WHAT A GREAT WEEK!!!!
I really am strating to get comfortable here at Glenview. My AT is amazing!!! He is giving me such amazing feedback and is really a fantastic mentor. I don't know how Serge and Caroline did it but they matched with me perfectly!!! So a little thank you to you two!!!!
Couple of major things to talk about. My AT has stressed the importance of incremental discipline and allowed me to put it into practice. Essentially he stresses a 5 stage approach to inndividual management and 3 stage approach to classsroom management. First the individual management.
1. Invisible discipline- proximity; eye contact; snapping of fingers at a specific student; hand motions
2. Square off- speak directly at a student..."Mike are you finished?"
3. Choices- "Mike...get back to work or I will move you to another area of the room"
4. Made the choice- student does not react to your previous direction....has made the choice....move the student
5. After school- if student still is causing problems then bring them in after school to write a reflectionn on their behaviour
Group Management;
1. the all important pause...sometimes followed with "I'll wait"..."or we can waste my time...but I will use yours if I have to..."
2. sacrificial lamb- a rough term i know...but the sentiment works.....if the class still will not settle down...pick one student who is misbehaving and make focused directed commentts at that one student as an example to other students...
I found that these techniques are extremely effective...and allow for consistentcy and fairness....all very important.
Now for a few specifics about my classes....
I have a student, we ll call him George, he can be a little difficult. He distracts other students, doesnt do much of his work, and challenges my authority subtly. I was forced to move him on Monday. He went to sit in a group where he apparently had an issue with another one of the boys at the table. This other boy, who is much bigger than him, had apparently kicked him in the head over lunch. George was very upset that no one had listened or taken him seriously. So while the other students were doing independent work I spent a few minutes listening to his story and then got the other side of the story from the bigger boy. He admitted that there had been an incident. So I moved George again and put him at a table group with his friends for next class. The next class George was engaged and participating. He offered a fantastic response to a question I had posed. It was such a huge turnaround!!!! I learned that just by listening to a students problems in an honest and fair way can have long lasting positive affects on that students performance. It was amazing to see such a turnaround!!!
I have another student, we ll call her Angie, who is one of those "to-cool-for-school" students. Her work, when iit gets done, is incomplete and of poor quality. I am really trying to get her involved. whenever she does have an answer to a question I always pick here to share....this has started to get her a little more on board. Also I nnoticed that she liked to draw....so I brought in a selection of different colour dry erase markers and let her be my white board recorder....she picks the colours and style that she wants to record the homework in. This simple process has opened Angie right up. She now asks me questions and seeks me out for help when even last week she would just sit there doing nothing. Its incredible to me that just a small thing like markers can have such a positive effect.
One last refelction, I have another student who I have recently figured out is dealing with stress and anxiety to such an extent that he has begun to see a therapist. This kid is really positive and nice but has problems getting work done. So I have done a couple of things. First before he went home on Friday we met and built a list of all the work he still has to get done to catch up. I stressed that he needs to get the work done but that he doesnt have to get it all done this weekend. Also, because this student is THE student AV guy I ask him to help me set up all the technology in the classsroom, even thoughh I know how to do it, just to give a positive experience and a feeling of worth. He's responding wonderfully.
All inn all a great week.....really don't want to leave!!!!
More next week
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