 the continuing need for maintaining our habits & routines  importance of praise & preparation  a reminder of RP strategies that teachers can use for dealing with classroom management issues especially BACKCHAT  some new strategies and time to share.

 Reflection  Using the strategies  Discussion & sharing with colleagues  Staying CALM, POSITIVE and RESTORATIVE

 Entry & getting ready to learn  Movement during the lesson  Signals for getting ‘Full Attention’  Expectations & Habits of behaviour  Learning intentions visible  Success Criteria  Exit

Getting ‘Full Attention’: Using the Countdown Five, you should be finishing the sentence that you are writing. Four, some pens are down already. Three, excellent Jack, well done, for being the first to give me your full attention Two, ready to listen One, all pens and pencils down, now! Thank you.

Exits: Using Exit Passes With students waiting quietly at their desks waiting to be dismissed:  Ask each student to give you one fact/key word/new term that they have learnt today OR  Ask each student/row/group a question about today’s learning Avoid keeping students in after the bell

The following video ( 14 minutes ) demonstrates the importance of these. Although it is about a Year 7 class I think it covers the relevance of habits & routines effectively. While you watch it think about the teacher’s (Amy) strengths.

What were Amy’s strengths?

Have you tried these lately?  Using proximity  ‘The look’ or hand signal  Verbal interventions: directing a student to the task at hand, calling on a student to answer a question or simply naming the student

 Using “I” messages to verbally prompt behaviour without a direct command  First, describe the behaviour in a non-blaming way: “When people talk when I am giving instructions....  Next, describe the tangible effect this behaviour has on you: “...I have to repeat the instructions and that wastes time....”  Finally, state your feelings about the tangible effect: “...and I get frustrated.”

 Try using these cards to prompt or challenge students to manage their own behaviour I will show persisting by staying focussed on my learning

I will manage my impulsivity by listening while the teacher is talking

I will show courtesy by letting students LEARN

I will manage my impulsivity by not turning around and distracting others

I will show commitment to my learning and courtesy by being on time

I will show strive for accuracy by listening to instructions

I will show commitment to my learning by bringing my workbook, student diary and pencil case to class

I will show courtesy by letting my teacher TEACH

I will show courtesy by listening to other students when they are talking

Thanks very much to Janne Wallace for sharing this idea with me.  As a teacher you have tried all the ‘tools in the toolkit’  You still don’t have a positive relationship with a particular student  So, you have another chat with the student to find out what he is thinking  You come up with a plan/contract that you discuss with him.

LUKE THINKS: WC is picking on him I don’t like writing or working hard I don’t like doing posters or worksheets I could try a lot harder I am off task often. WC THINKS: You are a very likeable student You are not showing COURTESY when you talk when I am You could be putting heaps more effort (COMMITMENT) into your work Your techno beats are awesome but not helpful for teaching or learning I could be helping you a lot more to achieve We need to fix things, so that Social Studies is better for you, me and the rest of the class WE BOTH AGREE WE WANT THINGS TO IMPROVE

Helping the student change his behaviour and improve the relationship: Using yellow and red cards. 1.Yellow Card 1: Change your behaviour 2.Yellow Card 2: No more chances 3.Red Card: Move yourself to the desk beside me

Who has had the pleasure of dealing with a student like Lauren??

Vanessa and Kathy are talking, and as you walk by, you attempt to deal with it. Teacher: “Vanessa, I would like you to turn around and get some work done.” Student: “I wasn’t doing anything.” Teacher: “You have been talking this whole period, and I want it to stop.” Student: “No I wasn’t.” Teacher: “Every time I look up, I see you talking to Kathy.” Student: “She was just asking me a question.” Teacher: ”I don’t care who was asking who what. When I look up, I expect to see you doing your own work.” Student: “Yeah, but...” Have you had enough yet? Who do you think will look foolish by the time this conversation winds down?

It takes one fool to backchat. It takes two fools to make a conversation out of it. The student mouths off. The teacher responds. The student mouths off. The teacher responds. The student mouths off. The teacher responds. The student mouths off. What happen’s? The teacher will ‘pull rank’ and send the student to the Withdrawal Room or Dean

Open your mouth, and slit your throat. Imagine instead: Teacher: “Vanessa, I would like you to bring your chair around and get some work done.” Student: “I wasn’t doing anything.” Teacher: (silence) Student: “Well, I wasn’t.” Teacher: (silence) Student: “Well…” Teacher: (silence) Student: (silence) When students begin to feel foolish, they fold. Getting back to work suddenly becomes the quickest way to disappear.

Things to remember:  Never take anything a student says as personal  If you do, you will feel wounded and respond emotionally with the ‘fight/flight’ reflex  And who has the power now? The student  Instead take two relaxing breaths and think with your cortex Insert a picture of a brain labelled with the cortex and brainstem Acknowledge the work of Dr Jones Give out resources

 What is the real agenda underlying the profanity?  POWER!!!  It is a question of power and this boils down to a question of control.  Who controls the classroom? Who controls you?  If you allow the student to control you, determine your emotions and your behaviour.....  Then, the student is very POWERFUL  If you give a student this much POWER and it comes quickly and predictably, he/she will use it again and again......

 Take two deep breaths, remain quiet  If you are in your cortex, you can use good judgement and choose a long-term response that fits the situation  If, however you are in your brainstem, judgement is out of the question  Consequently, if you succeed in the short-term you will probably succeed in the long-term  Your lack of an immediate response (staying CALM and SILENT) is very powerful body language

If the student then gets back to work, consider getting on with the lesson Make sure you have the chat later Don’t worry that the other students will think that you didn’t do anything about it. GIVE THEM SOME SOCIAL INTELLIGIENCE. They saw that you handled it well. The student tried the ‘big one’ and failed.

 Your short-term response does not foreclose any other management options  It simply gives you time to think  In the long-term you can use other options: refer to the Dean, send to the withdrawal room  Just do it CALMLY  If you are calm you are above the storm  The calm helps students accept responsibility for their own actions

 When you have the restorative chat at the end of class, find out what is happening in the student’s life that has prompted this behaviour  Stay calm  ASK and LISTEN “Mike, what you said in class today was not at all like you. Tell me what’s really going on”  WAIT Allow the student the time to answer  The time that you take to have this chat could be the turning point in your relationship

Teacher Students of 10 ??? Learning

 Reflection  Using the strategies  Discussion & sharing with colleagues  Staying CALM, POSITIVE and RESTORATIVE

I will manage my impulsivity to respond when dealing with backchat. I will not be a FOOL! I WILL STAY QUIET.