Each school year, the first couple of days are crucial for setting the pace for the entire year. It's very important for the teacher and students to have a mental map of how the coming year should look, as well as a set of guiding principles and rules that they will all follow. In a nutshell, the class must create its own culture.
I would like to share two tools I use with my 11th and 12th grade students: win-win agreements and scorecards. Win-win agreement tools are based on the fourth of Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, "Think Win-Win." Often, students, as well as teachers, think of the classroom as a battleground where each party tries to prove its supremacy over the other. But a win-win classroom is a cooperative arena, not a competitive one. A win-win frame of mind constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions.
According to Covey, win-win agreements draw on three vital character traits: integrity, maturity, and an "abundance mentality," which means "believing there is plenty for everyone." Keeping these traits in mind, I develop win-win agreements collaboratively with my classes. We identify the specific results we expect; determine the guidelines; and identify the principles, policies, and procedures that are essential to achieving the desired results. Win-win agreements also require that both parties understand the consequences when the desired results are not achieved.
We spend about three to four days on revising and redrafting the agreement at the beginning of the year. Then, the students and I sign the agreement. A well-drafted win-win agreement saves a lot of time and energy because the defined expectations leave little room for conflict.
Another tool I use is scorecards. At the beginning of the year, each student receives a personalized scorecard with his picture. The scorecard contains each student's academic targets in each subject, his career focus, the college or university he wishes to apply to, his SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, and his attendance and homework records. Both teachers and students update the scorecards with actual marks received on various tests or assignments against the targets. Using scorecards constantly reminds students where they are and where they said they wanted to be.
I have found using scorecards helpful in keeping students on track and resolving problems that arise. For example, with one class, I found that the problem of frequent absenteeism was successfully dealt with by using the scorecards.
Both of these tools empower the students to take charge of their learning, and they also allow me to work collaboratively with my students on classroom management issues. The classroom becomes a mutual teaching-learning base instead of an arena where one wins at the expense of the others.