Intro to Classroom Management with Older Youth Samantha Saldana-Curet & Kristen CoePublic Health Management Corporation

Learning Objectives• Participants will be able to identify youth needs

• Participants will be able to select classroom management strategies that meet youth needs.

• Participants will understand the impact effective planning and preparation on classroom management.

• Participants will consider the relationship between classroom culture and the agency mission.

Ice Breaker

Think of a youth you work with & draw him/her.

Think about his/her:• Age• Cognitive Needs• Emotional Needs

• Physical Needs• Social Needs

Needs of Middle/High School Youth

• Need to connect with peers & caring adults• Need to test limits or boundaries• Need to establish/explore self-identity• Need for stability in turbulent time (earlier)• Need to increasing level of responsibility (later)

What is Classroom Management?A method that seeks to establish and sustain an orderly environment for students to engage in academic learning, as well as enhance student

social and moral growth. Source: Kratochwill, 2013

What does classroom management look like?

Classroom Management

Positive Relationships

Structure

Classroom and Program Culture

Planning and Preparation

Positive Relationships

Since positive relationships with adults is a key developmental need…

…any classroom management strategy should foster positive relationships.

Listening Activity

With a partner, have one person tell a short story about a caring adult from his/her

childhood while the other person listens.

The listener will list good relationship building strategies that the story touches on.

Positive Relationships• Listen (& remember)• Show the students you are a real person• Use humor• Observe youth to learn more about them• Attend/chaperone school events• Have empathy about their situations• Meet the important people in their life• Do not take things personal

Positive Relationships

Individual connections with youth are key:• One-on-one• Projecting warmth to the group• Two-way communication in the group

Positive Relationships

But it’s not just about relationships with YOU…

Positive Relationships - Styles

The grandma

The big sister

The coach

Discuss

• What personal experiences can you draw upon to better understand your students?

• How have you created positive relationships with the students you serve?

• What are some obstacles that interfere with your ability to make meaningful connections with your students?

Break & Gallery Walk

Walk around the room and write your strategies on rules, routines, consequences

and building positive relationships.

Structure

As the facilitator/group leader you need to:• Clearly define expectations in your own mind• Clearly communicate expectations to youth• Create systems that enforce/encourage/

incentivize those expectations– Rules & Routines– Enforcing Expectations

Rules

• Guiding principles of the classroom

• Rules should be few in number & clear

• Positively stated vs. negatively stated rules

• Don’t assume students understand what a rule means in practice

Routines

• Practiced way of doing things in the classroom

• Routines are more concrete than rules

• A program system that creates consistency

• Routines must be taught and practiced

Activity: Routines

• Read Scenario• Discussion Questions– What routines did you notice?– How were those routines taught/reinforced?– Were there additional opportunities to create

routines to help with classroom management?

• Distributing snack• Cleaning up after snack or

activities• Getting students’ attention• Transitioning between

activities • Lining up• Walking through halls• Distributing materials for

activities

• Retrieving materials after activities

• Leaving the classroom• Signing in and out• Starting activities in each

classroom space• Entering the gym or outdoor

space

Clearly state expectations for:

TEACH FROM DAY 1 and BE CONSISTENT

Opportunities for Routines

Expectations are not just what you say, but what actually happens in the room.

• Proactive Intervention – Strategies to encourage/discourage behaviors before they’ve

happened

• Reactive Interventions– Strategies that are used in response to a behavior

• Consequences – Should encourage student changing behavior and encourage life

lessons

(Re)-Enforcing Expectations

(Re)-Enforcing ExpectationsExamples

Proactive • Designing your classroom to promote teamwork & minimize distractions

Reactive • Giving a chatty student a job to do to keep him busy

Positive vs. NegativePositive Negative

Proactive • Sharing that the plan for the day includes a game if homework gets finished

• Assigning seats

Reactive • Praising a student for sharing a toy

• Name on the board

Proactive Intervention

• Change the pace of a lesson or activity such as introduce a competition

• Provide a “time out” or break• Regroup students who are off task• Refocus attention through responsibility or

“special tasks”• Prepare thoroughly for limited “down time”

Reactive Interventions• Teacher attention• Any type of reward (praise, sticker, etc.)• Adjacent peer reinforcement• Planned ignoring • The Teacher/Mom/Robert Deniro Look• The Hover• Calling on the Student• Humor • Direct Appeal/The Warning

Behavior, Translation, Response Activity

With your group, come up with a scenario in response to the given behavior(s).

Other groups will determine the behavior, translate why it would be happening, and the response used towards the behavior.

Consequences• No “free time”• No computer time• Call home• Peer intervention• Loss of incentive• Student – Teacher conference• Suspension from program• Discharged from program (last resort)

Tips on Effective Discipline Policies• Discipline action steps

should be part of your program culture

• Use nonverbal interventions first

• Keep verbal interventions private and brief when possible – Do not yell

• Speak to the behavior, not the student

• Avoid belittlement and sarcasm

• The punishment should fit the crime

• Be consistent and follow through

• Give students a choice on how to react

• Encourage peer mediation

Planning & Preparation

How can good planning prevent problems?• Clear schedule makes the day predictable• Keeps youth busy in fun activities (not bored)• Appropriate space for the activity• Sufficient supplies• Transitions are smooth (minimal down time)

Student Engagement

“Programs that are successful at attracting and retaining older youth pay attention to the developmental ‘fit’ between their target participants and their program activities, characteristics, and practices.” (Deschenes et al, 2010)

Student Engagement Middle School– Structured peer interactions

• Younger adolescents often make choices about which program to attend based on their increasingly important friendships.

– New activities to try• Youth in middle school years need to explore, test and be curious,

using constructive outlets

– Exploration within structure and routine• Youth in middle school need structure and routine to support the

changing elements of their lives (puberty, friendship, high school transition, etc)

Source: (Deschenes et al, 2010)

Student Engagement High School– Emphasis on Content

• Narrow, content-based programming and activities that focus on skills or activities such as technology, law, music, etc.

– Responsibility and Leadership Opportunities• Provide youth with responsibility in programs such as youth

councils or project planning while holding them accountable.

– The Path after Graduation • Address concerns about youths’ goals of career and post-

secondary options either formally or informally as a program

The Loose ScheduleABC Program Daily Schedule

3:09 – 3:40 Sign-in & Snack3:40 – 4:00 Teambuilding4:00 – 5:00 Structured Activity5:00 – 5:45 Club5:45 – 6:00 Dismiss

The Specific ScheduleABC Program Daily Schedule

3:09 – 3:35 Sign-in/Snack• Sign-in by 3:15• Snack done by 3:25• 3:30 Clean-up crew• 3:35 Transition to Gym for

Teambuilding• 3:40 arrive at Teambuilding

The Specific ScheduleABC Program Daily Schedule

3:40 – 4:00 Teambuilding• Dodgeball (Mr. Chris)• Human Knot (Ms. Michelle)• Silent Line Up (Mr. Marcus)

The Specific ScheduleABC Program Daily Schedule

4:00 – 5:00 Activity (Mr. Chris)• Team Meeting/Agenda by 4:00• Finish yesterday’s task by 4:15• Project budget activity by 4:30• Wrap-up Discussion by 4:50• Transition to clubs at 4:55

Classroom & Program Culture

What does it feel like to go to your program?

Why does it feel that way?

Is it consistent?

Program Culture

Agency & Program Missions

?

Actions(not just words)

Expectations

Partners

Who is included

Program Activities

Peer Relations

Staff – Youth

Relations

DHS Outcomes and Classroom Management

DHS Goals, Outcomes and Indicators

• Goal Area: Participating with youth will develop positive life skills

• Outcomes: Improved life skills and relationships

• Indicators: Goal setting, personal accountability, work with others to accomplish goals, improved interactions with peers, improved interactions with adults

Classroom Management

• Positive Relationships• Structure • Establishing Classroom

Culture• Preparation and Planning

THANK YOU!

Samantha Saldana-Curetssaldanacuret@phmc.org

Kristen Coekcoe@phmc.org