Teacher Interview

What fun it was to go back to my middle school, Field Middle School in Northbrook, IL to interview my 8^th grade history teacher on his classroom management skills. Mr. Sackley was my favorite teacher, and the one who inspired me to be a history education major. Prior to starting his teaching career, eleven years ago, Mr. Sackley worked at a family business for fifteen years. He decided he wanted to change careers, and he went back to school to get his teaching degree. My sister was in his very first class, and I was in his class during his third year of teaching. I admire how he changed careers later in life, and I really appreciate the experiences he brought into the classroom from living life prior to his teaching career. He always seems to have such a good handle on the class, so I thought he would be a good teacher to interview on classroom management skills.

The first classroom management strategy that Mr. Sackley mentioned is very similar to Woolfolk’s “contingency contracts” on page 276 in chapter 7. At the beginning of each year, Mr. Sackley sets firm classroom rules with his students. These rules are written down and handed out to each of his students in a contract form. The students each read the list of rules and then sign the bottom of the contract agreeing that they will follow these rules. He also has a line at the bottom of the contract for the parents to sign saying that they too have read and are aware of the classroom rules. This brings the parents into a partnership with the teacher so they can encourage their children to follow the rules. The parents also know the rules in case they receive a call from the teacher regarding their children. Although, Mr. Sackley said, by the time the students are in 8^th grade, he has found that the number of times he has actually needed to call a teacher about a student not following the rules was very minimal. Mr. Sackley’s contract was the same contract for each student in his class, while Woolfolk’s model was a unique contract made with each student that specifically addressed their goals, but the basic concept is the same. I really like this idea of creating contacts with students. I think it will be very effective, especially with middle school kids, and I will plan to use this practice in my future classroom.

I really liked how Mr. Sackley follows the “soft, calm, private reprimands” that Woolfolk says are “more effective than loud, public reprimands in decreasing disruptive behavior” (281). When I asked him how he corrects wrong behaviors, he said that he always looks for a way to compliment his students and tries not to focus on the “bad” by really focusing on what a student does well. However, when a student does something that needs correcting, he said he always has private conversations with them, and he never calls a student out in front of his peers unless it is something dangerous that needs to be stopped immediately. This is a great practice that I want to be sure to implement with my future class.

As Mr. Sackley’s students are all 8^th graders, he is preparing them for high school, and he said that he is teaching them to take responsibility for the actions, behaviors and their assignments. This equates to Woolfolk’s “management for self-management” on page 513 where “the final goal of any management system is to help students become better able to manage themselves.” Mr. Sackley said he likes to treat his students as the “young adults that they are,” keeping an open and honest relationship with them, while giving them the flexibility and responsibility to begin to manage themselves. This has proved to be a very effective strategy in Mr. Sackley’s class, and as Woolfolk says, “if you teach your students to manage their own behavior and learning, you should have fewer management problems, less stress, and more time to teach.” Since the students learn valuable self-management skills with this strategy, it will help them as they transition into high school, so if I teach in middle school, developing these types of relationships will be important and valuable.

Field Middle School has a school wide “token reinforcement system” that they refer to as Tiger Tickets. The mascot of the school is the Field Tiger, so that is why they are named Tiger Tickets. The tickets are like fake money that you can accumulate to buy something like pencils, erasers, or lunch with a teacher. Students can earn tickets from a teacher for academic successes, or for being a model student in their classroom, lunch room or at recess. This matches with the “token economy” practice that Woolfolk describes on page 278 of chapter 7. Mr. Sackley said in his interview that there is such a disparity between 6^th- 8^th graders that the teachers find it hard to come up with meaningful incentives that will appeal to all students. He said they find that the 6^th graders are much more interested in the tickets as motivation to succeed than the 8^th graders. Within just his classroom, Mr. Sackley has a dart board that he uses as a reward system. When students make a good observation, or even are just willing to raise their hand to try to answer a difficult question, he gives them an opportunity to throw a dart at the board. Depending on where the dart lands on the board, Mr. Sackley gives the student small prizes. For some students, just getting a chance to throw the dart is enough incentive. But, when a student hits a bullseye, Mr. Sackley will bring treats (he mentioned the new school policy where they are again able to bring treats to class as long as they meet the requirements of the treats on a list) in for the whole class to enjoy. Since all the kids are rewarded when someone gets a bullseye, the students learn to encourage and cheer on their classmates who get the opportunity to throw the dart. It a fun time for the whole class. Seeing the excitement of the students and the way the dart board motivates the students to participate in class, I will consider this type of “token reinforcement” in my future classroom.

When I asked Mr. Sackley what advice he had for me as I start out as a teacher, he said to always be prepared, know what you plan to do, but be willing to get off track if it will be a good teaching moment. He also mentioned when planning a lesson that requires something you don’t use every day, like a video, he would always come in the morning and try the video before the class arrives to make sure everything is in order and ready to go when the class arrives. This reminded me of what I read in Woolfolk’s chapter 13, page 510 under the section “The Basic Task: Gain Their Cooperation,” where she says “have materials ready” and “forsee[ing] problems and stop[ping] them before they start.” He also said to always be open, honest and fair with all students, trying not to ever show favoritism. Similarly, Woolfolk says to “maintain[ing] positive relationships with students based on mutual respect” (510). Getting to know his students, and letting them know he cares about them, has been a major part of success for Mr. Sackley in his classroom management skills. Interviewing Mr. Sackley has been a great experience for me. He shared a lot of great management strategies that I intent to carry forward when I start my own classroom.