Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

I just realised that I never did get around to giving you an update on the outcomes of the staff meetings that I have been attending recently. Here's a summary of the discussions which transpired:

The Principal decided to put 'on-hold' the discussions about school values. Instead discussion has focused on trying to further draw out the key issues which the school is facing. Recent meetings have involved a lot of group-work activities, plenty of post-it-notes, bowls of minties, coloured textas and poster paper. These meetings are reminiscent, similar to those think-tank/brainstorming /workshop-type meetings we have in the corporate world, intended to tease out the root-causes of a HUGE problem.

Anyway, this week's meetings, facilitated by the Principal, were fruitful. It was identified that the No.1 key issue underlying many of the school's problems was consistency. Consistency in terms of:

• classroom rules and management techniques
• discipline / response to student misbehaviour
• assessment of students performance /work
• teacher training and professional development opportunities

Key Issue No.2 was resourcing. The issues surrounding resourcing concerned:

• availability of 'pastoral care'/'counsellor' resources
• insufficient number of teachers to accommodate for class sizes

Actually, permit me to digress - the No.1 key issue was initially 'The Community' (in which the school is located). It was agreed by all that socio-economic background of the students who attend this school was the biggest factor that affected the way the school functions. (i.e. students here do not perform academically because of their upbringing and the communities in which they live).

This comment is not intended to blame the students for the reason why the school is performing in this way. But you can't separate the fact that a lot of the kids who attend this school come from broken families/homes that don't exactly provide the safe, nurturing environment where they can learn values that equip them for a stable adulthood.

The principal did point out however that the school needs to address the concerns that are within its control and that’s a good and fair point. Hence, the root cause of ‘The Community’ was put aside, leaving ‘consistency’ as the key issue which the staff will have to address.

Well, I think the Principal did a great job in facilitating the meetings. Apparently he’s only been in this school for six months which explains why he doesn’t appear to be as disillusioned as his staff members! hehe :-) I think it was a good idea for him to park the whole discussion about values because it was as if the team had hit a brick wall or a mental blank on the whole ‘values’ discussion. Sometimes you have to take two steps back to make one step forward. I think after this week’s meetings and doing all the root-cause analysis activities, the teachers start to chip away the monolith and start to have a better understanding of the core problems that need to be addressed by the school.

Yes, I think this week has definitely been a step in the right direction.

Day 17 - Private Vs Public? What's Your Say?

Hello All.

I do apologise to my regular readers out there for not updating my blog more frequently this week. It has been proven to be quite a hectic week as I have found myself with the wonderful task of reviewing / marking student projects. I’ve discovered I have a love/hate relationship with assessing student work. I love seeing excellent work produced by the students (it’s really exciting to see them apply the skills that I’ve taught in my lessons!).

I don’t like the bit where I have to assess poor quality projects because part of me feels like it’s a reflection of my ability to teach, but I also acknowledge that the student’s ability and motivation greatly influence the quality and quantity of work produced. There are students who have learning difficulties, but I know that as a teacher, it is my role to recognize and accommodate for these students, in terms of the work I assign to them, how they are assessed, and even how I relate to them. I admit that catering for varying degrees of ability has proven to be one of the most challenging aspects of teaching.

At the same time, I do admire students who persist. There is nothing that can replace the character of persistence. There are students who, at first glance, do not appear to be able to achieve anything of significance, yet, with persistence, they prove you wrong. Then there are those who appear to have a natural bent for a particular subject, yet without discipline, they squander away their opportunities to excel.

My husband asked me the question whether I think student success is ‘genetic’? Can a kid excel in school because his parents were blessed with ‘healthy’ brains? I think it’s naïve to suggest that it all boils down to the student. I ask myself what is the recipe for student success? I’m sure it’s a combination of factors, such as:

- having quality teachers
- supportive parents
- access to resources (this is where socio-economic status obviously comes into the picture).
- student’s character (i.e. qualities such as resilience, perseverance, determination and values)

To be honest, I haven’t really made my mind up on this issue about what makes for ‘quality’ education and how student success is made to happen. I guess the Private vs Public School debate is really at the crux of this discussion. Part of me says, “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it” (i.e. when my kids are ready to go to school, I’ll research my options then!) J

I’ve known kids who have come from affluent, well-to-do schools, costing $15,000 per year, who’ve ended up as ‘floaters’, not pursuing the high-flying careers you (or your parents) would expect them to pursue. What must their parents think?

Then there are those stories with a rags-to-riches theme, where students who don’t have the luxury of attending a private, fee-paying, school with ample resources, end up excelling academically and eventually go on to successful jobs.

The following link is a forum which provides a great discussion about the private VS public debate. http://cracker.com.au/viewthread.aspx?threadid=8504&categoryid=11241

Curious to see where people stand on this issue!!!! :-)

Day 16 - Making it Work

I have started to put together a ‘discipline plan’ - which is my planned approach to discipline, so I have a general idea of ‘what to do when’. The classroom is very dynamic, but for me to have a discipline plan will give me an awareness of what I can, and will do, in the instance where I have to exercise disciplinarian measures.

I have/will face behaviours like:
- calling out
- interruptions
- task refusal
- students walking around class
- procrastination

So here’s the list I have tried and tested to date:
1. Deliberate Ignoring of Behaviour
This is the tactical ignoring of disruptions that proceed from a student’s desire to gain attention. If no one is paying attention to them, the student with the disruptive behaviour gets the hint.

2. Simple Directions
Simple directions rather than getting involved in long-winded discussions.
“Back to your seat now Mike”
“Paul, This is quiet reading time. Open your book and get on with it, thanks.”
Even the simple “Johnny”, said in the right firm tone, (with ‘the mean look’) can communicate the message.

3. Restate the Rule to the Student
Appealing to the class/school rules keeps the personal annoyance factor down.
“Jane, you know the rule for calling out.”
“Paul, what’s our policy here for school uniforms?” (to a student not wearing uniform). I’ve learned that it’s really important not to get caught up in futile discussions when the disruptor has an audience.

4. Deflection
This is where I acknowledge the student’s frustration/anger/anxiety but requests the student to get back to work.
e.g.
Teacher: “I can see you’re anxious Rachel, but other students are trying to work. If you want to cool off, you can sit over there.”
Student: “This work is just so boring, Miss!”
Teacher: “I can see you’re frustrated Rachel, but that’s the work you have to do for the exam. Not all our work is boring. Can I give you a hand?”
If they won’t settle, that’s when I give them a choice.

5. Simple Choice
Threats are pointless. It's far better to put the student into a context where they have to choose to be responsible for their actions. I think choices are great because its a step towards the student learning about self-control. Choice over ones behaviour is central to self-discipline and tolerance to frustration because it challenges the student to take responsibility for their actions. For example, if two kids are talking in class, rather than saying, "Would you please shut up back there?", an alternative is:
"Patrick and Ryan, if you keep talking loudly, I'll have to ask one of you to move." It's better than saying"I'll make you move" - because I can't actually physically make them move. I can direct, ask, restate the rule and give a choice, but unfortunately cannot pick them up and move them!
Other examples, "You have a choice Mark, you can either sit back down in your seat and carry on with your workk, or I'll have to ask you to leave the room."

5. Question and Feedback
When a student is refusing to do a task, or if two students are talking aimlessly, it’s useful to ask a question to address the behaviour. E.g.
- What’s going on here?
- What are you doing here?
Most students say “nothing” in response to a ‘what’ question. At this point, I’ve observed that it’s better to inform the student about what we heard or saw.
e.g. Teacher: “Johnny, what’s going on?”
Student: “Nothing”
Teacher: “You were throwing books at Paul.”
Student: “But he threw it first.”
Teacher: “Both of you, put the books away, thanks”. No discussion.

OR

Teacher: “What are you doing Patrick and Ryan?”
Student: “What does it look like?” (smart alec voice)
Teacher: Actually it looks like you’re talking loudly over here. What should you be doing?
Student: “Dunno!”
Teacher: “You should be working on your assignments. Would you get back to your work quietly thanks.”

My implied agenda here is, “if you don’t, I’ll come back with a clear choice that may involve you being separated, or stay back to explain your behaviour”.

6. Taking the student aside
This involves speaking to the child away from others, so as to minimise embarassment (and hostility) and gives the student a time to reply. "Look, Johnny, what's up? We can't keep on like this; I've asked you three times to settle down, now what's going on?"

I guess I've learnt that positive classroom management doesn't just happen by good luck. If I'm not conscious of these basic intervention possibilities, the students may as well just walk all over me! :-)