1. Classroom
as a system:
Rules,
Routines,
& Moves
By: Iwan Syahril
Source: Middle and Secondary Classroom Management: Lessons from Research and Practice
by Carol Simon Weinstein and Ingrid Novodvorsky
2. Popular Assumptions
1. Teaching comes naturally.
2. The main strategy to win
the students is to be liked
by them, and if you are
kind and caring, then
students will respond
accordingly.
Is
that so?
3. • There is nothing natural about teaching.
• Each teacher has a set of self-consciously
developed systems, routines, and rules.
• Each teacher has to make decisions about
those things all the time.
• Most teaching decisions involve TRADE-
OFFS
4. • The problem of noticing. Experienced teachers are often so facile that
they can control student behavior with subtle, nonverbal moves, and without
ever interrupting their instructional narrative.
• The problem of being the mantle of authority. Beginning teachers
have a strong need to be liked and worry about hurting kids’ feelings. Socially,
they may have more in common with their students than with their
colleagues, so that it is hard for them to establish a role for themselves that is
appropriate to their personality and yet also distinguishes them from their
students.
• The lack of understanding. Beginning teachers also have very little
understanding of diverse learners including the reluctant or resistant ones.
They themselves tended to be good students when they were in school,
students who liked school and cooperated with their teachers. They tend to
expect all students to be like they themselves were.
Why is it difficult to teach classroom management?
5. Why rules and routines?
• Increases efficiency?
• Creates a fair system?
• Reduces favoritism?
• Rewards good behavior?
• Encourages collaboration?
• Encourages competition?
• Motivates students?
• Gives students responsibility
for their behavior?
• Rewards academic work?
• Conveys care?
• etc
Classroom atmosphere Individual Students
6. Rules and routines
• Multiple ways to handle
them.
• Trade-offs.
Source: Middle and Secondary Classroom Management: Lessons from Research and Practice by Carol Simon Weinstein and Ingrid Novodvorsky
7. Trade-offs: No perfection!
• SEATING ARRANGEMENT
Allowing students to sit wherever they wish
(+) promotes independence
(-) fosters more chatting with friends
Other possible ways
table-groups vs rows & columns
alphabetically
more difficult students at front
boy-girl-boy-girl
etc.
8. Samples of rules & routines
• Late students
• Late homework
• Absences
• Seating arrangements
• Cellphones
• Talking during class
• Restroom
• .....
9. Rules are not simply
technical matters, but they
are also philosophical issues.
10. Questions to consider:
• How should the teacher achieve a
balance between competing ideals?
• How do specific rules help or hinder
teachers’ ability to balance between
competing ideals?
11. Competing Ideals #1
• All students should be treated the
same way
VS
Teachers should respond to each
child’s unique needs
12. Competing Ideals #1
• All students should be treated the same way
VS
Teachers should respond to each child’s unique needs
Hypothetical example
Teacher has a policy that grades are reduced when papers are late.
A student paper is late for an extremely sympathetic reason, maybe
dad was just killed in a car crash.
Does teacher give leniency or stick to the rule?
13. Competing Ideals #1
• All students should be treated the same way
VS
Teachers should respond to each child’s unique needs
Hypothetical example
Teacher has a policy that grades are reduced when papers are late.
A student paper is late for an extremely sympathetic reason, maybe
dad was just killed in a car crash.
Does teacher give leniency or stick to the rule?
How will you respond when another student was late because his dog
died, and then another student was late because his team lost a game
last night, etc.?
14. Competing Ideals #2
• Students should learn to regulate
their own behavior
VS
Students should learn to respond
to external rewards and
punishments
15. Competing Ideals #2
• Students should learn to regulate their own
behavior
VS
Students should learn to respond to external
rewards and punishments
Hypothetical example:
Teacher gives students time to work independently on an
assignment but some students are staring out the window.
Does the teacher punish? Does the teacher remind the student
about the benefits of getting this done now? Does the teacher
publicly compare the student’s behavior with that of other
students?
16. Competing Ideals #3
• Teachers should encourage
independent initiative
VS
Teachers should ensure that all
students learn a common body of
core knowledge
17. Competing Ideals #3
• Teachers should encourage independent
initiative
VS
Teachers should ensure that all students learn a
common body of core knowledge
Hypothetical example
Student asks if he can skip a required assignment but do
something else instead that sounds interesting and
challenging but is on a slightly different topic.
18. Competing Ideals #4
• Teachers should tolerate challenges
to their authority
VS
Teachers should maintain their
authority even if students raise
legitimate questions about them
19. Competing Ideals #4
• Teachers should tolerate challenges to their
authority
VS
Teachers should maintain their authority even
if students raise legitimate questions about
them
Hypothetical example:
Teacher:“Where is your homework?”
Student: “I didn’t see the point of doing it because it was
really redundant with the last homework and I’m on top of
this material.”
20. Competing Ideals #5
• Teachers should encourage
cooperation in the classroom
VS
Teachers should motivate through
competition among students
21. Competing Ideals #5
• Teachers should encourage cooperation in the
classroom
VS
Teachers should motivate through competition
among students
Hypothetical example:
Two students are friends and one persistently wants to help
the other.
22. Competing Ideals #6
• Teachers should be role models for
moral and ethical behavior
VS
Teachers should be efficient and
make sure everyone is always on
task
23. Competing Ideals #6
• Teachers should be role models for moral and
ethical behavior
VS
Teachers should be efficient and make sure
everyone is always on task
Hypothetical example:
An argument between two students.
Does the teacher suppress it or use it for a broader discussion
about how we interact in the classroom?
25. • Even the best plan will not always work
out perfectly.
• What to do when plans/strategies don’t
work?
--> MOVES
• MOVES: a quick, discrete strategy that
correct a student’s behavior or re-directs a
student’s attention without disrupting the
flow of the lesson
26. • Moves are self-conscious, practiced. They do not come
naturally.
• Teachers cannot manage student through the sheer force of
their personalities. Classrooms don’t become warm or
inviting simply because they are warm people.
• They need to practice taking specific actions in order to
create the kind of climate they want.
• You need to learn to engage in discrete moves that are
designed to maintain order in a way that students perceive
as fair, in a way that vests students with responsibility for
their own fates, and in a way that is not overly abrasive.
