You Can't Teach Until Everyone Is Listening: Six Simple Steps to Preventing Disorder, Disruption, and General Mayhem

169 Pages·2008·3.307 MB·English

by  Marilyn L. Page

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http://avaxhome.ws/blogs/ChrisRedfield
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To Alia, with her brilliant personality, playfulness, and humor,
who came into my life unexpectedly and enhances it immeasurably;
to her friend Ocean who is as beautiful in every way as her name;
and to twins Violet and Aria, miracles who make every day a joy and
who take my breath away; Alia, Ocean, Violet, and
Aria, the future is yours.
Source:Photo, art, and production by Dave and Jen Page.
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Copyright © 2008 by Corwin Press
All rights reserved. When forms and sample documents are included, their use is
authorized only by educators, local school sites, and/or noncommercial or
nonprofit entities that have purchased the book. Except for that usage, no part of
this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information:
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Page, Marilyn L.
You can’t teach until everyone is listening: six simple steps to preventing
disorder, disruption, and general mayhem/Marilyn L. Page.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4129-6014-4 (copy)
ISBN 978-1-4129-6015-1 (pbk.)
1. Classroom management. I. Title.
LB3013.P24 2008
371.102′4—dc22 2008006269
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
08 09 10 11 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Acquisitions Editor: Carol Chambers Collins
Editorial Assistants: Gem Rabanera, Brett Ory
Production Editor: Eric Garner
Copy Editor: Gretchen Treadwell
Typesetter: C&M Digitals (P) Ltd.
Proofreader: Charlotte Waisner
Indexer: Kathleen Paparchontis
Cover Designer: Lisa Riley
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Contents
Foreword xiii
By Bruce A. Marlowe
Preface xviii
Acknowledgments xxv
About the Author xxviii
Introduction 1
1. The Critical Beginning: Knowing and
Using Students’ Names 9
Barry 9
The Context 9
Barry’s Plan 9
Friday 10
Justin 10
The Questions 10
After Justin 11
Knowing and Using Students’ Names 12
Your Number One Classroom Management Tool 13
Student Teachers and Interns 13
Before the Teaching Practicum Begins 14
Student Teacher’s Responsibility 14
Novice and Experienced Elementary Teachers 15
Aito 16
The Upside of Aito’s Schedule 16
The Downsides of Aito’s Schedule
and Class Size 16
Shalee 17
Getting to Know Shalee 17
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The Results 18
Novice and Experienced Middle
and Secondary Teachers 18
Preteens and Teens 18
The Middle and Secondary School Day 19
Learning the Names 19
Other Approaches 21
The Seating Chart 21
Name Tags and Name Signs 21
Block Scheduling 22
Back to Barry 22
The View From the Back of the Room 22
What Happened to Barry? 23
Summary: Step 1 24
What Comes Next? 24
2. Avoiding Anonymous and Dangling Questions 25
Dave 25
The Context 25
Dave’s Problem 26
The Lesson 26
And the Rest of the Class? 27
Types of Questions Teachers Ask 27
Type 1 28
Type 2 28
Type 3 28
Type 4 28
Levels of Questions Teachers Ask 29
Lower Level Questions 29
Higher Level Questions 29
Dangling Questions: What Are They and
What Was Dave Doing Wrong? 30
Students Left in the Dark 30
Worse Consequences 31
What Can You Do? 32
The Problems With Hand Raising 32
A Better Way 33
An Old Teacher’s (or Is It a Researcher’s?) Tale 34
The Results of These Better Strategies 35
Anonymous Questions: What Are They? 35
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What’s Wrong With These Questions? 35
How Can a Teacher Fix This? 36
Questions 1, 3, and 4 36
What About Question 2? 36
Question 5 37
Did Dave Recover? 37
The Experiment 38
The Results 38
Summary: Step 2 39
What’s Next? 40
3. Choosing and Using Words Wisely 41
Mariah 41
The Context 41
The School 42
Mariah’s Goal 42
The Problem 42
Yawning and More 43
What’s in a Word? 43
The Importance of Tight and
Professional Language 44
George Orwell 44
Sloppy Language 44
What Are Filler Words? 45
What Happens When You Use Filler Words? 46
Boredom and Worse 46
A Mirror Image 46
An Unprofessional Word 46
A Test 47
The Answer 47
Mariah’s Transformation 48
The Results 49
The Other Side of the Language Coin 49
Terry 49
The Context 49
The Problem 50
And Danae 50
The Context 50
The Problem 51
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Using Words of Civility in the Classroom 52
Five Important Words 52
Examples 52
The Common Thread 53
Terry 53
Danae 54
Three Other Powerful Hints About Language 55
1. Language Tone: You Don’t Need to Yell 55
2. The Power of No Language 56
3. Getting the Class’s Attention While
They Are Involved in Group Work 56
Making These Language and
Tone Changes in Your Classroom 57
Summary: Step 3 58
Coming Attractions 58
4. Avoiding Confusion When Giving Directions 59
Elizabeth 59
Class Begins 59
The Context 60
Her Instructions 60
Pandemonium 61
Clarifying Directions 62
The Results 62
A Pilot Project: A Different Story 63
The Purpose of the Project 64
Three Phases 64
Ben 64
The Context 64
Ben’s Issue 65
What Are We Supposed to Do? 66
Giving Instructions That Don’t
Lead to Disruption 67
Why It’s Important for Students
to Re-Explain 67
Forget About Asking:
“Does Everyone Understand?” 67
Forget About Asking:
“Are There Any Questions?” 68
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Back Up! We Are Missing Two Preliminary Steps 69
First: An Explanation 69
Second: Students Need to Ask Questions Up Front 70
Ben’s Plan 71
The Barbarian Hordes 71
Following the Steps 72
The Time Factor 73
The Results 74
Special Needs 74
Summary: Step 4 75
What’s Next? 76
5. Attending to Civility With Reminders and Cues 77
Seventh Period: A Special Ninth-Grade Class 77
The First Day of School 77
Whoa! 78
Fourteen IEPs 78
What Happened With This Class? 78
Mrs. Watkins’s Advice 79
Classes Have Different Needs 79
Horrified? 79
The Problem With Classroom Rules 80
Can You Define Respect? 81
Lack of Consistency 81
Simple Expectations of Civility 82
Jeannie 83
The Context 83
The Class 83
The Issue 84
Reminders and Cues 85
How Often Do You Have to
Give Reminders or Cues? 86
Jeannie’s Approach 87
The Lesson 87
Jeannie’s Reminders and Cues 87
The Results 88
The Bottom Line 88
Summary: Step 5 89
Coming Next 89