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Three masters of management
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SUSPENSIONS
Are schools calmer? Results of a 1998 revision of the discipline code. Alternatives
to suspension keep kids in school Three
masters of management share their tips Breaking
the suspension habit: John Hay emphasizes classroom management
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Be firm. Be fair. And be consistent.
Although John Marshall is Cleveland’s largest high school, enrolling 2,095 kids from several west side neighborhoods, it has done a better job than most in holding suspensions down. For the past two years, it ranked 6th among the city’s 15 high schools, suspending just 42 per 100 students. The best school, Collinwood High School, suspended 6 per 100. Collinwood has 1,235 students. Teachers with strong classroom management skills are the key to maintaining order without suspending students, says Principal Cynthia Metzger says. And fairness, firmness and consistency are the foundation of any teacher’s repertoire of classroom management skills. “If they catch me being unfair, I’ll give them 10
bucks,” says Daniel F. Leary, 12th-grade English teacher. “I’ve lost
30 bucks in 12 years.” “If you let one person come in late and sit down and not another, they get upset,” she explains. “They’re not arguing about the fact that they’re standing. They’re arguing, ‘You let Barry sit down and I have to stand.’ ” Leary, Williams and 11th-grade history and economics teacher Jach Schmoll are solid classroom managers, says Principal Metzger. While they rarely refer students for suspension, their classrooms generally are orderly and their students achieve, she says. Here are some of the methods they and other teachers use. The three John Marshall teachers start the school year by giving students the rules of conduct in their classrooms. The rules are simple, easy to remember and have sensible consequences. For example, students must bring their textbook to class. One who breaks this rule gets a warning for the first offense and a telephone call to parents for the second. For the third infraction, the offender must stand during class until Leary tells them to sit. Leary shares his rules with the principal, too. The idea is to assure the principal that when he does refer a student for suspension, it’s for good cause. “If I send a kid down for being a jerk in my class,” he says, “you’re going to assume Leary’s doing what he’s supposed to” by following procedures. Like Leary, Williams avoids suspensions but sometimes recommends in-school suspension. “I like in-school suspensions because some education can still take place under supervised conditions,” she says. Try acting Schmoll re-enforces his look with an imposing presence: At 6-foot-2 and over 200 pounds, his mass of barrel-chested baritone can chill most any hotheaded child, he maintains. The look, the voice, the gesture are important tools to master because many times classroom management is all about acting, the teachers agree. The day Schmoll talked with CATALYST he was planning a presentation of stern disapproval for when he next meets his students, who misbehaved with a substitute. “I’m really disappointed in you,” he plans to say while leaning over seated children. Leary adds that acting is an integral part of teaching, not just maintaining order. “You need to have a personality and know how to use your personality to make [a lesson] interesting or justify that we just have to get through it,” he says, adding that sometimes the material is boring so the message is: “You have to put your brain through this exercise and then move on. That’s what life’s all about.” Offer perks A well-behaved class might also get to open a notebook for four minutes during a quiz, Leary says. It rewards the behavior, but more important, it encourages kids to always carry their notebook and keep it neat, Leary says. For good behavior with a substitute, Schmoll rewards students with a trip to the Museum of Natural History. Around Halloween, he also jazzes up history with lessons on the Salem witch trials. Avoid arguing Leary advises that teachers should remain calm, even in extreme situations, but have a contingency plan in mind. “I don’t argue with them, or threaten or put a finger in their faces,” Leary exalts. If a student loses control, Leary reaches for his backup, a manila folder with his room number, 227, written in red ink. Students know if he hands them the folder, they are to take it to the office or to a security guard. The folder is empty. It serves as a red flag to security or other adults to send help to Leary’s classroom immediately. Make lessons relevant For example, Gilmore sends her freshmen on a pretend shopping spree with coupons and discounts advertised in the daily newspaper. When they’re done, she has them figure out how much money they “saved.” “That brings my classroom management skills into line because they’re so into it,” Gilmore says. Contact parents
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This
mantra can be heard among staff at John Marshall High School on
Cleveland’s west side. Marshall teachers say you can’t teach without
it. 