integrity but a teacher needs to have a rule to not touch or the student will lose the pedometer.  A student should NEVER take the pedometer off of their waist band until the end of class when it is time to return the pedometer to the storage system.
  8. Instructional time. Using the pedometer data can be a very helpful tool for the teacher.  In a typical class period how much do you talk?  This time talking is time that a student isn’t moving.  If you are able to use a pedometer that tracks activity time it can help a teacher determine if they are getting the most out of their students.  After realizing that a majority of my students were not moving for 20 minutes of my class period it was time for me to reflect on how to change my teaching practices.

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Four Benefits to Splitting Activities while Increasing MVPA

Friday, May 15th, 2009

By Matthew Basset

As physical education teachers, it is often our goal to maximize movement time for students. Ideally, we would like to have one piece of equipment for every student. Sometimes, this is difficult and thinking outside the box can help with this dilemma. Using additional equipment can help maximize students’ movement times.

Recently, I completed a scooter board lesson with my elementary students. I had one scooter board for every two students. The students who were not on the scooter boards were standing around and started to become off task. I pulled out some jump ropes during the class to help with my classroom management. While half of the students were off on scooter boards, their partners were jumping rope. This cut down on students being off task and they were not bored waiting their turns.

There are four benefits for splitting activities with your classes.

1. Maximize participation. The split allows you to deal with limited equipment or limited space. As group A is working, group B is working in a different area with different equipment. Since most people don’t have enough equipment for everyone to be working at the same time we have to modify our activities. Having students wait their turn can be unproductive. Adding a secondary task helps them become more active during class time.

2. Keep idle hands busy. I have found that students who are required to be patient soon find opportunities to keep themselves occupied in less than desirable ways. Giving a secondary task allows those students to focus their attention on the activity instead of doing something that makes me want to take early retirement. Those hands are no longer idle and they stay on task more often.

3. Focus on Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA). This is an easy way to incorporate another standard into your lesson. For me, having the kids jump rope while they were not on the scooter board helped them keep their heart rates up. The students didn’t have time to relax and cool down. I even had students comment on the fact that sweating was such a bad thing. This “teachable moment” allowed me to explain the sweating mechanism. Spending lesson time on MVPA activities is sometimes difficult. By adding a secondary activity, like jump rope, it allows me to help focus my students on their heart rates and keeping their heart rates up during class.

4. Review. Secondary activities can also be used to review an activity that was previously taught. For me, jump rope was an activity that I’ve already taught. I was able to review my expectations for the students and they already understood what they needed to accomplish. I was able to give minimal instructions before allowing the students to start the activities.

With a little work and extra preparation you can easily add more movement time into your classes. Use your equipment and space to maximize your student movement. Try to find ways to add in extra movement to get students MVPA.

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Seven Elementary Ways to Reward Behavior

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

By Matthew Bassett

As a physical educator in elementary school, I’ve discovered that sometimes the best way to detour negative behavior is to reward positive behavior.  There are many things that you can do to brighten a student’s day. Most require little to no time to prepare.  Let’s take a look at a few of the rewards.

  1. Use verbal praise. Constantly telling students what they are doing wrong doesn’t help.  It’s easy to focus on the negative behavior and get stuck pointing out negative things all the time.  Sometimes it is really beneficial to verbally praise the students who are doing the correct things.  If I say “I like how _____ is walking straight in a line” it’s amazing how many of the students start walking in a straight line. With a little effort, verbal praise becomes second nature and can make the biggest difference in how your class behaves.
  2. Create a points system.  Point systems are something that I use with my younger kids.  The idea came from watching the TV show Whose Line is it Anyways.  The points don’t really matter, but it’s something that we do to make it fun.  I give out random points for specific things.  The group of students who do a better job stretching will get 50 bonus points.  If both groups do a good job then I will give 100 points to everyone.  I break down the class into activities and give points randomly.  I try to give points to the group of students doing the best on specific tasks, but to keep it even I will keep a group in the game by giving them points they haven’t earned.  I do the same with individual students.  For example, I give them 25 points if they step with their opposite foot while throwing.  At the end of the class period I announce a winner, without having to give out an actual reward.
  3. Award stickers. Stickers can be a great reward for students.  Most of my elementary students and even a few of my middle school students will work harder if they get a sticker.  The stickers can be small or large.  Handing them out at the end of class shows how hard they worked.  You can have a discussion with the students who did not do so well and encourage them to make better choices in the future.
  4. A prize box. Allowing one or two students to pick out something out of a prize box at the end of the day or at the end of the week can encourage students to stay on task.  You can pick up some simple toys and games from a party supply store or you can stop by the dollar bin at the local Target or Walmart.  I’ve even included some items that were sent to me as a sample that the students really enjoyed.  A small prize box can go a long way when they see a couple of cool items inside.
  5. Send notes home. A positive note home can be a great way to help a student who is struggling.  I use this as an opportunity to reach those students who are constantly a challenge.  When they finally have a good day I make sure to write a note home.  After the student reads the note to their parent, their whole demeanor changes.  I have had classroom teachers call me after school to tell me how hard the student worked for the whole day after getting a note from me.  I usually follow-up a note home during the next class period by reminding the student I will write another note if they have another good day.
  6. Choose a “Student of the Day” or “Student of the Week.” Recognizing a student for a whole day or even a whole week can give you an opportunity to show your appreciation for the student.  You can find a student of the day/week card at a local teacher store in small packs.  Just fill out one of the cards quickly at the end of a class or the end of the week and give to the student.  Be sure to talk about the student in front of the class.  Discuss the positive choices they have been making and the hard work they are doing.
  7. Invent class rewards.  You can also set up a reward system for your entire class.  Set a goal that students can achieve.  Create a goal for something like no time outs given for 10 days.  Then give the class a chance to reward themselves.  The rewards can be choosing their fitness activity, choosing the music they play (remember you have veto power for inappropriate music), choosing a game to play at the end of class or choosing an activity to do during class time.

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A Trio of Classroom Management No-Nos

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

By Matthew Bassett

As a follow-up to my last entry on Eight Easy Ways to Deal with Behavior Issues in Your Physical Education Class, I thought it would be a good idea to point out a few classroom management no-nos.  So here’s a list of things to avoid when it comes to punishment.

  1. Never punish with exercise.  Never punish a student with physical activity.  Students should not be made to run an extra lap or do push-ups or curl-ups.  We don’t want students to feel that exercise, in any form, is punishment.  Having a student perform physical exercise as punishment only discourages them from lifelong physical activity.
  2. Avoid showing emotion.  Avoid showing emotion when you are upset.  Students like to push buttons and they like to see their teachers get upset.  You want to avoid showing students that they got under your skin.  If you need to, avoid talking with the student during the class period and bring it up later in the day or the following day when you are able to keep cool.
  3. Avoid detailed phone messages.  Never leave detailed messages for a parent or guardian at home.  Sometimes the phone numbers you have are not correct or numerous people are living in the same household.  If you need to contact a parent, just leave your name and work phone number and explain that you want to talk to the parents of a specific student.  Do not say anything more.

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Eight Easy Ways to Deal with Behavior Issues in Your Physical Education Class

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

By Matthew Bassett

Even though I have been teaching physical education for many years, I still have to deal with behavior issues during class.  I don’t have all the answers and I don’t expect to learn all of the tricks.  However, I have developed a few strategies over the years.  This list is just a sample of the different techniques that you can use with students who are misbehaving during class.

  1. Use proximity.  This is an excellent deterrent. When a student is starting to misbehave, walk towards the student. Students will see that you are getting closer and may start to pay attention a little more or may focus back on your instructions.
  2. Make eye contact. This is commonly called “the look” as you show off your best intimidating expression to the student. Through body language tell them to get back into line without verbal communication.
  3. Give verbal warnings.  You can give the student a verbal warning by calling out their name and simply stating a warning.  You can also ask to speak to the student to the side of the class.  Speaking away from the class can be a more gentle way to talk to the student and makes some students less uncomfortable.  Taking the student aside also allows you to interact with the student.  I usually ask the student what they were doing and also ask what I want them to be doing.  This allows them to understand that they are not doing what I want.
  4. Give a timeout.  When a student doesn’t make a change, you can give the student a timeout.  The time out is a place that has already been set up just outside of your class area.  You need to be able to see this location regardless of where you are standing in your area.  A time out place is where a student goes when asked and can return to the teacher when they are ready.  It can also be a place where a teacher can send a student and keep them in this location until the teacher is ready.  I find it helpful to have a task card that says “Time Out” on the card along with some questions to help refocus the student.
  5. Use a “Think-it-Through Sheet”.  When a student is having problems focusing on a task during the day and you have already tried some of the other tips, give the student a “Think-it-Through Sheet.” The “Think-it-Through Sheet” is a written consequence for the students. It gives the teacher a written record (from the student) on why they were removed from the class. My “Think-it-Through Sheets” have the students answer questions about why they were taken out of the class activity and what choice they should make in the future.  I also have the student take the “Think-it-Through Sheets” home to have parents sign and return the following day.  I do have to make an effort to either call the parents about the “Think-it-Through Sheet” or write a note to the parent.
  6. Use classroom behavior plans.  I have found great success in using classroom behavior plans.  These plans are set up by the classroom teacher ahead of time.  I simply work within the behavior plan with the student.  Many of my colleagues in the classroom use a clip chart for their behavior.  A student starts out the day on cool and they move their clip up the chart.  They go from cool, warning, time out, buddy teacher, lead teacher and stop on administration.  Each time the student moves their clips they know what to expect.  This is very easy for me to follow since I have so many elementary classes that come straight from their classroom teachers.  The clip chart can be used for all grade levels, but is more effective with the younger students.
  7. Make use of a buddy teacher.  When students continue to make bad choices during class,  send them to a buddy teacher.  This is something that should be in place with a colleague prior to sending the student. The student goes to the buddy teacher and fills out a “Think-it-Through Sheet” or something similar.  The buddy teacher will talk with the student about their behavior and may send the student back after 10-15 minutes or keep the student for the reminder of the period. Sometimes it may be a benefit for a physical education teacher to have a classroom teacher as a buddy teacher since the classroom teacher will always be in the same location.  It’s hard tracking down a physical education teacher that may be on the field, in the gym or in a classroom.
  8. Embrace behavior contracts.  Some of my students have behavior contracts.  These contracts are developed with the parents and are signed daily by the parents. The student hands you a copy of the contract at the start of class and you keep it until the end of class. Contracts can be as easy as writing down a happy face or a sad face.  It can also be a star system where a teacher marks down the number of stars that a student receives during class.

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