Even a student-centered, Results Only Learning Environment has reluctant learners. In most cases, they are reluctant because they have been exposed to so many years of traditional teaching, which has made them believe school is boring and learning is not fun or necessary.
via eHow.com
Often, reluctant learners are resistant to even the freedom and engagement that a ROLE offers. The best way to engage these students is to interact with them often and work on building rapport.
Spare the rod
Teachers have to fight the immediate urge to discipline reluctant learners, who may also appear disruptive. They socialize more, leave their seats and resist completing class activities. I used to send these students to our Student Management Room, a euphemism for detention center.
My justification for using the SMR as a disciplinary tool was that reluctant learners were distracting the rest of my students from completing activities.
Now, as a results-only teacher, I realize that anytime a student is not in my classroom, she is losing an opportunity to develop a thirst for learning. Overcoming the years of conditioning that reluctant learners have received from traditional teachers is challenging.
The best way to "turn these kids around" is constant rapport-building. Reluctant learners do not readily view teachers as their friends. More likely they see teachers as authority figures, who only desire to control students.
I have found that when you show reluctant learners that you care, learning follows. What is your experience with reluctant learners?
Mark Barnes is an education author and consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.
So, I thought about this for some time, wondering how I might substantiate the assertion that in spite of having no rules and no consequences in my results-only classroom, there are very few behavior problems.
via: telegraph.co.uk
First, let me clarify what I mean by "no behavior problems." I mean "problems" in the traditional sense of word. In other words, I do not have major disruption -- students being disrespectful to me or peers, throwing objects across the room or fighting.
I get plenty of what some teachers consider discipline problems, however. My students are often out of their seats, chatting, chewing gum and even using electronic gadgets that may be banned in most classrooms.
Behavior issues are a matter of opinion
One thing that separates ROLE teachers from traditional teachers is how behavior is categorized. Teachers in favor of control will say that use of mobile devices or students talking and moving without permission are major discipline problems. The ROLE teacher embraces these behaviors, because the results-only classroom is a workshop setting that encourages autonomy and constant collaboration.
So, when someone is shocked to hear that I have no behavior issues, my first response is to suggest that my view of discipline is different from that of traditional teachers, who might argue that I have many problems, due to what they may perceive to be chaos.
Most disciplinary issues begin with bad teaching
In the past, I punished students for talking to peers, because I saw this as disruptive to the constant lecturing I was doing. When students refused to complete a task, I removed them from my room. What I didn't realize then was that the problem wasn't a disrespectful or disruptive student; it was a boring worksheet or textbook assignment, which did not offer autonomy or ignite a thirst for learning.
A couple of years ago, I polled students at the end of the school year about result-only learning strategies. One question was about behavior. I asked them why they believed there were never any discipline issues in class. Eighty-four percent reported that the ROLE encouraged a desire to learn over a desire to be disruptive.
Imagine how much learning would take place, if all of what you consider to be discipline problems vanished forever.
A remarkable turn of events occurred at my school recently, providing another excellent opportunity for coaching the autonomy and intrinsic motivation that is critical to the success of a Results Only Learning Environment. YouTube was made available to students. (Hopefully, it wasn't an accident.)
On this incredible day, I just happened to have my students in a computer lab, so we could work on our classroom web site. Throughout the day, the buzz about YouTube's availability had spread through the hallways, and it didn't take long for my students to discover this uncanny miracle.
As my 8th graders worked on their private web sites, creating new pages and links where they would place reading plans, novel reflections, projects and more, a student nervously asked if he could pull up a music video and play it in the background, underneath his classroom web site, while he worked. Every student within earshot craned his or her neck and waited silently, eager to hear my response.
"Of course, you can," I nodded, shrugging off what the students perceived to be a crazy request.
I told him in a voice that all students could hear that I was interested in the results. "I need you to watch the video I created for today's lesson and to create two pages with accompanying links on your home page. Can you do this, while listening to music?" He promised me he could.
Moments later, half of the class was locating music videos on YouTube, clicking play, then lowering the YouTube pages to their desktops, so our classroom site could be the focus of their attention.
The day couldn't have gone better, as all students completed the objectives, while shaking their heads and tapping their fingers to the beat.
With only a few minutes left, as they returned their headphones to me, I explained that YouTube had previously been blocked to students, because many administrators and teachers don't trust students to make good decisions. "In a results-only classroom," I emphasized, "autonomy is king. If you can accomplish a task, why shouldn't you be able to do it comfortably? Just remember the responsibility that comes with this kind of freedom."
The message was clear, and I never saw so many smiles in one class in my career.
One of my favorite bloggers, the extremely bright Pernille Ripp, sparked some Twitter chatter with her recent post on classroom rules.
Ripp says that students already know the rules, and we don't need to quote them in our classrooms.
'"Isn't this your 6th year in school?" All nodded and starting to wake up a little. "Do you need me to explain the rules or can you tell me what they are?" With this, the buzzing started. That little bit of chatter that kids get involved in when they start to see the light. "We know the rules, I know how to act, we can set the rules...."'
Photo by: Trexglobal.com
Obviously, as a teacher in a Results Only Learning Environment, I am on board with this approach. It's a difficult one for many teachers to embrace, though.
When I tell colleagues that I have no classroom rules, they are shocked. For some reason, there is an obsession with posting a bunch of Do's and Dont's around the room in gigantic type size.
As Ripp suggests, students already know the rules, especially older kids who have had rules and consequences hammered into them year after year by every teacher with a whiteboard or poster and tape. So, why repeat them? Why not discuss what will make any class successful, instead? Why not allow the students to lead the conversation, like Ripp did.
"I gave my students a voice and let them lead and they showed me they already know. I am so excited for the rest of the year."
Give your students a voice, and you will be on your way to a problem-free classroom.
