Guest Blogger - Libby Horn
As the new year begins and we receive our new bright and
smiling faces, it is often very easy to become caught up in where these kids
are academically and where we need to begin to address their strengths and
weaknesses. As a result it is very easy
for us to overlook the need for teaching and consistently enforcing
procedures.
Last year I underwent an intensive year of focusing on
procedures and it was truly an eye opening experience for me. I was guilty of the “teach it and forget it”
approach. I didn’t have the buy in that
consistently enforced procedures would have a positive impact on student
achievement. I felt that it was a waste
of precious instructional time. As a result
of professional development and mentoring, I have come to realize that consistent use of procedures
does have a HUGE impact on student achievement.
It is amazing what 3 minutes to set behavior and learning expectations
really does accomplish.
Last year, at the beginning of the group, we would go over
the rules and CHAMP expectations. This
involved me saying the rule and the group repeating the rule. We discussed what following that rule looked
like and sounded like. The same was done
for expectations. It took more time at the beginning but as we
moved along discussions were shorter and more concise. If there was a problem, I would point out the
rule or expectation that was not being followed and would read it and have the
child repeat it. Over time I was able to
just say the student’s name and what rule or expectation they were not
following. At the end of every lesson, I
used a rubric for students to self-reflect on how they felt they did with
following rules and expectations. If
they made a choice I didn’t agree with because they had to have a reminder, I
would remind that student of where they were not as successful as they could
have been. We also discussed ways that
we could change behavior to do our best at following rules and
expectations. This became so engrained
in to my students that if I forgot one detail, they were reminding me. As a result of this daily practice, I found
that the time came when I had few if any misbehaviors in group and instruction
came easy. As a result of being able to
focus more on instruction and less on behavior, student in my groups were able
to attain higher levels of skills across the board. I also found that not only was there
attainment, there was internalization of the skill which was reflected in
student growth goals. As a result, my
entire attitude about teaching procedures and expectations was forever changed.
So, as we begin a new school year, my advice from my own
personal experience is, don’t skimp on procedures. They really do make a difference.
