Today I spent my second day at a local secondary school. I attended a year 8 class, a year 9 textiles class, a year 12 fashion class and then helped with the technician for the rest of the afternoon.
I saw first hand the 'Behaviour 1,2,3' rule as a student was given three warnings and then was sent to another classroom as they were continuously disrupting the lesson. Once the lesson was over the teacher retained the student afterwards which was the students break time. The student expressed that he hated the way they 'were always picked on' and that 'its not fair'. The teacher then sat down and asked the student -
when was the last time you handed in homework?
when was the last time you sat down and got on with the classroom tasks without shouting across the classroom?
when was the last time you were on time to my lesson?
when was the last time you had a 'ready to learn' attitude?
the student could not answer the above and looked quite ashamed of their own behaviour. They then realised what he had done to deserved to be told off continuously and why they were 'being picked on'
The teacher continued to sit down and listened to what they had to say and then asked how there could be a way around not shouting his name and 'nagging' them all the time. The solution was to go on 'lesson report' which is a report that is kept inside the students planner so that the parents and other teachers can see. The report has 3 targets on and if the student doesn't achieve the targets in that lesson then more serious consequences will be chosen appropriately. The student then apologised to the teacher and a phone call home was made to the students parents as this was something that wasn't just happening as a one off - this scenario was happening every week.
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Another thing that i learnt was about differentiation
Differentiate = To make different by alteration or modification
There is a student in the year 8 class that is a ballroom dancer. At the start of the year when the teacher started teaching this particular class they couldn't understand why this particular student was so fidgety and constantly moving whilst he was sitting at a lower table. (note - this classroom has a couple of tables that have average seats that are average height but then the rest of the tables are higher and need stools) The teacher then found out that this student was a Ballroom dancer and was at their happiest when dancing. This initial behaviour of this student was down to the dancing forte and not down to being 'naughty' or 'disruptive' it was simply down to their make-up. As a result the teacher changed the seating plan to accommodate this students needs - they are working so much more effectively now they are standing up on a higher table and not sitting down.
This taught me a valuable lesson in the fact that this teacher had looked past the fact that his wasn't just 'naughty' behaviour this was down to something that could be solved through a seating plan.
I learnt a great deal through both of these cases and I too, one day will help and encourage young people to be creative as this teacher is already doing!
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I have also devised a half term plan of a lesson for a year 9 textiles class. This sadly cannot be completed for real as the teachers have already mapped out and planned until the end of term. This will appear in a separate post.
NOTE- THE USE OF 'THEY' IS TO ENSURE THE STUDENTS REMAIN CONFIDENTIAL AND RELATE TO A SINGLE STUDENT NOT 'THEY' AS A GROUP OF STUDENTS.