This is one of a series of short blogs to hopefully help you thinking about teaching, assessment and learning. Below are some Behaviour “Thinks”.
Whilst all the “thinks”, on a particular page, are connected and inter-related the idea is simply to focus on whichever one or two capture your imagination. Following reflection it’s worth pondering how you might apply it in your class room.
Pupils’ behaviour is one of the things that has the greatest impact on a teacher’s day.
There are reasons why we behave certain ways; the same is true for the pupils we teach. The question that needs answering clearly in your mind is will this mitigate or change your response to poor behaviour; whether there is or isn’t a sanction or whether it is lessened in anyway.
I tend to think of the 3Rs for managing behaviour. In reverse order: rules, routines and relationships. It’s difficult to like every pupil to the same extent, we’re only human after all, but it is reasonable to expect that we relate to all pupils in a positive and fair way. Are there any pupils or groups that you really struggle with? How could you establish a positive and fair relationship with them?
Many schools have set rules. Alternatively in some schools teachers develop a class set. Both can work equally well or not depending on the consistency and insistency with which they are kept. Is there a rule that pupils seem to break more often than others? What could you do to be more consistent and insistent with pupils about keeping it? It’s also worth thinking about what support you may need. How could the school systems or its leaders ensure that the message you are giving out, loud and clear, is supported by them? It might be really helpful to have a chat with a senior or middle leader about your idea.
Routines, routines, routines help class rooms run smoothly. What one change would help your class room run more like the proverbial well-oiled machine? It may be you think transitions between activities need tightening up; simple administrative processes (collecting/giving out books or equipment) or starts/ends of lessons. Think through the new routine step by step; trial it with a class until the routine and they are just about perfect. It will require drilling; continuous, frequent and consistent implementation. Then use it across all your classes.
If you prefer to scribble as you think feel free to download a copy of the “Think” page:
The other “Thinks for Teachers are: