Discard the Discipline Plan with Alina Filipescu

I love you, Alina.  When I grow up, I want to be like you... (I say this because she tells me that she reads my blog, which is incroyable!)

Alina has this aura about her that makes you love her.  She is sweet, kind, and she knows what she's doing in a classroom.  This session was about the procedures that she uses to keep her students engaged so they don't have time to cause problems.

I'll start with her procedures and then talk about her other ideas:

• Whenever she says that she has a secret, the students all lean forward with their hands over their ears
• When she says Excellent, the students repeat while giving a double thumbs up
• When she says That's sad, the students repeat giving a thumbs down
• When she says That's ridiculous, students slap their thighs and stand up and shout That's ridiculous!
• When she says that someone has a problem, they put their hands in a cross over their chest and exclaim (Oh no!)
• When she asks Do you understand? They reply I understand (she does this in multiple languages)
• When she snaps her fingers and says click (to get their attention), they snap twice and say Click click
• When she leans forward, that is their cue to answer chorally (do avoid hearing from only the fast processors and to reduce the feeling of chaos)-LOVE THIS IDEA
• When she says Ok, I'm turning up the volume, they need to speak louder

Those are just the call and response type things that she does to keep the learning active.

Here are some other things that she does in the classroom to build a sense of community to avoid discipline issues.

• She has an activity called That's me!  I'm pretty sure I blogged about this last year, but just in case...  She has a list of statements and if that statement describes you, you stand up (or sit down if you are already standing) and say "That's me!"  I like the idea of this because I can see doing it as a brain break in the middle of establishing meaning to get more reps while getting the kids moving.
• Alina establishes her routines and expectations from the beginning and is consistent throughout the year.  She is forever repeating herself to the kids.  I had already planned to put my most important rules on a PowerPoint and have them scrolling the first two weeks of school with reminders every Monday throughout the year.... I need to be more consistent and I need to re-state my expectations every day
• Here is some verbage that she uses with kids "Thank you so much for raising  your hand and waiting to answer."  "It's okay to laugh, it's okay to smile, it is not okay to talk over, blurt out, or chat with your neighbor"  "I love that you are so creative, but I need you to wait until ______ next time."  "When you _____, you make me a better teacher."  I don't know about you, but seeing the actual sentences modeled for me helps so much.  I'm always looking for what other teachers actually SAY to their students.  It helps me immensely.
• She seriously limits vocab in the TL by saying "extra vocabulary is just noise right now, either say it in English or let's find a way to talk around the word you are looking for."  And she TEACHES them how to circumlocute!!
• She teaches them four words in the TL: thing, event, place, and person.  For example, she had a student who didn't know how to say laser gun, so instead, he used her helpful words to say "He has a thing that says pew pew."  
• She has a poster of How to Participate hanging from her ceiling with things to do to Pay Attention and things to do to Contribute (I think she said she got the list from Bryce Hedstom's website...)  First off, I love that it is there for students every day and I love that it is not hanging on the wall...instead it is in the room since it is hanging from the ceiling tile.  I'll have to find a spot for a poster in my room....
• She talked about her Password at the Door, which gives her one-on-one time with each student before class to check in with them and their attitude while at the same time teaching important phrases.  I am thinking of having my students line up outside to get into my class. It's a cultural thing as well because, in France, the students (even high school students) stand in a line outside of the classroom until the teacher welcomes them into the room.  
• Classroom jobs is something that I did last year and blogged about extensively last summer.  I plan to do a wrap-up blog about my first year with jobs and reflections about that.  One of the jobs that Alina uses that I LOVE is the human poster holders.  Instead of having word posters on the wall (which is awful when you teach 4 different preps), she using construction paper and writes the words on both sides of the poster.  Then, each time she uses that word, the student holding that word holds it up higher so that everyone can see.  Brilliant!
• Alina also suggested not handing out the jobs all on one day.  I failed at that last year...
• Once a year, Alina writes meaningful thank you cards to each student telling them a bunch of personalized things that she is thankful for.  I usually do this at the end of each year...but I like the idea of doing it throughout the year or in the middle of the year and MAILING them home!!  

But, the quote that Alina said that stuck with me is: We have to help our students become the human beings we want in our society.

Thank you Alina...for your smile, your kindness and your love of our profession.