Jennifer Collis
* post and have a meaningful conversation about classroom expectations (be kind, be positively present & do your best) at the beginning of the year
* consistently model the expectations and mutual respect
* reinforce positivity and encouragement on a daily basis ("hand in your amazing work here" and "use your beautiful brains")
* develop relationships with students by taking a genuine interest daily --one of my favourite parts of/reasons for being a teacher!
* create student seating plans (monthly) with personality and ability in mind
* students sit in table groups and work in teams, and consistently practice actively listening
* talk (one-on-one) with certain students who have a challenging seating position --as either a heads-up or a pep-talk about taking on a supportive/leadership role for their table group
* give students structure for teamwork (by providing roles) which gives the students a sense of belonging to the team as well as accountability
* tell students who will begin round-robin conversations ("the person whose birthday is the closest"), which allows the students to get to know each other better and develop conversation starters
* consistently give the students opportunities for positive peer feedback, after brainstorming about what compliments and constructive suggestions sound like
Creating a culture for learning...
Recipe for respect...
* remove the focus from the numbers in PowerSchool, and inform the students (and their parents) to see themselves as learners
* reinforce the culture of learning by emphasizing the importance on formative assessments --"this activity is for you, and for me, but not for PowerSchool"
* allow multiple opportunities to "fail forward" with in-class assignments and feedback before a summative assessment
* have the students reflect on their own learning through MetaLogs and Literacy Station Reflections, which ask questions like: what did you learn at this particular station, and how will you use these skills/content in the future?
* demonstrate my passion for the subject English (including geeky grammar, falling in love with non-fiction characters, poetry, etc.)
* reassure the students that English is one of the most student-friendly subjects because it's not about being right or wrong, it's the evidence you use to prove your point
Promoting positive behaviours...
The Proactive Approach:
* center the behaviour expectations around a classroom culture of respect (as reflected in the classroom expectations)
* develop relationships with students so that the behaviour issues don't become teacher vs. student, it's more about students not following the expectations for the class
* expectations are posted so they know the type of behaviour they should demonstrate in different situations; for example, individual work in contrast to whole class discussions or station work
* give timeframes for tasks so the students exactly what is expected of them and how long they have to complete it (which usually means no time to waste)
* create a seating plan that takes behaviours, friendships and distractions into consideration
* create enganging lessons so that students do not feel bored and/or tempted to be off-task (which can lead to incorrect behaviours)
* assert myself as a very clever and "hip" teacher, who knows when students are off-task or using devices inappropriately, which limits students trying to be sneaky
The Reactive Approach (when necessary):
* give gentle warnings in the classroom, which can be a look, a tap on the shoulder, a playful nudge or a discreet conversation about what they need to be doing
* have a conversation with the student (one-on-one) outside of the classroom, which usually revolves around questioning to get them to reflect on their behaviour
--> Why are we out in the hallway? How did your behaviour impact other people? What do you think your consequence should be?
* contact parents, which would focus on "__________'s success" and would come after positive communication from earlier in the year
* use the discipline tracker, after having hallway conversations with the student in question
* come up with a class-wide strategy like "Star of the Day" which highlights positive student behaviour --stars are written on the board and if someone achieves three stars in a class, they become Star of the Day which means they get an email home and an extra disposition mark.
* create a speaking and listening assessment -- I frequently do this with my challenging P5 classroom, which is very similar to a socratic seminar tally system that gives them points when they positively contribute to class discussions, and subtracts points for being off-topic, shouting out or speaking Spanish.