Classroom Management Skills Low Key Skills Classroom Management

Classroom Management Skills Low Key Skills

Classroom Management Skills – Low Key Skills Low Key Responses – Planned Ignore (PI) Ability to communicate to a student that a misbehaviour will not have the desired affect – usually attention seeking – Private Dialogue (PD) Teacher privately and quietly talks to the student – Deal With the Problem and Not the Student (Prob) A skill the teacher uses to focus on behaviour rather than personality or intentions

Low Key Responses (Cont’d) – Come On Back (COB) The teacher’s ability to ask a low level question of a student in order to re-engage them – Type of Response (TOR) The ability to indicate to students how they should respond during discussions or questions; eg “Hands up…” – Modelling Appropriate Behaviour (MAB) When the teacher demonstrates what they want or gives positive feedback to a student demonstrating what they want

Low Key Responses (Cont’d) – Responding to Appropriate Behaviour (RAB) When the teacher responds in a positive manner to a behaviour in class that was appropriate – Signal to Begin (S 2 B) A sequence of teacher behaviours that result in the whole class or a group becoming quiet and focussing on the teacher – Proximity (PROX) Movement around the classroom to either prevent or respond to areas of misbehaviour within the classroom

Low Key Responses (Cont’d) – Minimal Verbals (MV) The skill of using as few words as possible to communicate that a behaviour is inappropriate – Non-Verbal (NV) The use of gestures to respond to or prevent misbehaviour – The Look/Preventative Scan (PR SCAN) The use of eye contact to quietly let students know that behaviour is inappropriate “withitness” – The Pause (PAUSE) The silence teachers invoke when they notice students misbehaving

Low Key Responses (Cont’d) – Winning Over (WO) What the teacher says and does to connect with individual students – Transition (TRAN) A sequence of behaviours designed to create orderly and efficient movement from one activity to another – Deal With Allies First (ALLY) The skills required to sort out situations involving 2 or more students cooperating in disrupting the class

Classroom Management Skills – Low Key Skills Bumps – responding to escalating behaviour

Introduction Variables which affect the teachers decision to respond: – Past behaviour of the student – Severity of the misbehaviour – Frequency of the misbehaviour – Time between misbehaviours – Importance of the lesson – The school BMIS policy – Students life at home – Students respect for their teacher – Reaction by allies

Bump 1: Low Key Responses As discussed earlier in this session – these are the techniques used to keep situations at a Bump 1 level

Bump 2: Squaring Off Pause or stop Turn body (square off) Intensify eye contact Use of minimal verbal response Complete the interaction with a “thank you”

Bump 3: Either/Or Choices Stop Square off Intensify eye contact Give an either/or statement – Use firm, neutral, calm voice – Restore social order – Give choice which child sees as related to the misbehaviour – As immediate as possible – Keep statement free of moral judgement – Deal with only the present

Bump 3: Continued Ask for a student response Listen to the student’s answer Complete interaction with a “thank you”

Bump 4: Implied Choice Follow through on Bump 3 “You’ve made your choice. Please _____. ” “Thank you”

Bump 5: Power Recognise the move to power Respond by – Ignoring it – Short circuit it – Describe the situation – Language of attribution – Provide a choice – Asking them to leave (following BMIS Policy)

Bump 6: Informal Contracts This will be covered in the next section of this presentation Thank you!

Cecil Andrews CMS PD 11 th Feb 2016 Informal Contracts

Informal Contracts Definition – An informal contract is an act of cooperation between teacher and the student that outlines what will occur when the student misbehaves and how they can work together to solve the problem in a positive way When is it used – When there is a persistent problem or pattern of misbehaviour

Informal Contracts cont’d Rationale A successful technique to deal with persistent misbehaviour problems – Minimises time spent dealing with problems in class – In a positive way, indicates to the student that you wish to work cooperatively to solve the problem

Components of Informal Contracts 1. Greet Students and Set Atmosphere Ø Establish a positive feeling tone Ø Indicate a need for the student’s cooperation in resolving a problem 2. Define Problem Ø Ask the student to outline what the problem might be Ø Confirm or outline the problem from the teacher’s perspective

Components of Informal Contracts cont’d 3. Generate Alternatives Ø Ask the student to generate alternatives to deal with the problem when it occurs Ø Confirm some of the workable solutions that the student generated and generate some additional ones § Note Ø Avoid student responses “I’ll stop” or “You can punish me” Ø Insist on specifics “What is it that you and I can do together to solve the problem? ”

Components of Informal Contracts cont’d 4. Agree on Consequences Ø Agree on a way to positively deal with the problem through the use of a logical consequence Ø Check with the student to ensure he/she sees the consequence as being fair 5. Enact Closure Ø Ask the student to summarise what was agreed upon Ø What the teacher and student each do when the problem occurs Ø What the consequence is Ø When the contract begins and ends

Components of Informal Contracts cont’d 6. End Conference Ø Thank the student for his/her cooperation Ø Discuss unrelated matters so conference ends on a positive note

Things to Remember § Do this at a time of calm, not crisis § When the student comes in to chat, have a list of specific behaviours to target (no more than 3) § Have a planned course of action § Ensure appropriate consequences are agreed upon