RECOVERY LEVEL
My philosophy focuses on a student centered classroom. For a student centered classroom to work, it is important to have student accountability and an engaging lesson plan. Sometimes the students can get a little off track and need a reminder of why they are in my classroom. Instead of pointing out the faults of the student to get them back on task, there are much more positive ways to handle situations like loss of focus. As chapter 9 points out, "the goal here is not to blame or shame students, but to engage support to maintain or re-engage responsible involvement in instruction and learning" (Villa, Thousand, Nevin 2010. pg 178). It is much better to have the student realize they are not on task, have them come to the conclusion that what they are doing is not the best use of their time, and recover on their own rather than drawing too much attention to the student.
Strategies
- Eye contact - sometimes all it takes to get a student back on task is "the teacher's look" (Villa, Thousand, Nevin 2010 pg 178)
- Proximity - one of the most effective reminders is just being by the student. I find if you are near the student, they will quickly get back on task. (Villa, Thousand, Nevin 2010 pg 178).
- Hand Signals - A quick point to the displayed rules (Villa, Thousand, Nevin 2010 pg 178).
- Review the rules - Sometimes it might take a class discussion to remind the students what is expected of them (Villa, Thousand, Nevin 2010 pg 178).
- Redirection - I quick ring of a bell or another signal which takes focus off the what task the students are doing and redirects it onto the teacher.
References
Villa, R.A. Thousand, J.S. & Nevin, A.I. (2010). Chapter 9: Students as Collaborators in Responsibility, Collaborating with Students in Instruction and Decision Making, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, p. 171-188.