Attorney in Training: A Strategy to Cut Down on Arguments in the Classroom through Writing

                It is early Monday morning and you are excited about today’s lesson.  Your students are listening attentively as you state the essential question.  Then Johnny leaves his seat to sharpen his pencil.  You write his name on the board without saying a word signaling to Johnny that he has broken a classroom rule. 

He immediately rebuffs, “Why did you write my name on the board?” 

You know how this scenario will unfold if you tell Johnny that his name is on the board for breaking rule two—raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.  He will tell you that he had to sharpen his pencil.  You will tell him that your rule does not say “Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat…unless you have to sharpen your pencil.”  He will then look at you like you are crazy even though he knows good and well that he is in the wrong.  He will then retaliate once again with why he did nothing wrong.

You might have noticed that I have had this discussion many times with a variety of students.  In previous years and the start of this one, I have wanted to explain my reasoning to students so they would see that I was not being unfair to them. 

When I moved up to teaching middle school, this strategy did not work.  I would explain my reasoning to the student; certain students would look at me like I was speaking a different language, or they would take my correction personal.  So I decided to come up with a way for students to explain their point of view without destroying the positive atmosphere I have worked hard to create. 

Instead of arguing with Johnny, give him an “An Attorney in Training” writing assignment.  (This assignment teaches students how to write argumentative essay.)  You tell Johnny that you really want to understand his point of view.  This writing assignment encourages Johnny to explain his side of the argument, back his claim with facts, state the teacher’s side of the argument, then write a conclusion.  During this process if Johnny really did not understand what he did incorrectly, he should know by the end of this assignment.  Plus, he is practicing writing an argumentative essay!  This is a win-win for an English teacher.

Another way you may use this strategy is if you have two students arguing with each other.  Give both of the students an “Attorney in Training” writing assignment.  This will give these students an opportunity to empathize with others.  Also the fact that the title of this assignment is “Attorney in Training” places a positive spin on a negative classroom behavior.

Please get your free copy of this “Attorney in Training” at my TPT’s store here, or you may download it from my website here.  Thank you for reading and I hope this strategy will help settle some of debates that are ongoing in the classroom. 

What does high expectations really mean?

Is it possible that I was the only teacher in the world that was confused about what it means to have high expectations?  I always felt that what one would expect, was a natural reaction that could not be helped.  For example, if I saw that the sky was cloudy, I would expect it to rain.  Or if I ran around outside on the pavement without shoes in the summer, I would expect my feet to burn.  I wrote this post to possibly help others that are confused about having high expectations for students like I was.

Let me back up for one moment.  It seems like the key to being successful in the teaching world is to have high expectations of your students' abilities.  Principal after principal, and book after book would say that your students will not perform proficiently unless you have high expectations for them.  I must admit that I would nod my head and pretend I understood what they meant by this.  I must say that out of everything I have done, the concept of expecting greatness out of my students always left me scratching my head.  

The whole argument is that when you expect that your students will achieve greatness then they will.  Then my thoughts would lead to, "If I expect my dog to 'meow' and I really believe that, will he?"  Or if I expect my pet goldfish to learn trigonometry, will he?  The whole concept of high expectations really confused me to no end.  Like I stated above, I had always believed that this was just a natural reaction and could not be controlled.  

Now I am going into my fifth year of teaching and my confidence with my abilities is greater than ever; I think I am starting to understand what this business of high expectations is all about.  I started with the following questions...

1. Do I believe that every child can achieve greatness?  Yes, I do.
2. Do I believe that every child can learn my content area (4th grade math)?  Yes, I do given that I have enough time to work with these children.

That is when I had a light bulb moment after four years as a classroom teacher.  I HAVE TO BELIEVE IN MYSELF!  I need to have high expectations for myself before I can have high expectations for my students.  

So now, after I have gotten my feet wet in this profession and am not so "green" I am confident that I can teach my students anything.  However, I cannot go into my classroom on the first day of school and just "expect" my babies to achieve greatness without proper planning. I need to plan EVERYTHING and treat each child as if they all have an IEP (Individual Education Program). I need to really focus on my students' unique personalities and learning styles in order for each one to be successful.  

I need to have interventions included in my lesson plans and not allow my students to fail. I plan to tell them, "I will not leave you alone until you get this concept."  

I plan to keep accurate records of each child and what they have mastered and not mastered.  The students that have not mastered a skill or skills, will have interventions with me during silent reading time, during their activity time, practice computer games, or whatever I have to do to get that child to mastery.  I know what I am capable of, so therefore I know that every child I am responsible for can achieve anything I want them to.  (Some students may require more work than others, but they can still do it!)    

In summary, I realized that in order for me to have high expectations for my students, I need to trust in my own abilities to make these children learn.  I hope my little rant was helpful.

Since you were so wonderful to read all of this, I am including a free Individual Education Program template for you.  Create one for every child and really know each baby inside and out so you will know what you need to do to reach them.  
(For example, does Johnny have a person at home that can help them with his homework?  If not, you might want to allow Johnny some time with you or a peer tutor to complete his homework.)

I know this will take some time, but it will be completely worth it!     
  

Highlights of My Favorite Classroom Management Books

When you are a fairly "green" teacher, everyone has a book they recommend for classroom management, and I am no exception to this rule.  I decided to create a list of some of my favorite classroom management books I have read and give you my favorite topics and ideas from each one.  So here we go.

1. The First Days of School:  How to be an Effective Teacher by Harry Wong:  I was given a copy of this book my first year of teaching.  I taught 5th grade math at a magnet school.  This book is filled with concepts and ideas that will help any new teacher get started into their new profession.  One of my most favorite concepts in this book is the "First Day of School Script."  This concept allows the teacher to stay on topic throughout the first day of school.  Also, this book allows the reader to go beyond the chapter found here.  Also, I love how this book encourages teachers to greet students warmly at the door assigning each child a number where they may find their desk easily and begin the assignment.  I am only scratching the surface, you really must check this book out!
   
2. Tools for Teaching by Fred Jones:  My second year of teaching, I moved to a tougher school due to budget cuts at my first school.  Now I would be teaching 8th graders Pre-Algebra and this district adopted this book.  My favorite concepts in this book includes what it looks like when you "mean business" and how to arrange your seats so you are only within a certain amount of steps from every child.  Also, this book offers whole class incentives which I think is absolutely brilliant.  In fact, Dr. Jones's PAT (Preferred Activity Time) saved my life and this was the only thing that allowed me any control over these 8th graders.  Another item that I use constantly are what Dr. Jones called a VIP which is  Visual Instructional Plan.  Sometimes we refer to these as anchor chars.  These show the lesson in pictures or one step at a time.  This along with other strategies allow us to eliminate those "helpless hand raisers."  Dr. Jones has many more awesome strategies in his book and is also a must for any teacher or principal's collection.   
   
3. The Everything New Teacher Book by Melissa Kelly:  This book is very matter or fact and really breaks down what teachers need to know before beginning work as a teacher.  This is the author that let me know that is okay to send a student to the office on the first day of school.  Also, Ms. Kelly lets the readers know that student behaviors start small and if they go ignored then they will escalate.  Now this might be common sense to some, but this statement was eye opening for me.  One thing that I struggle with is being consistent.  I am horrible at consistency.  Ms. Kelly boldly states, " Students do not respect inconsistent teachers."  These are just a few things that stuck with me from this reading, but this book explains high expectations better than any author I have read so far.  Also, this book discusses maximizing instruction time, assessments and grading, high-stakes testing, just to name a few.  The title does not lie.
   
4. A First-Year Teacher's Guidebook: An Educational Recipe for Success by Bonnie Williamson:  This book has fantastic ideas.  Like I stated earlier, I am the most inconsistent person in the world.  This book suggests having a procedure that starts the morning every single day.  I know I followed this closely by having morning meetings.  When I did not have a morning meeting one day, my students were lost.  So I now stick to the morning procedure to allow my students to get off on the right foot each day.  Another item that I struggled with as a new teacher is how to have an effective class meeting.  This book has a whole chapter of how to achieve this task.  This chapter guided me to teach my students how to handle issues in a civil manner.  I also learned that students may help choose topics for a class meeting to go on the class meeting agenda.  This book is full of tips and strategies.
   
    
5. The Teacher's Survival Handbook by Martha Ainsworth:  I saved my favorite book for last.  This book is written by a Special Education teacher and has very practical strategies for managing difficult kids.  Mrs. Ainsworth writes in a way that you feel you are sitting beside her and she is talking to you.  All through this book she reflects and shares stories of her personal experiences as a teacher.  This book really stresses that you are positive, kind, and respectful to your students.  What really sets this book apart from the others is Mrs. Ainsworth does not just give theories on how to prevent student behavior, but she gives specific examples of how to handle scenarios that all teachers might find themselves.  For example, what if you lose control of your whole class?  She reflects on a time when she was required to test over one hundred students that were off task upon her entrance to this testing sight.  I will say, she did get these children focused on what she wanted them to do.  Or what to do if all the kids start dropping their books during instruction?  She also includes fun activities that will keep students engaged while learning.  I cannot say enough good things about The Teacher's Survival Handbook.  Also, it is small enough to fit in your purse.  This book inspired a freebie on how to follow directions.  I used this idea to create flip cards of how to solve long division problems.
    You may find this free item here.
   

These are my top five favorite books on classroom management.  One thing I noticed that every single book addressed was consistency and high expectations.  I hope you found this helpful.  Please, check out these books!  They are spectacular! Do not forget to get your freebie!  You may also get this at my teacherspayteacher store here.