JUNK MAIL SECOND YEAR #1 PUBLISHED: 3 February 2009
WELCOME BACK
W
elcome back team for a second tour of duty. While I had no particular concerns for anyone I still did my usual head-count on day one to see that each and everyone of you had come back. It’s good to see that all of you are fit, well, tanned and rearing to go. I am particularly heartened to see and hear about the help some of you have provided already to our new beginning teachers. Honk, honk!!! There are 15 survivors from the 2007 Y1 cohort and just 8 new beginning teachers. Will I cope after working with 46 of you last year at high tide!
As 2nd year beginning teachers you are still entitled to the same level of support that was available last year. The only real change is that this year you are aiming to achieve full teacher registration, which involves successfully reaching the required standard. And once again I will push your thinking along with articles on matters pedagogical attached to each JUNK MAIL.
Once the dust has settled down this term and I have toured the 1st year teachers’ classes I will come and visit some of your classes just to see that everything is working out fine and that you are carrying on from where you left off last year (one year older and one year wiser). If you strike trouble with any of your classes please let me know so that we can work together on the problem sooner rather than later.
Be aware that for those of you teaching that one extra class life will that much more demanding. Take it all a day at a time, avoid reinventing the wheel every lesson, and remember that neither you nor the students can cope with super duper, razzle-dazzle lessons day after day after day after… Spread your really good lessons around all of your classes and take care of No1 by having less taxing lessons in amongst the really good ones.
Last year I introduced the Snapshot Lesson Observation form to this group one term earlier than I have used it in the past. You all coped remarkably well with that (Honk, honk!!!) so that form will be familiar to you when I come observing again. Probably the first two observations that I do this term will NOT be based on that form but on one that is less prescriptive, just to ease you back into observed.
Remember that progress, not perfection, is the aim of the game. Perfection is for ERO and the gods! Remember too that your registration depends on a number of ‘reports’ from your HOD(s) as well as from me. Many of the requirements for registration are achieved more or less automatically through the attestation/appraisal systems within your departments. These procedures log and analyse your performance, contributions and development within your department while regular formal and informal visits from your associate teachers and/or your HOD(s) should form the basis of your teaching performance review. Associate teachers and HODs are busy people. They also forget that your are not fully registered yet and forget that they should be observing your TWICE a term. A few timely prompts may be in order. I will do my bit to remind them as well! If you find that you are not being observed then let me know as you full registration depends partially on those observations.
Keep your ‘FOLDER’ up-to-date. You need to store original/copies of all your lesson observations (including those from last year), JUNK MAIL, Reflections and anything else that you collect. A pristine looking collection of ‘stuff’ might indicate that you have great filing skills but haven’t read anything so highlight points of interest in JUNK MAIL and other articles to show that you have read them and then put those highlighted ideas into practice. It is your responsibility to keep these documents in a safe place until you are fully registered.
§ SUPPORTING YOUR COLLEAGUES.
The class of 2007 developed a very strong support network (one of the best in recent years) so do continue to support each other and extend that support to the wider group. If things start turning to custard for other people in the group then let me know so that intervention can take place. While being a 2nd year teacher removes you from the worrying situation of knowing almost nothing about the school systems and the 1001 other things that you need to know on day 1 you will probably still need ‘help’ even for KAMAR short cuts so just ask. One of the real strengths of Massey High is the support that is available, but sometimes the support crew don’t get to hear about what is happening or we hear it too late in the day! Err on the side of caution. Be pro-active.
Speaking of supporting our colleagues, PQR is eager as (what an understatement!) to meet the first year teachers to tell them aaaaaaaaaaaaall about her teaching ‘experiences’ from last year. I wouldn’t be surprised if she gives them private lessons on her now famous teapot stance! Please join PQR in the Reading Room on Wed March 19th at 3.24pm to share your teaching experiences (if PQR lets you get a word in… ) with our beginning teachers. Note this event in your social diary and Planner.
And don’t forget to ‘Honk!” your colleagues every so often.
§ PROFESSIONAL READING.
As indicated before, I will supply you with a range of professional (bed-time?) reading this year. One of the big holes in staff development is the lack of really good, challenging books, magazines or articles relating to teacher skill development. We do have some ‘stuff’ in the Professional Development library, which is in the main school library, but it isn’t scintillating.
I have my own collection of books and articles that I intend to drip feed your way starting with this JUNK MAIL . I hope you find the material useful. My suggestion is that you summarise the 5 key points in each article and see how you can incorporate them into your teaching practice.
I am reminded that in the not so distant past, second year teachers have suddenly found the material I distributed during their first year ‘relevant’. If you ‘suddenly’ find that you have lost or misplaced one of my gems from last year and you want a copy (and you feel like owning up to this crime… ) then see me as I have most of the material on file.
The first article is a ‘scene setter’ being Chapter 1 ‘The Game has Changed’ from a very good but high-powered book called SUPER TEACHING by Eric Jensen. Despite the title that can be a bit off-putting, this book is a great read. Chapters 2, ‘Who You Are Makes a Difference’ and Chapter 3 called ‘Learning – From Theory to Practice’ will follow soon after. Resurrect the manila folder we gave you last year where you have lovingly kept last year’s JUNK MAIL and add them to your new “FOLDER”.
My timetable for 2008 is very straight forward: on Monday I teach Pd 4, Tuesday Pd 3, Wednesday Pd 2, Thursday Pd 1 and Friday Pd 5. I’m still in my old office, ‘THE CLOSET’ inside Prefab 9.
I look forward to working with each and every one of you again this year. Keep up your great work.
HENRY KANIUK
STAFF SUPPORT
MASSEY HIGH SCHOOL
PS There is a bit of déjà vu in the article (next sheet) from the NZ HERALD of January 6th, 2004, although it was originally written 100 years ago. Some things never change!
Five Tricky Classroom Personalities and How to Handle Them
Use positive behaviour management to keep
even ‘difficult’ students focussed on learning this year.
By Bill Rogers
Like every teacher, I know how crucial a task it is to develop the smooth running of a class. In my work in Australia and around the world, I've seen over and over again what a feat it can be to take 25 or more students of mixed ability, background, and temperament and build a cooperative, rights-respecting group. Certain kinds of student behaviour — common to every classroom but maddening nonetheless — make that task even more challenging. But I've discovered that even the most difficult classroom personalities respond to positive discipline that balances rights and responsibilities.
In this article you'll find strategies that work for the following personality types:
* The Chatterbox
* The Clinger
* The Boycotter
* The Debater
* The Sulker
The Chatterbox
In a classroom, as I am observing, the teacher is explaining a point on the board prior to group activities, one student turns to another and begins whispering.
Teacher: "Lisa and Emma, I'm trying to teach!"
Lisa: "I wasn't talking. Geez!"
Teacher: "Lisa, I saw you talking to Emma. Don't talk while I'm teaching. Pay attention."
Lisa: "C'mon, Emma just asked me about the work!"
Teacher: "Look — I don't care who said what.
(The teacher is naturally becoming irritated, especially by Lisa's tone and body language.)
Lisa: "But, Emma "
Teacher: "Lisa!" This loud response is followed by "One more word and I'll . . ." or a stand-up lecture: "I'm sick and tired of . . ." Either way, there is collateral damage.
Strategies to Use
1. Give a positive direction or reminder, followed by thanks. Focus on the desired behaviour, rather than the behaviour you don't want; for example, "One at a time" or "Remember our rule for manners" rather than "Don't butt in!" Keep the directions brief; avoid dwelling on the problem. In addition, I find it effective to use "thanks" rather than "please," even when correcting, because it communicates expectation of compliance with the behavioural objective.
2. Choose your tone of voice and body language. How students hear us depends greatly on our characteristic nonverbal behaviour. Saying the phrase "Walking quietly, thanks" in a sarcastic tone of voice while wagging a finger in students' faces will nullify your positive words. Keep control of your tone of voice, eye contact, proximity to the student, and body language.
3. Try a strategic pause. When teachers want to initiate and sustain attention, thoughtful use of the pause can help. A pause, before giving the necessary direction, conveys an expectation that the students will look toward you, will listen, and subsequently will respond. When a teacher calls across the room to two students talking, "Lisa! Emma! What are you doing?" they may only hear their names mentioned, not the question that follows. It's better to start with the student's name (in a firmer tone), followed by a pause for attentive effect, then the direction.
4. Keep the focus on the primary issue by knowing how to redirect. If we ask talkative students to face the front and listen during instructional time, we are addressing primary behaviour — that aspect of behaviour that is primarily affecting our right to teach and others' right to learn. If they argue or sulk as a result, this behaviour is secondary to the main issue of talking out of turn. Redirecting is a way of keeping the focus on the rule, the right, or the direction at hand rather than being drawn into secondary issues. You can do this by partially agreeing — dignifying the students' feelings — and then quickly shifting the focus back to the primary point.
Strategies in Action
Lisa and Emma are chatting privately, distracting others while the teacher is explaining the assignment. The teacher stops talking. She knows that sometimes a sustained pause alone will be enough to trigger students' attention — but not this time. So she directs the girls to face the front and listen: "Emma . . ., Lisa . . ., facing this way and listening, thanks." Lisa, miffed, says, "But we were only talking about the work." The teacher is not interested, at this point, in the veracity of this statement. She redirects, "Maybe you were, but I want you to face the front and listen, thanks. You'll need to know this stuff." The teacher turns her attention to the rest of the class and resumes the task instructions as Lisa sulks — but quietly.
The Clinger
Next, we go to a primary-grade class (but this scenario also happens in secondary schools!), during a story-writing activity around the children's tables.
Halid calls out across the room.
Halid: "Miss, Miss, I need you."
Teacher: "Just a minute, Halid."
Halid: "But Miss, I don't know what we're supposed to do next!"
Teacher: "Look, I can't be in two places at once, can I?"
Halid: (beginning to whine) "But Miss . . ."
Teacher: "Oh, all right!" She goes over to help him, reinforcing the unhelpful association that when he calls out, she will always attend to him.
Strategies to Use
1. Start with tactical ignoring. Tactical ignoring is a teacher's conscious decision to ignore certain behaviour and keep the focus on the flow of the lesson, or on acknowledging and reinforcing positive behaviour. Students notice what the teacher does attend to — students who follow the rule and put their hand up and wait — and they often follow suit.
2. Combine simple directions/reminders with hand signals. If tactical ignoring doesn't work and the student's behaviour affects other students' right to learn or your right to teach, try a simple direction or reminder: "Hands up without calling out, thanks." or "Remember our class rule." To reinforce or sometimes replace verbal directions, hand signals can be very effective — particularly if you've established them at the beginning of the year. For example, try a blocking hand to signal that a
student should wait, or remind a child of the "hands-up" rule by raising one hand and putting the other to your mouth.
3. Give children alternatives. Establish a routine of "Ask three before you ask me" unless the assigned task is purely an individual one. Encourage students to help one another with procedures and to conference quietly at their tables, turning to you for help only as a last resort.