Within the modern education system, educators are always developing new and exciting ways to best engage with their students, and to foster a solid working environment for teachers and pupils alike.
One of the most notable and important classroom management systems in recent times has been CHAMPS – a system aimed specifically at fostering good working relationships between students and teachers, and ensuring that schools become the safe and supportive places they were always meant to be.
But what exactly is CHAMPS, and how can you implement it into your teaching practices?
What Is The Purpose Of CHAMPS?
CHAMPS is designed specifically as a classroom management system.
This does not mean discipline per se, but it does mean instilling a comfort, safety, and security in the hearts and minds of pupils and teachers – an environment within which proper learning can take place, and within which students can thrive.
What Is CHAMPS?
Within the modern education system, CHAMPS stands for:
C – Conversation
H – Help
A – Activity
M – Movement
P – Participation
S – Success
Within each of these categories, there are specific methods that can be used to foster the best learning environment possible for your classroom.
Conversation
The C in CHAMPS stands for conversation. This is about establishing an open dialog with your students within the classroom, but also set boundaries and acceptable expectations for how they communicate with the teacher and each other.
By teaching them proper ways to communicate, as well as who they are allowed to communicate with, this makes disruptions less likely, and helps assure a healthier work environment for everyone therein.
The conversation aspect of CHAMPS also sets limitations as to what can be discussed – i.e. the class work – and helps limit unhelpful chatter that could otherwise disrupt the lesson plan.
Help
The H in CHAMPS stands for help – specifically teaching the students the proper ways to interact with one another, and what methods are not considered acceptable.
By setting standards by which they ask for help, it also allows quieter students the chance to receive the help they need, ensures communication is efficient, and keeps the louder students from disrupting everyone else by calling out in class.
This could be raising their hand, or implementing some other system that is more applicable to the environment of the specific classroom.
Activity
The A in CHAMPS stands for activity, and this is all about laying out boundaries regarding what activity is considered acceptable, and what is not.
This could also be pertaining to time limits, time management, and what to do if they finish earlier than the other pupils in the class.
This is about effectively managing time and activity, and minimizing disruption to others within the learning environment.
Movement
The M in CHAMPS gives special reference to movement within the classroom – especially boundaries and expectations surrounding movement, and what is considered acceptable and unacceptable.
This could mean limiting when students can leave their desks, or at the very least implementing some system by which they ask permission before they leave their seat and walk around.
These boundaries ensure every student has space to learn, and that their own space is respected by other students.
Participation
The P in CHAMPS is all about establishing what is an acceptable way to participate, and the best ways for students to show they are listening and participating in the lesson.
This could be establishing silence and raising hands for questions/answers, or it could be for them to have their pens down and their attention on the teacher or the board.
Success
The S in CHAMPS is all about explaining how success is measured, setting examples of what happens when students achieve success, and showing the degrees by which work can be considered a success.
It is all about giving them a clear understanding of what is expected from them, why they might not have reached the acceptable level for a specific task, and most importantly, how they can then reach the success they deserve.
How To Implement CHAMPS In Schools
When implementing CHAMPS in a classroom environment, it is important to remember that you cannot cater the same system to students of all ages and abilities.
This just doesn’t work, and there has to be altered, specifically catered methods that work best for each age group of students – as well as for each learning level.
This ensures that they are not only capable of understanding what is expected of them – and behaving accordingly – but that they also have all the tools they specifically need to learn and thrive at their level of study.
Younger Students
For younger students, the system should be much simpler – featuring less strict instructions, more freedom regarding success and failure, and rules that are easier to remember.
This could include a color system – for example, red means ‘quiet’, green means ‘talk’ etc – or it could be pictorial, wherein different symbols represent different requests and actions.
Older Students
For high school students, especially those in the last years of their study, it is also important not to treat them like younger children.
This is not conducive to learning, and does not promote the kinds of mutual respect that you want to instill within your students.
This means establishing a more adult dialog, and showing the kind of respect and treatment that they could expect in the outside world – all while maintaining clear boundaries for what is and isn’t acceptable.
What Are The Benefits Of CHAMPS?
When it comes to CHAMPS, there are obviously several benefits – both for the students, and the teacher also.
Maintain Focus
Firstly, it enables the teacher to maintain a level of focus amongst the students.
This is obviously important for ensuring a structured learning environment, and for ensuring that all students have a proper chance to learn without distractions.
Establishing Expectations
The system also establishes an understood code of conduct by which everyone behaves when in the learning environment.
This not only helps to instill discipline, but also keeps the peace during class time – ensuring that all students know what is expected, what is unacceptable, and the proper ways to communicate with one another, and the teacher.
Finding Rhythm
Implementing CHAMPS into the classroom really is the difference between 30 voices all shouting randomly at once, and a sense of rhythm between the students and the teacher.
This rhythm not only alleviates the strains on the teacher – not to mention quieter pupils – but also helps to quell any potential sources of disruption that might appear in the classroom – i.e. an unruly pupil.
Final Thoughts
And there we have it, everything you need to know about CHAMPS, and the best way to implement the classroom management system in schools.
It’s true that CHAMPS has many applications for the modern education system, all of them designed to create the best possible learning environment for both the students and teachers alike.
So if you are an educator, and wish to improve the management of your own classroom, then why not give CHAMPS a try?
Hi, my name is Helena Waters and I was a teacher for 40 years before retiring last year.
During my time as a teacher I dedicated the majority of it to making classrooms as fun as possible, with educational parties, fun activities, and low cost entertainment that made the children excited about learning.
I taught children of all ages, from preschoolers to high school students. Now, with the pandemic having uprooted everything that children once knew about school and learning, I think that the need for my ideas is bigger than ever.
That is why I created School Sparks, a place in which I can write down and share all of my ideas on how to get students excited about going to school again. I hope that you’ll find some useful within a school setting, even at home too!
