Professionalism
Classroom Management
Best Practices
School Culture
Fun Challenge
100
A student approaches you to complain about another teacher. What do you do?
Listen briefly without agreeing or criticizing the colleague. Encourage the student to speak respectfully with that teacher and offer appropriate support.
100
A student falls asleep during class. What do you do?
Wake the student discreetly, check privately for a possible reason, redirect them, and document or follow up if it becomes a pattern.
100
You ask, “Does everyone understand?” and the class says yes. What could you do instead?
Use a quick formative check, such as a question they need to answer in their notebooks or discuss with a peer, or asking students to explain the idea.
100
A student makes fun of another person’s background/ethnicity. What do you do?
Stop the behavior immediately and calmly, explain its unkind impact, reinforce respect, and follow up privately.
Should this be reported?
100
Your team has 30 seconds to use your bodies to form a recognizable letter, number, or shape selected by the facilitator—for example, a star, triangle, letter A, or number 5.
Rule: Every team member must be part of the shape.
Points: Earn 100 points if the other teams can identify it within five seconds.
200
Students begin comparing you favorably to another teacher in front of the class. How do you respond?
Stop the comparison graciously: “Every teacher has different strengths and approaches. Let’s focus on our work.”
200
You ask a student to come to the board, and the student refuses. What do you do?
Avoid a power struggle. Offer another way to participate, continue the lesson, and speak privately with the student afterward.
200
One student answers nearly every question while most of the class remains silent. What do you change?
Increase equitable participation through think-pair-share, wait time, written responses, structured turn-taking, or randomized calling with support.
200
A student says, “Another student doesn’t believe in God.” How do you respond?
Avoid gossip or public judgment. Reinforce dignity, kindness, respectful conversation, and the Adelphia's approach to faith formation. Let's discuss.
200
Without speaking, team members must arrange themselves in order by:
Birthday—from January to December
Participants may gesture and use their fingers, but they cannot speak, write, or use their phones.
Time: 90 seconds
Points: The team earns the points if everyone is in the correct order when time expires.
300
A student publicly says, “You are unprepared and don’t know what you’re doing.” What do you do?
Remain calm, avoid a public argument, redirect the class, and speak with the student privately afterward. Reflect on whether the concern has any merit.
300
During a break, you overhear students discussing something inappropriate. They are not in your class. What do you do?
Intervene calmly, stop or redirect the conversation, determine whether there is a safety concern, and report and document it appropriately.
Document: text the hotline and email resolutions@adelphiaclassical.com
300
You return tests, and students immediately begin comparing grades. How could this have been prevented?
Return assessments privately, such as in folders or face down. Avoid returning them at the beginning of class and establish expectations about grade privacy.
300
You see one student treating another student unkindly. The second student says, “It’s okay—it’s not a big deal.” What do you do?
Do not dismiss it. Stop the behavior, speak with students separately, document what occurred, and follow the school’s bullying or conduct procedures.
Remember to not raise your voice but speak with the students firmly, with kindness
300
Your team has 60 seconds to act out a situation showing an unhelpful response and a better response that demonstrates kindness and humility.
The audience must identify what changed and why the second response was more effective.
400
You overhear a colleague discussing confidential student information where others could hear. What do you do?
Speak to the colleague privately and respectfully. Remind them of confidentiality expectations and notify administration if the situation is serious or repeated.
400
During a break, you overhear students discussing something inappropriate. They are not in your class. What do you do?
Intervene calmly, stop or redirect the conversation, determine whether there is a safety concern, and report or document it appropriately.
400
YOUR TEAM EARNED FREE POINTS!
400
You make an assumption about a student’s behavior and later discover that you did not have all the information. What do you do?
Acknowledge the mistake, apologize, correct any unfair consequence, gather facts, and demonstrate humility through changed behavior.
Remember to avoid making assumptions and give everyone the benefit of the doubt. At Adelphia, we investigate small and bigger offenses to make sure we have all the facts before deciding on a consequence.
400
Give the worst possible response to a student refusing to participate—then replace it with a professional response.
The improved response must avoid a power struggle and preserve the student’s dignity.
500
A student publicly says, “You are unprepared and don’t know what you’re doing.” You react defensively and later realize that your response escalated the situation.
Your team has two minutes to prepare and demonstrate:
- What the teacher should say in the moment
- How the teacher should follow up privately with the student
- One step the teacher should take to reflect and repair the situation
To earn 500 points: The response must preserve the teacher’s authority, protect the student’s dignity, avoid a public argument, and demonstrate professional accountability.
500
A student makes an inflammatory comment, several classmates react loudly, and the student responds, “I was only joking!”
Your team has two minutes to decide:
- What the teacher should say immediately
- How the teacher should restore order without beginning a public debate
- What follow-up should occur after class
To earn 500 points: The response must de-escalate the class, address the comment firmly, protect students’ dignity, and include appropriate private follow-up.
500
Challenge:
At the beginning of the workshop, each person wrote what they believe the vision for Adelphia should be. As a team:
- Share your individual statements.
- Identify the ideas that appear most often.
- Agree on the three most important themes.
- Create one clear vision statement for Adelphia that describes the kind of students the school hopes to develop and the future impact it wants to achieve.
Complete this sentence:
“We envision Adelphia as a school whose graduates…”
To earn 500 points, the statement must:
- Be future-focused.
- Reflect Adelphia’s Christian classical identity.
- Describe who students will become.
After each group shares, you could identify the common language across the statements and ask: “What shared vision is emerging from our staff?”
500
A teacher assumes that a student was responsible for a classroom problem and corrects the student publicly. Later, the teacher learns that the student was not responsible.
Your team has two minutes to create and act out:
- An ineffective response
- A better response demonstrating kindness and humility
- A brief explanation of how the improved response strengthens school culture
To earn 500 points: The improved response must acknowledge the mistake, include a sincere apology, correct any unfair consequence, and model humility without weakening appropriate classroom expectations.
500
ALL PLAY!
Your team has 90 seconds to discover five things every team member has in common.
The following do not count:
- Working at Adelphia
- Being educators
- Attending this workshop
- Obvious physical characteristics
Points: 100 points for each valid commonality, up to 500 points.