At the start of the year, many of my students don’t know each other and jumping into academic discussions can be a bit jarring and anxiety-inducing for many students. If I want them to be able to discuss academic content with each other, they need to feel a bit more comfortable with each other, so in the first day or first week I like to do an ice-breaker/team-building activity – one that’s not too touchy-feely, since that’s not my thing.

This activity, like most other ice breakers/team-building activities, can act as an energizer, as well as help build collaboration and serve as a background activity to discuss problem-solving strategies. It’s a pretty simple card-sorting activity introduced to me at computer science workshops on a couple occasions by Bob Luciano, computer science teacher in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania.

Goal for students

Each group of students sorts a shuffled deck of cards (grouped by suit, ascending order within each suit) in as short of time as they can. (Make it a competition between groups if you’d like – regardless, students will probably infer that and get competitive.)

Example of sorted cards

Materials

• 1 deck of cards per group (of ~4 students)
  Amazon link for cheap playing cards: https://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Playing-Cards-Regular-Plastic/dp/B016M352KQ/ or sometimes dollar stores may sell cards cheap.
• 1 stopwatch for the teacher (use your phone or google “stopwatch”).

Rules

Once the deck is sorted, it should be stacked, turned face-down. When the group is done, all group members put both hands in the air to signal they’re done and that nobody is touching the cards

Directions

Have students shuffle their cards. Explain the goal and the rules.

Once students understand the goal and rules, yell “Go!” and start the timer. (We’re intentionally not giving them time to plan – yet.)

Record times as groups signal they’re done. (My students have had times ranging from ~50 seconds to ~4 minutes.)

Tell students some groups may have felt frustrated but there will be a round 2. This time tell them they get a minute to strategize.

Have students shuffle their cards again, then yell “Go!” and start the timer. Record times. Generally the class does better as a whole the second time.

Want the directions on a PowerPoint? Click here.

Connections and Reflection questions

• Connect it to growth mindset – understanding the rules better the second time around, the benefits of more practice, learning from mistakes, etc.
• Connect it to problem-solving – strategizing, trial-and-error, planning, learning from mistakes, etc.
• Connect it to teamwork – splitting up roles, helping each other, leveraging each person’s strengths, etc.
• Connect it to actual strategies if that’s relevant to your content (ex: algorithms) and you feel it’s an appropriate time to connect it to content
• I wouldn’t try connecting it to all of the above in much detail, since that’s a bit much.
• “Why did the class do better the second round? (Or why did your group do better the second round?)”
• “How might this relate to school? Other aspects of your life?”
• “What was your group’s strategy? Did your strategy change?”

Tips

• Some students are not familiar with playing cards and might not know how the aces and face cards are ordered. You might consider writing the order on the board (A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K), or first having students remove all non-numbered cards.
• It may help to circulate and encourage participation. I’ve had students sitting on the sidelines watching, possibly because they’re shy or don’t know what to do. I might coax them by saying “I’m sure your group could do this faster with your help!” or tell the group “I see not everyone has a job. I’m sure you can get this done faster if you include everyone. If someone doesn’t have a job, let them know how they can help!”
• At the end of each round, you may wish to check the fastest groups for accuracy by picking up their decks and (dramatically) reviewing them out loud (“Ace 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Jack… King, Queen???” – with the purpose of humor and encouragement, not actual humiliation)
• If you’re concerned about groups under-shuffling their decks, have groups shuffle the deck for other groups (swap groups’ decks with each other after they shuffle them)
• In the first round some groups might have misinterpreted the instructions – that’s okay to point out since it gives them more reason to welcome round 2

However you run it, keep in mind your purpose – to build positive interactions between your students (students-to-students but also teacher-to-students), plus whatever other learning objective(s) you intended (problem-solving skills, growth mindset, etc.).

More on this later.

Let’s cut to the chase – how might you try to address the issue of the “hogs and logs”? Here’s one of the ways I address it.

If one of our goals of group work is to facilitate collaboration skills, then I want to encourage my students to open up communication between them and their partners. How often do we ever have issues with someone – colleague, boss, friend, loved one – and in the end conclude it was a “breakdown in communication” or some sort of “misunderstanding”? Sure, some people actively avoid doing work, but issues of hogs and logs are magnified when you throw miscommunication (or lack of communication) into the mix.

The Tool

Here’s the tool I’ve been using to encourage communication about group member issues while also building in accountability (aka, how it affects their grades).

One copy of the following form is given to each group. Students are instructed to fill out the form together with their group mates. They must put their names and list their own contributions to the final product. Then, they must collectively decide how the “pie” will be split.

(Click the image to download Word .docx file – You can edit it!)

Let’s say we have 4 group members and they all agree they contributed equally. They then visually split the pie into 4 equal slices and every group member gets full credit – meaning if their project earned a 7 out of 10, every group member gets a 7 out of 10.

What if they agree imaginary Member C did significantly less work than Members A, B, and D? Then they would show a smaller slice for Member C and that student would lose points proportionally (or you can subtract a flat number of points).

I tell my students ultimately it’s their call how they want to split it. If someone was absent all week and you still want to split it equally, your call.

(Click images to see full size student samples)

The Implementation (possibly more important than the tool itself)

Now, at this point there’s some confusing parts about the pie (which I’ve modified since – see later in post) and the math may be a headache, but these are mere details you can change for your own situation. Let’s get to the meat of this.

This process is done at least twice throughout the project: One time at the end as an evaluative tool, but more importantly, it is done one time about mid-way through the project – NO-STAKES – as a tool to prompt discussion.

About half-way through the project, I explain to my students how the form will be used at the end. The point is “You will be graded based on your level of contribution to your group”… BUT you will go through the exact same process right now – for no stakes.

This is crucial because the point of the tool is not meant to be a “gotcha” or a time for everyone’s passive-aggressiveness to manifest itself. The mid-point checkup is meant to prompt students to bring up who has been doing what and who hasn’t been doing what – while there is no threat to anyone’s grade and while there is still time to change one’s behavior based on peer feedback. Without the mid-point checkup, any constructive feedback given during the final evaluation just becomes an argument of well how was I supposed to know and it’s too late to do anything about it anyway. In an ideal world, the mid-point checkup will cause students to make the changes needed to feel comfortable all agreeing on splitting things evenly in the final evaluation.

I feel it’s important to be very deliberate with my intentions and explicitly point out to students the following:

If you feel a group mate is not putting in enough effort, you can choose to bring it up now – as awkward as that can feel – or you can choose to stay quiet about it and say you all should get equal credit. However, this is a choice you make right now – you are being given the opportunity. If you pass up this chance and later you feel it’s unfair the other person got the same credit for doing what you feel is less work, know you actually had a chance to do something about it and you didn’t. These conversations can be hard and they can be awkward, but it’s a skill that you can build and get more comfortable with the more you do it, so the best time to start practicing is now. You won’t always have a teacher or someone trying to make things fair for everyone, so you have to start developing your own abilities to influence a situation you don’t like – and that usually means stepping out of your comfort zone.

Student A may feel he’s pulling all the weight and that Student B is lazy, while Student B feels there’s no way she can contribute because Student A hogs all the work. It’s possible both students are well-intentioned but these sentiments don’t come up unless there’s a conversation. And obviously no possible resolution until both parties get a more accurate view of what the problem really is.

Of course, students may also have trouble verbalizing criticism of others and are afraid of sounding like jerks for saying something, so sentence stems may help them put their thoughts into more tactful words.

• “Do you think you can help out more by ___?”
• “Would it be possible for you to __?”
• “It’s difficult for us when ___”
• “It was really helpful that time you ___. Can you do that more often?”

If you know you’re not doing as much as other group members or if there’s someone hogging all the work, ask how you can contribute. Let them know what you have trouble with. When other students are working on something, let them know “I feel I have nothing to work on right now. What can I help with?”

It’s also useful for students to start their conversation with the evidence – the list of contributions. The contributions give them concrete evidence to point at and grounds their arguments in specific actions as opposed to attacking personalities or making sweeping general statements. For example “See? You only did research on one power plant while Jenny and I each researched two power plants and drew the poster” versus “Jenny and I have been doing way more work than you have.” In addition, it’s not like evidence-based argumentation is being emphasized in schools nowadays, right?…

The Current Revision

Sometimes my students were not sure how to draw the pie when the credit wasn’t split equally (let’s face it, some cases can definitely get confusing). Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if students erred on the side of splitting everything equally just because they didn’t want to deal with how to draw the pie unequally. Because of these difficulties, I’m trying a different representation – blocks. If they believe everyone deserves full credit, fill in all the blocks. If they believe a student deserves half credit, fill in half the blocks. Etc. (This version also includes brief instructions at the top and a space for signatures at the bottom – some students in the past filled in info for absent students, then it would get awkward when the absent student eventually found out in the presence of the rest of the group.)

(Click the image to download Word .docx file – You can edit it!)

Some variables may greatly affect the use and usefulness of this tool, such as your criteria for how you expect students to contribute to their groups – for example, is it by effort? By equal completion of the task? By their effectiveness at an assigned role?

If you’re new to structuring group projects, make sure you read up on other factors that can greatly influence group effectiveness, such as assigning roles, choosing group size, choosing grouping methods, and improving group dynamics with stuff like ice breakers.

Final exams are usually pretty straightforward, so what about the other option – group projects?

Some reasons we may want to do group projects:

• “Fun” – Projects are usually less pressure and more engaging than a typical final exam
• Accountability – A project can still be a big chunk of students’ grades so there’s still accountability in the last weeks of school as students get antsy about summer break
• Grading – We might have the project done in groups so there are fewer projects to grade
• Collaboration – We want to give students the opportunity to build collaboration skills

Of course, group projects come with their own problems and challenges. Here are the ones I hear (and myself have faced) the most often:

• There are “hogs and logs”
  Who’s ever worked in a group and not had this happen? One or two students take on a bulk of the work while one or two students contribute nothing.
• Students procrastinate and “goof off”, “mess around”, or “don’t do anything” until the last minute and either fail miserably or beg and cry for an extension.
• “How am I supposed to grade all of this?”
  Projects often come with multiple components to grade. My worst case scenarios were when I had piles of posters and papers that just overwhelmed me every time I looked at them, making me put off grading them until… well, let’s say a while. (This wasn’t an end-of-year project.)

I’ll post on these this upcoming week, but I’d also love to hear from you – do any of these resonate with you? Are there any other major pain points you encounter with group projects?

… should… should I grow a beard?? (I always jokingly advise this to anyone who asks, regardless of gender.)

Or for those who start teaching at an age when you don’t get carded anymore, you might wonder “What if my students can tell I’m new?”

Short answer

Good news and bad news. Don’t waste your time stressing over your appearance because after the first few minutes (if not seconds) of interaction with your students, it is your actions – not your looks – that determine how your students treat you and think of you.

Long answer

Your looks may give students the first impression that you’re new, but these first impressions last several minutes, if not seconds. After this period, that factor is outweighed by how you carry yourself, how you treat your students, and how you conduct your classroom that determines the amount of respect your students give you. Case in point if you can think of any teachers who despite looking old and/or experienced, are still pushovers who get eaten alive by their students.

What this means is if your student disrespects you, it’s not because he thinks you’re young or new. It’s because you haven’t earned enough skill and experience yet as a teacher to know how to handle or prevent that situation. At some point, regardless of how old or intimidating you look, a student will test the boundaries, break a rule, or just make a mistake. It is how you handle (or better yet, prevent) these situations that tells students how your classroom is run.

Rather than worrying about your appearance, work on improving your classroom management with good ol’ fashioned tried-and-true practices such as being assertive and creating clear policies and enforcing them consistently (easier said than done). Yes, that sounds totally unsexy, but oftentimes tricks and hacks are no substitute for good teaching.

What not to do

Some teachers are hyper aware of coming off as a young pushover, so they overcompensate by being a total hardass. I advise against this, but we could sit here all day arguing if it’s better to err on the side of being too hard or too soft. My point is don’t do overkill. It’s not even about “nice” vs “mean”. Assertive – good! Aggressive – bad!

Where young looks play a role

Now, I’m not saying your fresh youthful looks have no effect on your job. In my experience and based on what other newbies have shared, youthful looks have a much larger influence in getting you confused for a student on campus (when someone walks into your room looking for the teacher and their eyes sweep right past you, or other teachers/admin seeing you in hallways and telling you to get to class). If you want to pick those battles, be my guest and grow a beard and hobble around campus with a walker (don’t forget the tennis balls on the feet). Kidding aside, dressing professionally does help distinguish you from the students. It’s why I don’t walk the hallways in my backpack and hoodie.

On a wider scope, there are many other complex factors in addition to age that students may use to make snap judgments about us – say height, gender, and race. While there are cases that may have legitimate arguments, I would say 80% of the time (totally a number I pulled out of thin air) the rapport built by the teacher outweighs these surface factors. Some teachers think they’d get more respect only if they were more [insert characteristic here], but the grass always seems greener on the other side. A young teacher says he doesn’t have the advantage of looking old. An old teachers say she doesn’t have the advantage of being a hip young teacher. A female teachers says her students respect male figures more. A male teacher says he doesn’t have the advantage of having a “nurturing” relationship to his students. While these may or may not be true, stereotypes or not, these are all things I’ve heard in conversations with colleagues. There likely will be cases when a student treats you a certain way based solely on factors you have no control over. Don’t fixate on what you don’t have control over. Even though as humans, first impressions may put you at a certain starting point with your students, you make choices and take actions that direct the path of that relationship.

Wait… so what should I do?
… should I grow a beard???

There are things you do you have control over, and you should focus on those things.

For the long term, do your best at improving your classroom management, establishing rapport, getting to know your students better, unconditionally treating them with respect, listening to their (sometimes ill-dispensed) input. Ultimately, this is within your control.

For the short term, you might as well dress professionally (for reasons in addition to distinguishing yourself from your students), and if you want, tune your looks, but know your time and effort is better spent in many other places. Set your expectations. Expect to fight and lose many classroom management battles. Reflect on and learn from every experience. Read books (ex: Fred Jones’ Tools for Teaching) and blogs (Michael Linsin’s Smart Classroom Management blog). Learn to speak assertively. Ask for advice from other (not-too-jaded) teachers. Do these things to learn better classroom management and to become a better teacher.

When I started teaching at 25, I didn’t voluntarily share information about my age and experience to students, but if a student asked, I openly shared the truth. I’m comfortable with being a learner with my students. I’m proud to model to them that we are all learning at different stages in life. I believe sharing my own struggles is a step in building a positive rapport with my students. As opposed to hiding or fronting. This worked well for my environment. It could work for or against you, depending on other aspects of your relationship with students. I would suggest doing this if you are comfortable with yourself not being an expert, not knowing it all, and willing to model a growth mindset for your students.

Are you a new teacher? What are your thoughts and concerns on this topic? Experienced teacher? What’s your personal experienced on this topic? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

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This is about one of mine. I had arranged to have a little 1-on-1 talk with him.

Okay, assuming he shows up… what am I going to say to him? What am I going to say that he hasn’t already heard from all his other teachers? Is there even any point in meeting? Shouldn’t I just call his parents and hope they can chew him out or something?

Devin (not his real name) was a constant problem in my intro to computers class. Constantly off-task, distracting his neighbors, ignoring my directions. My rapport with him might be described as cold, mayyybe neutral at best. One day I got pissed at my class for whatever reason (what, that never happens to you?) and as I was addressing them, the bell rang for the end of the period. I explicitly announced for them to stay seated even though the bell rang. I’m standing a few feet in front of the door and Devin nonchalantly gets out of his seat and heads for the door. Aw hellll no, I thought. I repeated to the class that they’re not dismissed yet and asked Devin to return to his seat. Of course, he walked right past me (I knew better than to try to physically block a student from exiting), he opened the door, and walked out.

A few days later Devin got in trouble with me for something else and I was able to have him agree to see me after school (that itself was another small ordeal).

That meeting actually ended up being a turning point for our relationship. Here’s what I did…

The Problem

Most likely you’ve tried giving a student “a talk” — a “see me after class” conversation. I mean when you pull them aside/outside and have a private conversation, usually detached from the event when emotions aren’t charged anymore. You have enough time that you’re not rushed and you can hold a meaningful conversation.

So what does that conversation sound like? Whether it’s told gently or angrily, this is probably what most “see me after class” conversations sound like to the student:

You’re being a problem. This is why you’re a problem. This is why you need to stop being a problem. This is what you need to do or not do to stop being a problem. [Next conversation] Why are you still being a problem. I need you to stop being a problem. [This may even happen] Here –  I’ll even make this deal with you if you stop being a problem so at least the rest of us can have a chance at success.

If this is all a student hears, what do you think he’ll do the next time he’s pulled aside for another talk?

He tunes you out.

Of course you don’t literally say those words (I think), but if you think about how most of these “conversations” go, what would you say is the purpose of the conversation? The student and most likely the teacher would say the purpose is to get the student to– well, stop being a problem. While this may be what we want – and legitimately so because the student is being a problem and should stop being a problem, a conversation like the above is pretty limited in which students it works with and it most likely has a negative effect on the relationship (even though sometimes it may yield compliance).

Let’s switch things up.

The Mindset

Instead of centering the conversation around the student being a problem, center the conversation around getting the student to succeed (but don’t worry, we’ll still address the problems caused by the student).

In the conversation, the bottom line is the student’s learning, safety, and success. The idea you want her to leave with is that “This is about you and your success – right now you are not achieving this thing you want to achieve and I want to make sure I do what I can to help you achieve that.” The idea you don’t want her to leave with is that you’re just trying to make your own life better or just trying to defend other students.

What It Looks Like

That’s all fine and dandy, but how do we actually do that?

Tactic 1: Start off the conversation on the right foot with these three elements

Your student likely expects to hear nag nag nag, so if you start off with anything like that, you risk getting tuned out before the conversation even starts. Instead, you open the conversation with appreciation and concern. No judgment.

Start the conversation with these three elements…

1. Recognize/thank the student
2. Describe signs that the student’s success is at risk
3. Ask how you can support the student

Here’s an example.

“Thanks for coming in to talk. I know you’d like to do well in this class and I’d like you to do well, too. I’m concerned… I noticed you haven’t been completing assignments and you’ve been doing poorly on quizzes, causing your grade to go down. Is there something I should know about or something I can do to help you do better in this class?”

Recognize – Show appreciation – doesn’t have to be for a major accomplishment: “Thanks for coming in to talk”. If possible, acknowledge any positive things the student is doing – improvement, effort, etc. If you reeeally can’t think of anything, at least presume something positive: “I know you’d like to do well in this class…”. Even if you’re not sure that’s true, instead saying something like “You don’t even care if you fail” won’t help the situation in any way.

Some teachers show concern and start off with “Is everything okay?” This is also a good start, but starting out cold with this question might be interpreted as “What’s your problem?” and the student thinks you’re expecting her to justify her behavior (remember, this is probably a student expecting the usual painful nag fest). I prefer to start the conversation on a positive tone as opposed to an ambiguous tone.

Describe – Give observations that are evidence the student is being negatively impacted: “I noticed you haven’t been completing assignments and you’ve been doing poorly on quizzes, causing your grade to go down.” You are NOT describing the student’s problem behaviors – you are describing the objective negative impacts of those behaviors as relates to the student’s success.

Support – “… I’d like you to do well, too. Is there something I should know about or something I can do to help you do better in this class?”

If the student actually opens up, you must be willing to listen.  What she says most likely won’t excuse her behavior, but we weren’t asking for excuses anyway. Your priority is to understand the student and make her feel understood. If you are asking the student to share her needs and she starts placing blame on you, it doesn’t help you convey concern for her if you seem more concerned about defending yourself. That doesn’t mean you need to agree with any accusations or comply with any requests, but at least acknowledge feelings and empathize. Do not get defensive. Your reaction here conveys to the student whether your interest is in her needs or in your own.

If the student chooses not to share or she claims everything’s fine, that’s okay. By asking, you’ve helped establish your intentions around the conversation.

Tactic 2: Relate every point back to the student’s success

For the remainder of the conversation (including the part where you tell the student what he should or shouldn’t be doing), as much as possible, connect your points to how they impact the student’s success. Bonus points if you can connect them back to concerns the student raised earlier in the conversation.

“The other thing I wanted to discuss was that when I’m walking around helping students, I often see you on websites not related to what we’re doing in class. It’s tough for me to help you and for you to work on the assignment when you’re not on the right website.”

Next, frame the problem in terms of impact on other students (this has a better chance of being effective if the target student has a good rapport with fellow students).

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but when you’re on those other websites, your neighbors get distracted and start looking at what you’re doing instead of working on their assignment. Then you guys start talking, which gets you distracted even more and it’s even harder for you to learn.”

Can you see how those last two statements were different from the typical teacher nag?: “Every time when I walk over to you, you’re off-task, messing around on some other website and talking to your neighbors. You gotta stop getting distracted and focus.”

Lastly, if you believe relevant, frame the problem in terms of impact on you (like before, the effectiveness of this is correlated with the student’s rapport with you). When describing the problem’s impact on you, try to wrap this back around to describe how that impacts the student (and/or the class as a whole).

“When I see you with your earbuds in, I get distracted and start getting frustrated, which interrupts the lesson for everyone [or] which makes it more difficult for you and other students to get help when I’m all flustered.”

(Can you see how that’s different from the teacher-centered vindictive version?: “When I see you with your earbuds in, I get pissed off, and when you piss me off, that’s bad news for you.”)

Almost anything can be brought back around to the student through his learning environment:

• Your behavior => impacts other students => impacts your learning environment => impacts you
• Your behavior => impacts teacher => impacts your learning environment => impacts you

It’s like how when you were taught to write an essay, you were told to keep reconnecting your points back to the thesis statement. Same thing here, but the thesis is “Let’s get you to succeed”.

Aftermath

At the end of our conversation, Devin gave a relieved sigh, smiled, and lamented “Man, Mr. X [his other teacher – not his real name] never talks to me like this.” I didn’t want to throw a colleague under the bus so I just said something wishy washy about how different teachers have different styles.

After that day there was a noticeable difference in Devin’s behavior and demeanor. He was more focused in class, asked for help more freely, and always smiled and waved at me when he saw me in the hallways. He was even playful enough to joke around the next time I asked the students to stay in their seats – he pretended he was about to walk past me again and immediately cracked a grin and jumped back into his seat.

In terms of addressing Devin’s concerns, he said he just felt lost in the class sometimes and I suggested a couple things I could try to help. I don’t remember doing much more than just checking on him more frequently and giving him a bit more individual assistance when he needed it.

I doubt my actual accommodations played a major role in Devin’s improvement. Maybe he was used to being treated “as a problem” in most classes and it helped him to know I was willing to look beyond that and show concern about his learning and success instead of seeing him as just something that inhibits the learning and success of others. Maybe knowing his teacher went out of the way to make him feel understood goes a long way.

Watch out for these pitfalls

• “What if the student isn’t interested in success?” First, I would challenge that assumption. However, regardless of whether that assumption is true, presume they are interested in succeeding. The strategy is to increase your rapport with the student, and it helps if they perceive you’re interested in their success – even if they themselves aren’t.
• “I already explain to the student how their behavior impacts them.” That’s good, but keep in mind order matters. First, address their needs. As opposed to the message being “Stop being a problem because it will get in the way of your success,” try “I want you to succeed and I’m concerned you’re not on track to achieve your goals. Let’s look at how your behavior could be inhibiting you from accomplishing what you want.” You don’t want them to stop listening before you convey you’re in it for their success.
• Don’t “make a deal” that lowers a student’s opportunity at success. Sounds obvious, but have you heard anything like “I’ll let you sit in the back and use your phone as long as you don’t disrupt the class.”? It may work against both parties’ interests to agree to let the student engage in self-destructive behavior in exchange for reduced disruption to the class. Don’t sacrifice their success (and don’t let them sacrifice their own success). It sends the message “Okay, we all know you’re not going to succeed anyway so at the very least don’t prevent others from succeeding.” I understand “giving up” on students. I’m not gonna stand on a soapbox and preach that all teachers need to become martyrs to ensure the success of every. single. student. But I do believe if you “give up” on a student, you should avoid making it known to them, and even though I would argue it’s understandable and sometimes the only survival tactic we can think of, I would not argue it’s the right thing to do. These deals may also backfire in the long run since when the objectives are inaccessible, the student has more excuses to lean on (“I can’t even see from back here.” “I don’t have a partner.” etc.). Also, the further the student slips from success, the less they have to lose and the more extreme their behavior can be (“I can’t pass this class anyway so what does it matter.”).

Takeaways

There’s of course no magical thing you can tell a student that will just get them to turn things around, so while this may not “work” (aka “fix the problem”) with every student in every situation, I know this has helped me de-escalate situations, reduce defensiveness, and strengthen relationships. My results with Devin are not typical, but that turning point also would not have happened if we hadn’t had that conversation.

More important than the exact tactics – which can be modified for your situations – is the overall philosophy of approaching a conversation with a student by framing the discussion in terms of their success. The point isn’t to be disingenuous and “trick” students into thinking you care, but oftentimes we do fixate on the problem a student causes for us (naturally) and keeping this technique in mind may help remind us to shift our focus back to the student’s needs.

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Basically it’s this: At the end of the year, have each of your students write a letter to your next year’s students.

I encourage my students to put stuff that next year’s students will find helpful. It can be anonymous or they can put their name if they want.

Why this activity is great:

1. It’s helpful and interesting to next year’s students (and I incorporate the letters into a first-day-of-class activity)
2. This year’s students enjoy writing them
3. Students are motivated to do it even though it’s not part of their grade. This is the ideal profile for end-of-year activities at my school, where during the last week, final exams are a crap shoot and many (if not most) students don’t attend the last 1-2 days.

There are many variations of this activity, including following templates or making it primarily an academic activity, but here’s how I do it, and why:

1. I don’t use it as an academic assignment, but you very well can. I leave the task pretty loosely structured so the letters are honest and organic. I choose not to use a template or tell students what to put (but I give suggestions of topics). I do it this way since if a student reads the letters and they sound stuffy or formulaic, they don’t seem as genuine. Instead, the letters may come off as marketing material.
2. I encourage students to be honest, including allowing them to include criticism if they want (as long as it’s not inappropriate, like has profanity targeted at an individual or has a bunch of penises (peni?) drawn all over it).
3. I don’t grade it or penalize the student in any way for not doing it (but if they ask if they have to do it, I ask them to please do it and that it’s helpful to me and my students for next year – sometimes students won’t do things for a grade, but they’ll do it for a purpose). I choose not to grade or penalize because this reduces the pressure to “put something good or your grade gets docked”. Again, I really want authentic letters.  Almost all of my students still do it because they find the task meaningful. Occasionally a student just chooses not to do it. No problem, since I figure what kind of letter would they have written anyway if they were to do it purely for a grade?

One of the things that makes this activity so meaningful is that students get to exchange “the dirt” on this class. I don’t approach this as “Hey make my class look good to next year’s students!” Students don’t like writing phony letters, nor do they like reading phony letters.

Using the letters as part of a first-day of class activity

For the first days of class, I try to stay away from the stereotypical “rules and syllabus” lecture. Primarily, I want to address what’s usually at the front of their minds, which is “What’s this class like? Will it be fun or boring? Easy or hard? What’s the teacher like?” And instead of me answering those questions, I let my former students answer those questions.

I have students in groups and I ask them to collectively write 3 things/patterns they notice about the class or 3 questions they have about the class (or mix and match). As inspiration, each student has a copy of the syllabus (more of just a formality in my class) and each group gets a pile of letters they can read and trade. They usually really dig in to the letters. Some letters say the class is boring, some say it’s fun. Some say I’m strict, some say I’m chill. The variety and honesty give students fuel for questions. Students also tend to ask questions about activities mentioned in the letters. “What’s the egg drop activity?” This allows me to segue into class expectations, what this class is about and what we’ll be doing this year, etc. Thus, some of the stereotypical “first day” stuff a teacher would normally cover is covered, but it’s at least “uncovered” through student curiosity, prompted by their own questions as opposed to force fed to them.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you had all the directions for this activity already on a 1-page document so you could just print and hand your students a sheet of paper? Enter your name and e-mail below to receive the FREE student instruction sheet as a PDF and Word doc (so you can edit it as needed)!

Sound familiar?

What’s the problem?

“Don’t make me…”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you…”
“I have to…”
“I’m not supposed to…”

How do you think the speaker feels about the decision? Who made these decisions? What is the speaker’s role in these decisions?

As a student, I might see this teacher as being apologetic, regretful, or disempowered… a victim, puppet, pushover, or tool.

Why do we use phrases like this? Perhaps to “soften the blow” of a demand or decision, to say “Hey look… I’m on your side. I don’t like this either, but someone/something is making us do this!” The admin pressure us to enforce these rules. I must do this because it is my job, whether I like it or not. I made this decision and I must stick to it! Regardless of the reason we use these phrases (possibly just force of habit and never really thinking about it), they send the same message: I don’t stand behind my own decision.

So what happens? What happens when you convey your internal conflict to your students? Students will fight harder for their side in this conflict because they know they have someone else fighting for their side: You.

This might sound something like “Awww, cmon!” or “You don’t have to do that!” Or they exploit your guilt on their side of this conflict. “You’re so mean!” “That’s not fair.”

So what can be done to reduce this pushback? Use wording that conveys you own your decisions, or at least wording that conveys neutrality instead of internal conflict.

What to say instead

Here are some possible substitutes for the internal conflict wording:

Notice the “better” statements are simply requests or simply statements of rules or what action will take place. Their simplicity and directness convey to students the decision and request come directly and whole-heartedly from you. Instead of conveying “Auuugh this is what I must do” or “Don’t get mad at me for doing this”… just do it. Maybe you’ll feel mean. Maybe you’ll feel blunt. Maybe you’ll feel more empowered and find your students trying less to cajole you.

It’s a simple switch, so give it a try and see how goes!

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I have used this technique for over seven years for confiscating student cell phones with relatively high success rate and relatively low disruption to class. The heart of this technique is the “broken record” technique.

The Technique

1. Ask for the phone. When you see a student using their phone, calmly walk up (as opposed to furiously storming up) to the student and in a neutral tone, ask for the phone
   • I use the line “Phone, please” (or nowadays, I may just put my hand out).
   • Your demeanor should be calm and neutral. Make sure you’re not teeth-gratingly-angry-beneath-a-fake-calm-exterior. Do not smile or act pleasant, as (depending on your personality with the students,) the student may think you’re playing around and might play around in return.
   • Convey that you’re serious but not upset about collecting their phone.
   • If you’re not sure how to act “neutral”, act bored.

   Let’s assume the student does not give you the phone (*gasp!*).

2. Repeat the request… repeatedly. Repeat the request. This is the “broken record” part. No matter what their reply/retort/objection is, you simply repeat your request in the same neutral tone. I know it doesn’t sound very exciting, but the priority here is to have possession of the student’s phone with as little disruption to the class, with as little stress and mental effort on your part. No tricks, no witty comebacks. Do not escalate your emotions. Do not appear to become more annoyed, frustrated, angrier, or more demanding with subsequent requests.
   • Resist the temptation to duel with the student. Oftentimes students will retort instead of giving you the phone (“I was just checking the time.”, “Fine, I’ll put it away.”, “You never told us you’d take our phone.”, etc.) It doesn’t matter if you have the perfect reason/lesson/comeback for what the student says.
   • Sometimes students will instead put the phone away, hoping I’ll accept that as a substitute for confiscation. I do not accept that, as it tells the student that they don’t have to abide by my consequences, that they can make up their own alternatives or bargain their way out of the expectations they were aware of. I repeat my request.
3. Give an ultimatum. When you feel things are not going anywhere (about 5-10 times for me), offer an ultimatum in the same neutral tone. I say, “I will ask you one more time. You can choose to give me the phone and have it back at the end of class, or you can choose to keep your phone and be sent to the office (call your parent, whatever the escalation is). [pause] Please give me the phone.”
   • Present the “ultimatum” as two neutral options in which you have no stake in. Present the ultimatum in a way that does not sound like you’re making a threat (Bad example: “Give me the phone or I’ll send you to the office.”). If the student perceives you are threatening them, they may be more likely to keep the phone out of spite. It’s not about “you win” or “they win”, it’s merely a decision that they need to make.
   • When/if they give me the phone, I say “thank you” (and store the phone in a safe location).
   • If the student decides to keep the phone, I neutrally follow through with the course of action they chose, without conveying anger, disappointment, etc. I presented them two options and allowed them to choose. They chose. There was no implication that that choice came with “and your teacher is going to be real pissed at you for choosing this option.” Your rules, consequences, and consistency – and not your emotions – send your message.

Prerequisites

Before you change or start enforcing your phone policy, you should make clear to students your policy. This is what I announce to each period at the beginning of the year:

My cell phone policy is that you may not use your phone in class unless I give you permission. If I see you using your phone, I will ask for it. I will not give you any warnings. It doesn’t matter what you’re using it for, whether you’re checking the time or using it as a mirror. If I see it, I may ask for it, so your best bet is to just keep it out of sight. If I do collect your phone, I will keep it until the end of class.

If you are implementing this mid-year, you should give your students a heads-up (““Cell phones have been distracting, to you, and to me. From now on, if I see you using your cell phone for any reason, I will ask for it. I will not give any warnings. If I collect your phone, you will get it back at the end of class.”)

Your priority is that students exhibit the desired behavior because they understand the rationale and consequences. The spirit of this is not “gotcha!”.

How It Works

• By starting small and never escalating emotions, you keep the stakes low, and you avoid drawing the attention of the class. You are not playing chicken.
• By having a straightforward plan of action, you remove the unknown. Many of us are hesitant to try something because “what if?…”. In this case, all the “what ifs” are answered by having a system to follow. You do not have to make decisions or verbally “spar” with the student. When you notice the target behavior, you deploy the procedure, then continue class. You are like a robot following a program. You are not thinking on your feet, reacting to the student’s actions or emotions. There is no emotional investment (stress/anxiety/frustration).
• The system reduces the student’s opportunity to deflect the conversation and further distract the class. This is done through keeping the interaction focused on the requested action.
• Another way this system keeps stakes low is that it disentangles a stated literal consequence from emotional, judgmental, and relational consequences (I’m angry at you, I don’t like you, you’re a rotten kid, I’ll show you who’s in charge, etc.) It does not leverage guilt, shame, or intimidation. Instead, the message you are trying to send through this whole process is “You should not be distracted with your cell phone right now. The consequence, which you were aware of, is you must forfeit your cell phone until the end of class.”

Additional Considerations

• I return the phone at the end of the period. I’m likely to get more resistance if I keep it until the end of the day. I find the importance is not so much in the severity of the consequence as much as in the consistency of the enforcement.
• If a ringer or notification goes off, I tell the student to just take out the device, turn it off, and put it back away. Ringers accidentally going off in class have been rare and I don’t consider them as a behavior issue that calls for confiscating the device.
• I use this technique for only very routine things students already know the rationale behind. Every student already knows there is no reason for them to use their phones in my class unless I say otherwise. In cases outside of this, students can be confused about why you’re asking them to do something or they may genuinely feel it is not fair (as opposed to just trying to get away with breaking rules). In such cases, you might be open to having a discussion with the student as opposed to just be focused on compliance.
• A common objection is “I have unsupportive admin so there’s no point in sending a student to the office.” The “ultimatum” doesn’t have to involve sending the student to the office. It just needs to be an option in which the student rather just hand over the phone (or keep it out of sight) in the future, rather than repeatedly face that other option.

Don’t Undermine Your Success

Several things may jeopardize the system. Please…

• DO NOT… Give warnings.
  I give no warnings. First, not having warnings makes the rule and the consequence very simple. Second, I don’t have the mental capacity to keep track of warnings. Third, the rule is simple enough that a student doesn’t need to be warned to understand it. Fourth, my consequence is not severe enough that it requires the “safety net” of a warning. Lastly, letting them have a warning each day is really just saying to them “Every day, every one of you students has permission to use your cell phone until I catch you for that day.”
• DO NOT… Assume a student is using her phone.
  I confiscate a phone only when I directly see the student using her phone – and almost always the student knows I saw it so there’s rarely a debate that goes like “I wasn’t using my phone! I didn’t even have it out!” – which if you didn’t actually see her using it, she may actually be speaking the truth. There’s nothing to cause bitterness against a teacher like being punished for something you didn’t do. Even if you didn’t see it but you are absolutely certain they were using their phone, a different dynamic may play out if the student knows you didn’t actually see the phone. If they were just quick to hide the phone before I saw it, at least they respect my system enough to not want to get caught.
• DO NOT… Improvise/escalate by impulsively changing the consequences.
  Ex: “I usually keep the phone for the period but it took so much just to get the phone from that kid, I then told him I’m keeping it for the rest of the day. That’ll show him to talk back when I ask for his phone.”
  A clearly communicated and consistently enforced system allows students to practice making good decisions. Switching up the system impulsively allows students to practice distrusting you (and possibly other adults).

Extreme Behavior

My biggest fear in enforcing rules was if a student reacts in some extreme manner.

• First, you greatly reduce the risk of extreme behavior by attempting to neutrally enforce a very reasonable policy and consequence the student knew about ahead of time. If you follow the system and remain neutral, your student is less likely to take it personally. They may be mad at your system, but if you escalate your emotions, that may give them reason to be mad at you, and further risks damaging your relationship with the student or fueling emotional flames that lead to extreme behavior. Most of my students who use cell phones in class are willing to push the boundaries enough to give some backtalk but not enough to risk facing the consequences for blatant defiance. When faced with a decision in a rational state of mind, these students are less likely to choose the more severe consequence. By using impromptu threats and not making the policy clear ahead of time, you put the student in a situation of making this decision on emotions charged with rage, indignity, spite, etc. This greatly increases the risk of the student making a decision they will later regret.
• “Yeah, but what if things do escalate?” I realized my fear was of the unknown. The student could behave in so many ways that I wouldn’t know how to react to them. Here’s how to react: Stick to the procedure. Even if extreme behavior pops up (“Give me the phone, please.” “F@%$ you!”), stick to the procedure (“… Give me the phone, please.”). If the behavior is that extreme, treat it as a separate issue that you can address later after giving it some calm and reasoned thought. It’s probably best to deal with it later anyway (after class, next day – of course assuming it’s nothing that concerns the immediate safety of anyone).
• Even if this technique does not result in confiscation 100% of the time, it reduces the undesired behavior from the rest of the class, as well as likely reduces additional incidences of extreme student behavior. As long as you follow through on your end, it shows other students that you follow through. Even though it might not get the most extreme students, most students do not want to get sent to the office (have parents called, etc) over a relatively minor scuffle. For my cases that were sent to the office, even when no severe “punishment” resulted, the students did not seem to think it’s worthwhile putting up the same fight in the future (I never had to send a kid to the office more than once). Even if these students thought it was worthwhile, other students notice that I do enforce my policies and they are less likely to use their phones in class. I have an average of one incident per day, and out of all these, I have never had to send more than one student to the office per year. Of course, your mileage may vary based on the myriad of variables between my classes and yours.

Conclusion

There are countless ways to respond to the situations addressed here. The system as presented is prioritized to be simple, straightforward, and require the least amount of distraction to you (especially for newer teachers or any teacher wrestling with classroom management).

This technique applies not just to confiscating cell phones, but many other basic actions we may ask of students, such as to change seats or take off their hat (but it’s not for asking students to stop doing something, like stop talking). In the end, it is about having control over your classroom atmosphere so that you can make it an environment you believe is conducive to student learning. Both teachers and students want the teacher to have control over the learning environment.

Leave a Comment!

Have you tried this or something similar? What worked? What didn’t?
What other situations have you had success with using this technique?
What are things you might need to do differently to make it work for your situation?

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I don’t think I have a solution, but I may have found a starting point that at least gives me hope. Several weeks ago, I was inspired by an article about a man who fought several speeding tickets using basic physics (found on the Twitter/blogosphere).

“What a neat application!” I thought. Use pictures and time stamps to figure out how fast an object is moving. To solve for the speed of the truck, I needed more info on the truck, so who would know better than the man himself, Mr. Will Foreman (the accused). I found his e-mail address and sent him a message explaining who I am, what I was trying to do, and how he could help. His reply follows:

Frank

Yes, my company’s encounter with the speed cameras in the Town of Forest Heights Maryland could provide an interesting example for class. Sadly it might prove more valuable to a social studies, or civics class.

During my most recent visit to the courthouse I was contesting 15 citations. I was confident as the evidence was obvious and the law is quite clear. To my surprise, the evidence and the law didn’t matter. I experience first hand how our justice system “works” for the poor and uneducated. I was naive to think facts and the law matter. They do not. Money matters!

Judge Devlin treated me as though I had an extensive criminal record. I was guilty the moment I arrived in his court room. F. Lee Bailey could not have helped. I was threatened with contempt if I simply presented the photos from the citation. The same photos that are supposed to be the evidence against us. It was a very sad day.

I have been a victim of theft before. So-called customers and employees have stolen parts and cash. Never before have the perpetrators been in uniform or robes. That afternoon costs my company $937.50. It was a very sad day. I am appealing.

As far as the lengths of the vehicles, the red Ford Ranger is exactly 16 ft 6 in. Most garages are 20 ft deep. You can find the vehicle’s lengths on line with Wikipedia etc. Suffice it to say our delivery vehicles are between 16 – 18 ft.

Here is a link with some more photos. I put the distance required for validation.

https://picasaweb.google.com/113334693289323989329/August272011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCK-KgaHJs7eyigE&feat=directlink#

Best of luck with your lesson.

Will

Mr. Foreman’s reply helped me see a bigger picture. This is not just an application of physics, but it brings up the issue, “What role does science, math, and technology play in our legal/justice system? How can it be used to argue for against one’s innocence?” In trying to address the big issue on our mind, “So am I getting a ticket??”, Mr. Foreman’s reply also reminds me that this ties into issues beyond stating a case and backing it with evidence. The social issues become apparent. “If we can provide a persuasive argument using math and science, is that enough to make the changes we seek? How do we go about making social change? How do we become effective leaders???” The questions are endless! :oO I would have no idea how I would connect that to social studies, but I think it would at least create a good starting point for a conversation with a social studies, civics, leadership etc teacher.

I think situations like this help emphasize that much of what we do in math and science, especially in terms of problem-solving (word problems), are really tools we need for solving problems in a bigger picture (fighting a ticket, defending/prosecuting a suspect, making social change).

WCYDWT

So… “What can you do with this?” At this point, my more concrete ideas are limited to physics applications. Some projects students can do regarding this context (refers to some resources, listed at the end of the post):

• In my PowerPoint presentation, I show Mr. Foreman’s superimposed photo (sans attached data) and ask “Is it possible to calculate the speed of the car? If not, what else do we need to know?”. Let students brainstorm. More questions may pop up. “What’s that? Looks like we have more data here…” (next slide includes time data)

The media can be used as an assessment…

• For a lower level analysis focusing on just the concept of constant velocity, present students with the speed camera photograph and give the prompt:
  “You are Mr. Foreman’s attorney. Use the photographic evidence to present a case to the judge, defending Mr. Foreman.”
  Remix: “The judge isn’t very well educated in math and science. (How does that change your presentation?)”

• For higher level thinking, present them with the speed camera photograph, maybe the audio recording of the court hearing, and the information about the speed cameras from the manufacturer website, then give the prompt:
  “You are the judge. Based on the information and evidence available, do you think the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? Why? In your argument, show that you weighed information from both sides.”

As for my own implementation of this, I introduced the scenario, then connected it to motion maps (a rough sequence can be seen on my PowerPoint presentation, also embedded above). I felt the students were “hooked” by the proposed scenario. As I delved further into the “content” the next few days, the connection seemed to weaken as an interesting context turned into interpreting diagrams, graphing, plugging things into equations, etc. I’d like to connect back to this context somehow in my summative  assessment (a relative term, in SBG) of this unit (constant velocity). Meanwhile, I’m also doing the quintessential constant velocity buggy labs. So far there’s little sign the students see connections between the things in this unit, and only seem to focus on one activity at a time, isolating the things they learn. Perhaps I’ll have them reflect on how everything we do can be applied to the speeding camera situation so they can strengthen those common threads.

Resources:

• Original news article
• Photographic evidence taken by speed cameras for various cars (to download, click on the desired picture, then look for the “Download” link on the lower right)
• More photos
• Audio recording of court hearing (on YouTube)
• Information about the cameras and their measurement method (manufacturer website)

The good

• I felt more focused by creating objectives and prioritizing objectives instead of like in the past, where I just throw things at them and “hope it sticks”. 90% of it sticks? “A” for you! 70% of it sticks? Even if none of it was a core idea? “C” for you!
• Students were relatively on-task for most activities, considering nothing was actually “worth points”. I was afraid the first assignment of the year would be met by a conversation like this:
  S: How much is this worth?
  T: um… your grade is determined by quizzes and tests
  S: … so, nothing?
  T: …
  S: [sits back and stares at ceiling]
  But that never happened. Sure, I had students who didn’t do diddly squat, but based on my prior experiences, I’d say these students would have done no more work than if assignments were worth points.
  At first it was a bit difficult not having the crutch of threatening students with loss of points, but this only encouraged me to make my activities more meaningful and engaging, and eventually it was overall liberating not feeling like I had to “motivate” my students by dangling the points carrot in their faces.

The bad

• Students focused on objectives by their labels (T3, CV2, EM4, etc.). I’m not sure they ever read the actual objective. So in their heads they were trying to “learn CV2” instead of “learn how to calculate the average velocity of an object”. Instead of learning what was described, they were learning “how to do those types of problems labeled CV2”.
• Some or most students were motivated to remediate missed objectives, but it turned into a bunch of 1-on-1 tutoring sessions. I’ll need some way for them to remediate that’s not such a huge barrier that they would rather take the lower grade than relearn the material. Currently the only ways for them to remediate is to ask a friend (not a viable choice for everyone), ask me (takes up my time), or research on their own using the textbook or online resources (not going to happen). I’d like to create some accessible resources so if they do come to me for help, I can direct them to these resources. Or tell them if they’d like to re-assess, they must first offer evidence that they’ve gone over the resources.
• Homework completion was still an issue, although it’s hard to say how much meaningful completion there was compared to when I had “traditional” grading. Second semester I tried a homework incentive system (complete/attempt more than 70% of assignments, +1 grade letter). No significant increase in number of students doing homework. Also, if they fell below 70%, it seemed like less incentive to do homework than before. I felt like since I started dangling the incentive system in front of their faces, this replaced any intrinsic motivation they might have had.
• I’d like to have large and/or long-term assignments/projects. I think students can do short-term work in class (attempt a worksheet, whiteboard, do an activity) for no points, but I have serious doubts about students doing extended writing or any real “serious work” for no points.

Random notes

• I started out with too many objectives each unit. I now try to combine them down to 6 for each unit/model so the list doesn’t seem daunting. I feel like long list lowers motivation (“so many things to learn!”).
• I’ll keep the same formatting, which took a while to evolve into the current state. Objectives written at the top of each worksheet and assessment, and scores embedded in the objective list. (Another– although not great– reason for fewer objectives)

Questions

• How do I assess projects and provide the proper motivation/incentives?
• How do I assess students individually for projects?

Conclusion

I’ll never return to the old (traditional) grading system, which is relatively arbitrary and emphasizes points instead of learning. Although the “bad” list looks longer than the “good” list, the problems are less with the philosophy behind SBG, and more with my implementation of it this year. I will continue with the philosophy behind SBG, but I’ll need to adapt my implementation to how I plan to teach next year — with more projects, as activities and assessments (Project Based Learning is my next venture).