Teachers reminded on how to keep safe, orderly classrooms

Over 30 local counselors were reminded of steps in achieving safer and orderly classrooms in the CNMI during the two-day Counselors’ Institute held at the Aqua Resort Club.

Public School System Special Education Behavior specialist Steve Nguyen presented 10 steps to a safe and orderly classroom last Saturday.

Nguyen said part of maintaining a safe and orderly classroom depends a lot on the behavior and attitude of counselors and teachers. He said they have to remain calm at all times.

“When you calmly inform the student of a consequence, it communicates that the misbehavior has no power to affect you,” he said.

Teachers and counselors should treat students with respect. He said teachers must always remember that they are the adults in the situation, so it is their task to do whatever they can to teach children to treat them with dignity and respect.

Nguyen said counselors must remember that hierarchy of consequences must use effective commands. He said most of the misbehaviors are actually minor infractions and advised that teachers only use severe consequences, like sending students to the office, when the infractions become major.

“Office referral is appropriate for severe problems,” he said, adding that minor problems like talking in class and other minor misbehaviors are not.

Nguyen said the paramount problem in the classroom is not discipline but lack of procedures and routines. He added that structuring and organizing the classroom is another step to a safe and orderly classroom. He said physical arrangements of the room, routines, policies and procedures, and others play important roles in an orderly classroom.

“The more parts of the classroom that you can design as regular predictable routines and well-structured settings, the fewer problems that you’re going to have,” he said.

Teaching expectations to children could also lead to a better environment in the classroom. Nguyen said teaching students acceptable behavior, that is what is expected of them, and the consequences, if they fall out of the expectations, are also important.

Frequent positive feedback to students could reinforce success in achieving a safe and orderly classroom. Nguyen said teachers should think about ways to motivate the students to cooperate.

On the objective of achieving positive behaviors in children, the teacher should correct them calmly, consistently and quickly. The behavior specialist said the teachers should have a plan whenever dilemmas occur.

The total of positive interactions compared to corrective interactions needs to be at least 3-to-1 with every student, said Nguyen.

“This demonstrates to students that you do not have to misbehave to get adult attention, and this adult is actively interested in me as person and noticing my successes,” he said.

When problems arise, Nguyen said, the only real failure would be to give up and to say, “I’ll never be able to change this kid’s behavior.”

He said setting high expectations and not giving up on children must be greatly considered.

Lastly, Nguyen said, good instruction and classroom management is the last step to achieve a safe and orderly classroom. He said classroom management is only part of an equation and the other part is good instruction.

“Educators who work with behaviorally challenging students often make the mistake of overlooking simple academic strategies that have been shown to shape student behavior in powerful and positive ways,” Nguyen said.