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Dr. Liam Printer - 'The Motivated Classroom' Educational Consultant, Author, Researcher
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Build relationships from the first day with the ‘class constitution’

16/8/2018

21 Comments

 
Classroom management is a recurring theme for most teachers. In the ‘comprehensible input’ classroom it takes on even greater significance as you are looking for intent listening, total engagement and 100% understanding from your learners. You plan compelling, interesting stories and activities, and this breathes life and even more energy into your teenage students. It can sometimes result in a fear of things getting out of control or too noisy which can in turn impact their acquisition. The ‘Class Constitution’ is a way to get immediate buy-in from your students on Day 1. By co-creating it together as a team you are building strong and meaningful relationships through mutual respect from the very first time you meet them.

​The three core tenets of quality classroom management are: Clear expectations, Consistent routines and Strong relationships. The ‘Class Constitution’ hits all of these. It usually takes a full double period (for me that is 80 minutes) to do it properly. Dedicating a full class to this may seem like a lot but it is the best time investment you will spend all year and will save you hours and hours in the long run whilst also keeping you as that happy, enthusiastic and motivated teacher you want to be all year. 
PictureBuilding relationships results in more eager and engaged students
Step-by-step guide to your ‘Class Constitution’:
As students arrive on the first day, greet them at the door with care and respect, looking them in the eye. As they take their seats I tell them they are all no longer in school but in the ‘Embajada de Españoland’ (Embassy of Españoland). I bring them to the door and show them my 'border' (black tape on the ground and something we use a lot later on when talking about migration) and ask them to explain what they know about ‘borders’ and ‘embassies’ to me. For my total beginner students I tell them that normally in Españoland we only speak Spanish but just for today we will be doing everything in English. Yes, I know this is valuable time when they could be getting more input but in my experience, showing the students that this is important enough for a full double lesson sets us up for the year and allows me to have much more time giving them Comprehensible Input throughout the year as they are totally bought-into the process. With all other year groups/levels we do it in Spanish but I allow responses and group talk in English that I will translate for them.

Step 1: What is a ‘safe’ learning environment?
In small groups of three or four, students firstly have some quiet thinking time and then they chat about what a 'safe classroom' means to them. On large sheets of paper, they start jotting down ideas. You can do this in whatever way works for you but I usually have one big A3 piece of paper on each table, for every group, and it is divided into three sections. Each group writes their ideas in one section of their paper with the heading “safe”.
​
Step 2: Teacher led discussion
After 5 minutes (or less if you wish), I ask each group for some ideas or key words they wrote down. I jot these on the board, making sure to recognize any great words or concepts that come out. Obviously though, you, as the teacher, are a skilled practitioner and professional, so you keep probing for answers until they come up with what you really want to hear. Students will quickly realise that while silly or immature words are listened to but not accepted, the teacher gets very enthusiastic and excited about concepts like ‘respect, listening, we love mistakes’ etc.
PictureHaving fun as part of our constitution equals more engagement
​Step 3: What is a 'fun' learning environment?
The above two steps are now copied in the same way but changing the focus to ‘fun’. I usually have each group move to a different table so they can see the words and answers that other groups wrote down. They can add some words if they wish. In the discussion part for this question you will see the enormous impact of the tone you set and the way you looked in their eyes and smiled when they gave you a great word in the first discussion. You will start getting really great stuff here right from the outset. Again, use your skills to facilitate a discussion until those key concepts start to surface.
​
Step 4: What does it mean to be 'linguist'?
The final section of their paper is about being a linguist. I introduced this last September and it worked wonders as a classroom management piece throughout the year. They follow the same procedure as before but you may need to explain what a ‘linguist’ is. I tell them that by being citizens of Españoland they are all now part of a very elite and special group, they are no longer mere students or learners but linguists. Just watch their faces light up as you call them ‘linguists’. When we get to the group discussion part, I explain that we as linguists, are different, we do not act like everyone else. What do we do that is different? After some probing, they will come out with things like “we respect other cultures, we listen to other languages, we read and inquire into cultural differences, we love speaking languages, we love listening to others talk in a different language” etc. This simple element of naming them for the whole year as linguists has a profound impact on behaviour, attitude and confidence. 

PictureRespect for the constitution allows for effective group activities
​Step 5: Pulling it all together
Once we have all our key ideas on the board under our three headings, I ask them what they notice. Someone will point out the word ‘respect’ has magically appeared in all three areas so this must be the centre and core of our constitution. We then circle and highlight other ‘big ideas’ or key concepts together. Finally, I ask them if it would be ok if I could represent them and pool all of this together into our very own constitution. I also ask them, “if we have an embassy based on these ideas do you think it will be a good year in Españoland?”, they inevitably will answer yes. I also explicitly point out and say that they did not walk in here and get handed a list of ‘my’ rules of the class. Instead, they wrote their own constitution, they came up with the key values and concepts of being a citizen of Españoland themselves.

Step 6: The next class
I start the next class by showing them their constitution… it is no surprise that all my classes have a constitution that is almost identical. I ask them if I have represented their ideas adequately and if they are happy that this be our ‘guiding document and principles’ for life in Españoland. There is also great cross-curricular learning here with Humanities; I often have the younger students speak to their humanities teacher about our constitution and allow them to show off that they know what it is and why it is important to countries and citizens to have one.

Picture
Final version of our Class Constitution 2017
​Throughout the year:
The constitution remains on our ‘embassy’ wall for the year. If there are any lapses in behavior or standards that we all expect from each other, I simply bring the student(s) in question to the constitution and point to the requisite section and smile. This usually does the trick but sometimes I might have to remind the entire class of our underlying constitutional values that they themselves designed and wrote. These lapses in standards are actually incredibly rare. In general, co-creating the shared ideals together results in a respectful classroom where everyone feels safe, where we have fun, where we act like the linguists we are and where we thrive upon our favourite mistakes as unique learning opportunities. I always remind students that “as linguists, we are special, we are unique, we listen intently to understand and therefore learn”. Simply changing the discourse and calling them linguists possesses some magical power to keep everyone engaged, enthused and eager to represent themselves as the linguist they are.
Planning to motivate not to laminate:
As my regular blog followers will already know, the thesis for my Doctor of Education studies is focused on strategies that motivate both the teacher and student in the language classroom. Specifically, I am looking at Ryan and Deci’s (2000) Self-Determination Theory relating to intrinsic motivation. It posits that when activities meet the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, relatedness and competence, this results in intrinsic motivation; where we engage in something out of pure joy and interest rather than external forces acting upon us. This forms the backbone of all my classroom planning as, in my opinion, motivated students who like the class and want to be there, who want to listen and learn, make for great language learners. The ‘Class Constitution’ meets all of the three psychological needs of Self-Determination Theory:
  • Autonomy: Students are co-creating this constitution themselves with the teacher; they have control, choice and ownership over what to suggest and what is ultimately included.
  • Relatedness: Through building the ‘Class Constitution’ together in groups and then with me as the teacher, they are fostering strong bonds and relationships both to each other, to the teacher and to 'Españoland' itself.
  • Competence: When the teacher acknowledges the students' ideas and then accepts their concepts as important enough to go into the constitution, the students feel ‘able’ for what is being asked, they feel competent.
21 Comments
Judith M Guillen
21/8/2018 18:47:23

Es muy interesante, cree Usted, que puedo utilizar para mi clase de 4to y 5to grado

Reply
Liam Printer link
22/8/2018 12:56:54

Hola! Gracias por tu comentario. Yo creo que sí, que puede funcionar en cualquier clase con cualquier grupo.

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Laura McClintock link
25/8/2018 02:19:21

Great article! This gives me a lot to think about when it comes to starting off the year! When thinking about the new school year, you might enjoy: http://teachinginthetargetlanguage.com/4-steps-to-transition-our-world-language-students-into-the-new-year/. Thanks for sharing and have a great year! :)

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Liam Printer link
25/8/2018 07:12:19

Thank you. I enjoyed reading your article too and I like the clock partners idea!

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Deborah Rawls-Opatz
25/7/2020 23:31:02

This is the best start of the year blog I've read so far. I'm going back to the classroom in this uncertain year of 2020. Although some of the group brainstorming may be a bit of a challenge with social distancing, I think this makes sense. Reminds me a bit of Positive Behavior (PBIS) but with input from the kids.

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Liam Printer link
3/8/2020 10:11:47

Thank you for the kind words. You should listen to my podcast "The Motivated Classroom". In episode 2, I go through the class constitution in more detail.

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Rachel Henderson
31/8/2020 23:26:07

Hi Liam, I'm just wondering do you think using mentimeter might work instead of groups moving around - as we are now limited in terms of group work and movement due to covid precautions. Really loving your blog and podcasts by the way and finding your research very helpful as a newly qualified teacher from Dublin. Maith an buachaill :-) Is mise, Rachel -:)

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Liam Printer link
1/9/2020 10:37:31

Hi Rachel, yes Menimeter is a great idea for this. I have adapted it this year too. So rather than students share a big piece of paper, they wrote stuff individually on their own paper and then shared orally as a group before I took their ideas. After sharing they had to circle 3 most important words on their brainstorm. Thanks for getting in touch! Liam

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Shela Davis
5/9/2020 17:16:42

I have been following you on Instagram for a couple fo months but only just got around to your podcasts today! Really enjoying them...helping my own motivation! Now I have to think of a way to try and do the constitution activity through my teams classroom!

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Liam Printer link
17/8/2021 17:24:57

Great! Just have a go at it. It is worth a try!

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Nicole Sullivan Moore link
4/3/2021 21:33:45

Hi!
I just found you through the ComprehendED conference. I'm a clinical social worker by training so the motivation side of things really speaks to me, a client's (or student's) self determination is a core value in that profession. More recently, I've been teaching..both social work classes at my local community college, as well as adult English classes at our local adult education center. I'd already implemented a similar class values exercise in my human service classes but after listening to your first two podcast episodes, I'm left with the following question: How might I co-create a constitution within a group of multilevel, international adults? I don't have the luxury of starting in L1 as we don't have a common L1. Thoughts?

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Liam Printer link
17/8/2021 17:27:51

Hi! Apologies, I am only seeing this now as I didn't get a notification about your question! That is much harder, but I would try doing it in really simple basic terms. Allow them to use google translator for their L1 if they are beginners, allow them to talk together in their own language to establish meaning. Maybe that would be a good start! Let me know how it goes.

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Emily
17/8/2021 17:08:28

Do you write the class constitution in English (native language) with the first year students?

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Liam Printer link
17/8/2021 17:31:43

Yes I do to begin with but by a week or so in, I translate it and show them the Spanish copy. It gives me more opportunities for inputs and there are lots of cognates too.

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Gloria Gomez
19/8/2021 00:00:15

I have 4 Spanish 1 and 2 Spanish 2 classes. Do I need to post a class constitution for each different class period or could I just have one that takes the ideas received in all the different classes?

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Liam Printer
19/8/2021 15:09:36

Just one is fine as each class should essentially get to something very similar anyway.

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Jen Schongalla
30/8/2021 19:30:46

Hi Liam, I have been binge-ing your podcast this summer! It's fantastic and I will def. sign up to buy you coffee!!!

As I prepare to go back, I'm taking the first class to make the constitution. I plan to do a "micro-mini" lesson of some sort first thing--probably a picture talk. I want to do this first, so they embody the feeling of "listening for understanding" and mostly so they see, hear and feel "what it will be like" and most importantly "oh my gosh, I CAN TOTALLY DO THIS!"

After the micro-mini burst of Spanish, we'll do the groups as you describe above.

My questions: 1) Do you personally write up each group's constitution, so you have a few different versions tailored to each class? I see someone asked about this above, but I wonder if you have done separate ones for each group. I am leaning in this direction and would love to hear feedback on whether you've tried this or do you just combine them all?

2) I'm considering asking for a student volunteer in each class to put together the ideas that the group decides on--there is always a student or 2 who love making posters and who have artsy hand lettering...? Have you tried this before? Is there a compelling reason for me NOT to try it? In the final process, we will be exquisitely clear about what we want on the poster, so the student job will simply be to write it up clearly and make an attractive poster for "Block X constitution" ???

I thought of question 2 because in past years when we have "calendar talk" I use large chart paper for it and each group gets really invested in *their* calendar, so I figured this might work similarly...?

For context, I am a 10-year veteran of acquisition-driven instruction...and each year I still feel like a brand new teacher (in the best ways, like looking forward to a new group, new experiences, and new ways to improve my craft!). Your podcast has really helped a lot, especially this year where I had ZERO INTEREST OR ENERGY to do any online conferences or webinars. Nope--this was my "summer of not thinking about school all summer...heh heh, but then I discovered your podcast, and it was perfect. Gave me a fresh perspective AND is so enjoyable to listen to.

Here's to a great school year and continued motivation! Cheers!
:) Jen Schongalla
Sanbornton NH

Reply
Liam Printer link
31/8/2021 11:53:22

Hi Jen,

Thanks for the questions and for your kind words. I love your suggestions.

1. Honestly, no I don't do a separate one for each class as they are so similar and they can't remember exactly what they said. It just saves me time having one.
2. Love the idea to get a student to graphically represent it by drawing... wish I'd thought of this! I would share my version with them first just in boring word doc then ask them to draw it up on a poster. That way the Spanish is correct on there and they're getting inputs while they do it too. Its important that you as the teacher pull all the ideas together into a meaningful constitution first. Shows you take their ideas but you are still the person in control of the class.. if that makes sense.

Thanks again

Liam

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Jen Schongalla
7/9/2021 12:02:18

Ooh...great point about the different papers. Haha plus who has the wall space for that? Thank you! Yes, I definitely plan on writing it out for them! Great reminder to do so! Here goes!!!

Liz Amey
21/8/2022 15:39:03

I really love this, thank you!
Do you know if anyone has translated into French/German?

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Grace
20/12/2022 19:41:06

Hi! We made a class constitution in the fall using this method. It worked great! We are beginning semester 2 in a few weeks and I am wondering what activities I might do with the constitution as sort of a norms "reset." Inevitably, by the end of each semester things tend to get a little more loosey-goosey and some of the norms fall by the wayside. Thanks!

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    Dr. Liam Printer:
    Host of The Motivated Classroom podcast, keynote speaker, presenter, lecturer, language teacher, teacher trainer, educational consultant, published author and basketball coach. 14 years teaching experience in a variety of educational settings. Currently I am the Teaching & Learning Research Lead and Approaches to Learning Coordinator at the International School of Lausanne in Switzerland where I also teach language acquisition.

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