Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Power Teaching Teaching - Teenagers
Power Teaching Teaching - Teenagers
Chris Biffle
Chairperson, Philosophy and Religious Studies
Crafton Hills College
Yucaipa, CA
92399
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 3
Chris Biffle
CBiffle@AOL.com
909-389-3338
Note: All materials in this book are copyright protected. If this book was
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copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 4
a Contents
Introduction 6
1 The First Minutes of the First Day 9
2 Getting Attention 18
3 Evaluating a Student’s Understanding 23
4 Educational Chatting 26
5 Voice of Command 29
6 Talking One on One 31
7 No Eye Contact Eye Contact 35
8 Strategic Withdrawal 36
9 Don’t Spit In Your Soup 38
10 The No Whining Vow 40
11 Teacher/Teacher Therapy 42
12 Self Evaluation 44
13 Class Evaluation 46
14 Class Rules 50
15 Class Rules Rehearsals 61
16 Rules Buy In 65
17 Classroom Procedures 67
18 Adapting the Scoreboard Game for
Challenging Students 97
19 Making Disruptive Behavior
Self Extinguishing 100
20 The Guff Counter 108
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 5
Case Studies
1 First Year Teacher/ Power Teaching
In Middle School 191
2 Power Teaching and the High School
French Teacher 208
3 The Middle School Rebel: A Bull’s Eye
Success Story 220
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 6
a Introduction
Homework.
She then said, “I can tell that many of you are trying,
but not quite hard enough. One more time ... wait for it ....
CLAPYOURHANDS! Much better!”
Mrs. Maestra’s students were laughing now.
Mrs. Maestra then made a mark under Less
Homework. “Now, your homework is back to 11 pages.”
She didn’t care that they hadn’t clapped their hands
perfectly ... the point was that the second time her
students clapped, they were much more in unison than the
first time.
Next, Mrs. Maestra said, “Now, listen to me very
carefully. When you get a negative mark on the
Scoreboard, I will quickly point at you. Everyone needs to
utter a mighty groan, and lift your shoulders.” Mrs.
Maestra then demonstrated, lifting her shoulders and
groaning, “Awwwwww.”
Her students laughed.
Then she said, “All right, Mighty Groan!”
No matter how quickly her students groaned, Mrs.
Maestra put a mark on the negative side and exclaimed,
“Some people didn’t groan! Some people didn’t even lift
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 12
less free time, more or less video time, more or less music
(see Chapter 23) ... but beginning with homework as the
motivator always captured the immediate attention of her
classes. In addition, by using the Mighty Groan and the
Mighty Oh Yeah, Mrs. Maestra generated large amounts
of on-task laughter. She knew her students loved to have
fun and their reactions to the Scoreboard reinforced her
classroom management system. Mrs. Maestra understood
that the more fun students had following her rules, the
more energetically her rules would be followed.
2 Getting Attention
4 Educational Chatting
5 Voice Of Command
suggest you pick a short talk. If you pick a long talk, I’ll
do all the talking and, believe me, you will not like hearing
what I have to say.”
Next, Mrs. Maestra rehearsed as follows with Polly, a
particularly cooperative student, “Okay, Polly. Let’s say
you’ve been having trouble staying in your seat and I’ve
decided I need to talk to you about it. When we are able
to talk one on one, I’ll ask you, ‘Short talk or long talk?’
What will you say?”
“Short talk.”
“Good choice! In my short talk, I’ll give you some
clear instructions about what you need to do, and then
you can be on your way. If you said something like ‘I
don’t care’ or ‘long talk’, we would have a much, much
longer conversation and it wouldn’t be pleasant.”
One evening Mrs. Maestra decided she would need
to have a one on one conversation the next day with Joan
about talking to her neighbor. This was Mrs. Maestra’s
usual strategy ... to plan the night before the encounter so
that she could control her emotions and the time and place
for the talk. Mrs. Maestra tried to avoid spur of the
moments confrontations with John or Joan; because these
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 33
8 Strategic Withdrawal
to say to Joan
-- Mrs. Maestra gets to choose the time and place of
their next interchange
-- She leaves Joan hanging, wondering, about the
nature and content of their talk
-- Mrs. Maestra often discovers that after she has
calmed down, what upset her in Joan’s behavior was not
as terrible as she initially felt
Mrs. Maestra has found strategic withdrawal a very
effective device. When she talks to Joan after her
emotions are under control, Mrs. Maestra makes all the
points she wants to make in just the way a good teacher
would make them.
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 38
11 Teacher/Teacher Therapy
12 Self Evaluation
13 Class Evaluation
14 Class Rules
Rule Above
All Rules:
Respect
Everyone!
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 52
Rule 1
Follow
directions
Quickly!
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Rule 2
Raise Your
Hand For
Permission
To Speak!
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 54
Rule 3
Raise Your
Hand For
Permission
to Leave
Your Seat!
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 55
Rule 4
Make
Smart
Choices!
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 56
Rule 5
Keep Your
Dear
Teacher
HAPPY!!!
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 57
16 Rules Buy In
Mrs. Maestra found the rules and the “buy in” were
very helpful when she had to talk to John one on one.
Mrs. Maestra would discuss the rule that John was having
difficulty with and then ask, “Do you think we should
change this rule? ... do you remember this is what we
voted on?” By talking about the rule and the class
support, Mrs. Maestra was often able to deflect John’s
rebelliousness. The rule supported by the entire class became
the subject and not Mrs. Maestra’s authority as a teacher.
Mrs. Maestra’s strategy with John was superbly non-
confrontational. She was not enforcing her personal will;
Mrs. Maestra was simply asking John to go along with
what the students agreement about how the class should
be run.
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 67
17 Classroom Procedures
Class!
Yes!
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 69
Hands
&
Eyes!
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 71
Teach!
Okay!
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It’s
Cool!
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 75
Woo!
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 77
Mighty
Oh Yeah!
Mighty
Groan!
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 79
Papers!
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 81
Open
Your
books!
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 84
Green-
Yes!
Red-
No!
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 86
Questions?
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 88
Loud
Normal
Whisper
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 90
Gestures!
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Never
Say
“I Can’t”
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 94
No
Guff!
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 96
the
class
the
independents
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 98
Self Extinguishing
Stage One
Mrs. Maestra knew that students at every level loved
listening to music. In fact, it often seemed to her that her
most challenging students were some of the ones who
loved music the most. And so, one day, Mrs. Maestra
drew a new diagram on the board.
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 120
Stage Two
When the class was clamoring to have the CD
bringing group enlarged, Mrs. Maestra finally said, “All
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 125
right. I think you are all doing fairly well. The row that
does the best today, can bring CD’s tomorrow. I’m not
guaranteeing we’ll play anyone’s CD ... you’ll have to earn
Smilie Note Faces for that. We’re also going to change the
game a bit; instead of playing in half hour periods, we’ll
just play for the entire hour.” In Stage One, as an extra
motivator, she gave students two chances during an hour
to win music. In Stage Two Mrs. Maestra found it more
convenient, and it broke up her period less, if the class
focused on winning one music party by the end the hour.
The important change in Stage Two was that anyone
could bring a CD; they just had to be in a row that was
generating lots of Smilie Note Faces.
Mrs. Maestra usually stayed in this stage for a
considerable amount of time ... often a month or two.
Stage Three
Mrs. Maestra eventually introduced a new twist in
Keep the DeeJay Happy. One day she said, “Okay,
you’re all doing very good. Everyone who wants to can
bring a CD tomorrow. We’re going to have a row versus
row competition.”
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 126
Row 1
Row 2
Row 3
Row 4
Row 5
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 127
She said, “Well, let’s make this a little more fair. I’ll be
assigning Smilie and Frownie Note Faces by rows. I’ll
select a CD from the row that has more Smilies than
Frownies at the end of the period ... of course, if no row
has more Smilies than Frownies ... no party. Groan!”
Her students groaned.
To make things more interesting, Mrs. Maestra soon
found an opportunity early in the class and exclaimed
“everyone is following directions too slowly!” She gave
each row a Frownie Note Face. Then, a little later, Mrs.
Maestra sighed and said, “There are some people in each
row who are not paying attention!” She gave each row
another Frownie Note Face. She knew her students
always worked harder when they were trying to make up
lost points.
If students in one row were talking to students in
another row, Mrs. Maestra gave both rows one Frownie
Note Face.
On the first day Mrs. Maestra made sure that no row
won, but several got very close.
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 128
Stage Four
When her students were ready for something new,
Mrs. Maestra started class by saying “You know. I’m
really liking this game. But I think you need a little help.
Maybe you could give yourselves some hints. What are
the kinds of things you’ve noticed that make me
unhappy?”
Her students mentioned speaking without raising
their hand, leaving their seat, being rude to a classmate.
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 129
Stage Five
Eventually, at the end of a period, Mrs. Maestra
handed out a piece of paper with everyone’s name on it.
She said, “Well, I’m liking our parties. But I wish we could
party a little longer! So, we’ll divide the class up into
teams. Put a check mark beside six names on the list who
you think would be good team captains. These should be
people who will be very good at getting their team to
avoid Frownies and add Smilies. We’ll need a team captain
for each of our six rows row.
After class, Mrs. Maestra totaled the votes. She
ended up, of course, with the names of the six most
popular students in class. She noted John was one of the
six, but she decided not to include him in her plan; he
wasn't quite reliable enough. Mrs. Maestra substituted
Noreen, a popular, reliable student. Mrs. Maestra looked
at her list ... these were precisely the students she wanted
helping her with classroom management!
The next day, Mrs. Maestra read the names of the
student leaders. Then she said, “Okay. The class has
selected you as their leaders. I want each of you to pick
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 131
Stage Six
that.”
What did Mrs. Maestra do if students wanted to kick
someone off the team, but the individual didn’t want to
leave?
She took the team captain and co-captain aside and
said, “Look. You have a real leadership problem. But,
your teammate wants to stay on the team. If the two of
you will take this person aside, explain politely, but
exactly, how you want them to act, then I’ll cut you a little
slack. I won’t be so quick with the Frownie.”
If the leader and co-leader were unsuccessful, and
Mrs. Maestra could convince no one else in class to take
the student ... then put she would put him or her on Mrs.
Maestra’s team.
She announced that players on her team would go to
the office every Friday during the music party! She also
said that all any student ever had to do to get off her
team, was to convince her that they saw the error of their
ways and convince a captain and co-captain to let them
join their team.
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 135
with Alex, Maria and Polly) for a week, for only about a
minute a day. Mrs. Maestra often included John in the
rehearsal, and he almost always went along, especially if
he got the “la, la, la” part.
Then one day Mrs. Maestra said, “You’ve all been
doing very well with Please-Okay. Here’s what we’re
going to do. At the end of each day, if you’ll remind me,
I’ll think about how we’ve been doing with Please/Okay
and Please stop! If it seems like we’ve been doing very
well then I’ll give the entire class a star here on the front
board. When we have 10 stars, we’ll have a 5 minute
music party at the end of the week! Tell each other how
much you’d love to have a 5 minute music party!!!” (The
extra music time could be added to any time they had
gained in the game described in the previous chapter.)
Mrs. Maestra’s students told each other about how
wonderful it would be to have a 5 minute music party.
Late in the year, when her class needed additional
motivation, Mrs. Maestra increased the party from 5 to 10
minutes. Gosh, that was exciting.
Note Mrs. Maestra’s overall strategy. She used the
Scoreboard Game for short term rewards or penalties at
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 139
the end of the day. She picked something that was very
important to her, Please/Okay, for a long term reward,
about once a week. When the class had mastered
Please/Okay, Mrs. Maestra picked another star task and
let the class vote on what they wanted to do during their
5 minute party, listen to music, dance, play a game. Of
course, Mrs. Maestra worked things out so that her class
usually, but not always, ended up with 10 stars by the end
of Friday afternoon.
Mrs. Maestra was a little bit old fashioned.
One day she said, “You know, if you wanted to make
me quite happy, it would be wonderful if you said ‘Yes,
Mam’ when I asked you to please follow one of my
directions. You might not feel comfortable with this and if
so, that’s fine. But once in awhile I would just love to hear
someone say something very polite, like ‘Yes, Mam.”
Mrs. Maestra never forgot the one day, it was a
lovely day early in the spring, when she asked John to
stop fiddling with a key chain, he said, “Yes, Mam.”
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 140
25 Student Leaders
Leaders’ Responsibilities
1. Whenever I ask you to, stand up and lead your
team in a review of the rules and procedures. Don’t
review the rules in order ... that is too easy. Pick numbers
from 1-5 and have your team quickly say the rule and
make the gesture. Point at the procedures and have your
team quickly explain each sign.
2. When I give directions, be the first on your team to
follow them.
3. Energetically give “woos” and “it’s cool!”
4. Never allow a team member to guff anyone. Be
firm, say “Please, stop!” but don’t answer guff with guff.
5. Meet individually with students who are having a
hard time following classroom rules or procedures. Find
out if there is anything I can do to help them.
6. When I say “teach!,” energetically, using large
gestures, teach your neighbor. Be an example to your
entire team.
If you give your leaders tasks like the above, they will
lead. The students that the class selected, enjoy being in
charge ... leading maintains and solidifies their position in
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 144
very happy with how the student leaders and their teams
have been doing. Now, we’re ready to make significant
improvements in your grades. I’m going to keep the same
leaders, for now, and reorganize the teams so that each
group is about academically equal. Every team will have
students who have been doing very well so far, and every
team will have students who can do better.”
Sort the teams by the grades they have earned in your
class. Put the very strongest students on a team with the
weakest students. Be sure every team has at least one
strong student.
When you hand out the rosters of the new teams,
explain to your class that you may need to occasionally
reorganize the teams. Your goal, you explain, is for
everyone to academically improve.
Here are some suggestions for team oriented
academic activities:
1. Hand out lists of material that the class can turn
into flash cards. These lists can contain words and
definitions, dates and events, multiplication questions and
answers, any set of information that has a “front” and a
“back”. Students put the word, date, problem on the
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 147
1. Stand up quietly.
2. Push your chair in quietly. Wait 10 seconds.
3. Pull your chair out quietly.
4. Sit down.
5. Raise your hand.
6. Hold your hand up for 10 seconds.
7. Lower your hand.
8. Quietly get out your science book.
9. Look at your science book for 10 seconds.
10. Put your science book away quietly.
11. Begin again at number 1
27 Praise Therapy
to trade seats. She then reset the timer and when it went
off after a minute, the students should returned to their
original seats. To make this whole procedure go more
smoothly, Mrs. Maestra rehearsed getting up and
changing seats, rewarding the class with Smilies when they
rehearsed well (and penalizing them with Frownies when
they rehearsed poorly.)
Initially, by only giving out 1 minute buddy passes,
Mrs. Maestra made sitting with a friend an extremely
valuable commodity. She knew that gold is a precious
metal partly because of its rarity. As the year progressed,
Mrs. Maestra could turn up student enthusiasm by
gradually extending the amount of time buddies could sit
together; she also increased the amount of time students
had to work excellently to earn their buddy pass. Mrs.
Maestra knew from long experience that late in the year,
she needed extra classroom management tricks to keep
students motivated. The fewer buddy minutes she started
with, the more golden the extra minutes would be in May
and June.
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 158
29 Positive Tattling
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
**********************************************************
As soon as Joan, or another student complained to
her, Mrs. Maestra could tell immediately if it was a trivial
issue. (If it was not a trivial issue, she either used the
Long Form Complaint, see below, or looked into the
matter immediately.) For trivial issues, Mrs. Maestra
would say, “If you believe this is important, please file a
Short Form Complaint with me by tomorrow afternoon. If
it is very clearly written and has no misspellings I will look
into it.” Joan rarely followed through by filling out the
Short Form Complaint.
When Joan did fill out the form, Mrs. Maestra kept
her promise. If the complaint was very legible and
contained no misspellings she investigated the issue. Of
course, since at least 24 hours had elapsed since the trivial
incident, and tempers had cooled, it was usually easy to
solve.
Initially, Joan would try to continue to complain to
Mrs. Maestra and wouldn’t fill out a form. Mrs. Maestra
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 173
Your name:
_________________________________________________
Date: _______________________
Your Complaint:
___________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
(attach extra sheets of paper if necessary)
What positive actions did you engage in?:
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 176
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Did you touch the other person?
Yes No
Did you use any profanity?
Yes No
Did you call the other person names?
Yes No
Did you make negative comments about the person's
appearance or clothing?
Yes No
Did you speak louder than your normal voice?
Yes No
Did you offer a solution to the problem?
Yes No
If Yes: What solution did you offer?
_________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 177
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Were you the first person to walk away from this
incident?
Yes No
Very important: if there were witnesses to this incident,
would they all agree with your statements above?
Yes No No Witnesses
What solution are you offering now?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 178
34 Separation Agreements
the boy’s life and have some time together when the two
of them weren’t struggling with opposite agendas.
She only brought the Top Secret Bag into school a few
times. After their first lunch together, she occasionally
drew John aside for another lunch.
Other students wanted to have lunch with Mrs.
Maestra. Occasionally, she would pack lunches for several
students. At the end of the year, Mrs. Maestra bought
pizzas for the class.
Mrs. Maestra, incidentally, is very old now. She
counts her lunches with John among the most rewarding
experiences in her life. So does John.
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 189
a Afterword
When I got my first full time teaching job, I was brand new to
the profession. I was hired as an intern and I had not even begun
several districts. I was called back and hired two weeks before
department.)
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 192
not have paper and pencils when they come to school. However,
and social maturity that they have already gained due to their
rides the bus everyday and is left to entertain themselves for 2-3
hours, and sometimes longer, until their parents get home. It is not
They live in a loud, busy area and quite often no one is paying
school students who had attitudes, but I had never seen one
it’s stupid!”
headed their way. It was the first month into school and my
with next.
The majority of our pupils come into the seventh grade with a
students’ attention and keep it. I was barely getting by each day
students focused. I learned quickly that not only was the “tough
The first day I went back to work after the Power Teaching
competition.
convince. Being half as mature as they think they are, they said
dumb! I don’t care about this!” until I told them that Smiley points
would get them free time at the end of the week and Frowny
points got them extra homework that same day. (The extra
before certain periods of the day. I knew that these classes were
day) and a reward awarded later on (at the end of the week). This
taught them a valuable lesson in real life. Adults must work hard
all week (or in a teacher’s case, all month) before getting paid,
but if you do something wrong at work you will get in trouble right
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 197
rewards were minutes of free time, some were snacks, some were
for accomplishment.
well with my students who rode the fence and tended to change
Smiley point they got. This means that they had to have more
Smiley points than Frowny points to get the extra credit applied to
raise their grade on something that they had not scored well on.
grade book and meant very little in the grand scheme of grading.
For example, the average class might get three Frowny points and
five Smiley points in one class period. This means that they were
awarded two points extra credit that day. I also added their
Otherwise I would be saying “Get out your text book, please. Turn
they could ignore me and say “la, la, la.” This was golden! My
kind of courtesy. Even better, when my students said “la, la, la,”,
system!!!
“Please.” This young man had a bad case of hyperactivity and was
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 200
constantly out of his seat. This issue had already been a struggle
with him. Gabe relished the chance to ignore me and walk around
the room or lie on the floor. When the time came, I asked him with
child felt that he had some kind of control over me and the
and Gabe would happily do the “la, la, la” routine. Then, I would
shake my head as if he had really put one over on me, and ask him
winner!
There are two kinds of students who benefit most from the
I have given them these names to fit their classroom behavior. The
intimidates quiet students and they are often leaders in the group.
or even attitudes. These two students, and many others like them,
could get points for all kinds of behavior, they began to police
each other.
retained the previous year and had since become a ringleader for
all the rebel students at our school. She was a bully who
intimidated all the good students. She was loud and vulgar. Her
temper was out of control and often taken out on others. Before
was constantly being sent out because this was the only way that
students that were loyal to her that I still had a hard time keeping
I found that I had to start small with this kid. I began following
her to her after school program and chatting with her about her
called them, I still did it because she knew that I would follow
through and I cared. I would watch her take dance classes after
these activities the next day so that she knew that I cared about
all aspects of her life and not just the 50 minutes of Language
After Jenny felt comfortable with me, I was able to pull her
out of class and at least have a decent discussion with her about
me and said, “Go ahead and give me worse!” I suspended her from
at first, but it did work. When she returned I treated her as usual.
points for participating and Frowny points for any attitude or lack
class was a much better prepared to face her. I called out “CLASS,
YES”, Jenny snapped with a “WHAT, WHAT, WHAT” that was full of
Frowny points.” For the first time ever throughout two whole
behavior and say “STOP! You are getting us Frowny points.” She
The next day Jenny did her assignment and was actually
showing off how well she had done and how much she
This does not mean that I did not have problems with Jenny
after that, but it seemed that I had the support of most of the
point where they were weighing out their decisions and reflecting
work habits because he has none. He sits quietly and often begins
lessons.
would just sit there and shrug their shoulders or say “I don’t
not being called on if they acted like they did not know. I made a
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 206
and let him find the answer. After group work or discussion was
over, I would ask that exact question to the whole class which I
had discussed with Brian previously. I knew that Brian already had
he did not raise his hand, I called on him anyway. Students like
and attempting to participate more and more all the time. Many of
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 207
every aspect of their life and now they have more responsibility
Angela Watkins
Riverside, California
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 208
Part One
years. The first two years of teaching were very difficult. They
desk. I didn't get very much sleep. I didn't have a life, either. My
time out. Nothing has ever been very effective until now. This
that this was the answer to my problems. I bought his book and
longer had the nightmares. I felt like I had the tools I needed to
manage my classroom.
off the year with my rules for student behavior. Students were
out whatever they wanted to say. After a few days I would fall
pushed my buttons then they were the ones with the power.
One year I had two students who were best friends. They
this same tim. (The referrals were not just for those two, there
that I asked his dad to sit in on the class and observe his son's
behavior. The gentleman came and sat in the back of the room.
After the class he told me that he had observed many off task
I asked him to come back the next day and I gave him a copy
doing what. Of course, his own son was a little angel while his dad
was in the room. The dad took very good notes. I made calls to
behaviors. One dad was angry that I had another parent in the
I had some students tell me that they could not learn very
effort to send disruptive students to a time out room for the class
some real loud mouth jerks who constantly tried to control the
class. I would send them out and it would waste a lot of class time
because they had this whole audience to watch them get their
things together and listen to them as they got in their last few
or knocking a chair over.) Most of the class would shout out their
them, they still did it. Some would argue and say "He didn't do
anything. Why did you make him leave? He's not even the one
who did such and such." If I asked who it was then, they would
Last year was one of the worst years I have had as far as
disruptive students.
counted 180 calls I made to parents last year. 90% of those calls
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 213
and promise me that it would not continue. The kid would behave
for a week or two and then fall right back into his/her disruptive
self.
his/her name on the board and write the number of the violated
against me.
out. I had been interrupted so many times that I could not even
get the class started to teach the lesson I had planned for them.
me for anything. One girl kept raising her hand and blurting out
her question anyway. When she wouldn't stop it, I yelled at her
and I nearly started to cry. I walked out and asked the teacher
compose myself. She went in and yelled at them for me. When I
Near the end of the year I met a woman who had attended a
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 215
She said that it had really helped her. She was a first year
teacher and had really been struggling with her students. When
her classes.
year. I thought that it would work for me. It was really too late to
Part Two
knew that it would work for me. There were only about 6 weeks
They hated to get marks under the frownie face. Then they
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 216
watch a video on Friday if they were good all week. I was the one
who was not consistent. I would forget to give them marks (smiley
the upcoming year and how I would start the first day teaching my
Over the summer,I made notes and imagined how well I would
read all of the Power Teaching handouts and my notes. When the
how effective the whole group (in chorus) could be to stop one
terrific method this was! I wasn't the bad guy anymore. It was peer
mark system. If they had more smiley points than frownie points,
them to better behavior. If they are off task, then they have
surely wasted class time that could have been spent learning. I
have come away from each with more self assurance and
don't have to nag the students or yell at them. I treat them with
Teaching works.
When you get the class behind you and get them to address
deflate.
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 219
Emily Evans,
French Teacher
Banning lies about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, and during recent
from the inner city. No one is rich in Banning, one of the largest
class was the first generation, and as such had passed through a
was able to gain control of the class and teach, Theodore proved
rows, and making odd noises. He waited until the class was
struck the back fellow students' heads, and kept his cheeks
bulging with chewed up paper to use for spit wads. One day I
spectacle while I called the office. I sat him in the back of the
would cheer loudly for himself even when the whole class yelled in
of one.
Chris Biffle told me about Bull's Eye, and I figured that it was
tried the game. On the first day, Theo was puzzled and gave me
sticker just for playing?" Within the week, his out of seat
astonished.
Theodore and the rest of the class were able to reap the
never managed to get him to write anything more than his name on
the paper, I had taught him to consider how his behavior affected
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 224
others. Unfortunately, this story did not end ideally for Theo.
Eye!
Ezekial Steer
Sixth Grade
Banning, California
copyright 2007, Christopher Biffle 225