T.C Sos Dept: Supporting a colleague with managing behaviour

One of my department members (Teacher X) was having hard time with a group of 3 boys who were unruly in their Social Studies class during their last lesson.  The next day, they emailed me in the morning for advice as they were going to be teaching the class after interval in period 3.

I checked their timetable and they had a non-contact period 2.

The class with boys in question had English at that time and I suggested they visited the class to speak to them.  I suggested they quietly asked the teacher if they could speak to each student one by one, in the corridor.

I provided some steps as a guide to follow below.

Explain the purpose of the meeting:

‘The reason why I am talking to you now is to address the behaviour that you showed yesterday in Social Studies.  It was disruptive and before I allow you back into class, here are expectations that I have...' (If time, you could explain how it was disruptive).

Check for understanding

‘Do you understand the expectations?’

Ask if the student would like to say anything

‘Do you have any questions’.  ‘Is there anything you would like to say’

Reinforce positive behaviour

‘I know you are able to work well, I’ve seen it’

Or

‘Let’s have a good lesson today so that you can get some learning done because I want you to succeed’

Follow up

As they line up outside your classroom at the start of period 3, remind them to put phones away, bag under desk and ready to learn.  As they come in, pre-empt their positive behaviour by saying 'thanks boys, I know you are going to make a good effort today etc...'.  During the class, get up and wander around and give affirmations for good behaviour. 

Teacher X emailed me the next day with an update:

Hi Dot,

I went to the English class in period 2 yesterday and took student 1, student 2 and student 3 out and spoke to them individually.  Each said that they would not misbehaviour in class.  Student 1 apologised for this behaviour and student 2 seemed regretful of his behaviour. 

In class in period 3 & 4 yesterday all 3 were better behaved and did not cause any disruption. 

Thank you for your help and suggestions on this Dot.  

Regards,

Teacher X.

Reflection:

I'm not an expert but sometimes just having a quiet chat with a kid on their own means the focus is on them, not them and their friends.  This can be a respectful way to interact with a student because even if it's not your intention to embarrass a child, sometimes they might feel singled out.  Asking if the expectations are understood can give kids an opportunity to process and think about what is expected.  It could also give them a chance to speak up if they don’t get it.  Sometimes kids get a surprise when they see you out of class because they think teachers don’t talk to each other.  I found by setting some positive expectations with students can help redirect their behaviour. In a previous blogpost, I talked about the Pygmalion theory and how students can grow into their teachers expectations. By pre-empting good behaviour, you are hopefully replacing negative behaviours with already planned positive ones.  

The guide above won't work everytime but I guess it's good to have another strategy in the kete.