22 Habits That Empower Students

[00:01] SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Principal Center Radio, bringing you the best in professional practice.

[00:06] Announcer:

Here's your host, director of the Principal Center and champion of high-performance instructional leadership, Justin Bader. Welcome, everyone, to Principal Center Radio.

[00:15] SPEAKER_02:

I'm your host, Justin Bader, and I'm honored to welcome back to the show my friend Steve Reifman. Steve is the author of numerous books for teachers and students and a national board certified teacher with more than 20 years of classroom experience. Steve helps teachers and parents empower children, build character and help students become more enthusiastic and more intrinsically motivated learners. And we're here today to talk about Steve's new book, 10 Steps to Empowering Classroom Management. Build a productive, cooperative culture without using rewards.

[00:48] Announcer:

And now, our feature presentation.

[00:50] SPEAKER_02:

Steve, welcome back to the show. Thanks for having me. I wonder if we could jump right in with kind of a definition and a deeper understanding of what empowering classroom management means, the idea that's at the heart of your book. What does that mean to you, empowering classroom management?

[01:03] SPEAKER_00:

Sure. This goes back to when I was in my teacher education program. When classroom management is brought up, it's usually brought up in terms of what the rules are and what rewards and punishments are used to make sure that the kids follow the rules. And I was never comfortable with that. I did that at the beginning of my career, but I knew there had to be a better way because rewards and punishments are used to control kids' behavior. And I mean, for lack of a better way of saying it, I don't want the kids to be controlled.

[01:29]

I want the kids developing responsibility, taking initiative, taking charge of their education. And that's what empowerment is all about. It's helping them develop the skills and habits that will help them succeed in school and beyond. So rather than controlling kids, we want to help them develop independence, and take responsibility. And as teachers, we want to empower them with whatever they need to do that. I ask the kids a lot, what do you take with you when you leave school?

[01:56]

What habits are inside of you? What have you internalized so that you are able to act independently to achieve your goals, to reach your potential, again, in school and beyond? So the emphasis of this book is helping teachers create a culture where the kids are empowered. They are doing as much as they can on their own needing the teachers less and less and relying on themselves more and more. One thing I learned in my teacher education program from a wonderful educator named Madeline Hunter, who I was privileged to take classes from, she said that in many ways, a teacher's goal should be like a doctor's goal. The doctor's job is fished when the patient no longer needs the doctor.

[02:34]

And of course, students will always need their teachers, especially at the elementary level where I teach. But our job is done to a large degree when the kids no longer rely on us for things that they can't be doing on their own. So the emphasis of empowerment is, again, creating that culture where the kids are taking charge of their learning and making decisions on their own with confidence.

[02:57] SPEAKER_02:

That's something that I've become more aware of over the past couple of years as more districts have moved to the Charlotte Danielson framework for teacher evaluation. And I think any good, solid, experienced teacher can reach that kind of level three out of four in a lot of areas without turning so much over to students, without empowering students. But if you want to be at that level four, if you really want to move up to the distinguished category, I mean, that's what it's all about. Almost across the board, it's about turning things over to students so that they rely on you less and less. And I guess the question for us as educators is, how do we create that kind of environment? And that's the question you're answering directly in the book.

[03:36]

So what are some of your top recommendations for where we start? Because I think back to starting the school year and establishing rules and procedures. And I know you can establish rules with your students and sometimes students will come up with a higher standard for themselves if they're involved in that. But you start somewhere else, not with rules. Where do you begin with your class?

[03:57] SPEAKER_00:

One thing that often comes up when I speak with teachers about this topic is that if we do not use punishment and we do not rely on rewards to control kids' behavior, there's often a feeling that teachers have unilaterally disarmed. Like, what do we have going for us? How are we going to maintain control? And There's the feeling that if we do that, it's kind of, quote unquote, a soft approach where things break down and kids can do whatever they want and there's no structure. And there's absolutely no reason why de-emphasizing rewards and punishment necessarily leads to a situation where things become soft and chaotic. There can and should be, needs to be, a strong structure in the class.

[04:36]

And starting from the very beginning of the year, we established that through the creation of a classroom aim and mission, which is the first chapter, the first step of the 10 steps. There's a man named Douglas McGregor who in the 1960s developed two sets of assumptions about workers in the workplace, but I think they also apply to teachers and students in the classroom. His belief that he calls theory X, there's a series of assumptions that says people do not like to work and they will only put forth effort if there is strong supervision. And then theory Y says the exact opposite, says that the expenditure of energy, the desire to work, people do have the desire to work and will put forth effort in the service of objectives that they believe in. So one thing that I recommend teachers doing at the very beginning of the year, and we do this the first full week of the school year in my class, is creating a class mission statement where we come together, we figure out what is important to us.

[05:29]

What ideas and principles establish us as a unique group of people with a unique sense of purpose? And we write that together. The ideas come from the kids. I help shape them. And that becomes our constitution, our founding document that we read, review, and we talk about it every week on Friday mornings as part of our morning routine. And when the kids are having a vision of something positive that guides us, that helps us create that strong structure.

[05:57]

And because they are the ones who created it, They're strong by it. They are invested in it. They own the process. They own the results of that process. So that's the first step, establishing a strong sense of purpose so the kids know why they're in school. Many times that topic does not get discussed often enough or deeply enough.

[06:15]

And when the kids know that they are the driving force and, of course, we as teachers are there to guide them, then that takes us a long way. creating a type of culture where the kids will work hard, they will put forth effort. We emphasize training. We do spend the first four to six weeks roughly at the beginning of each school year going through the routines, procedures, and expectations, making sure the kids know what is expected of them, knowing how to do the things that we as teachers expect them to do in the classroom, and they're held accountable for that. So again, there's no softness in that the kids can do whatever they want. There's no lack of structure.

[06:48]

There's a strong structure that they're held accountable for, but it isn't controlling. It isn't punitive. It's combined with the sense of purpose that we create with our aim and our mission statement and the other steps in the book to help us create the type of culture where the kids are working hard, they are putting forth effort, but they don't need that extrinsic control because together we're building a culture where we are going in a direction toward our goals because we want to, not because somebody is making us.

[07:15] SPEAKER_02:

Well, Steve, I'm thinking about what we do at the beginning of the year to set up our classroom for success. And I think we often think through the routines and procedures that we need our class to have as adults. But what are some of students' needs that we need to consider in how we're setting up our classroom, how we're talking with students and setting expectations for the year? What needs of students do you have in mind as you begin the year?

[07:40] SPEAKER_00:

Sure. I feel very fortunate at the very beginning of my career to have been turned on to William Glasser's The Quality School, which is one of the top three or four most influential teaching books that I've ever read. And he talks a lot about creating the type of environment I've been talking about, where the kids feel ownership of what they're doing, where things feel good. Producing quality work feels good. They don't feel controlled by rewards or punishments. They feel like they are the driving force of what happens in the classroom.

[08:08]

And Glasser writes, that people are always working to satisfy five basic needs, the need for survival, power, friendship, fun, and freedom. Now, it doesn't mean that we turn school into summer camp and just play games all day long so the kids can have fun. But it does mean that it's effective to keep these needs in mind so that rather than having their needs thwarted throughout the day, which leads to frustration and discipline situations, we want the kids to feel like they are in a quote unquote need satisfying environment where their need for friendship is honored by having a chance to work cooperatively and having chances to talk throughout the day with their friends on academic topics like doing turn and talks during academic lessons so that we're not asking the kids to sit quietly for too long because that's going to thwart their need for friendship. Or the kids need to make choices about their learning.

[09:00]

They have that need for power. And one way we can provide that is by giving them extensive choice about what and how they learn academic material and how they show their understanding of academic material. So those five needs are the beginning. But then there are also the physiological needs, like the need for hydration, for example. So as teachers, we allow the kids to have water bottles in the class and we want them to fill them up during their free time so it doesn't become distracting or disruptive. But we understand that they had that need and the need for exercise.

[09:31]

So there's ways to build movement in throughout the day, the need for nutrition. So we talk with the kids and their parents at the back to school night and other times during the year to help the kids learn to make healthy food choices because that makes such a difference in their lives. So the combination of Glasser's needs plus the basic human physiological needs that we have, we want to be sure that we are doing what we can to create a need satisfying environment so the kids aren't getting frustrated and they're not spending time thwarting what we're trying to do in order to meet their needs because we're not giving them a chance to do that. That's part of what we do proactively.

[10:07] SPEAKER_02:

Well, Steve, one of the things you emphasize in the book, and I know you've emphasized throughout your career as a teacher, is the importance of student goal setting. What do you do with your students to help them set goals that are meaningful to them and that they can work toward throughout the year?

[10:21] SPEAKER_00:

I think if you talk to any teacher, they will tell you how important goal setting, reflection, and self-evaluation are. The issue with these is time. There's so much on our plates as teachers that sometimes things that we value tend to get put on the back burner. And I think those are three of them. So in the book, I describe a variety of written and oral ways to, if formal, informal ways to bring goal setting, reflection, self-evaluation in the classroom. So a goal setting specifically, that's a very powerful one because everything I've read tells me that the number one way to initiate human action is to set a goal.

[10:59]

So ideally, we'd have the time in class to set written goals, share it with other people, because when you share it with others, you're more likely to do it since you're holding yourself accountable that way. And then we'd follow up at regular intervals. But sometimes we just don't have the time to do that. So the main written form of goal setting that happens is at our parent conferences a couple months into the school year. At the meeting, parents, me, and the kids, and I know it's not everywhere where the kids attend the meetings with the parents, but I could not have a parent conference without the students there because I think their presence is necessary for many reasons. But after we talk about the academic work, after we go through other quote-unquote whole child aspects of the conference, We talk about character, work habits, social skills.

[11:44]

It's all on the table during that conference. We end the meeting by setting three goals that we think will make the biggest difference for the kids over the next few months. So we will write down three goals. Then I encourage them to type them up or write them down on their own and either put them on their desk, put them on a bulletin board or refrigerator or some more prominent at home. And then develop a chart or some form of self-evaluation sheet that the kids will use, again, either at the end of the day or throughout the day at school and at home, and then talk about the goals with the parents, because that's where the growth happens. It's setting them, first of all, but then to make sure that we don't forget about the goals right after the meeting.

[12:27]

We have conversations with somebody at home on a daily basis at first, and then maybe a weekly basis after that. So these ideas stay in the kid's mind and Their commitment to reaching them stays strong. And I find that the kids and parents who take that process seriously make tremendous progress from October, November when we have the meetings through February over those next few months. That's really a golden period of the school year. We also do some of the written goals at the beginning of the year when we're establishing our identity as readers. We'll set some reading goals and we'll post them and we'll share those.

[13:01]

But a lot of the goal setting is done orally or it's done independently and quietly. We do a four-part morning movement routine each day. And the last part of the routine is something called hookup position, which comes from the brain gym program. And while the kids are standing in this position, I ask them to set a goal for the day. And that's a nice chance to be proactive because many times when teachers talk about behavior with kids, it's after something negative happens and the kids feel like they're being put on the spot for something that they just got caught doing. But if we do it in the beginning...

[13:30]

It gives us a chance to plant a seed. So if I'm standing in hookup position, the day just started and I know that I have trouble keeping eye contact with the teacher or with the board during an instructional lesson, a good goal would be I will be a great listener today or I will make great eye contact with the speaker today. So I encourage the kids to identify the areas that they know are not yet their strengths and focus on those because it's very easy to hide from those areas or pretend that they don't exist. But part of the culture that I'm trying to develop is meant to foster continuous improvement. And that can only happen when we know what we need to work on and we set that as our goal and we think about it throughout the day. So that's an example of a very quick, private, informal way of setting goals.

[14:11]

So things like that throughout the year. There are a few others mentioned in the book. But that combination of formal, informal, written and oral throughout the year helps the kids develop the habit of goal setting and reflection, which connects to what I said earlier about the idea of empowering the kids means that we help them internalize these ideas so that they can take those ideas with them when they leave school for the day and when they finish with us at the end of the year.

[14:35] SPEAKER_02:

Well, and I love that you're doing a couple of things that I think are very unusual in our profession. You're involving students in parent-teacher conferences, which I know is, you know, there's a movement to do that, but I think it's still not as widespread as it should be. And you're also involving parents in the goals that students set in the classroom. And I think often we try to take care of that solely at the classroom level and don't even really involve parents other than at report card time or you know when we're sharing data at the end of the year so i love the involvement there between parents and students in things that are traditionally handled separately and i think that's so powerful in terms of how we help students set goals and reflect on them and evaluate their progress toward them i've always believed that a successful school year involves a three-way partnership between teachers parents and students we all have to have an important seat at the table and one of the 10 steps is actually a chapter on parent involvement

[15:28] SPEAKER_00:

Many people might say, why is there a chapter on parent involvement in a classroom management book? And it's because a lot of these ideas are not what are traditionally done in the classroom with the goal setting and the habits and the intrinsic motivation emphasis. And parents need to know about that. Parents need to be aware of what we're doing in class so they can reinforce it at home. And then teachers need to be aware of what's happening at home. And parents are in the best position to provide that information.

[15:53]

So there has to be an open, trusting relationship built and maintained and strengthened throughout the year for the kids to have the best school year possible.

[16:03] SPEAKER_02:

So the book is 10 Steps to Empowering Classroom Management, Build a Productive Cooperative Culture Without Using Rewards. Steve, thanks so much for joining me again on Principal Center Radio. If people want to find you online and check out your website, where can they go?

[16:18] SPEAKER_00:

Sure. Well, first of all, thank you for having me. It's always great to talk with you. My website is simply my Full name, one connected word, SteveRiefman.com. Would love to connect with you on Twitter at Steve Riefman.

[16:29]

And then I also have a Teaching the Whole Child Facebook page. So any of those ways would be wonderful to connect with people.

[16:36] SPEAKER_02:

Steve, I really appreciate your work and appreciate the opportunity to speak with you again for Principal Center Radio.

[16:41] SPEAKER_01:

Thank you very much. You have a great day. And now, Justin Bader on high-performance instructional leadership.

[16:48] SPEAKER_02:

So high performance instructional leaders, what did you take away from my conversation with Steve Reifman about empowering classroom management? One thing I really appreciate about Steve's perspective is his understanding of what it takes to create the kind of classroom that is student-focused, that is that kind of Danielson level four distinguished practice, where students are taking responsibility, where students are holding each other accountable, working toward their own goals. Those things that we want to happen, but that feel maybe a little bit out of reach. I think Steve's career has been one in which he has done a remarkable job of creating that kind of environment and figuring out what it takes, including some things that are not normally a part of our opening of school practice of establishing a classroom environment. He does things like establishing not just rules and procedures, but a purpose.

[17:39]

And I've been talking with Steve for many years about how he does that. And I think this new book, 10 Steps to Empowering Classroom Management, is his best exposition yet of how he does that. So I really want to encourage you to check this book out, share it with your teachers, and help your staff think through, how do we establish purpose? How do we figure out what our students need from us and what they truly want to work toward? And how can we create that kind of environment in every classroom in our school?

[18:08] Announcer:

Thanks for listening to Principal Center Radio. For more great episodes, subscribe on our website at principalcenter.com slash radio.