Developmental Behaviour Management Our Journey at T.M.P.S Presented by Learning Leaders: Laura Stock & Lily Angelovski

School Vision : To provide students with experiences, skills and knowledge to become efficient communicators and lifelong learners who will grow into emotionally resilient and responsible citizens.

School Profile Our school was established in 1980 and is located in Thomastown Our current enrolment is 339 students We have 16 classes currently, dropping down to 14 in 2010 Our 5/ 6 classrooms have interactive whiteboards. 20 fulltime staff, 4 part time staff & 10 ESS SFO Index.6420 Our school is committed to working with the diverse multi-cultural population, as a large proportion of our students come from families where a language other than English is spoken. 15% Arabic 10% Vietnamese 8% Macedonian 5% Turkish 2% Greek 2% Punjabi

The start of our journey.

Community Kids at 5 /6

Where Are You Today?

Hinting Direct Questions such as: What are you doing right now? Is it appropriate?

Some Non- Verbal signage around the room COMMUNAL RESPONSIBILITY Are we there yet? Communal Responsibility Help others to stay cool. Encourage others to try and do their best work ( 5 star quality)at all times. Encourage everyone to listen to each other. Help others who are having trouble. Try and stop class mates from disrupting others. TEAM WORK is what we ’ re about!

Emotional Thermometer How do you feel today? Why do you feel that way? What made you feel like that?

Student comments to ascertain if the strategies trialled are working. At the start of the year I was very nervous about grade five but I got used to it after a while. The work was a bit hard and then it got easier. Community Kids has helped me in a lot of ways. I now know everyone better and feel responsible for caring for everyone in our class community. I feel supported and get help when I need it from my teacher and students in the classroom. This year I feel happy because our class is acting like a responsible and mature community. I think I get along with everyone in our class and it was good making new friends. I think our class room is a good learning environment because everyone behaves well and everyone co- operates. This year, I have felt really happy because I am part of the class community. People supporting me and I have made lots of friends. People in our class listen to the teacher and this helps everyone to learn. Our Community Kid helps us support each other by getting positive feedback.

Student Report Reflection comments – Grade 1 /2 What I am most proud of my learning is that I enjoy being a Community Kid because I encourage other children in our room to listen. What I am most proud of my learning is that I can now do neat writing because I want to be a neat writer. I am also proud of being a Community Kid because I encourage everyone to do the right thing. I am most proud of making new friends with the Grade 2s, I also have some Grade 1s this year and I am encouraging them to do the right thing. I have learnt a lot of things about our Community Kids. I always encourage others to do the right thing in the classroom. I am good at encouraging others to do safe things and the right things in the classroom. I am good at being a Community Kid because I encourage everyone to do the right thing. I am most proud of making new friends this year. To make them happy in the classroom I have been a Community Kid and I have encouraged other children to listen and do the right thing in the classroom. So far, what I am most proud of about my learning is that I listen carefully and I encourage others to do the appropriate things in the classroom. I want to get better at remembering our Right and Responsibilities because I want to encourage others to do the appropriate things in the classroom.

Student interviews to establish base line data 2008 Student Interview Questions 1.If someone was doing the wrong thing/behaving inappropriately, what does your teacher do? 2.If someone was doing the right thing/behaving appropriately, what does your teacher do? 3.What are some of the inappropriate things/behaviours students do in the classroom? 4.What are some of the appropriate things/behaviours students do in the classroom? 5.How many times in a day does your teacher have to raise their voice?

the journey continues the next step......

2009: Introduction& Implementation of Whole School Behavioural Management Strategies We delivered PL sessions and introduced our staff to the five types of powers, four categories of students and the Rights & Responsibilities Vs the Rules model. Planning and writing the units of works to include Rights & Responsibilities as part of the Start Up Program. Our staff re-wrote their Start Up Programs to include the R&R component and incorporated a Communal Responsibility focus. All teams took this on board and the first Integrated Studies Unit of work was based on the Communal Responsibility. All teams were engaged in unpacking of the Classroom Rights and Responsibilities at each of their levels, so we had a common thread throughout the school, yet specific to the developmental level of our students. Responding to individual needs was taking shape as each classroom teacher unpacked what the individual and communal responsibilities would include for that particular class.

Examples of Classroom and Specialists negotiated Right & Responsibilities

Prep

Our Values

Level 1 /2

5 /6 Level

Staff were asked to reflect on their class practises and consider the strategies and powers used in their classrooms as part of their Developmental Behaviour Management Strategies. Staff were given students responses to see their classroom management strategies from the student’s perspective.

Sample of responses Q 1: If someone was doing the wrong thing/behaving inappropriately, what does your teacher do? She tells them off, yells at them, gives warning, sends them to another room, you get into trouble, raises her voice, they have to go and sit by them selves, miss out on the fun, screamed at them, made to sit on floor, made to go to another room, yells at them and growls at them and says don’t be naughty, stop that, gives us lollies. Q2:If someone was doing the right thing/behaving appropriately, what does your teacher do? Gives sticker and happy stamps, gives us high fives, get free time, be a helper, praise them, mention the good behaviour to the class, gives good feedback and shows the class the good work, extra computer time, allowed to play a game. Q3:What are some of the inappropriate things/behaviours students do in the classroom? Talk over each other, talk on the floor, calling out, disrespectful to each other, answer back, walk around the room, not focussed, tease, swear, fight, not do their work, run around, yell across the room, throw crayons, forget homework, pass notes, not co-operating, bully others, damage things in the room, take advantage of CRTs. Q4:What are some of the appropriate things/behaviours students do in the classroom? Put hands up, use manners, listen to the teacher, paying attention, not talking at the table, doing their work, cleaning up after themselves, not annoying others, concentrate, act sensible, stay in seats, respectful of the teacher, complete all work, work productively, share, get on with what has to be done, stick up for friends. Q5: How many times in a day does your teacher have to raise their voice? 3 – 4, 10, every day, 3 in the morning, 4 in the afternoon and 3 in the last hour, over 10, million times.

Staff were given student responses to read through and consider the following questions: Can you see any patterns in your students’ responses? What powers have the students identified that you have used? What are the similarities and differences (if any) between your perception and your students’ perception of classroom management?

2009: Student Responses Q 1: If someone was doing the wrong thing/behaving inappropriately, what does your teacher do? Looks at them, gives then a warning, talks to them, sit them on the floor, sit them by themselves, gives them a reminder, hints, points to the rights and responsibilities, tells them nicely what they’re dong wrong, keep her temper, reminds them and reminds them to look at the R &R, talks about how they are infringing on their R&R. Q2:If someone was doing the right thing/behaving appropriately, what does your teacher do? Praise them, praises them so that everyone can hear them, nominates them for Community Star, says ‘well done’, congratulates them, she’s proud of us, she says ‘good work’, tells everyone they’re doing good work, tells other teachers, thanks them. Q3:What are some of the inappropriate things/behaviours students do in the classroom? Running, yelling across the room, muck around, don’t listen, talking when teacher is talking, calls out, interrupting. Q4:What are some of the appropriate things/behaviours students do in the classroom? Do their work, being polite, remind each other, if someone is talking they listen to them, ignore when others are talking, not calling out, speaking kindly, get their work done, stay focussed, pat someone on the shoulder, concentrate. Q5: How many times in a day does your teacher have to raise their voice? Never, none, always polite, never mean, she doesn’t really yell, she doesn’t like to, sometimes once or zero, little bit, depends...once or twice, most of the time she never does, she hasn’t raised her voice- ever, she doesn’t raise her, she hasn’t had to raise her voice, maybe never, not normally, about once a week, 2 or 3 times, 3 to 4 times a day, about 3 times, 5 times for the naughty people.

Follow up In PLT’s staff worked collaboratively to rewrite our Start Up units to incorporate the idea of personal and communal responsibilities. We conducted workshops on the non-verbal and verbal hinting including the dialogue for responding to the different categories of students. Team members had the opportunity to use general and specific hinting, restatements of expectations and ‘I’ messages as well as direct questions to focus on inappropriate behaviour. The staff were introduced to the dialogue and responding to the different categories of students and then were asked/encouraged to trial these strategies/approaches in their own classroom management practises. We included an AIZ sharing/challenging component in every PLT meeting. This was part of the protocols set up early in the year. It provided the opportunity for staff to share and challenge one another as well ask for any assistance or support they may need with certain students. Staff then trialled new strategies and techniques in classrooms, some staff members have also used the behaviour management as a basis for their PLP’s and Peer Observations.

Creative initiatives implemented to support the Developmental Behaviour Management. Community helpers Community Star Community notice board Friendship flowers Prep check in Check in spectrum

Community Kids at Work

1 /2 Friendship Flowers

Prep Check In

Check In

Academic School Visit Professor Ramon Lewis Professor Ramon Lewis’ visit to our school took place on the 14 th May Professor Ramon Lewis and his assistant spent the day at out school. The initial meeting with the former School Improvement Group (SIG), now known as SIT, consisting of the Principal, Assistant Principal, Leading Teachers and Laura and Lily as the Learning Leaders. We presented a brief outline of the journey we had undertaken to date. We shared a powerpoint presentation to show the classroom management strategies implemented and the various classroom displays. Ramon and his assistant observed teachers hinting, use of statements, carried out conversations with various students in different classes, made observations and conducted interviews with the older children.

Meeting with 1 /2 PLT Ramon met with each of the PLTs. Staff had the opportunity to share and discuss dialogue appropriate for the more challenging students, as well as clarify any concerns.

Meeting with3 /4 PLT

Meeting 5/ 6 PLT

Ramon had the opportunity to be involved in classrooms ‘walk throughs’ and have a chat with some of the students.

Professor Ramon Lewis addressing the whole staff

Feedback and Recommendations The school should continue work on highlighting 3 Rights: Right to be physically safe Right to learn as much as possible Right to be emotionally safe Visual representations of rights should be present in each classroom and in the yard (for safety rights). Display the visual signs at places that are most visible. Posters for both Personal and Communal responsibility could also be considered for classrooms, and the yard. The leading teachers will listen to staff to gather examples of their statements to students to allow staff to induce the characteristics of rights based demands. Some teachers may like to consider using isolation or exiting as a form of “time-out, whereby the student is asked to return “when he or she is prepared to act in a responsible/fair/reasonable manner, but not before”. Time out may be followed up with detention exiting (til the end of a given period of time). Leading teachers will also gather examples of hints, whether non-verbal like ‘turning down the ‘volume control on the class’ or verbal hints Provide some recognition to students who have misbehaved before exiting them from the class.

With very difficult students, Be aware that these students misbehave when they perceive “threat’ in the environment (e.g. they need to read and they don’t know how). Try to identify the patterns of misbehaviour (Attention, Power, Revenge or Withdrawal). Also, when the most difficult students are ‘acting out’ it may be a signal that others in the class could also be finding the activity confusing or too difficult, and hence, a change in curriculum content or process may be of use (e.g. a shift from linguistic, logical to visual, hands on). Highlight to the student the extent of ‘choice’ being exercised. Begin by offering large incentives to see what level of self-control a very difficult student can manage for a short period of time. If he or she can behave well for a reward, then future misbehaviour can be characterised as a choice the student is making. If a student is acting out, try to put into words how he or she may be feeling (e.g. Are you finding the work threatening (scary). Try to get the student to let you know in advance how threatened he/she feels by the work. When ‘punishing’ very difficult students, let them do ‘jobs’ like help in the prepare teaching materials, help in the library, garden, office, etc. This way they will be able to contribute to the school in a meaningful way and help rebuild their damaged self-concept. Before punishing these students arrange to give them a signal when they are behaving in a way that makes them “harder to like”. Try to get student to agree to withdraw and cool down when they feel they are going to “blow”. Try to modify the curriculum offered to challenging students to focus on their interests and competencies, and thereby provide more opportunity for success. (As noted above it will probably need to be more relevant, and more visual and/or kinaesthetic.

Future direction Monitor the Developmental Management Approaches to classroom behaviour in PLTs. Continue to work collaboratively to rewrite/tweak our units of work to incorporate the idea of personal and communal responsibilities. Common dialogue used by both class teachers and specialists to respond to categories of students. Build in the Professional Learning sessions, one per term, in order to i.enhance the staying power of the Right & Responsibilities, ii.refresh everyone’s memory, iii.keeping the R&R dialogue ongoing, iv.maintain a whole school approach Develop our own Behaviour Management document that would ‘sit under’ our Student Engagement Policy. Agenda any Behaviour Management issues to be discussed at the PLT level. Continue the professional dialogue on responding to the different categories of students within the school. Share evidence at the PLT level of what teachers have implemented and observations made or dialogue conducted with different students within the classroom. Collective responsibility dealt with at the PLT level with issues related to Behaviour Management and specific students.

Thank you to Professor Ramon Lewis for his inspiration, guidance and motivating us to start our journey.