Discipline Journal # 3

I. Data Collection:

Situation #1
A. 21 October 2008 (4A)
B. APUSH- 11th grade
C. Cody asked as he came into the class if he could run to the vending machine to get a bottle of water. I said it was okay. Laura entered the room and told me that Courtney had told her to tell me that she went with Cody and would be back. I thanked Laura for the relaying the information.
D. When Cody and Courtney returned, I pulled Courtney aside and told her that it was not okay for her to make decisions like that on her own without asking me. She needed to come and tell me that she was going with Cody. She said sorry and said that she understood. I confronted Cody and said that I had given him permission to go to the vending machine, but not Courtney. He understood and said sorry.
E. I think this was handled okay. I have really good rapport with both kids and there were respectful and understood why I needed them to tell me of their whereabouts. Its nothing to get worked up over. I have learned to choose my battles. It wasn’t worth a fight, so I said my piece and that was it.

Situation #2
A. 21 October 2008
B. US History- 11th grade
C. Every 2A, we have announcements and every 2A, it’s a fight to get the kids quite to listen. On Tuesday, I had had it. I said in a stern voice, “I will only say this one time, please get your items from the ledge, sit in your seat, and listen to the announcements. “ No one got quite and I reacted. I yelled, “this is the part where you shut your mouths!” That made the get quite fast! I modeled the behavior that I wanted and they were quite. I think I startled them because I have never yelled at them like that.
D. After the announcements were over, I apologized to them. I said I was sorry I reacted in that manner. I said I acted very unprofessionally and I did not mean to let loose like that. They kept looking at me and I said, this is the expectation that we set in the beginning of the year. I need you to sit and listen to the announcements. So today, Thursday, they came into class, got their work, listened to the announcements, and were quite.
E. I was upset with myself that I yelled at them in the way I did, but I think it worked. I also think that since I apologized to them for overreacting they respected me more. They knew that they were not following directions. They showed me they respected and liked me today by doing what I had asked. Lets see if they keep it up.

Situation #3
A. 23 October 2008
B. 11th grade US History
C. I’ll be the first to admit that I do not count tardies. I am in the farthest portable and it even takes me a long time to get through the halls to my room, so I understand its hard to do. Of course, I never told them that I don’t count tardies, but today, I had to tell them that since they were abusing my generosity that I was going to start counting them.
D. The next class period, four kids were late. I told them that I was counting them tardy and that the next time they were late it would result in a detention.
E. I hate counting tardies! It’s a hassle and I have to write their names on the board of those who are late. It’s so elementary. To be honest, the kids who are late, I am just glad they decided to show up. They are considered “at risk” and I am just happy they came and participated in class.

Situation #4
A. 24 October 2008
B. APUSH- 11th grade
C. My 3A is consistently talking. I have asked them so many times to be quite. So today I used love and logic and said, “I will be happy to start when you show me you are ready by not talking.”
D. I had to say this THREE times and they finally got quite.
E. I like using love and logic, but this class it doesn’t work. I am not sure why. I thought about what we had said in class in regard that we as teachers may cause the students to act up. So this time I stood in front, PowerPoint ready to go, and still they did not calm down until I asked them three times. I’ll try something else next class. Need to think about this one.

Situation #5
A. 24 October 2008
B. 11th grade US History
C. I had 11 students arrive late to my 1B today. It was so upsetting. I feel like they are taking advantage of my generosity.
D. I wrote all of their names now and said that these students have warnings. The next time they would be serving a detention with me. I have my students clean my room for detentions.
E. I really do not know how to solve the tardy situation. It is difficult for students to get to my classroom because it is the furthest portable, but 11 out of 28 kids being tardy is absurd. I think they believe that I am being honest with them about the detention. This is a really good class personality wise. They are horrible about doing homework and now truancy is a problem. Its seems like they do really well after I get on my soap box, but then they slowly drift back to their old ways.

Situation #6
A. 28 October 2008
B. 11th grade US History
C. Rudy arrived at 9:00am this morning to first period. He had been absent the class before. Every time he comes to class his eyes are bloodshot. I ask why his eyes are so red and he says he is sleepy. Well I am sleepy every day, (I get up at 4:30am) and I do not have bloodshot eyes. I have an assumption that that he may be high, but he is coherent.
D. When Rudy arrived at 9am, it is school policy that they check in the front and come back to class with a blue tardy slip. I sent Rudy to obtain a slip. He never returned to class.
E. I actually did not realize he did not return until 4th period. I know, bad teacher. I was so stressed with our laptops not working for our project that I totally forgot about him. I really do believe he is high. I looked at his schedule and contacted his teachers to see if they are thinking the same thing. No concrete response yet. I will have to wait until next class to talk to his absence. We have good rapport, but not enough for me to sit down and have a heart to heart. I hope that since I asked him about his eyes that he knew I am onto him. And that may be why he did not return with a pass because he did not want the attendance AP to catch him high, so he probably never went.

Situation # 7
A. 28 October 2008
B. 11th grade APUSH
C. This is the noisiest class. I cannot get them to be quite for a minute. So today, after about THREE times of trying to them to settle down, I finally said what I have been wanting to say to them for a while.
D. I said to them in a very calm voice, looking right into their eyes, “Listen, it is very pathetic that I have to ask you to be quite EVERYDAY. I am happy that you are all friends, that you like to have a good time and I am okay with that when I am getting ready for class. I teach a different class before you, so I need some time at the beginning of class to get set up. During that time you are welcome to talk, but when I am ready to get started my expectation is that you are ready to go. .My 2B and 4A classes are ahead of you and this is the longest period!
E. My kids were very responsive after I leveled with them. I think when you are just yourself and really tell them how you are feeling they are better to respond. If you fill them with all these “teacher responses” that they have heard over and over, then its not as affective.

Situation # 8
A. 28 October 2008
B. 11th grade APUSH
C. Sam is in the band, is a gifted child, and cannot sit still for a minute. He is always tapping or causing some racket. He has been listening to his earphones lately during lecture.
D. During lecture he would answer questions and I said, “oh I am sorry Sam, I cannot hear you.” He finally got the point to take out his headphones. I used sarcasm to get him to get on task. Well during group, he had them in again. I said to him, Sam the next time I see those earphones in your ears; I will take scissors and cut them. I asked the whole class, did you all hear me? I will cut Sam’s earphones the next time they are in your ears. He finally got it. And he knows his classmates will rat him out.
E. Not too sure how I feel about this one. He is gifted and really should be challenged more, but with so many different levels in the class, its hard to keep him occupied. He does not do homework, because he doesn’t see the reason to do it. He is getting the information, but he doesn’t do work outside of class. I think he responded to my comment well. That sort of “discipline” works for him.

Situation # 9
A. 31 October 2008
B. 11th grade APUSH
C. The kids were excited for Halloween and for our Pep Rally. They got to dress up for “Hunt the Eagles.” My AP kids are more disrespectful than my on level. We had to complete three things on Friday. 1. take a reading quiz. 2. grade the quiz as a class, and 3. review chapter 16. They would not be quite at all. No one was listening.
D. When I asked what “black codes” were, and no one answered, (even though the answer was on the PowerPoint), I just sat there. For a good 5 minutes without saying a word. Finally someone said, they were law that kept restrictions on free blacks. And we continued on with the lesson.
E. I have to say, I hate teaching AP. The pace to too fast for me and its so teacher-centered. I do not like to lecture; I prefer that the kids learn with projects, etc. Its at the point that I dreg going to work. I LOVE my on-level kids. We have good rapport and have really bonded. They like to have fun in class and are not rude when I have a stupor of thought. They don’t think I know the answer, they just give me a minute to organize my thoughts and answer their question. The AP kids just assume I am stupid.

Situation # 10
A. 31 October 2008
B. 11th grade APUSH
C. I have a simple rule about cell phones. If you are caught using it, give it up when I ask for it. If there is not a fight, I will give it back when class is over. I had taken up two phones in my AP class and I had noticed Chavanta was texting under a class blanket (my classroom is very cold). I asked her if she was using her phone. He said “no”. But barely opened her mouth. I knew she was lying, so I asked her again. She said “no.” I asked, “are you lying to me?” She said, “no.” You are lying, now give me your phone.
D. Since the other two boys gave their phones to me when I asked, I gave them their phones back, but took hers to the office. She was sneaky and took the SIM card out of her phone. So she will get in additional trouble for that.
E. I hate fighting kids on cell phones and dress code. To be honest, I am very easy going and I choose my battles with kids. I am fair and straight up with the kids. I tell them at the beginning of the year what I do and stick to it. I HATE TO BE LIED TO!!! Why lie over a dumb thing like a phone. She came from Dallas ISD and has not learned the ways of Mesquite yet.

II. Model to implement in my class: Preventive Process

Summary of Model: I chose to implement the “Preventive Process” discipline model. I really liked Jacob Kounin’s observations in the classroom. He broke the classroom discipline down into five steps for a teacher to minimize misbehavior.

1. With-it-ness: The teacher is alert to sights and sounds around the classroom. She arranges the students to be within sight at all times. She scans the room whenever attending to an individual or small group of students. And at first detection of misbehavior, she uses a brief acknowledgement to let the class know that you are aware of the misbehavior.

2. Overlapping: The teacher attends to two events at the same time whenever necessary so as not to leave students waiting.

3. Smoothness: The teacher preplans the lesson so that extraneous matters are taken care of beforehand.

4. Momentum: The teacher keeps the lesson moving briskly. She does not over well on a minor or already understood part of the lesson. She corrects students quickly without nagging and return to the lessons. And she has students move from one activity to the next without having to wait for each other on each subpart of the transition.

5. Group Alerting: The teacher calls on the students at random.

Description of Incident: After taking a chapter test, my on-level students have a really hard time being respectful to the other students who are still testing. They do not know how to be quiet. I tell them that when they are finished they need to sit silently. Well, that never works. There is usually one to two kids whom it takes the whole class period for them to finish and lets be honest; it’s hard for anyone to be quite for 90 minutes.

Steps: We had our chapter test last week and it went very well. I went about my regular test instructions, but at the end I added work. I told the students that when they were finished they needed to remain quiet, but also they needed to walk back to the ledge to pick up their work. When they finished their test, each student brought me their test, went to the back ledge, picked up their work, grabbed a textbook, and went back to their seat and began working. Everyone was quite for 90 minutes. It worked brilliantly. The students who had taken the whole time were able to concentrate and those who finished early; got their homework done.

Reflection: I really believe in this discipline model. I think that preparedness is the key to nipping bad behavior in the butt. Its not enough to put the students to work and then you go off and do you own thing. You have to be on your toes at all times. Teaching is exhausting as it is and if you are not prepared its even more draining. The “overlapping” is a key. I learned that you must keep kids actively engaged. When my kids finished their test, I couldn’t expect them to just sit. I needed to have them do something. So I decided to get them to work on notes for the next chapter. I also really like “group alerting.” I use a popsicle stick-pull. Each class has a different color and I have written their names on a stick. When I need more class participation I get the cup out of sticks and start pulling. It’s a good way to get a feel if the kids know the material or not. It lets me know if we can move on or if we need to review. I am very organized; which is a benefit. At the beginning of each 6 weeks, I hand out our class calendar, so the kids know what to expect. There are no surprises. I also make all the copies for the 6 weeks, that way if we need more to do; I can pull from my stack. That way there is no room for disruption or discipline behaviors. Overall, this is a great discipline model.