November 6-7, 2014

Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre, Dallas, TX

Spicing up Secondary Interventions

(Middle School)

Nick Erber

Your presenter:

• Nick Erber (@nickerber)

• 2nd year running FFW and RA at a Title I

comprehensive MS in Oak Cliff.

1

My Lab

• 135 students

• One of the larger labs in the district

• One of the more successful labs in the

district

• 10% of students made 2+ years gains

• 20% passed STAAR (none had EVER

passed a reading test before)

2

Three things:

1. A very clear plan

2. Procedures (and enforcement thereof)

3. Buy-in

3

A plan!

• “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”

• Follow best practices for a regular

classroom!

– Seating chart

– Clear expectations

– Boy-Girl-Boy seating

– FFW is independent!

4

The Panopticon

• Tip: Seat your students in a Panoptic

arrangement

– You can see them, they can’t necessarily see

you.

5

6

Stu

de

nt Fo

cu

s

Leaderboard

Class Decoration

• Unless it’s useful, keep it off the walls

• Again, it’s an individual activity, no need

for talking unless it’s with the instructor.

7

Procedures

• Many of our students have behavior

issues

• Procedures should be enforced from day

one!

8

Procedure PRO TIPS!

• Be specific:

– Backpacks under the desks

– SLANT-ing

– Headphones on AT ALL TIMES

– No bathroom breaks (in a 45 minute class

period)

9

Enforcing procedures

• Must be done with a kind demeanor

• Must be done consistently

• Discipline must be done in a spirit of de-

escalation

10

Discipline

• No one will learn if students feel

disrespected.

• You have to see them 180+ days this year

• Relationship building is paramount

• My advice, my style:

– Give students a choice

– Generally, don’t yell

– “It’s boring!” = “Can I help you out?”

11

Might seem limiting…

• But my experience with students:

– They’re orderly and they learn to focus for

longer and longer periods

– They feel EMPOWERED and TRUSTED

– If they’re actively monitored and provided

timely feedback, they GROW!

12

Feedback

• Do it weekly

• Do it with a printout

• If you can, staple it into their planner “daily

carry” item

• Super easy to provide with a Weekly

Achievement Report’

• ALSO: Actively monitor!

13

Buy in

• The most important part of a FFW

classroom

• MUST BE UNDERPINNED WITH

CONSISTENT PROCEDURES AND

FEEDBACK

14

Framing

• Present it to them like this:

– Make them feel exclusive, special

• “You’ve been selected from over 1400 students

to…”

– Make it sound like something fun

• “play video games in order to improve your

reading!”

15

Explaining

• Be up front that some of the activities will

be hard and/or boring

– Draw a metaphor to weightlifting

– Mention neuroplasticity, exercise of the mind

– Ensure them that you’ll be by them the entire

way

16

Competitions

• Holy moly, my students are competitive

• Keep prizes sparse, at no cost to you

• Make sure to update the board frequently

17

18

In conclusion…

• Plan!

– Come up with a seating chart and daily activities that work for you, not against you.

• Enforce Procedures!

– Be consistent and firm, but be the “nice guy”

– Build relationships.

• Promote Buy in!

– Run a competition.

– Students work for affirmation, not prizes.

19

Connect!

20

@nickerber

about.me/njerber

linkedin.com/in/nickerber