5.1.1 Second step: advise

On this page

  1. Responsibility
    1.1 Collective responsibility
    1.2 Individual responsibility
  2. Listing tips
    2.1 Using a tip book when whole class teaching
    2.2 Listing tips when working independently
  3. Abacus
    3.1 Counting tips with the abacus
    3.2 Abacus in different approaches to teaching
    3.3 Alternatives to the abacus
  4. Summary

Teachers make students partly responsible for order in class. They do this by counting and noting Tips.

By counting and noting Tips, I make my students individually and collectively responsible for the proper conduct of the lesson.

Current approach:

How do I now make my students responsible for the smooth running of the lesson?

Future Approach:

In the future, how do I make my students responsible for well-run lessons?

Introduction video

Introduction

We now give advice on how to address both the collective responsibility and the individual responsibility of students by giving Tips. You address these responsibilities with different lists (list whole class teaching, list independent work, list homework). Finally, you will find information on how to count Tips. By counting Tips in a visible way with the abacus you clearly indicate your limit.

1. Responsibility

How do you address both the collective responsibility and individual responsibility of students by giving Tips?

1.1 Collective responsibility

You increase collective responsibility if at the start of a form of work (in whole class teaching or when working independently) you ask your students to keep the Tips “green” i.e. zero Tips. You indicate that you hope there will be no need to give Tips. If you have not given a Tip yet the colour of first image of the abacus is green. This way you invite students to let the lesson run well.

Collective responsibility in whole class teaching

How do you make the group collectively responsible for the atmosphere? In advance you agree with your students a maximum number of Tips per lesson e.g. two Tips. You tell the students that that after the second Tip you give a Future behaviour letter. As a result, your students are careful not to disrupt the lesson. No one wants to be given a Future behaviour letter.

The framework is there for everyone. So every student can be held accountable for being friendly and fair. You never give two Tips to the same student within a lesson (Read Number of tips per student per lesson). This way you show that Tips are meant for everyone. If you have already given two Tips within a lesson, at the third disruption you hand out a Future behaviour letter (Read Reinforcing positive behaviour by handing out a future behaviour letter).
After two Tips, students feel collective responsible. The third student can be anyone and therefore everyone stops disrupting the lesson. By giving Tips this way, you establish order.

Figure 61: Whole class teaching

With this way of giving Tips when whole class teaching, you avoid this inefficiency:

“I give two Tips per student per lesson, then I hand out a Future behaviour letter. Today I had a class of 30 students, in doing so, in one lesson, in whole class teaching, I gave each student two Tips (2 x 30 = 60 Tips per lesson) and no one was given a Future behaviour letter. I wrote down all the Tips. I didn’t get around to teaching anymore.”

Teaching this way is counterproductive. The lesson gets bogged down in writing down Tips with no action taken. The students notice this and then ignore your Tips. They continue disrupting the lesson. The only thing students watch carefully is if there is a limit to your Tips. With no limit, no one feels responsible for the lesson.

Collective responsibility when working independently

You agree with the group that you will give only four Tips during independent work. When you have handed out the fourth Tip, you interrupt working independently and continue with whole class teaching. In doing so, you make the group collectively responsible for the amount available for working independently.

Figure 62: Working independently

Note: With Tips for homework, collective responsibility does not play a role.

1.2 Individual responsibility

For all situations: whole class teaching, working independently and homework, you give each student a maximum of one Tip per lesson. On three different lists (whole class teaching, working independently and a list for not doing homework) you note who received a Tip when and how often. A student collects zero, one or two Tips per situation (whole class teaching, working independently, homework) during a report period. With this, students are responsible for their own behaviour. Every student who received two Tips knows that it is not wise to continue disturbing. See Listing tips

Figure 68: All situations

How do you ensure that each student is responsible for his or her own behaviour and is held accountable for it? In two columns we explain this for whole class teaching and working independently:

Whole class teaching

FFT recommends a maximum of two Tips per report period per student. Combining this with the aforementioned restriction that a student never receives more than one Tip from you per lesson you have the following advantage:

During frontal teaching, a student can only bring another students at risk of getting a Future assignment twice in two different lessons. Then the student does not get Tips for free any more an cannot put other students at risk.

Should you not restrict an individual student to two Tips per report period, you would allow a form of bullying. If students are allowed always to bring other students a risk, then you are giving them the opportunity to purposefully ensure that not they but rather only other students get the Future behaviour letter. If you allow this to happen, your approach cannot be called fair.

During whole class teaching, how do you let an individual student know when he or she can expect a Future behaviour letter in a period of, say, eight weeks?

The Tips you write down first in your Tip Book, After school you write them down on a list. If you see on your list that a student received two Tips earlier this period during whole class teaching, at the beginning of the next lesson you write the name of this student on the board.

When the student enters the lesson, you point to the name on the board. You ask the student to behave appropriately for the rest of the period, or a Future behaviour letter will be handed out. Because of this advice, this student is likely to modify behaviour pre-emptively.

With this way of administering Tips per report period and by making visible on the board who received two Tips, you ensure that all Tips are effective. Each student is now individually responsible for his or her behaviour.

Working independently

When working independently of when checking homework you write down Tips directly on a list. How do you ensure each student is responsible for their own behaviour and can be held accountable for it? At the second Tip you state: “This was the second Tip, please be careful”.

In this way, each student is responsible for their own behaviour and you address a student accordingly.

The advantage of this approach is:

  1. The student to whom you give the second Tip, when working independently, gets a chance from you to modify behaviour.
  2. After the second Tip for not doing homework, a student can decide to do homework from now on.

Student uses his individual space in a predictable fashion.

At the beginning of a new report period, I could tell: One of my students had to disrupt class. He knew that if he did, he would get a Tip. The next lesson, the same thing happened. Before the third lesson began, I then put his name on the board as a warning that his space had been used up. Upon entering, I advised him not to disturb further. With a broad smile, he then sat down and did not disrupt class for the rest of that report period. The next period the exact same thing happened again. This student enjoyed making full use of the space he was given by me to disrupt. I think he thought it was cool that his name was on the board. I recognized his pattern and had fun in it as well.”

2. Listing tips

FFT recommends that Tips be noted on three different lists. Each list covers a report period. For each situation (whole class teaching, working independently, and for homework) make a separate class list with all the names of the students who are in the class. Above the list, you put which of the three situations this list is for. If you give a Tip, put a note (for example, a cross, or the date) after the student’s name.

Per report period, you give a maximum of two Tips per student and a maximum of one Future behaviour letter. You never give two Tips within a lesson to the same student.

Now we indicate how to use the lists for whole class teaching, working independently and homework.

2.1 Writing tips in tip book in whole class teaching

When teaching the entire class, you note down ‘Tips‘ (and the handing out a ‘Future behaviour letter‘) in your Tip Book. That is a small notebook. At the end of a teaching day, transfer the notes from the Tip book to a separate class list for teaching the entire class. Per report period, give a student a maximum of two Tips and a maximum of one Future behaviour letter.

Figure 76: Abacus + Tip Book

The advantage of first writing down Tips in a Tip Book in whole class teaching is that it takes less time and accuracy than writing the Tips directly on a list. With a Tip Book, you don’t have to put a cross in an alphabetical list exactly in the right column by a student’s name. Because it is small, you can always carry it with you. With a Tip book, if your class is busy and distracting you, you avoid making mistakes in administration or in accounting incompletely. After class, you often remember what happened. In addition, noting a Tip in a small booklet looks friendlier to students than noting it on an alphabetical list. With a Tip book you administer Tips more easily and quickly than you would with a list.

At the end of your lessons, note the Tips on the list of names belonging to whole class teaching of that report period:

Figure 63: Whole class teaching H3A

Download this list as a word document to modify it yourself.

2.2 Listing tips when working independently

When working independently and checking homework, write down Tips directly on a separate class lists. During independent work, you have plenty of time for that. To the right of the names, you administer three columns: Tip 1, Tip 2 and Future behaviour letter.

You walk through the class with the appropriate class list. If you give a student a Tip when working independently or when not doing homework, you note the date immediately on the list after the student’s name. You give a maximum of one Tip to a student per class. If you give a student a Future behaviour letter, then note the date and cause behind the student’s name.

When working independently you always have the list with you when you walk through the classroom. Noting directly on the list adds to the impression that you are keeping an eye on everything in a fair way. The students also notice that you are acting carefully.

Figure 64: Working independently H3A

Download this list as a word document to modify it yourself.

3. Abacus

With the abacus you count the Tips in a way that every student knows how many Tips are given. By walking up to the abacus, your students know that you are considering giving a Tip. The effect of walking up to the folder or picking the folder up, has the effect on students of immediately calming them down. Chances are they will therefore stop disrupting the lesson. Because you act visibly, students can correct themselves in time and prevent you from actually giving a Tip or Future behaviour letter. Over time, the abacus may seem like you have added a class assistant for order.

When you start whole class teaching or when working independently, you ask your students to help you keep Tips green.

3.1 Counting tips with the abacus

With the abacus, you count the number of Tips you give within a lesson. Below we discuss alternative ways of counting. By counting Tips you limit unintentional and intended disruptive behaviour. Tips are given, noted and counted. When you give a Tip, you show the following picture of the abacus to your students. The images have the colours green, orange, red. The effect of the colours can be compared to a traffic light. At red, students stop disrupting the lesson. With the abacus, you indicate your limit. Everyone knows how close they are to the limit.

If you have already given the agreed maximum number of Tips that your students get “for free,” all students try to avoid the next step, the Future behaviour letter, therefore they stop disrupting the lesson. It is important for the students that you always show how many Tips you have already given per lesson. Using the abacus as a visible indication, you give students the opportunity to adjust their behaviour in time. You act visibly and predictably.

The abacus contains a number of images collected in this PowerPoint. You can modify these images as you wish. The first three images of this PowerPoint with a beret (of a professor) you use when whole class teaching. The last five images with cap you use when working independently.

Origin Abacus

The abacus is a variation of a traffic light used by elementary school teachers. Hence the colors green, orange and red.

Besides the abacus, there are other ways to count how many Tips you have given per lesson.

3.2 Abacus in different appoaches to teaching

Abacus when teaching the whole class

In whole class teaching, you agree with the class that the maximum number of Tips you give per lesson is two.

Figure 66: Abacus in whole class teaching

With a green image, you have not yet given a Tip (Tip zero).
With the colour orange (1), you indicate that the space given to students by you to disrupt the lesson is almost used up.
With the colour red (2) you indicate: Stop disrupting the lesson, or I could to hand out a Future behaviour letter.
In most lessons, you will usually give less than two Tips per lesson. In the upper right part of the overview you see an estimate of the number of times you use Tips.

Making the number of Tips visible to the group with the abacus
If you are going to use the abacus in whole class teaching, place the first set of three images in this folder. By limiting yourself in whole class teaching to two Tips, you will not get bogged down in handing out endless Tips

Abacus when students are working independently

Before you start working independently, agree with your students that the maximum number of Tips is four. Giving a Tip takes little time, so four Tips leaves you enough time to coach your students. Most of the lessons you will give less than four Tips.

Figure 67: Abacus in working independently

When the image is green, you have not yet given a Tip (Tip zero).
With light green (1) you indicate that 1/4 of the space is used up.
With yellow (2) you indicate that 2/4 of the space is used up.
With orange (3) you indicate that 3/4 of the space is used up.
With red (4) you indicate that the space is used up. You you ask your students to  working independently and continue with teaching the entire class.

Making the number of Tips visible to the group with the abacus
In the abacus folder you place the second series of five images that belong to independent work.

Homework

FFT  recommends that when giving Tips for not doing homework, you also limit yourself to a maximum of four Tips per lesson. Giving more than four Tips reduces the time you can teach. It is not necessary to show the number of Tips given for homework to the group with the abacus (as in whole class teaching and working independently). Giving a Tip for not making homework is something between you and the student. You do not share this with the class.

3.3 Alternatives to the Abacus

Counting tips can be done in several ways:

  • Plasticize images from the PowerPoint that have to do with counting Tips and place them visible to the students.

    Figure 65: Alternative to the abacus

  • You can mark the number Tips with crosses or with numbers on the board.

4. Summary

Tips are given with a smile. With a positively formulated Tip you effectively reinforce positive behaviour. With the abacus you make the number of Tips given visible to your students.

In whole class teaching, you give Tips in a different way than in independent work and homework. Because you keep lists, you know when it is time to hand out a Future behaviour letter. By giving Tips, you make students individually responsible for their behaviour and you make the group as a whole responsible for their behaviour.

  • Don’t wait too long with giving Tips. If you ignore disruptions, you run the risk of getting angry or to start warning again.
  • Occasionally give a student a Future behaviour letter. After you hand out this assignment for the first time and it when it is turned in, other students avoid this Future behaviour letter and the number of disruptions to your lesson decreases. Only after you have given the first Future behaviour letter your students understand that ‘Using body language’ and ‘Giving Tips’ are pre-announcements of a ‘Future behaviour letter’.