Why Fairness Matters

In my ESL classroom, rules must be simple and clearly worded with similarly clear consequences. At the same time, I think that I can still set high standards for behavior and academic performance even with rules that may appear simple. To keeps students accountable to the rules, consequences must be based on transparency, equality, and fairness. In other words, leniency should not be shown to some and undue harshness to others. I try to be as impartial as possible in my approach towards students, although it is difficult at times because I am more familiar with some than others. To this end, we write rules together as a class so that we are all on the same page about expectations.

The biggest challenge I have reinforcing rules is that there is no accountability outside of my classroom. In other words, the only consequences that are effective are the ones I am able to personally reinforce. We do not have a guidance counselor that I can involve in cases of negative behavior. While I believe it is important for parents to be involved in this part of the academic process, it is highly unlikely that they will be called in either. The most effective way that I have found for reinforcing rules is to involve the students and to get them to hold each other accountable. I do so by tying a points system to our rules. Keeping in line with the rules or going above and beyond expectations result in plus points. Breaking rules result in minus points. Students are then able to cash in on their points as a class at the end of the semester. It might look like this:

300 points = one class period watching a movie

400 points = movie and pizza party

500 points = movie, pizza, and ice cream

600 points = choose 3 of 4 (movie, pizza, fried chicken, ice cream)

It is important that the students cash in as a class because this is their incentive for keeping each other accountable. They all have a common goal, and they know that they must work as a team in order to accomplish that goal. With this system, I have noticed improved behavior and increased participation in class. It’s all about asking students to be in constant practice of being mindful of their actions. This method is also quite congruous with Korean culture, which is community-centric by nature. While overall success is a class effort, I also try to be mindful of every individual’s actions so that I can praise, encourage, or counsel as necessary. Whenever a student contributes to the class, I thank him for his efforts especially if it is a student who does not usually do so. I think that it is important to be specific when recognizing a student because it is more useful for replicating this behavior in the future. For example, I can tell a student, “You worked so hard today brainstorming past-tense verbs. I really appreciate it when you put in that kind of effort.” That student will know which actions specifically resulted in positive results. When there is a student acting out of line, I will take him aside to ask what’s going on. If there are students that are being particularly and repetitively disruptive, I will pause the lesson and allow them to keep talking. However, I will remind them of the consequences of their actions and proceed to take points away from the class. At this time, the class will regulate itself and in most cases, restore order. Once a student has corrected his behavior, it is also important to me to recognize that he has done so. I think that this sort of recognition encourages a student to think with a growth mindset and the belief that habits can change. This is the same for students who put in more effort with their academics.

I like to also put in periodic reassessments of the rules. If everything is working well, we might take this opportunity to re-calibrate our goals to see if we can challenge ourselves further as a class. For example, students are currently required to show their comprehension of two vocabulary words per week by using them in sentences during class. For this they can earn plus points. If this gets too easy, we might try to bump that up to three or four words per week. If students are having academic or behavioral issues, we might similarly re-calibrate our goals and adjust them to be more realistic. We might also discuss a plan for getting our class back on track to success.

References Marzano, Robert J. (2007) The Art and Science of Teaching. Retrieved https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/platform-user-content/prod-copy/get_help_resources/activity_resources/module4/The_Art_and_Science_of_Teaching.pdf.

Gatens, Brian. (2016 June 20). 5 Guidelines for Creating and Enforcing Effective Classroom Ground Rules. Retrieved https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/curriculum-teaching-strategies/creating-enforcing-classroom-ground-rules/.