Student Contributor: A. Penrose
Classroom scouts can be used during whole class or group work activities. Students are randomly selected, or scheduled to be the scouts for the day and are in charge of looking for students who are following classroom expectations. Scouts will have the opportunity to give a shout out to a peer that they think did a good job of following expectations.
Students who are selected as scouts for the day, or for a lesson, sit in the back of the group so that they have a full view of their peers making it easy for them to observe behaviors. It is important to always give students the option to “pass” on being a scout if they are selected. Including scouts in the classroom should not take away from the scouts learning and it is important to discuss the role of a scout while also explaining that they still need to be engaged and participate in the lesson/activity. Using student scouts is a great way to help monitor behaviors but it also allows scouts to see what it looks like when expectations are followed and life skills are demonstrated. We have used scouts in my placement and students really enjoy getting to be a scout because of the responsibility that comes along with it and my students love giving each other shoutouts. I have not had any students be disengaged because they are a scout I just mentioned that it may be important to address this with the class because I can see where there would be a case where some students focus too hard on having to pick someone.
I put this in the corrective phase because scouts can be implemented if expectations are not being met and the students take part in recognizing good behavior. This tool provides students with the opportunity to shout out their classmates for exhibiting good behavior but it also makes assess if they are being honest with their decision of who they want to shout out. It is possible that students shout out their friends but in my experience this didn’t happen very often. This management tool can also be a part of the supportive phase because when selecting students to shout out they can specify which life skill students modeled during their observation.
More Information –
Tool Source: Project GLAD
http://projectgladstudy.educationnorthwest.org/files/observation-protocol.pdf
For the scouts tool this one is pretty easy to incorporate because we already have classroom jobs that are very similar to. like in our classroom the caboose or the person that is chosen at the beginning of the week to be at the end of the line watches everyone in the halls and at the end of each day they get to give a ‘clip up’ which is the reward system we use to a student that they chose. The new thing that we added was during carpet time or in the morning we would have a student or two looking out for a stellar student. They would get to give a “clip up’ after as well. This is pretty easy to explain to the kids because it is so similar to what we already do with the Caboose. I did think this tool was pretty successful. I think the only adjustment that comes to mind with this specific tool would be making it a classroom job so everyone gets a turn being the scout. Other than that I thought it was really fun for the students to do something like this and they had a good time too.
I implemented this management strategy in my third-grade classroom, situated in a suburban neighborhood. There are 20 students in my class. The only preparation needed to teach and use this management strategy was to teach students the procedure for giving praise and explaining the role of scouts. I also always give a couple shout outs of my own, which modeled to the students’ what types of things they should be looking for and how to completement one another. The biggest success I noticed in this tool was the culture it created in our class of students noticing the good in others. Building a culture of students being noticed and complemented is a beautiful thing in a classroom, and scouts are a great tool to nurture this culture. Students grasped their role as scouts almost immediately, and effectively praised others. A possible adjustment that I implemented was scouts shared their complements at the end of the day, not following group work or lessons. It helped highlight the successes of the day and was a nice way to promote student reflection.
How easy was the tool to prepare for, teach, and use?
– The tool took little preparation. I really just needed to figure out what behavior and skills I
wanted my scouts to look for. We have classroom expectations that the students know and I
review before and during class lessons. So I plan on having my scouts look for who is
following these expectations.
What successes did you notice with the tool?
– I noticed that not only were students behaving a bit better because they knew people were
watching but also scouts got to shout out a peer and share what expectations they were
following.
Did the students understand their role with the new tool?
– Scouts have to not only watch for other student behavior but at the end of the lesson share
with a class a peer they would like to conflate on their behavior. Also, they can’t just name
their friends, they have to state what the students were doing/what expectations they were
following. Students understood that their peers were watching and scanning the class for
good behavior. Students will want to strive for a shout-out or a form of recognition of good
behavior.
What adjustments could be made to make it even better?
– I think practice and time. I only got to do this a couple of times so I can’t see long-term effects
on how it will continue and grow.