• C.H.A.M.P.S. Classroom Management:

    Teaching Students How to be Successful in Class


    The overall goal of the CHAMPs classroom management system is to develop an instructional structure in which students are responsible, motivated, and highly engaged in the specific task at hand. 

    More particularly, the teacher's goal is to teach students directly how to
    be successful in specific class situations.

    As I'm sure you must know, this requires thorough planning. 


    Initial Considerations

    You are already using many, if not all, of the following instructional approaches: teacher-directed instruction, class discussion, small group activity, independent work time, sustained silent reading, cooperative groups, and testing or quizzing.

    You may be using several more that I have not listed.

    For each of these instructional approaches, ask yourself two questions, "What do students need to know and do in order to behave responsibly? What do students need to know and do in order to be successful?"

    Planning a CHAMPs Classroom Management Strategy

    Use the CHAMPs acronym to define detailed behavioral expectations for EACH instructional approach that you use. Here is the CHAMPs acronym along with questions to ask yourself for developing each structured activity.

    Conversation: Can students converse during this activity? About what? With whom? For how long?

    Help: How do students get your attention for help? How do students get questions answered? What should they do while they wait for you?

    Activity: What is the expected end product of this activity? What is the task or objective?

    Movement: For what reasons can students get out of their seats during this activity? Do they need permission to do so?

    Participation: What behavior shows that students are participating or not participating?

    Success: There are no questions for this one. When CHAMPs expectations are met, students will be successful.
     Classroom Management Example

    The specific instructional approach for this CHAMPs example is the class discussion. This is how I chose to structure this approach. You, of course, may have any variations that you choose.

    Here is the CHAMPs acronym with MY specific instructions for each expectation.

    Conversation: No conversation is allowed during this class discussion. Keep cell phones off or on vibe.

    Help: If you do not understand someone's comment, raise a sheet of paper in the air to ask questions for clarification. You will be the first one called to ask this type of question.

    Activity: Listen to the discussion. Do not interrupt others who are speaking. Ask questions or make comments that are appropriate for the topic of the discussion. Raise your hand in a normal way to do so.

    Movement: Stand and stretch if you need to, but do not walk around the classroom.

    Participation: Share your experiences and questions related to the topic of the discussion.