All in Their Head!- Brain-Based Classroom Management

Over the time that I have been in education, there has been a concentrated push to incorporate the latest in brain research and neuroscience into curriculum design. It is REALLY smart to do so. The benefits are bountiful for teachers, from student engagement in content and skills to varying assessment techniques that truly identify student strengths and opportunities for growth. Neuroscience has advanced educational practice and has had a tremendous impact on best practices in pedagogy.

A noticeable gap exists in how neuroscience is applied to classroom management, however. This includes sharing rationale behind classroom management techniques with the parent constituency to help further understanding of tactics used to manage student behaviors. For example, Project-Based Learning has been implemented into classrooms all over the country as a way to engage student interests and vary assessment, but do classroom practices around student seating reflect the same application of brain-based principles?

The Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) has wonderful resources for middle school educators. Once such resource is the research summary published back in 2014 of work completed by Micki Caskey and, the late, Vincent A. Anfara, Jr. entitled Developmental Characteristics of Young Adolescents. This work breaks down adolescent development into numerous categories, including physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual, psychological, and social-emotional. This resource includes not only details pertaining to research findings, but also implications for educational practice.

Warning: Hoity-Toity Brain Stuff Ahead

One of the key pieces of info in this resource is around prefrontal cortex development. The prefrontal cortex is the reasoning center for the brain, and it is going through tremendous change during adolescence. This growth and change doesn't stop until the early to mid twenties in the average human being. Therefore the adolescent brain, in some instances, uses the amygdala for reasoning functions. The amygdala is the part of the brain that commands some instinctual responses in human beings- think fight-or-fight response. This occurs because the amygdala has gone through the overwhelming majority of its development by the time adolescence occurs. The implication is that adolescents are hard-wired to react, instinctually, without going through the same reasoning process that adults go through prior to making a decision.

For example, a 13 year old knows that class starts in one minute and doesn't want to be late. The 13 year old runs to class knowing that, instinctually, running gets one to a destination faster than walking. As an adult, one could be in a similar situation and consider running to the destination. The prefrontal cortex in the adult reasons that a quick survey of the hallway is a good idea prior to running. The adult surveys the hallway and notices the signs that the floors are newly waxed and reconsiders. The amygdala in the 13 year old decided that running was the best option and the kiddo starts running, only noticing the signs after slipping and falling onto the ground.

SO, whats the point- connect this to classroom management, already!

As educators, we must remember that our adolescents are not hardwired to make decisions the same way that adults are. Classroom expectations that are grounded in punitive consequences for student mistakes do not yield consistent behaviors in all students. One saying that I have used for years is: "I did not get into education to crucify, decapitate, or incarcerate. I got into it to teach!"

Knowing that students are developing as reasoners, ground classroom management in routine and process, making sure to explain the rationale to students. Classroom management strategies are teaching opportunities to help budding adolescent reasoners. Most adolescents will not consistently understand the "why?" behind a process. This may not be intuitive for students. Make question and discussion a part of explaining classroom management techniques. Engage students in dialogue about the rationale behind classroom expectations. This includes explaining that behaviors are choices and that these choices result in positive and negative consequences. This engagement helps adolescent prefrontal cortex development.

It is also important to give consistent feedback as students carry out classroom management strategies. Reinforce correct behaviors with positive affirmation. This, again, helps prefrontal cortex development in students. Also, adolescent brains are hardwired to be more enthused by praise than adults brains (this is a part of prefrontal cortex development, as well).

When a behavior is incorrect, consistently correct this behavior and follow through with appropriate consequences as outlined during discussion of classroom expectations. If a student consistently is not meeting your expectations, ramping up the severity of the consequence may not yield the desired behavioral change. Rather, engage the adolescent in dialogue and ensure that the student clearly understands the process and rationale behind the expectation. You can even have the student, where appropriate, practice by modeling the expectation so that feedback can be offered in an intimate setting.

When it comes to managing classroom behaviors, remember that, as educators, we must use our brains...and understand our student's brains, as well.

Check out my YouTube channel: Chaka Cummings (The Dedicated Educator). Also, find me on LinkedIn and check out some of my published articles on education.

No Smile Zone

During the new employee orientation sessions, when I first got into teaching, a veteran teacher spoke to my group of educators about classroom management. The vet shared a philosophy with those of us new to the profession that was believed to be beneficial. The advice- "Don't let the students see you smile until Thanksgiving." The rationale was simple: if the students think that the teacher is a softy, they will take advantage of the niceness. According to this philosophy, teachers are better off being tough disciplinarians and loosening the reigns as the school year goes on then to show any perceived weakness that the students will take advantage of early and then try to toughen up.

Hearing this advice, my first thought was that there is a logical fallacy at the core of this line of thinking. The fallacy is in the concept that best practices in classroom management fluctuated between being tough in one moment and loosening up in other moments. The best educators, in my experience, were consistent- always themselves in terms of personality and consistent in classroom behavioral expectations. Consistency is key; everyday, students know what to expect and adjust accordingly- classic Harry Wong First Days of School philosophy.

Smiling is not a sign of weakness; neither is niceness, or compassion, or empathy. These are natural human emotions. Caring shows strength- the strength to move out of your comfort zone and to place the needs of someone else before your own. The best teachers know that it is possible to both care and set consistent classroom expectations. Those same teachers also know that at the core of engaging students in the content is establishing a relationship that fosters student "care", whether the student cares about the content being taught or the student cares about the person delivering the content and engages because of this relationship.

"Before the students care about what you know, they have to know that you care."

John Stephens, one of my mentors in education, used to say to new middle school faculty at Fort Worth Country Day, "before the students care about what you know, they have to know that you care." This philosophy speaks to relationship building as a vehicle for best-practice teaching and classroom management. 

Most academic content is abundantly Google-albe. Content expertise is still a valued asset of a teacher, but content isn't king. The best teachers engage students relationally as a vehicle to teach content and skills. If a student believes that a teacher is rooting for their success and cares about their well-being, then that student can be stretched, academically, and will fulfill classroom expectations, behaviorally. The student does not want to disappoint the teacher in this relationship. The teacher is able to best support the student toward achieving successes.

It is hard to get to know students. Like any persons, students may be guarded. Teachers should be their authentic selves. It is easy to maintain consistency this way, because the teacher simply has to be genuine rather than maintaining a false sense of authoritarianism. 

Showcasing some of your personality in class makes it easier for students to open up and share a bit of their own. I am a sports nut- so I share this with my students and the students share their athletic passions with me. I am also a comic book junky. I share this with my students and the students reciprocate by sharing their passion for comics, or superheroes, or students connect my passion to their passion for drawing, or reading, or movies. 

As the adult in the room, teachers set the tone for acceptable behavior. If a teacher is openly willing to share personality traits and passions, the classroom becomes a safe space for everyone to share, and makes the likelihood of finding that relational connection to students all the more probable. 

Consistency is key. Be you! Smile everyday, if it is genuine. Bring your most authentic self to the classroom and show students that "care" has a place in the classroom.

Please leave comments if you have questions or need further clarification.

Check out my YouTube channel: Chaka Cummings (The Dedicated Educator). Also, find me on LinkedIn and check out some of my published articles on education.

The Value of "...OOPS!"

Coach Herman Boone demanded perfection of his football players in, my favorite movie, Remember the Titans.

"We will be perfect in every aspect of the game. You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, and I will break my foot off in your John Brown hind parts... and then you will run a mile! Perfection. Let's go to work. "

I love the quotability of this line! The longer I am in middle school education, though, I realize that I don't love the message.

Perfect is a hard measure, especially for adolescents that are hardwired to make mistakes.

My former Head of Middle School, John Stephens, introduced me to an article titled A Safe Place to Fail by Corbett Simons (the former Head of Middle School at Metairie Park Country Day School in Louisiana). It detailed the mindset that educators and parents must have with adolescents; we must provide a safe space for exploration, knowing that not all of the endeavors tackled by adolescents will be successful.

Knowing this to be the case, middle school educators must be focused on teaching adolescents how to bounce back from their mistakes. I describe this process in 3 steps.

Own what you've done in the past
When one messes up, no matter what has been done, one must own their part. Own all of it. Own the feelings and emotion around the mistake. It is okay to mess up because no one is perfect. Many times, this means a difficult conversation for an adolescent. As the adult, it is our job to make this conversation as easy as possible, recognizing that this step in the process of bouncing back from a mistake, many times, is the most difficult.

Make it right in the present
Once there is recognition of the mistake, then comes the time to begin the healing. Find a way to fix the mistake. It may involve manual labor, maybe an apology- the process of fixing the mistake is dictated by the mistake, itself. Adolescents must understand that this step is critical to the rehabilitation for those impacted by the mistake. This can be difficult, as well. This step requires vulnerability. However, in creating this vulnerability, healing is allowed to commence for all stakeholders impacted by the mistake.

Learn to not repeat the same mistake in the future
Putting lessons into practice is evidence of true learning. Adolescents are used to this practice, academically. This concept works similarly in the case of bouncing back from a mistake. Adolescents need the opportunity to prove that the experience of the mistake was transformative. This occurs as behaviors are modified to ensure that the mistake is not repeated. That isn't to say that this happens instantly; an adolescent may need to go through this process a few times. It is the job of the adults to point out growth in behavioral changes as we see them and to positively reinforce the behaviors we wish to see, especially as they may relate to bouncing back from a misstep.

As the adults, we should model this process for adolescents. Adults make mistakes all the time, and these opportunities are great ones to showcase the appropriate mistake making process for adolescents. Bam! Radio Network has a great podcast entitled My Bad. This podcast is all about administrators in schools admitting mistakes that they have made, personally. The administrators, then, go on to tell the stories of the lessons learned from the mistakes and how growth has occurred, professionally, from these experiences. This is a great example of how we, as adults, can own our mistakes and model how our adolescents can manage their own missteps.

Grit and resiliency are developed in our adolescents through bouncing back from mistakes. This means that there is great power in the value of an "...OOPS!"

 Please leave comments if you have questions or need further clarification.

Check out my YouTube channel: Chaka Cummings (The Dedicated Educator). Also, find me on LinkedIn and check out some of my published articles on education.

Teach Students to Not Give a F...

Summer is a great time to catch up on reading. I have noticed that several of my friends on social media have been reading the New York Times best seller, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson. The title intrigued me, so I figured, why not pick it up and give it a shot?!

Now that I serve as a principal, I find that there are a greater number of opportunities to partner with a vast number of faculty and parents on helping students navigate adolescence. This book really hit on several lessons that I have shared with folks for years and that help parents and faculty ensure a positive adolescent experience for students.

Suffering serves a purpose

I have had lots of conversations with parents through the years about not rescuing children from every setback or mistake that occurs during adolescence. Imagine this scenario: your child forgets their homework at home. The child calls you to have you pick it up and bring it to school for them. If, as a parent, you comply, then that will not be your last trip to school to drop off homework, or gym clothes, or an instrument, or lunch. Our actions, as the adults, are always teaching adolescents what behaviors are okay or acceptable. There is a natural consequence that comes with forgetting a responsibility, and shielding students from this consequence runs counter to prefrontal lobe brain development (this is where reasoning occurs and it isn't fully developed in adolescents). It is in receiving a consequence that the brain wires itself to help students make appropriate decisions to avoid similar consequences in the future. If students are to develop resiliency and grit during adolescence, then recognize that suffering facilitates this growth. Students overcome the negative consequences to achieve a level of success.

Focus on your values

This world is fast-paced- especially for adolescents. Access to technology allows students to communicate faster, gather resources efficiently, and engage in learning in ways that were unimaginable a couple of decades ago. Media influences adolescent thinking and has evolved over time to reach students via numerous methods. By the way, there is still traditional peer pressure. There is a tremendous opportunity to assist adolescents to discover what is most important in life and to help students find purpose and meaning in actions, thoughts, and relationships. The adults needs to be consistent in delivering messages that support appropriate values, and our actions must match our words so that the adults become the model of virtue for our adolescents. The adults must also model appropriate mistake making, as this shows adolescents that failure is a natural part of life and our values must be applied consistently during the tough times, as well. When our students are in precarious moments when a decision is required, the hope is that the student will focus on appropriate values. This helps our students to allow the distractions to fall by the wayside and focus on what is most important when taking action.

Keep growing and learning

No one has all of the answers. Learning comes from recognizing how few answers one has and asking questions to further understanding. Stubbornly holding on to a perspective hampers growth and creates fixed mindsets in adolescents. The adults must work to to teach our adolescents that questioning is okay. Question everything; question the facts being taught, question the values being imparted, questions other's perspectives, as well your personal beliefs. It is in this questioning that a person seeks knowledge and gains wisdom. We must teach adolescents that it is okay to not know; not having an answer doesn't make one stupid, just human. The best questions don't necessarily have answers, the best questions may require one to ask more questions and, more deeply, engage in the process of learning.

Please leave comments if you have questions or need further clarification.

Check out my YouTube channel: Chaka Cummings (The Dedicated Educator). Also, find me on LinkedIn and check out some of my published articles on education.