Teaching Responsibility: Delegating Authority and Rewarding Good Behavior

Teaching Responsibility:

Delegating Authority and Rewarding Good Behavior

By Jill Jenkins

            Every day I walk my dogs, Rufus and Bubba, behind an elementary school near my house just at morning recess.  The children are busy running in circles, climbing on the equipment and playing ball.  When the bell rings, they drop their balls and run to line up leaving the lawn littered with balls, coats and bicycles.  Are these students learning to be responsible?  Completing a task from the beginning to the end is an essential skill to becoming a successful adult; however, 41 percent of the college freshmen will never complete a degree (National Center for Educational Statistics).  Furthermore, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 5.1 million hires in October, but there were 4.8 million persons who left their job (“Job Opening and Labor Turnover Statistics”).   To become a successful adult, students need to learn to complete tasks. Shouldn’t teachers be teaching their students to complete what they start? How should we teach students to be responsible?

            There is a simple solution for the teachers at the elementary school near my house: delegate authority.  If your students sit at tables, appoint one student as playground equipment monitor.  These monitors are equipped with a clipboard with a list of their team names and a box of balls, jump ropes or whatever equipment your class needs for recess.  As students select their equipment, the monitor records the item..  At the end of recess, each student collects his items, returns them to their monitor to be checked off.  If a student fails to return his equipment, he is required to retrieve it. The first group that successfully collects all of  equipment is rewarded by being the first group to line up for lunch.  This means at the end of recess all of the equipment are safely returned to the class.  The students learn to be responsible for their own equipment, and they learn to be a leader (as the job of playground equipment monitor is rotated through the group). The school saves money of purchasing new playground equipment every year.  Everyone wins.

            This same procedure can be applied to problem of “No Name Papers” if you teach in a middle school or a high school.  When I began teaching I used to pass out papers, and when I came to the ‘No Name Papers,” I would announce, “These were the students who cared so little for their work that they hadn’t even bothered to put their name on their assignment.”  Then I would rip the papers in half and deposit them in the garbage can.  All of the students who had not put their name on their paper would scurry to the trash can, retrieve them and try to tape them back together so they could resubmit them for credit.  I was a called into the principal’s office and read the “riot act” because parents had complained that I was treating their children too harshly.  As a result, I began hanging all of the “No Name Papers” on the bulletin board.  What I discovered was that students who already had credit for an assignment were identifying papers as theirs and trying to double-dip on credit.  Disgusted by their lack of honesty, I invented a third way: I delegated.  I arranged my room into small groups of students and assigned one student to be “the line leader.”  The “line leader's” responsibilities included collecting the three or four members’ papers and checking for names.  If a paper had no name, it was his/her job to ask that student to write his name on his paper, because “Friends don’t let friends turn in No Name Papers.”  They put their papers into a folder and I collected the ten folders from the line leaders.  When I corrected the papers, I put them back into the same folder.  This meant that instead of handing out 40 separate papers, I passed back ten folders to the line leaders who distributed the papers to their group.  This dramatically decreased the number of No Name Papers and made distributing handouts, and corrected papers less time consuming. That means more time for instruction which is a more effective use of time.  Everyone wins.

            One of my fellow teachers suggested we take it a step further and use the method to increase learning.  We were teaching Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.  Each student had a novel checked out to him, but many would not bring them to class, participate in discussion or complete any of the in class or at home reading.  We called each group of students to a ship. The members of each group had to elect a captain, name their ship and color a picture of their ship recording the names of the group on the ships’ illustration.  Each day, the captain of the ship would determine if each member of his crew had his/her book.  If each student was prepared with his book, the captain was rewarded with a self-adhesive jewel that I had purchased at Oriental Trading Company that he adhered to his ship picture.  Each day the student would be given a short five to six question quiz on the assigned reading. After we corrected the quizzes in class, the captain collected them in his manila folder.  If every member of his crew had correctly answered all of the questions, the captain was rewarded with another self-adhesive jewel to adhere to his ship.  At the end of the unit, the three ninth grade teachers threw a party for all of the ninth grade students.  All of the teachers and students dressed like pirates and played games, ate popcorn and drank lemonade.  The students in each “ship” who had the most adhesive jewels on their ship for that class period were invited to the Treasure Chest to select a prize from the pirates’ treasure.  The pirate chest and treasure also came from Oriental Trading Company.  The treasure not only included plastic toys, but also lollipops.  As a result more students came prepared and the test scores were amazing because the rewards were small, but frequent. 

            Delegating small positions of authority to students teaches them to accept responsibility, it creates a feeling of community between students and it improves their leaning.  Rewarding them for successful completing these small tasks will help them associate a positive feeling with responsible acts.  Students care what their peers think of them.  They don’t want to let their friends down.  Use that to help students accept responsibility whether it is picking up their recess balls, writing their names on their assignments, bringing their books to class, or doing well on quizzes. 

Two Ways to Build Comaraderie in Your School

 By Jill Jenkins

Most schools today need to collaborate in departments to cover the new curriculum of the common core, they need to collaborate as a school to make certain computer labs, library and other resources are shared by all equally, and they need to collaborate as a school to make sure that students needs and problems are properly addressed.  Since teachers often are highly independent with strong personalities, they are attracted to teaching because the concept of running their own class appeals to them.  To command thirty to forty students requires an assertive personality.  The task of the administration is to take these strong willed individuals and help them work collaborative in teams.  How do they do this?

One more technique is to take all of your staff to a lodge in the mountains and give them in-services classes at a retreat.  It is highly effective because away from the day-to-day problems in a school, teachers can renew their dedication with a new vision. Furthermore, the retreat can serve to improve the school. If that is your goal have the faculty identify five to ten areas that school needs to improve upon: attendance, test scores, morale, etc. Divide the faculty into task force teams comprised of teachers from a variety of disciplines who identify and suggest an action plan to solve a problem or improve a situation.  They present their suggestions to the entire staff who vote on implementation of the their solution.  The staff then has ownership of the problems and solutions in the school and can not blame the administration.  Throughout the school year, the task force teams meet to evaluate progress and make adjustments to the implemented programs  The advantage of taking your team off campus is when the staff is not working on solving problems, they should be enjoying social activities together like dining or taking a dip in the pool. Playing and working together helps create a team. The positive side of this solution is it forces the school to work collaboratively to solve problems; thereby, the entire school takes ownership of the problems and the solutions.  This should reduce blaming the administration for problems in the school.  The downside is it is expensive.  If you have a large corporation or a benefactor who is willing to flip the bill, go for it, but for most schools that is far beyond the means.  What is a cheaper alternative?

One method is to create a faculty assembly.  Any coach will tell you that having a common goal that requires the cooperative effort of all of the players does more than win a game; it creates a family.  When the success of the project requires the interactive cooperation of all team, everyone benefits.  I know that it is possible to throw together an assembly with individual acts of the five faculty members who really have talent: singing, dancing, and playing a musical instrument.  That is not the kind of assembly that building cooperative attitudes. 

  Silly acting scenes and musical numbers that involve as many teachers, counselors and administrators as possible will earn more bang for the buck.  First, if the teachers are having fun together, they will enjoy working together.  Second, if the teachers are being silly, the students will have an opportunity to see their teachers as people. That will improve their relationship with their teachers.  Third, working under a deadline, will demonstrate to the staff that they can create something as a team. For example, the two pictures above and below depict a scene of an unruly classroom and an incompetent substitute teacher. The cast is comprised of teachers from a variety of departments, counselors and administrators. Working outside the comfort of the individual departments builds cooperative attitudes.

If you want to build cooperation within each department, have each department create a presentation. Some example include: by the Language Arts Department: "Lame Excuses", and "Accelerated Reading in Rap" and from the Counseling Department: "Planking".  One year the Language Arts teachers collected excuses that their students had used during the year.  Then, three teachers wearing black clothing and black berets read the excuses like Poets of the Beat Generation:

LAME EXCUSES

 

 

Megan: Our lives are so busy; our lives are so full

Is it any wonder we have time for assignments or school.

Becca: It wasn’t my fault.

Jill: I didn’t know we turned it in.

  Megan: I finished a few days ago, but I forgot to turn it in.

  Becca: I am not sure why, but please, I need the credit.

  Jill: I completely forgot because I was absent way back when we did this.

  Megan: Mi es mui perezosa.

  Becca: I didn’t want to do it. Much rather read.

  Jill: I didn’t know it was missing.

  Megan: My mom grounded me from doing homework!

  Becca: It wasn’t finished when it was due
Jill: I was a slacker.

  Megan: I suck and will end up flipping burgers.

  Becca: Well, my dog ate it.

  Jill: I lost it, and then I found it!

  Megan: I was booked this weekend.

  Becca: I got mauled by a zebra while on an African Safari.

  Jill: I am a very lazy person.

  Megan: I left it to the last day.

  Becca: I lost my paper in my backpack.

  Jill: You didn’t tell me I had to have my reading chart signed.

  Megan: My printer wasn’t working.

  Becca: My computer crashed.

  Jill: Don’t know.

  Megan: I got into a ninja fight with Chuck Norris, and I won!

  Becca: It caught me off guard.

  Jill: I forgot about it, and I hardly had time because of football.

  Megan: Just plain late!

  Becca: I forgot it was due, so I hurried and tried to finish it…but I didn’t.

  Jill: Abducted by aliens.

  Megan: I.D.K.

  Becca: I had to help Batman save the world.

  Jill: I was really busy this week.

  Megan: No idea.

  Becca: Shrug

  Jill: Stolen notebook.

  Megan: Bahhh!!

  Becca: I wanted to!

  Jill: I think I forgot to turn it in.

  Megan: I turned it in, and now it’s gone!

  Becca: I was helping my mom with the dishes.

  Jill: Didn’t work hard enough to finish.

  Megan: I don’t even know! It was an off day.

  Becca: My locker won’t open.

  Jill: My mom lost my reading log.

  Megan: But my mother signed this reading chart.

  Becca: My mom cleaned out my backpack.

  Jill: I left it in my locker.

  Megan: Was I suppose to have this signed?

  Becca: My locker is broken.

  Jill: Last night, I couldn’t do it because I’m really busy.  I had to go to practice.  I had to eat dinner.  I had LaCrosse and . . .

  Megan: I don’t know.

  Becca: Your web pages says it isn’t due until tomorrow.

  Jill: But I felt sick yesterday.

  Megan: My clothes got stolen.

  Becca: Someone jacked my folder.

  Jill: I forgot.   Can I have another day?

  Megan: I put it in my binder and now its not there.

  Becca: It’s because we can’t have backpacks.

  Jill: My grandmother is in the hospital.  Can I have another day?

  Megan: It is due today?

  Becca: There was a football game on T.V. last year.

  Jill: I don’t have to do this because I was at Mesa.

  Megan: I don’t have to do this because I was at orchestra…so I’m excused.

  Becca: My printer was out of ink.

  Jill: My internet was down.

  Megan: I forgot my my-access username.

  Becca: I’m not allowed to use my computer at my home.

   Jill: It won’t work on my computer.

  Mega: I turned it in and you lost it.

  Becca: It’s March Madness.

  Jill: Do you have any no name?

  Megan: I was absent and you didn’t give it to me.

  Becca: You gave the assignment a month ago, but I was absent yesterday.

  Jill: I know I was absent one of those days.

  Megan: I didn’t know.  You didn’t tell me. 

  Becca: So, I can’t see the board from my desk.

  Jill: You didn’t tell us when it was due.

  Megan: You didn’t remind me yesterday.

  Becca: Why do we have to do this anyway?

  Jill: I lost my book?

  Mega: It wasn’t my phone.

  Becca: My third period teacher took it.

Jill: Is there any extra credit I can do?

Megan: How can I get my C to an A?

Becca: I didn’t know it was a test.

Jill: Can we retake this test?

Megan: I am really sad that I can’t make it to class, but can I still take the AR test.

Megan, Becca and Jill: What assignment?

Caleb:  Suck it up, Princess.

     Students love hearing their own words recited as poetry by their-not-so-shy teachers.  However, it is even better if all of the members of the department take an active part in the production as in the next two creations.

Another successful creation was "Accelerated Reading in Rap."  This was written by one of the teachers, Mrs. Larsen and her brother who recorded the lyrics.  The rest of department participated in the filming and I edited it together. 

 

 Capitalizing on what is trending is another way to increase your students' interest in the assembly and can be fun for the staff members.  The following movie was created by the counseling staff at my school with their secretaries: "Planking"

     Whether your school decides to use technology to enhance your assembly or present it on stage, the students will love it and the faculty and staff will develop a strong bond.  This spring before you begin your testing, you might want to give your students and staff a chance to bond by creating a faculty assembly.

     If you want to increase your staff's social interaction at a retreat or something as silly as a faculty assembly, you will increase their ability to be an effective team. If you have the time and the money to do more than one kind of teaming activity, the effect will even be greater.  These types of activities may seem like a huge waste of time to some teachers, but the reality is that a school that does not function as a team will pull itself apart.  Teachers will transfer to other school because they are not happy. The academic program will not be as strong as it could be when teachers are sharing and cooperating with each other. Try building your school community through activities that require the entire staff to cooperate with each other.  

.

Student Support System for Emotional Stability

Student Support System for Emotional Stability

By Jill Jenkins

                Students’ emotional development is key to their academic development.  Although schools provide academic support for all students and a systematic system of support for special education students and students with a 504 designation, it does not provide a systematic support system for all students.   Many students who could qualify for additional support don’t receive it because their parents are not informed about the procedures or the services available.  Many students don’t receive support because they appear to be doing satisfactory in school.  Schools need a systematic method to help young teachers identify students who need additional academic or emotional support. According to “Witnessing Violence Fact Sheet” by Joanne Davis Ph.D., and Ernestine Briggs Ph.D 3.3 million to ten million children have witnessed domestic violence.    According to the C.D.C.,  “in 2012, a total of 305,388 babies were born to women aged 15–19 years .” Likewise, according to Teen-Help.com, 20% of all teens will suffer depression.  All of these students are at-risk; yet we fail to offer the support most of them need.  How do we provide all students the support they need to function both emotionally and academically?

                Some students who need assistance have the wherewithal to simply ask for it.  For example, Sara, a former students told me that she had been sexually abused by her father and had been removed from her home and placed in a foster home.  She didn’t want help for herself --even though I am sure she needed it-- but for a sister who was still living with her biological parents.  Students never approach a stranger about something this delicate.  They will ask a trusted educator, so it becomes the job of that educator to become a liaison between them and the social worker or counselor.  That was the role I played.  In another similar instance, LaDetra, a student in one of my A.V.I.D. classes, told me about how her biological mother had forced her to perform sexual acts with strange men at age eleven to enhance her mother’s ability to get illegal drugs.  Later, her mother had abandoned her and three younger siblings for a month.  With no food in the house, and no money to pay the rent, this young girl had called an aunt who had located each of the children’s biological fathers and placed them in homes across the county.  LaDetra was concerned for the welfare of her siblings.  I introduced her to a counselor who contacted her family and together they were able to get her counseling and help contacting each of her siblings.  Another student, Brian, told me that he had no friends, and was planning to kill himself.  I wasted no time in calling his mother.  Thirty years later, he called me at home and thanked me for saving his life because he was planning to kill himself after school that day.  Because his mother took him to counseling, he hadn’t.  His life turned out to be wonderful after he had gotten through that dark period.   Take students seriously and do not waste time getting them help. 

                Sometimes as an educator, you just need to be sounding board for a student.  For example, Denise, a student whose parents had recently divorced was upset that she still loved her father and his wife even though she knew her father was having an affair with his current wife which caused her parents’ divorce.  Relationships are confusing to adults, so imagine what they are like to children.  Children who feel comfortable with a teacher often use them as a support system to work out problems, but teachers need training to know what to say to students who come to them for help and lists of professionals to connect students with for the professional help they need.  Students who have witnessed gang violence are often like soldiers who are haunted by their war experiences.  For example, Dashawn, a former student, described his horror as he watched his brother shot down in the streets.  He wanted to leave his life in gangs, but feared for his own life and the lives of his other family members.  Suffering this kind of duress can make it difficult for a student to perform well in school, but it is a reality that many students face every day.   

                Most students do not have the skill or the self-assurance to ask for help directly, so teachers need to be aware of signs that they are asking for help.  Often students will write about a problem in their journal writing or in an assignment.  For instance, I had asked my student to write a letter saying goodbye to someone or something in their life, an assignment connected to a chapter in Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine.  One of my students, Anita, wrote a goodbye letter to her parents who had recently died from A.I.D.S..  The letter was so touching that I contacted her family.  She was living with her God-Parents who had only met her a few months earlier.  Her new mother told me that the letter had opened up a flood of emotions and she was glad that Anita had an opportunity to let some of her emotions free.  In another instance, I had given my classes an assignment to write a short story, the culminating activity of our Short Story Unit.  Benita, a student in my class, produced a story filled with violence directed inward and at others.  I took the story to our school counselor who shared it with her parents.  Benita was suicidal and they found her appropriate counseling.   Other students demonstrate their emotional instability by acting out or withdrawing.  Students who teacher might perceive as discipline problems are actually crying out for help.  Others may dress in large coats and pull their heads in like turtles disappearing from the world.  This is also a cry for help.

                Still when I reflect on my early days of teaching, I realize there were a lot of red flags that I missed.  Take Hector who in 7^th grade was willfully disobedient of rules.  In 8^th grade he brought a gun and bullets to school and was expelled.  At twenty-one he brought another gun into a pub and killed six people.  Maybe if the school had given him counseling when he was just willfully disobedient he could have been saved a life spent in prison and six lives might have been saved.  In another instance, Joey, who could act the most believable scenes of spousal abuse in my improvisational theater class, may not have strangled his wife and one other woman if I had recognized that his talent for creating believable improvisational scenes about domestic violence was actually a cry for help. Students with shattered emotional lives need teachers to recognize their cries and help them.

                To help all of our students to learn and function in school, teachers must be aware of their cries for help. Training must be provided for teachers to be able to recognize the signs.  Furthermore, we need to open communication between teachers, parents, counselors, and the school administration.  Teachers will be the first to notice problems so they need to know the signs of depression and anxiety.  They need to know who they should contact to best help the child and they need to understand that seeking the help of a counselor, a parent, or an administrator is not demonstrating their ignorance; it is demonstrating their strength.