Haim Ginott, a teacher and child psychologist, pioneered techniques
for conversing with kids that are still practiced today. Haim Ginott is
quoted saying, “I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the
decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that
creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a
teacher, I posses a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or
joyous. I can be tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I
can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my
response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated
and a child humanized or dehumanized.” Ginott’s words are a driving
force in why I believe a strong proactive and positive approach is
essential in managing student behavior, thereby creating the most
effective learning environment. Although there are many different
principles and techniques used to manage behavior, I find CHAMPs to be
most effective.
CHAMPs is an acronym that reflects the types of expectations used by
the teacher to clarify the activity and transitions occurring in class.
The acronym stands for Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement, and
Participation. Randy Sprick, co-author of CHAMPs, designed this program
to help classroom teachers develop a proactive and positive classroom
environment so that learning time can be maximized.
The process of communicating expectations will begin with the start
of each workshop and prior to transitioning. Providing clear
expectations for students eliminates the need for students to guess what
is expected of them. As I implement the program, I create anchor
t-charts explaining responsible noise and disruptive noise. After
defining expectations, I designate corrective consequences.
Understanding CHAMPs:
CONVERSATION: Students who are concerned about
their ability to communicate with others may attempt to compensate by
increasing the audible volume of their responses. To discourage such a
practice, I introduce conversation levels with examples of acceptable
versus unacceptable levels. They include: 0- silent, 1-whisper, 2-
conversation, 3-presentation, and 4-outside voice.
HELP: Students who roam the classroom looking for
help are often distracted and easily off task. When they understand how
to properly gain the attention of their teacher and get their questions
answered, unnecessary movement and interruptions can be avoided.
ACTIVITY: Prior to the class working on an
activity, I provide a snapshot of the objective and what is expected for
the end product. Example: Read independently for the next twenty
minutes. When you finish a book, log the title and author.
MOVEMENT: Providing students with permission to get
out of their seats during the learning activity, as long as such
movement is necessary and orderly, eliminates distractions such as
students repeatedly asking for a pencil, water, the bathroom, etc.
Establishing independence and eliminating distraction is a key to
orderly movement that is conducive to learning.
PARTICIPATION: Obtaining effective student
participation in the learning process requires an early explanation of
the behaviors that are expected of the students during the learning
activity. The more structure a lesson requires, the more specific my
explanation to the students should be. Successful participation is
measured by student responses during the learning activity. Are they to
be listening? Discussing? Watching?
Providing a simple system for reinforcing positive behavior and
reducing specific misbehavior should follow CHAMPs guidelines. I use
two systems to reinforce positive student behavior. First, I provide
Bucket Fillers for students who make positive decisions, follow
expectations, and work toward our classroom goals. I recommend reading
Have You Filled a Bucket Today: A Guide to Daily Happiness in Kids with
your class while establishing intrinsic motivation. Secondly, my
behavior management chart provides positive and negative colors. My
school celebrates two students from each class during a flag raising
ceremony each month. My students are chosen for the student of the
month celebration by moving through the positive colors on my behavior
management chart.
While I’m aware that there are many different systems and theories
for obtaining behavioral best practices, I truly believe that CHAMPs
positive approach and clear expectations provides my class with the
needed management and ability to learn effectively!
For more information about positive behavior management, please visit Randy Sprick’s Safe and Civil Schools at http://www.safeandcivilschools.com/index.php
The girl in me wanted to make my transitions a bit more fashionable so I created my own CHAMPs charts! You can pick these up in my store. Just a few previews...
So what does it look and sound like?
6 comments:
I just went to a CHAMPS training and now have Champs charts in my room! I just started using them today and it has made such a difference. The expectations are so clear, students know exactly what is expected! It has cut down on questions so much already and me redirecting.
Great post :)
We use CHAMPS at our school and I really like it also! I love how explicit it is. We married CHAMPS with whole brain teaching this year. It took our CHAMPS to a new level! I love it!
Em
curiousfirsties.blogspot.com
This article was shared with me by Deedee. It's interesting!!
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/09/17/161159263/teachers-expectations-can-influence-how-students-perform
I'm unsure if this link is to the written article or the one that is read. They mirror each other but I recommending that you listen to the article. It features clip examples from classroom settings. It's powerful!
That quote sits on my desk and is a constant reminder for me!
Sara :)
Smiling In Second Grade
You are fabulous!! So glad you get to be featured in the newsletter - you deserve it!!
Thanks for linking up with us!!
This is my first time hearing about CHAMPS! I absolutely love the quote at the beginning of your post! :)
Michelle
Apples and ABC's
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