Student Motivation, Engagement, and Achievement
by Kim Anderson, Professional Learning Specialist

STANDARD #5: Creating a Positive Classroom Learning Environment
Quality Indicator #1: Classroom management, motivation, and engagement

One of the biggest predictors of success and achievement for any given student is how motivated and engaged he is in his own learning. As educators, we all know the best way to engage and motivate students is by building a positive relationship with them. How might you build a positive relationship and rapport with your students? Here are some strategies you might find useful as you embark on your journey to strengthen your teacher-student relationships:

1) Start the day with purpose.

Begin each day using language and questions to illicit high level thinking and relationship building. While the conversation should seem natural and casual to the students, it should actually be very intentional and specific. Preplan what might be high interest and let the students engage in conversation in a purposeful, structured way.

2) Help students and parents get to know you.
Open the lines of communication and establish a relationship with students and their families by writing a letter. Share your summer experience, past education, goals for the year, etc. If the first of the year has come and gone without this type of communication, don’t fear! You can still establish a great relationship by keeping the lines of communication open with phone calls, emails, and notes home to parents on a regular basis. Make a point to let parents know the great things their students are learning and doing in your classroom. The parents will thank you, and the impact this has on students will last the entire year through!

3) Examine and improve nonverbal communication.

Body language and tone of voice can drastically affect how a student perceives his relationship with you. Be sure to teach with an open posture that is welcoming and non-threatening. Make sure to keep an open body posture—hands at your sides and not crossed or clenched. If a student is much smaller than you, be sure to match their height by leaning down or sitting next to them while conversing. When speaking be mindful of your tone, cadence and volume.

A few other thoughts you might want to consider are that your leadership style can be in line with a CEO. A CEO’s role is not a dictatorship. It is a collaboration between many minds. Because you are a collaborative group you can feel free to embrace your students’ individuality. When you do this well, you naturally create a community within your class. Your class is made up of a family of learners and each person plays their part.

As much as you put forth effort trying to get to know your students, you will also want to let your students get to know a part of you. Try to remain open and vulnerable. What do you like to do outside of the classroom? Why do you enjoy teaching? Share a little piece of yourself with your students. When you take the time to get to know each other, your students are far more likely to take time to work hard and engage in learning.

No matter what strategies you decide to implement to develop relationships with students, you can rest assured your students will notice your efforts! The biggest payoff will be seeing your students’ confidence and achievement grow. In the words of Dale Carnegie, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.”

Seamless
by Martha Doennig, Coordinator of Professional Learning

STANDARD #5: Creating a Positive Classroom Learning Environment
Quality Indicator #2: Managing time, space, transitions, and activities

I am certain you have experienced the satisfaction of a smooth day in the classroom, and, on the flip side, have also experienced releasing the breath you held all day wondering what went astray. Both of these feelings are typical of any educator. Countless factors beyond our control affect what might happen in the classroom, but the factors within our control allow smooth days to far outweigh the days needing to be reclaimed. Managing time, space, transitions, and activities are a few of the factors that we can control as we work to exceed the expectations of Missouri Educator Standard #5: Creating a Positive Classroom Learning Environment.

Strong management in the classroom is directly related to a positive learning environment. As noted in Robert Marzano’s book, Classroom Management that Works (2007), attention to classroom management as we begin the school year is a critical ingredient in a well-run classroom. You have likely dedicated much of this school year to building a positive classroom environment through management of time, space, transitions, and activities that support individual and group motivation.  

To complement the efforts you’ve made thus far, numerous research-based strategies exist.

From Teach Like A Champion by Doug LeMov (2010):

• Entry Routine:  Make a habit out of what is efficient, productive, and academically focused as class begins.  Students should know what is expected and routinely adhere to it each day.
• Tight Transitions:  Make the time when students move from place to place or activity to activity efficient: the goal is to achieve the least amount of time is wasted and the least amount of narration by the teacher. 
• Do It Again: Allow ample time to rehearse a routine; more practice encourages improvement.   When attention is needed to increase efficiency in a procedure or routine, do it again and do it right. 
• Seat Signals:  To lessen the time allocated to addressing routine needs such as bathroom usage or pencil sharpening, create signals. The use of these signals contributes to reduced instructional interruptions.  

From Tools for Teaching by Fred Jones (2000):

• Working the Crowd: “Either you work the crowd, or the crowd works you.” Regardless of the space in the classroom, being in contact with students through proximity allows for easiest management. Creating space that is easy to monitor and navigate maximizes opportunity for proximity. 

From Conscious Classroom Management by Rick Smith (2004):

• Settle Down Time:  Determine and adhere to an amount of time that is given to settling into class following any big transition. Use this time to have students “beat the clock” by settling in quicker than the expected time.
• Count backwards from 20 to 1:  Count down from any number to one. Students know what is expected once the teacher arrives at one, and the teacher has control of how quick the transition is based on the speed of the count down. 
• Music/Sounds for Transitions:  You may be familiar with the Quiet Signal, which is modeled in one of the videos in this month’s e-newsletter. You may also wish to play a sound or song for transitions. If using a song, students are seated and ready to go when the song ends. Use different sounds or songs for different transitions throughout the day.

Regardless of the procedural strategies used in the classroom, Harry Wong suggests a simple, effective way to support procedures as they become a routine in The First Days of School (1998):

ERR:
Explain a classroom procedure clearly.
Rehearse a classroom procedure until it becomes routine.
Reinforce a correct procedure or re-teach an incorrect one. 

By providing time for procedures to be perfected, you will ensure that management of time, space, transitions, and activities will run smoothly throughout the year. Interactions and movement in the classroom will appear seamless, making your management invisible. Through this invisibility, a positive classroom learning environment will develop as students are focused on learning. 

 

Jones, Fredric H., Patrick Jones, and Jo Lynne Jones. Tools for Teaching: Discipline, Instruction, Motivation. Santa Cruz, CA: F.H. Jones & Associates, 2000.

Lemov, Doug. Teach like a Champion: 49 Techniques That Put Students on the Path to College. San Francisco, CA:    
       Jossey-Bass, 2010.

Marzano, Robert J. The Art and Science of Teaching: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Instruction. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2007.

Smith, Rick. Conscious Classroom Management. Fairfax, CA: Conscious Teaching Publications, 2004.

Wong, Harry K. The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher. Mountainview, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications, 1998.