Jacob Kounin

"He received his doctorate from Iowa State University ...

• "He received his doctorate from Iowa State University in 1939, and worked as an educational psychologist at Wayne State University in Michigan" (Christle&Yell, 2018)
• He wrote Discipline and Group Management in Classrooms

Explanation of Theories

• Developed theories about classroom management that are based around a teacher’s ability to organize and plan in their classrooms while using proactive behavior and high student involvement.

• Effective teachers must be well organized, communicate their expectations to their students, and hold them responsible for their actions to encourage motivation and attention.

The Kounin Model

• 10 concepts for early intervention and classroom management

• Ripple Effect- Reaction of students to teacher's actions, when teacher's actions are for another student.

• With-it-ness- Awareness of all that is going on in the classroom; the idea that teachers have eyes in the back of their heads.

• Momentum- Appropriateness of pace and progress throughout lesson or activity

• Smoothness- Ease and efficiency with which transitions between activities occur.

• Group alerting-Gaining students' attention before instructing them as to what is expected of them.

• Student accountability- keeping students involved in the lesson.

• Overlapping- Teacher's ability to attend to two or more events in the classroom at the same time.

• Avoidance of Satiation- Keeping lessons interesting to avoid boredom and frustration.

• Valence and Challenge Arousal- Teacher's enthusiasm for the lesson and use of a variety of activities.

• Seatwork Variety and Challenge- Teacher's ability to keep seatwork interesting to students" (Shepherd &Linn, 2015, p.110).

• Kounin conducted experiments over 5 yea...

• Kounin conducted experiments over 5 years with students from all levels to see how teachers actually prepared or proactively managed their classrooms before behavior occurred.

• He learned that classroom management was not how the teacher reacted to the misbehavior in the classroom.

• He learned that classroom manageme...

• That effective classroom management was how the teacher prevented the behavior in the first place.

• That effective classroom management was how t...

Course Connections

• Kounin believed that for a teacher to have an effective connection between management and teaching there needed to be good lesson movement.

Lesson Movement is achieved through.........

Withitness

• Making eye contact with students at all times.
• Know each student on a personal basis
• Use non-verbal techniques to show students that they are cared about.
• Making respectable suggestions to inform students that their behavior is unacceptable.
• Communicate these expectations verbally and visually.
• Be aware of what is taking place within all parts of the classroom at all times.

Overlapping

• Have something for students to do that are finished with an assignment early. Ex. read a book, quiet enrichment exercise.
• Have a procedure for students who come in late so that teaching doesn’t have to be interrupted.
• Have an area for work to be turned in.
• Keep as little chaos in between activities as possible.
• Keep on task.
• Utilize good time management skills.

Momentum

• Make lectures short, so students don’t get bored.
• Keep a timer and assign roles to students to keep the students moving and on a time deadline.
• Hold students accountable.
• Give students assignments that provide them with them a feeling of accomplishment when the assignment is completed.
• Create a diverse curriculum, change the environment every now and then.

Smoothness

• Make hand gestures for students so that the you know whether the student has a comment or question.
• Facilitate group work and listen to discussions of your students so that you can intervene or keep them on track.

Group Focus

• Encourage accountability - make students aware that they will be graded.
• Popsicle sticks - pick sticks at random to keep students on track with anticipation for question/answer time.
• Let students facilitate discussion - Let them talk to each other and compare answers.