Page 3: Surface Management Strategies – Flashcards

Classroom organization Daily routines Smooth transitioning

Making high-traffic areas easy to navigate Ensuring that all students can be seen and monitored Organizing frequently used supplies so that they are accessible Making certain that all students can see instructional presentations and displays

Make sure daily activities occur at the same time every day Post the schedule where all students can see it

Give verbal cues to signal when to move to the next area or activity Signal dismissal with a blinking light or a bell Give students a five-minute warning to alert that an activity is ending Provide an object that will be needed in the next activity (e.g., ruler, reading book)

Redirecting involves asking the student to do a task, such as reading or answering a question, to refocus the student's attention. When redirecting, the teacher should act as though the student is paying attention so as not to embarrass her or him.

Intentional ignoring is used when the teacher is confident that the behavior (e.g., tapping a pencil) will run its course and that it will not disrupt or spread to others.

A variety of signals (e.g., establishing eye contact, clearing one's throat) can communicate disapproval of the student's behavior.

Physical contact or reduced distance between the student and the teacher often helps the student to control impulses.

This is useful when a student's interest in a task is waning or when he or she is becoming restless. Displaying genuine interest in a child's work or interests (e.g., NASCAR, art projects) helps to build a relationship and rapport, and this in turn might increase the student's motivation to continue to work on the assignment.

A humorous comment or joke can ease a tense or anxious situation. However, the teacher should never make a student the brunt of the joke or humorous comment.

Assisting a frustrated, overwhelmed, or unmotivated student (e.g., by working the first two or three division problems together) can help him or her to get started and to become invested in the task at hand.

When the teacher directs a student to put the distracting object (e.g., toy car, cell phone) away, he or she is better able to concentrate on academic assignments, observe classroom rules, and continue to learn.

A teacher can temporarily remove a student from the setting (e.g., let student get a drink of water or deliver a message to another teacher) to permit the student time to regain composure and control his or her behavior. This strategy is not designed to punish the student.

Often times, when a teacher needs to provide a consequence for an inappropriate behavior, instruction stops, and the whole flow of a lesson is interrupted. The beauty of surface management techniques is that teachers are able to continue their instructional sequence while managing minor disruptions in the classroom. For example, if there's some chatter going on in parts of the classroom, a teacher can just look in that direction, and that signal interference will change the behavior on the parts of the student there by not interrupting the flow of instruction.

The whole goal of a surface management strategy is to get the students back on track or on task so that they can learn, and you can go back on with teaching. And if the easiest way to get a child back on track is by using a surface management maybe planned ignoring, maybe giving them the raised eyebrow, then do that. The whole idea of a management system is helping that child learn to regulate their own behavior. Recognize symbols, recognize signs when they are not doing something they should be which can be done through a surface management strategy.

Surface management strategies are often effective for addressing minor disruptive behaviors.