Mandee Henkel

Self-Study
Classroom Management: Discipline
Background
Within my classroom as a teacher, it is my job to create an environment that is safe and
effective for learning. I want to be able to effectively deal with situations that may hinder that
and distract another student from reaching their full potential. To do this my focus of my study
is to work on classroom management and discipline. In my 6th grade classroom my hope is that
through different techniques and approaches I will be able to deal with disciplinary situations
and keep my students focused on their work and limit distractions.
Locating the Problem Areas
Throughout my student teaching experience there are various issues that I had to address.
The three main areas of distractions in the classroom were blurting, talking, and drawing. The
other distractions were clumped together. Those other areas include emotional disruptions due
to peer to peer conflicts or home related conflicts preventing them from focusing on their
schoolwork. I sketched together a graph to show the amount of times that I had to address
these distractions and stop my instruction. It was an area of classroom management that I
needed to address and find a solution for. In January, I had addressed the distractions
frequently and many students repeated their actions. It decreased overtime and only went up
around spring break when the students were restless. I used some techniques to successfully

Distractions In the Classroom

40
Number of Times Addressed

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Blurting Talking Drawing Other
Types of Distractions

January February March April

deal with these distractions without stopping instruction and hindering other students learning.
I used resources from my CT and the school handbook. I also pulled information from the book
Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov.
Improvement Techniques

 Seating Chart
The first technique I used was to try changing up the seating arrangements. At the end
of the month of January, I noticed that the seating chart was not helping with classroom
management. I had many students who were distracted by their peers and friends so I made
several seating charts. I noticed that the distractions started to decrease in frequency but I had
many complaints from the students about the people they were sitting next to. So, I had to
change the seating arrangement depending on the issue. Overall, I would typically change them
every 3-4 weeks. Changing the seating chart helped with limiting distractions but did not prove
to be the best solution.

 SRC Warnings and Referrals

Another technique for limiting distractions and helping with classroom management was
using the school’s disciplinary rules and steps out of the Student Handbook. In the school I was
working with there is a SRC room where students make behavioral plans when they are
referred by an instructor. There is a questioning process that must be used for certain issues
before a student can be sent to SRC. If the issue is severe enough, that questioning process
does not have to be used. If this student is referred to SRC they will need to write a plan
reflecting on their actions and what they will do in order to function better in the classroom.
They bring this plan back to me as I read and discuss it with the student before they can join the
class again. I then sign it with an agreement with the student.
In my classroom, I used a warning system where they would be required to reflect on why
they received a warning and then be aware if they had to spoked to again, that they would be
referred to SRC. Starting in January, I was lenient to start giving these warnings and referrals
because I was just starting to get to know the kids and the rules of the school. The graph shows
warnings and referrals made by month. I found this method to be one of the most effective
methods for many of the discipline issues in the class. For persistent behavior that needed to
stop I would use this method. The graph shows an increase of both referrals and warnings due
to the students becoming more comfortable with me as their teacher and the transition of me
taking over roles as their teacher. I had a variety of parent calls, meetings, and discussions with
students to stop persistent behavior and future referrals to SRC. Although, this was not my
preferred option of discipline, I felt like with some of my students it was the only way that the
distractions and undesired behavior would cease.
 SRC Dicipline 2018 Student Teaching Term
25

20

15

10

0
January February March April

SRC Referrals SRC Warnings

 Points System/Rewards

A technique that I used that my cooperating teacher would use was the points system. With this
technique I would use it when there was designated independent work time scheduled. I would first
write “class” and “Ms. Henkel” on the board. It would look similar to this.

Class Ms. Henkel

Then during work time, I would set a timer for 5 minutes. If the class was working diligently and
quietly for that time frame, I would mark a tally mark on the board under class. If they were loud or
not working productively I would restart the clock and mark a point under my name. If the students
received 10 marks then they would be rewarded with a treat on a Friday of my choice. If I received
10 marks then their marks would all be erased. This is a technique that I implemented later in my
student teaching term. It seems to be working great and the students respond to it positively. They
are responsible for themselves and their peers and they keep each other on task. I use this
technique to keep minor distractions under control and keep them on task. I often found myself
combining this technique with the school disciplinary rules and classroom management that my
cooperating teacher already has in place.

 Teach like a Champion

The most crucial chapter for my self-study that is addressed in Doug Lemov’s book Teach Like a
Champion is Chapter six “Setting and Maintaining High Behavioral Expectations.” I refer to this book
because I thought that it was beneficial to read and adapt some of the techniques it suggests in this
chapter to my classroom management and discipline methods. The first technique I found important
 to consider and adapt is their technique “100 percent” this technique involved having all your
students follow your direction with no exceptions. If there is interpretation for your authority then
your authority is weak and not effective. This was a scary technique to implement since I came in
midway through the year and they did not know me or my teaching style. I had to stay true to my
authority and direction to keep students engaged and in compliance with the material we were
covering and what needed to be done to achieve our classroom objectives.

Another very important technique from the book was using the least invasive form of
intervention when correcting a student. The types of intervention I used from the book were
“nonverbal intervention” where I would use eye contact and gestures to get students on task. The
second one I implemented was “positive group correction” where I would remind the whole class of
my expectations and directions. This seems to be the one I use the most because I do not want to
draw attention to individual students that are off task. I would often use “anonymous individual
correction” where I would address that some students are off task and remind the group again of
where they should be. Another intervention I implemented from the text was “private individual
correction” where I would talk with the student at their desk and address their behavior. The last
one I tried was “lightning-quick public correction” which is addressing a student publicly swiftly to
stay on task. I tried not to use this one as much but many of q times it was the quickest way to stay
on track when I was instructing.

Using my teacher voice was another thing from this text that I had to learn and adapt. Through
my student teaching process, I have learned to stay strong, firm, and remain calm. In order to have
good classroom management you must be able to deal with a situation in a respectful and peaceful
manner.

Conclusion

After doing this self-study I have realized that one of the most important skills to have as
a teacher is being able to reflect on yourself and your lessons and finding something to always
improve on and change. This assignment was beneficial in that it allowed me to grow as a
teacher and find new ways to deal with a targeted area that I felt like I needed improvement. In
the end, I became a stronger and organized teacher.
The most challenging part about this assignment was trying to find resources and
evidence to show classroom management and discipline in my classroom. It was difficult
keeping track of information that I collected and wrote down over the past four months. I also
found it difficult to communicate and coordinate times with my cooperating teacher to
brainstorm techniques to use due to her busy schedule. I recorded what I could and found
resources that best fit to what I was trying to express and learn more about.
With these techniques that I discovered, I found that many of them do not work as well as
I thought they would while others worked more than I thought. There are so many methods to
help with classroom management that I have still yet to find and use. This is an ongoing journey
that I will continue to grow in. In the future, I will document more techniques that are
appropriate for secondary level that limit distractions and ease intervention time. I will consider
more techniques like the points and rewards technique that do not have a lot to them but seem to
create the most positive outcomes.
After this study, I noticed that the various techniques I used has created a big difference
in the classroom. I rarely have any issues with noncompliance. I noticed a dramatic decrease in
off-task students. I have grown and learned to stay on top of my classroom management because
it is one of the most important aspects of a classroom and one of the most important things a
teacher can expand upon.

Work Cited

Lemov, Doug (2010). Teach Like a Champion. Print. March 6, 2018.