Scenario 1: This is the First Day of the Rest of Your Year

Ms. Stinson is a master teacher who has been teaching for nineteen years. She is very effective at utilizing learning centers in her first grade classroom. Ms. Stinson spends the first two weeks of school "training" her students on how to use and clean up materials at the centers. She also teaches them how to read and understand the pocket chart, which organizes the student groups for each center. After students master the routine, Ms. Stinson will work with small reading groups while the remaining students rotate through the centers independently.

Ms. Stinson begins the day with a lesson on how to use the spelling center.

Ms. Stinson has spent time during the last two days teaching students how to understand the red fabric pocket chart. The top row of pockets contains cards with the names of the centers: Computer, Spelling, Math, Art, Journal, and Listening. The students' name cards are organized into the pockets below the center cards.

The first graders sit on the floor in a circle while Ms. Stinson stands near the pocket chart. "Let's review the names of our centers together," Ms. Stinson says. The students chant the center names while Ms. Stinson points to the pocket chart. "Good! Now let's say the center names again, but this time, I also want you to point to where the centers are in the classroom." Most of the students say the names again and correctly locate the centers. Zach ignores the lesson, lying on his stomach and picking at the carpet. "Zach!" Ms. Stinson calls. "Pick a partner and walk to each center as we say its name."

Zach taps his best friend, Travis, and they shuffle from center to center as the class chants the center names for a third time. "Excellent," Ms. Stinson says. "Now we're going to learn how to use the spelling center."

The spelling center consists of a small table and two chairs, a felt board, a bag of felt letters, and ten spelling words written on note cards. "Throughout the year, I will put different materials at the spelling center. We will begin with the felt board." Ms. Stinson holds up a note card that says "clock." "What is this word?" "Clock!" several students shout. "That's correct," Ms. Stinson says. She selects felt letters from the pile and spells the word on the felt board. "C-L-O-C-K, clock," she spells aloud. "Am I correct?" she asks the students. "Yes!" they cheer.

Ms. Stinson walks back to the pocket chart and points to the name cards in the pockets under "Spelling." "Who is the first group in the spelling center?" Ms. Stinson asks. Mario and Emily raise their hands. "Good! Come join me at the spelling center."

Ms. Stinson hands them each a note card and tells them to spell their word using the felt letters. She has intentionally chosen two of her high-functioning students so that they serve as good models for the class. "When you finish spelling a word correctly, select a different note card, and spell the new word." After the two students finish spelling their second word, they are instructed to remove the letters and put them back in the bag.

"During a real center rotation," Ms. Stinson says, "you would try to spell all of the words. But I want everyone to have a turn." She goes back to the pocket chart and exchanges Mario and Emily's name cards for two different cards. "Now whose turn is it to practice using the spelling center?" Devon and Malik raise their hands. "You may spell two words. Raise your hands when you are finished and I will select two more students."

1			Which type of routine is Ms. Stinson trying to establish in her classroom?
			A)	Activity routine
			B)	Instructional routine
			C)	Executive planning routine
			D)	Reinforcement routine
2			Ms. Stinson dedicates significant classroom time to teaching students the learning center routines. Which of the following statements best describes her time allocation to this task?
			A)	Ms. Stinson is wasting valuable learning time on simple procedural issues.
			B)	Ms. Stinson should allow the students to explore the centers independently and react to incorrect behavior as it occurs.
			C)	Ms. Stinson should spend more time talking about the routines and less time actively practicing the routines.
			D)	Ms. Stinson is establishing routines early in the year to prevent management problems and to facilitate student success in the learning centers.
3			After students have mastered the learning center routine, they will work independently while Ms. Stinson reads with small groups. To effectively monitor the classroom, Ms. Stinson will need which of the following management skills?
			A)	Withitness
			B)	Overlapping
			C)	Group alerting
			D)	All of the above

Scenario 2: You Make the Call!

It is mid-November and Mr. Bradley, a high school English teacher, is making a phone call list. Each student's family received a positive, introductory newsletter during the first week of school. Since then, Mr. Bradley has made numerous phone calls to the families of his more challenging, low-performing students. In some cases, the extra attention boosts the students' motivation. But for others, such as Darius Williams, the phone call is just a single event in a long history of disciplinary phone calls, notes home, detentions, and trips to the office.

Darius has failed twice. At best, he performs at a sixth grade level and struggles to understand more complex material. Darius' misbehavior during the first months of school took the form of daydreaming, forgetting supplies and books, and turning in incomplete homework. Mr. Bradley has worked diligently to motivate Darius and earn his trust. Darius is beginning to stay after school for extra help and recently opened up to Mr. Bradley about more personal topics, such as struggles with friends and family.

Mr. Bradley skims the phone call list. Darius Williams's name is at the top. He recalls the past two times he spoke with Mrs. Williams on the phone. A television or radio was playing loudly and Mr. Bradley could barely hear a word she said. A roomful of people seemed to be talking, laughing, and shouting at the same time. As with Darius, the phone call had little impact on his mother. She just shouted her thanks and said that she wasn't surprised. Mrs. Williams had been hearing from Darius' teachers and administrators for years. "He just isn't school material you know," she said.

But Darius' performance had slowly improved. This week, he turned in a two-page essay entitled "My Hero." The paper was filled with spelling and grammar errors, but it was his first attempt all year to fully complete a homework assignment. It was clear that Darius had given the content of the essay a lot of thought. According to Mr. Bradley's grading rubric, Darius received the following scores with detailed feedback written throughout the paper:

Content: A-

Originality: B+

Grammar/Punctuation: C-

Spelling: C-

Total Score: B-

Mr. Bradley picks up the phone and dials Darius' home number. "Hello?" a voice answers, barely audible through the glare of background noise. "May I speak with Mrs. Williams? This is Darius' teacher, Robert Bradley." The person on the other end of the line sucks in her breath and shouts, "DARIUS! Get yourself in here right now! I'm sick and tired of all these phone calls from your teachers!" Mr. Bradley quickly tries to interrupt Mrs. Williams.

"No, Mrs. Williams," Mr. Bradley says. "I didn't make myself clear. I'm calling with GOOD NEWS about Darius."

"You're WHAT?" Mrs. Williams asks, incredulously. "I said I'm calling with good news! Darius received a B- on a writing assignment this week. He put some serious effort into his paper." There was momentary silence and then whooping and celebrating. "Darius, your teacher said you received a B- on your paper! Did you hear that?" Mr. Bradley hears muffled voices and more congratulations.

"Darius has several more opportunities this quarter to raise his grade," Mr. Bradley continues. "If Darius begins to participate in class, and if he continues to improve the quality of his work, he will pass English. I know he can grow as a student if all of us work together as a team."

"Well Mr. Bradley, I thank you. I thank you for calling me with some good news for a change! He talks about you all the time around here and I know he stays after school with you. I just thank you." After his conversation with Mrs. Williams, Mr. Bradley reads through Darius' paper once again. He smiles and dials the next number on his "positive phone call" list, promising himself to do this more often.

4			Mr. Bradley's phone call list is an example of which type of classroom management strategy?
			A)	Withitness
			B)	Reinforcement
			C)	Punishment
			D)	Extinction
5			Reinforcement used with secondary students typically differs from that used with younger students. Which of the following does Mr. Bradley keep in mind when developing a reinforcement strategy for Darius?
			A)	Mr. Bradley encourages Mrs. Williams to use punishment sparingly.
			B)	Mr. Bradley offers Darius attractive tangible rewards.
			C)	Mr. Bradley focuses on the benefits for Darius if he continues to improve.
			D)	Mr. Bradley remembers the importance of public recognition.
6			Darius' misbehavior at the beginning of the school year most likely was due to which of the following factors?
			A)	Darius is seeking isolation.
			B)	Darius is seeking power.
			C)	Mr. Bradley displays differential treatment of students.
			D)	Mr. Bradley is inadequately prepared.