by James Burns | Jun 4, 2018 | Bully Proof Classroom, Compliance, James Burns, Parents, Teachers
STOP asking and Start Telling. If you want students to comply you have to stop giving choices and tell students exactly what you want them to do. Choices are something we all want and should be offered at times, but when there is a specific behavior you that you want your students to exhibit allowing choice only promotes confusion on the part of the students and frustration for the teacher. Compliance before choice is something that all students should understand. Students can’t say and do what they want when they want to do it. This 13 page guide provides instructions on how to do it with illustrations from the authors life and provides the language that will empower the teacher and create a positive school climate.
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by James Burns | Apr 3, 2018 | Bully Proof Classroom, Effective and Efficient, James Burns
When you are an effective teacher, your teaching takes hold, and your students slowly but surely learn from you, and the learning is permanent. Remember, too much too fast won’t last. It is much better to spend 10 days teaching one skill that your students will be able to use for a lifetime, than teaching 10 different skills in 10 days that your students will forget the day after you taught them. The problem that you may be faced with is being expected to move quickly through an overly ambitious curriculum. If you have the sense that your students have not grasped a concept, then spend more time on it.
When you are efficient, you have the ability to take care of the day to day administrative paperwork that seems to be never ending such as attendance, grading papers, your grade book, your lesson plans, etc. in an efficient manner. Administrative items must be dealt with efficiently so that you are freed up to teach. Understanding the difference between being effective and being efficient will help you understand what is important and what you need to devote their time to.
Characteristics of Effective Teachers
- Effective teachers have mastered their subject, are well read, and can answer questions spontaneously about what they teach.
- When the effective teacher lectures, he or she is well prepared and can carry on a discussion in an orderly manner
- Effective teachers can relate their subject area to real life circumstances and offers practical illustrations to enhance student understanding
- Effective teachers know how to check for understanding. They encourage students’ questions and opinions.
- The effective teacher is enthusiastic about his/her subject area and communicates this to his/her students.
- The effective teacher is approachable, friendly, and makes himself/herself available to his or her students after school hours.
- Effective teacher are concerned about their students’ and places a high priority on their achievement.
- The effective teacher has a sense of humor and knows how to motivate his/her students will humorous stories and appropriate jokes.
- The effective teacher displays warmth, and kindness, and does his or her best to understand student circumstances that may interfere with their academic success.
- The effective teacher knows how to use their resources and is not afraid to ask for help when needed.
CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFICIENT TEACHERS
- The efficient teacher understands and is sensitive to administrative timelines.
- The efficient teacher understands the policies and procedures of the school.
- Efficient teachers have daily routines for completing lunch counts, taking attendance, and grading work, and recording of grades.
- The efficient teacher makes time to call parents and schedules meeting with administration and other teachers as needed.
- Teachers, who are efficient, have procedures in place to manage supplies such as pencils, paper, and other non-teaching items.
- The efficient teacher keeps a neat and orderly work environment.
- Teachers who are efficient set goals for the entire school year, and plan their objectives for each lesson on a weekly basis.
- The teacher, who is efficient, knows how they are going to handle problems with students, parents, administration, and other teachers before they happen.
- The efficient teacher knows how to cut through red tape and does his/her job regardless of any outside circumstance that may interfere with student learning.
- The efficient teacher is concerned with teaching and takes responsibility for the academic success of his or her students.
The Behavior Management Toolbox
by James Burns | Mar 27, 2018 | Academics, Grading Practices, James Burns, Self Esteem, The Bully Proof Classroom
How do you feel when you’ve accomplished something? Better yet how do you feel when you’ve accomplished something and you’ve worked long and hard at it? Whether it’s losing weight, finishing college at 40 years old, quitting smoking. or solving a problem that you’ve encountered for the first time it feels great when you look back and can say it didn’t beat me, I got it done. The relief of knowing that the task is complete lifts a tremendous amount of emotional weight off your shoulders. It’s not just how you feel about getting the job done, and putting a check mark next to the task on the to – do list that makes you feel good, It’s how you feel about yourself and what it does to your own level of self esteem that really makes the difference. You begin to feel more confident in other areas of life and are not so resistant to try something new again for fear of failure. Kids are no different, once they experience success they are more open to trying new things and are not as resistant to instruction because in their mind they know that they have had past successes. Those past successes though have to be true successes, kids can’t be given a false sense of their abilities in grade one by being given good grades for their work because by the time they reach the second or third grade they will discover just how much they don’t know leading to low self esteem and ultimately fear of failure.
The only way to avoid this potential problem from occurring is to consistently hold students accountable for their work, have high academic expectations, and to work students until you are convinced that they have mastered the material that was taught them. Once students are convinced that you will not accept shoddy work and they will have to do work over and over again until their grade is acceptable they will work to get the assignment right the first time. After the student puts the work in and achieves success, and really know the concept being taught he/she to will look back and say to him or herself that this assignment didn’t beat me. Giving poor grades doesn’t lower student self esteem. Low self esteem comes when the student doesn’t understand the concepts and is not given the opportunity to improve. Tougher grading practices hold students accountable for an acceptable grade, and provides additional instruction to ensure that the student has the opportunity to master the material. Students need opportunities to succeed but, they also need opportunities to fail. It is those failures that should be the red flag for the teacher as to what the student doesn’t know. Once those failures are overcome, a sense of success will encourage the student to be more diligent in his efforts and improve how he or she feels about themselves academically.
by James Burns | Mar 26, 2018 | Academics, Anti Bullying, James Burns, School Administrators, School Climate Conference
When I was in high school I was given a assignment to do in a 9th grade social studies class. I was given two weeks to complete it but, like most kids I procrastinated until the night before. I turned in the assignment the next day. Many of the projects that the other students turned in were handed in stapled together, some in binders, some with report covers over them. Mine was turned in with a paper clip holding together two sheets of handwritten paper. About a week later the teacher turned the projects back. He never gave me mine back but, ask to see me after class. When I met with him he looked at me and said, “What is this.” I responded by saying, “That’s my project.” He then asked, “Is this the best you can do?” I said, “No, I guess I could have done better.” He then asked me, “Are you capable of doing better?” I said. “Yes.” He then proceeded to tell me that he wanted to meet with me after school to help me put a project together that would improve my grade because what I turned into him was most definitely and F. He took the time to help me do research, write better, and showed me how to put a report together. He had academic expectations that I was never exposed to in the 8th grade but made sure that he gave me all the help I needed from him to meet those expectations. I ended up with a B+ on the project. Thanks to him.
What actually happened here? Because of this teacher’s academic standards and because of his demand for high quality work I developed such respect for him and had an unquenchable desire to want to please him. I not only worked on my assignments with much more rigor, I paid attention in class, and studied in a much more productive way for my tests and quizzes. His demand for academic excellence made me more respectful for him and his subject area and more responsible for my own academic success.
When teachers have low expectation for the academic progress of their students they probably have low expectations for their behavior as well. They begin to buy into the excuses that students, parents, and yes even sometimes administration uses to justify poor academic performance. Excuses like, poor home environment, ADHD, and of course blaming the previous year teacher all become part of student academic failure. Demanding academic excellence is something all teachers can do. As stated in the previous chapter holding students accountable by asking for the work to be done and re-done forces the child rise to the occasion and to begin to want to please a demanding teacher. That’s a good thing. It develops respect for the subject area, others members of the class, and most of all respect for themselves. It improves behavior as well. By making students focus on academics there is not time to act up in class. They might miss something and have to re-do an assignment because of yes, a careless errors, errors that would not have been made if they took their work seriously, and respected the teacher and the material that was being taught. Demanding high quality work pays off. The students will thank you in the future. I learned that 40 years ago.
School Climate Control Conference
by James Burns | Mar 19, 2018 | Anti Bullying 101, Bully Proof Classroom, James Burns
The past is the past, right? Wrong. The past can and will dictate the future if we allow ourselves to be measured based on our failures rather than our successes. Let’s face it. We all have failed or fallen short from time to time. Just because we have failed does not mean we are a failure. It just means we did the best with what we knew at the time. Parents can do this once they take a look at the lifestyle or the behavior of their grown children. If you are a parent, take heart: you did your best with the information you had in the process of raising your children. If you are a teacher and have had your share of problems and headaches and feel like the funds are low and the debts are high, don’t look back. Don’t drive while looking in the rear view mirror; you will hit a future tree. Gandhi once said, “Be the change we wish to see in the world.” What changes do you want? A kinder and gentler place for kids to come, have fun, and learn? Realize that you are the one that has the capacity to facilitate the change. Have you goofed up in the past? So what? The past is the past, so please don’t ever let it remind you of what you are now. Let the past remind you of what the future holds when you finally let go.
by James Burns | Mar 18, 2018 | Anti Bullying, Anti Bullying 101, Anti Bullying Tips, Bully Proof Classroom, James Burns
It is always nice to receive compliments, but sometimes we need to ask ourselves, “how free are we with compliments toward others?” Teachers as a group can be very stingy with complimenting other teachers. It is as if teachers think that by complimenting another teacher, they will be diminishing their own worth. Get into the habit of paying a professional compliment to someone each day. We all need to be affirmed and recognized for our efforts. Just think about how good you feel when someone pays you a compliment, and give another teacher the opportunity to experience the same good feeling. How does this help stop bullying? It is all in the example and attitudes we set. Our students will notice and be freer with compliments themselves.
