MWSubstack 007: Class Starters; Student Behavior
Lesson starters set the mood and boost the learning. Behavior management helps students learn self-control and become conflict resolvers.
Welcome to MiddleWeb Substack. It’s a twice-monthly, two-topic, five-minute read for middle grades educators, featuring several of MiddleWeb’s most popular and influential articles, a book review, and a noteworthy 4-8 resource or project we’ve spotted. That’s it!
►LESSON STARTERS
Ideas to get the jump on learning
Class starter, lesson hook, do-now, provocation, academic icebreaker, anticipatory set. These are just some of the terms we use to underscore the need to grab student attention at the very beginning of class. It must be important, right? In his popular post The First 5 Minutes: Ignite Student Learning, our blogger Dr. Curtis Chandler writes:
Most educators would agree that – when done well – the opening minutes of class have the potential to ignite a ‘wildfire’ of engagement and effort among our students. But a poor start – one that fails to pique learners’ interest, establish real-world relevance, or engage students in authentic, challenging learning tasks – is akin to trying to start a fire with wet matches and kindling.
In good teacher-educator fashion, Curtis begins with the research. What are the proven best ways of starting class? Then he releases his inner techie and suggests some "tools to capitalize on the first 5 minutes." In another MiddleWeb post, Curtis expands on the topic by recommending that we Always Start Class with a Power Move. This was so good, Edutopia "borrowed" it from us!
Other resources to help get a running start on lessons:
11 Provocations You Can Use as Class Starters (Megan Kelly)
Put Some Bang at the Beginning of Lessons (Barbara Blackburn)
Well-Designed 'Do Nows' Set the Pace for Learning (Sarah Tantillo)
Kick-Start Your Class: Academic Icebreakers to Engage Students (book review)
Regie Routman “believes that we are most fully ourselves when ‘teaching, learning, and living are interwoven and seamlessly integrated.’ To show us this full self, she shares stories that might help us navigate our own worlds.“ – Read Sarah Cooper’s review of The Heart-Centered Teacher.
►STUDENT BEHAVIOR
Helping students develop self-control
Coping with behavior problems is essential to good classroom management. MiddleWeb has dozens of articles that dig into (or brush by) the topic of student behavior. We've selected seven to highlight here. No doubt we'll pass this way again.
Sara Johnson was in her third year as assistant principal at a large middle school in Texas when she shared this aha moment article with us – one year into the pandemic. During her 10 years as an ELA teacher in grades 7/8, she gained appreciation for (and training in) Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). She recalls that...
When I became an assistant principal, my entire paradigm shifted. Discipline was my responsibility and it became an opportunity for me to equip students with skills they need for life.
Discipline isn’t a disruption of learning, just another opportunity to learn. A detention or office referral doesn’t build empathy or help students develop self-control or show them how to resolve conflict. But reflective and restorative practices do!
In her article 3 Tools That Improve Long-Term Behaviors, Johnson recommends a trio of resources that helped smooth the way toward her development of an effective discipline program in her school.
6 more behavior management articles with multiple perspectives:
For New Teachers: How to Keep Kids on Task (Miriam Plotinsky)
10 Ways to Sabotage Your Classroom Management (Jennifer Gonzalez)
Compassionate Discipline and the Adolescent Brain (Marilee Sprenger)
My Radical Approach to Classroom Management (David Finkle)
Six Quick Tips for Effective Class Norms (Geoff Krall)
Using Proactive Solutions with "Disruptive" Students (Elizabeth Stein)
►ELSEWHERE
“It helps the kids be who they are and be successful."
An alternative middle school in Indiana engages students who are 'running into trouble' in a signature program: They build colorful birdhouses for teachers who have made an impact on their lives. It's one aspect of the JWR Success Academy's nine-week service learning curriculum, aimed at building leadership and cooperation skills. (Chalkbeat)
►OUR BOOK REVIEW
Stick the Learning: Brain-Based Teaching Techniques to Increase Retention, Application, and Transfer by Eric Saunders
Megan Balduf has often shared with her students how the brain’s systems work and how they can try to manage its reactions. But her knowledge never changed her instruction. "That’s why I was delighted with Eric Saunders’s Stick the Learning. In less than 100 pages, Saunders provides neuroscience tips for truly changing teaching practices." Read the complete review.
►REVIEW THIS SPOTLIGHT BOOK FOR US
Becoming a More Assertive Teacher: Maximizing Strengths, Establishing Boundaries, and Amplifying Your Voice (Brad Johnson, Jeremy Johnson). Routledge Eye on Education, 2024.
Being cooperative, empathetic, and accommodating are great qualities for teachers but can also lead to higher rates of frustration and eventual burnout. A school leadership expert and an organizational psychologist explain how becoming more assertive can help highly agreeable teachers thrive. GO HERE to find the book and our reviewing guidelines.
►NEXT TIME
Wish your students were more skillful and effective at note-taking and annotation? We have some excellent tips. And we'll see if we can convince you that effective teacher and student questioning is the #1 key to unlock powerful learning.