Case Book Two

Mr. Truk is talking with Mr. Giorgio, who is studying to become a teacher.

MR. GIORGIO: In my educational psychology class we learned that there are a lot of variables that go into managing a classroom and maintaining classroom control. I guess I'm missing something, because I look around your room, and I really don't see the control problems. Everything's wonderful! There are just no severe behavior problems, and I just can't seem to figure out how you do it. What am I missing? I have to write this report on my reflections on your management style, and I just can't find the right concepts to explain what you do.

MR. TRUK: I guess you would say I am eclectic. I take things from different learning theories, different motivation theories, different classroom management models and use what works for me, what fits with my style, and what my students need at the moment. Let's reflect on today. Tell me what you noted, and I'll try to clarify it.

MR. GIORGIO: Okay, let's start with class organization. The class came in, sat on the big rug. How did they know to do that? Then, you got them all attending to you in less than 30 seconds. Again, how?

MR. TRUK: At the beginning of the school year, we practiced some hand signals. I told the students that I'll not disrespect them by shouting at them, or yelling over them to get their attention. I don't like to do that, and I value my voice too much to ruin it. As they came in, I signaled them to go to the carpet and sit down. It was pretty low-key, I just use a low wave with my hand over to the middle of the carpet. They all know the signal. Then, to get them attending, I again signal them. They know when I pull on my ear they are to listen. They also know that there are consequences for misbehaving. Early in the year they tested the limits and suffered the consequences. Every minute that I had to wait for them was a minute added on to the day. They either took it off of their lunchtime, or after school, depending on the time of day of the infraction. When they almost miss the bus, or are late getting home behavior changes really quickly! Generally, I don't like to use group consequences, so there are only a couple of them in my class. I really believe in dealing with the individual. However, I have learned that group consequences, if used correctly, do help bond the group!

MR. GIORGIO: I know that you have had some behavior problems with individuals, because when I started, you told me that you were doing some behavior change programs, but, I haven't see it in action, have it?

MR. TRUK: Yes, you have. You just didn't know it, and I am delighted if that is the case. If you're doing behavior modification well, you are working on an individual's behavior. That is private between the teacher and the student. No one else should even notice. If you have watched carefully, and I know you have, you have seen me talking to individual students, or providing a cue or a token to them. You know those little game pieces that Roger keeps in his desks? I hand him one, right out of my pocket and into his hand, privately, when he has been sitting in his seat for at least 15 minutes. We have built that up from 2 minutes at the beginning of the year! Roger gets to decide how many he collects and turns in. Different numbers of tokens earn different kinds of things. How many times a day do you see me rub my forehead, covering my right eye when I am standing near Aurora? Aurora has a tendency to look at everyone else, and get into everyone else's business instead of focusing her eyes on her own work. So, Aurora and I have a deal that I cue her to get back to her work by covering my one eye and rubbing my head to indicate to her to think and focus. She loves it. She will do the same behavior as I am on the way over to her to indicate to me that she knows she was not doing what she should be, and will refocus.

MR. GIORGIO: That is amazing. I never caught that. I just figured that you had a sinus infection or a headache!

MR. TRUK: Right now, my biggest concern is Reta. Reta is having a very difficult time, as I am sure you have observed, organizing herself. She has stuff in and on her desk, under and on her chair, all around her desk. She can never find what she needs when she needs it. I may be wrong on this, but I believe that Reta has some anxiety issues. She gets anxious, and then doesn't think well, and that leads to her getting frantic and more and more disorganized. I came to this conclusion because she literally starts to shake and sweat as she looks for things. I have tried to get Reta to take a deep breath and calm down, but I don't think she is getting it. Either she doesn't know how to do that, or she is not catching the cues I am sending. I try to put my hand to my chest as a signal that she should breath!

MR. GIORGIO: I actually have behavior counts on Reta, not for her organization, per se, but on the number of times she is up around her desk trying to find something. What I was thinking is that she needs someone to help her clean out and clear out and organize everything, and then see if she can keep it organized.

MR. TRUK: I have done that with her several times. We used to do it every Friday afternoon. I would love to see your counts, maybe it will be helpful for me to better see what she is doing when.

Teacher Notes:

• Classroom control is learned through both applying what we know about the "science" of managing people, and using your own characteristics and personality in the "art" of dealing with students. Students will quickly know if you are not being yourself. You have to find your own level of comfort in dealing with students, and then professionally apply that to the situation. Remember, as the adult you will need to modify what you do (within your comfort range) to help students learn how to behave in the classroom.