How to Build a Classroom Website

All teachers should pay attention to this one; it doesn’t matter if you’re a behavior teacher or just one of those regular teachers.

Join the 21st century and get a classroom website. It’s easier than you think. It’s called WordPress and anyone can do it (even computer dunces). Please keep in mind that I have absolutely no affiliation with WordPress. I’m posting this information to help teachers. That’s it.

WordPress.com works well for those who want an “out of the box” solution. Just sign up at http://wordpress.com and BAM! you have your own free classroom website. No ads, no fees, lots of cool themes to choose from . . . why haven’t you signed up yet? Get over there and get started. And you don’t have to have any knowledge of html or coding of any kind.

Most people think of WordPress as blogging software only, but I’m telling you – it isn’t. You can make a static website out of it as well. Check out this example of a static WordPress website. Here’s another example (this one’s actually a classroom website). One possibility is setting up a static homepage with your links (classroom expectations, teacher contact information, dress code, fees payable to the teacher, etc.) on the side (or the top) and having a “news” or “what’s new” section. This section of the site can act as your blog, or your news ticker, however you’d like to look at it. That way you can have your static classroom website with an always updated “announcements” section.

WordPress.org is for those who own their own domain name and pay for their own hosting. It’s a bit trickier. You need to set up a database, back it up once in a while, and keep up with the latest version of the software. But still, it’s easy. And you have a lot more flexibility than you do with WordPress.com (more themes, endless plugins for enhanced flexibility and customization). If you have questions, just ask in the comment section of this post. I’ll be glad to walk you through it.

In this day and age, no teacher should be without a website. And a WordPress website, well, makes you look very high-tech and very hip. And most people looking at it would never know you didn’t hire a designer or pay to have your site set up.

Please (really listen here) don’t waste your time signing up for the masses of “pay-for” sites out there. You don’t need to pay anything to have an amazing, professional-looking classroom website. And you don’t have to have any website-building knowledge. You just have to go to http://wordpress.com and pick a username. Have I said that already? If you’re smart enough to figure out Microsoft Word or Excel, then you’ll have no problem with the WordPress software. And if you’re smart enough to figure out those teaching websites, like Edline or Skyward, then I think you’re too advanced for WordPress because I still haven’t figured those out yet.

Once again, if you need help figuring this out, ask in the comments section. I will be very happy to help you out.

Predictability in a Behavior Classroom

I teach students with behavioral disabilities.

We know these students (and all students) benefit from predictable schedules.

Students must begin to be productive from the moment they walk into the room. I’ve discovered an excellent method for this!

It’s called a “daily warmup.” Wow, I’m good. Actually, this is good. Keep reading.

Education World has a collection of daily warmups, or, as the site calls them, “Every-Day Edits.” Education World provides this as a free resource.

I use them in the following manner. I have shelves on the wall, and I put a stack of Every-Day Edits on each shelf. Each day has its own edits. For instance, Monday might be Ellis Island. On Monday, the students walk into the room, pick up Monday’s Every-Day Edit, sit down and work. Each one contains ten errors. Students attempt to find all ten. After a short time (use a timer; make the amount of time the same every day) students bring their corrected edits up to me. I count correct answers on each sheet and give the winner a reward. I then put a blank edit up on the document camera (or you can make transparencies and use an overhead projector), and have a student walk up to the whiteboard and correct it. The class offers suggestions. I guide the discussion.

The entire procedure should take no longer than about 15 minutes. The amount of time should never change. Students should not be allowed to ask, “What should we be doing? What’s happening today?” or any other similar questions. They know what to do when they enter the room. This predictability eliminates downtime or off-task behavior.

Additionally, Education World offers what they call “Animal Edits.” These edits are similar but geared toward a lower grade level. So, you can use Daily Edits and Animal Edits to differentiate instruction. Both require students to find ten errors; both can be printed in pdf format (from the site), and both have answer keys.

Our Rights as Teachers in Washington

Knowing the law can protect you.  Check out a few of these laws of which you may not be aware.

You have the right to exclude disruptive students from your classroom for up to two days for each disruptive event. The point of this law is for you to have a tool to protect the learning environment for the other students in your class. Under the law, you must have tried other interventions first (except for emergency situations), but those interventions could have occurred on prior days. The student cannot be returned to your class without your permission, or until you and your administrator has met to discuss how to deal with the behavior. When using this, be sure to inform your principal that you are exercising the “two-day exclusion law” so that it’s clearly understood what you’re doing. (RCW 28A.600.020)

State law requires the school to inform teachers of any incoming transfer student’s history of disciplinary actions, criminal or violent behavior, or other behavior that indicates the student could be a threat to the safety of educational staff or other students. (RCW 28A.225.330)

Principals must communicate the disciplinary action taken by the principal to the school personnel who referred the student to the principal for disciplinary action. (RCW 28A.600.020)

A student committing an offense such as an assault, malicious harassment, malicious mischief, or other crimes against a teacher shall not be assigned to that teacher’s classroom for the duration of the student’s attendance at that school or any other school where the teacher is assigned. (RCW 28A.600.460)

You have the right to report a student to the police if that student has threatened or assaulted you. Just because you are a public school employee, you do not give up your rights under the law as a citizen.

You have the right to obtain an anti-harassment protection order against a student (or a student’s parent) if those individuals engage in behaviors that are abusive; threatening; seriously alarm, annoy, or harass; or would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress. (RCW 10.14.020)

As a teacher in Washington, you have these rights.  If you need to, exercise them.

Attacked!

Imagine this.  You’re teaching, and you ask a student to quiet down.  The student, instead of shutting up, starts f-bombing you (that’s the f-word) and runs toward your staff assistant.  You get up, stand in between the student and the paraprofessional, and he starts punching you in the face and kicking you.

Have you dealt with a situation like this before?  If so, how did you handle it?  Did the student get arrested?  Did the student get expelled?

How do things get this out of control?

I’ll tell you.

When students misbehave, they get interviewed instead of you.  Then, when you get interviewed, your word is doubted because people already have a picture of what happened (painted by your very truthful student).

Often, you hear from your staff assistant that your students are in the main office.  You don’t know why.  Nobody tells you.  In your next meeting, you are told that you shouldn’t say such and such to the students, that it’s not professional.  You wonder why your side of the story was never heard.

You have consequences for poor behavior, like lunch detention, but parents complain so that is taken from you.  You have a radio, but you get in trouble when you use it.  You call security, but security complains because you call too much, and because it’s not a “real” emergency.

The kids don’t like it when you raise your voice, so they get to sit in the office instead of  in your class, and you just think they’re absent.  Students complain that you aren’t fair, so they’re transferred to another class.  Students want to see a counselor because you asked them to follow directions, so they walk out the door whenever they want without consequences.  You have no say-so.

Students fill out behavior sheets, but some say, “I don’t do those.”  You can’t enforce it because nobody really cares, as long as the parents aren’t complaining and the student isn’t bothering the important people.

You give consequences, and people with more authority than you take them away, effectively undermining what little authority you have over your students.

That’s how.

Academics vs. Sports

One of your students with behavioral disabilities excels in sports, but struggles academically.

He swears, fights, steals, manipulates and lies constantly.  Do you allow sports, hoping he’ll taste success?  Or will that create an egotistical monster who does and says whatever he wants, because that’s what he’s been taught?

Lunch Detentions

Lunch detention. I’ve given up my duty-free lunch for years now; I’m happy to do it again this year. However, this year lunch detentions have taken on a new form. Now, instead of going to the lunch room to get a hot lunch, visiting with friends in line, then making it back to my room for the last 10 minutes of lunch, the students must eat an emergency lunch (they call it “jail food”).

No longer do they get to enjoy the trip to the lunch room or the greasy french fries, pizza or tacos. They eat a healthy lunch. A certain number of lunches are pre-ordered each morning, based on how many students will be serving lunch detention that day (based on the previous day’s behavior). The lunches include raisins, a green bean salad, an apple, white milk, and (the best part) a dry tuna fish sandwich.

The consequence has been extremely effective because it’s immediate and it’s relevant. The students lose some things they love – time out of the room with their friends and greasy food. Behavior has improved dramatically since we’ve implemented the new lunch detentions.

But . . . some students really don’t like the dry tuna. They’ll turn sullen, put their heads on their desk, or simply refuse to eat. Usually though, in the last few minutes of lunch detention, they’ll grudgingly eat the food. However, some have taken it to the extreme and are appealing to administration for relief.

So, I pose to you the following questions.

Should we provide additional condiments to make the lunches more appealing? E.g., should we get mayonnaise and pickles from the lunch room to keep the students from rioting? Or should we stand fast? If you were an administrator, would you support these lunch detentions?

Data Collection

All special education teachers collect data.  It’s a federal mandate.  However, I’ve visited a few classrooms here and there, and when I ask them how they track their data (specifically, behavioral data) I never get a straight answer.

“Hm, well, see, I write these things down on these sheets and I save them in this folder here, see?  And I also collect these point sheets every day and then I know, see?”

Data collection shouldn’t be guesswork.  Behavioral data, like reading or math data, should be concrete and quantifiable.

I collect point sheets from students each day.  The point sheets are generic; that is, each student gets the same one.  But they’re split up into multiple categories that cover most any behavior.  For each category (in each class) they can score 0, 1, or 2.  My instructional assistant then plugs the totals for each behavior into a spreadsheet that’s split up into into 9 months and individual students.  When it’s time to send out progress reports, I call upon Excel to perform its magic.  It spits out percentages for each month.  I then create pretty charts (again in Excel) to give parents a visual picture of their child’s behaviors throughout the year.

What’s your system?

Interviewed

So, Mr. Administrator, it’s been reported that Billy Bobbie Sue screamed and yelled in the time-out room and splashed orange juice all over the walls. She then f-bombed the sub and took off, citing that her behavior plan gave permission to do so.

What do you do?

I think you might interview the student, then interview another behaviorally disabled student known for compulsive lying in order to obtain accurate, bullet-proof data about the event. Of course not telling your behavior teacher or instructional assistants anything about it would be paramount to your plan’s success. But shucks, the liar might come back and tell us about the interview. One never knows.

What consequence would you give the student?

Perhaps you’d be afraid of the student’s parents pursuing legal action so you’d do nothing. I think that’s brilliant! The parent must dictate our decision making. We must allow this student to do whatever she wants. We must allow her to say anything, go anywhere, and talk to anyone in any manner she chooses. In fact, I think she should be able to throw diet Shasta all over your office, f-bomb you, then talk to the counselor to cool off.

The Visit

OK.  Today I did what I was told.  I went and visited a model elementary school behavior program.  I tried to appear excited.   I took copious notes.  I smiled a lot.

We had things in common.  We both use a daily point sheet.  I like mine better.  I get more information from my sheet.  My point sheets also integrate nicely with a spreadsheet that tallies the points and spits out a percentage at any given time for a certain behavior.  So, for instance, if a parent wants to know if their child is progressing (on a given IEP goal) I can open up the spreadsheet and generate a graph in a matter of minutes.  To get a percentage for a goal, this teacher would simply pull a random (hopefully representative) sample from the sheets and come up with (how?) a number.

I’m not saying the program sucked.  Rather, the students behaved impeccably.  They knew the expectations and followed them.  Very impressive.  The teacher used a timer (attached to his belt) for a lot of different things, e.g., time-outs, certain academic tasks, etc.  The timer proved very effective.  Kids knew when and how to do things.  I could learn a thing or two from this guy about creating a detailed structure.

All in all, I label the visit a success.  I maintained a positive attitude.  I learned a few things.  I obeyed my boss.  Well done.

Would You Feel Trusted?

Would you feel trusted if you administrator told you to get a sub and go visit another classroom?

Showing up to work today I read an email from my administrator.

“Schedule that visit!” it said. I’ve been putting it off for a while. But now, I’ve scheduled the visit.

I’ll go there tomorrow and watch how a “real” behavior teacher handles himself. I hope my attitude doesn’t suck (like it does right now). Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be cheerful and ready to learn, like a good little boy.

I did call the teacher of the classroom I’m visiting tomorrow. And I said, “Uh, hmmm . . . well, how much experience do you have?” According to him, he had a lot. This is good. I would have serious trouble being an understudy of a first year teacher.

Wow, my attitude really does suck.