Demonstrate knowledge of practical approaches to manage challenging behaviour.
AITSL Teaching Standards for Graduates Online 2016
During my time as a Preservice Teacher, Behaviour Management is an area that (at times) I have struggled with. When I undertook my Third Year Placement I felt that there were many times when the students did not see me as a ‘proper teacher’, but rather, a ‘friend’. Often when I would attempt to redirect lessons that has deviated from what I had intended to achieve, the students would just continue in their conversations. Sometimes this gave me the impression that I was failing as a teacher. I spoke with my mentor teacher about these feelings and she reassured me that Behaviour Management is an area that many experienced teachers still struggle with at times, and that (with practise) my confidence in the area would grow. Below you can see that this mentor teacher notes why and how this is an area I need improvement in.
An excerpt taken from my 3rd Year Final Practicum Report – 2015
As I result I decided to focus on improving my Behaviour Management skills before beginning my Final Practicum. Below is a statement taken from my Final Report from this placement – which clearly demonstrates that this is not longer an area that I struggle with.
An excerpt taken from my Final Practicum Report – 2016
Some of the Behaviour Management techniques that I implemented whilst on my Final Placement were drawn from Skinner’s Behaviourist Learning Theories. Being that ‘Skinner believes … that behavior that is followed by reinforcement (positive or negative) has an increased probability of reoccurrence. Behavior followed by extinction or punishment has a decreased probability of re-occurrence.’ (Hannan 2015, online). Whilst I do not believe in ‘punishing’ students for negative behaviour – I feel that (especially in the Early Years) introducing external stimuli can help the students motivation to complete tasks. Below are some of the behaviourist techniques that I implemented into the classroom environment. I told my students that the Pikachu toy helped me to ‘Pick & Choose’ the best listener/ worker for the day (of course choosing a different child each day so favouritism was not an issue). The Treasure Chest is one that I made before I started this placement and was used as a reward system for ‘on task’ behaviour, displaying great friendship, student achievement, and students making ‘good choices’ (such as walking away from students that were displaying undesirable behaviours (bullying, destroying school property etc).
I was also able to introduce the students (and my mentor teacher) to the GoNoodle website. This site is used to motivate and encourage students to complete tasks through dance and movement. I was able to use this site as a means of rewarding the students for staying on task through a lesson, as a ‘Brain Break’ when lessons may not have gone so well, calming students after recess and lunch periods, and also keeping the students entertained when it rained outside and lunches were spent indoors (as they often became quite rowdy).
Each morning I would like to greet the class with a quote from a text or film that they were familiar with and a Daily Question that matched the quote (about friendship, being an individual, doing your best etc). After I had taken the role we would spend a few moments talking about the quote and discussing the question. Sometimes when doing this I came to note that I could focus on a particular behaviour if I needed to – the day after a ‘major’ friendship breakdown my quote focussed on what it meant to be a good friend and the students were able to connect to the ideas I wanted (resulting in the reformation of that friendship group). Below are two examples of these Daily Quote & Questions that I used on my Final Placement.
The last Behaviour Management strategy I presented to the class was the idea of the ‘Call and Response’. I first got the idea from this website last year and found it to be a very useful method of immediately getting students attention – to stop undesired behaviours, give further information, or transition into another activity. I chose to incorporate popular movie and cartoon characters the students were familiar with in these ‘call and responses’. This ensured that the students were motivated and engaged in what I had to say. Below are three of these ‘call and responses’ that I used whilst on my Final Placement.
Whilst I was on my Final Placement I was also able to witness the following Behaviour Management strategies that worked well for this particular year level – and will most certainly be applying and adapting in my future teaching. The 5L’s (Legs Crossed, Hands in Laps, Lips Locked, Eyes Looking, & Ears Listening‘) was used by my mentor teacher and proved quite effective. By the end of my practicum I had transformed it slightly so that I no longer had to say ‘show me your 5L’s please’ but rather just a simple hand motion – the students enjoyed this and would often remind one another with this hand motion if they noticed other students becoming restless. The voice level sheet was used by a relief teacher that came into the classroom – and I found this VERY useful as much of my time would be spent in a lesson attempting to reestablish a quiet working atmosphere. The students also responded well to this being introduced.
Lastly, I was also involved with ensuring that a particular student’s Behaviour Action Plan was being carried out in the Year 1 classroom I completed my placement in. This student had trouble identifying that her actions were making other students feel angry, hurt, and upset. As a result it was often the case that the first 5-20 minutes after recess or lunch was spent consoling students and fixing broken friendships that she had forced to break-up. The School Councillor worked with her twice a week in regards to how to form and maintain relationships. They worked together to create the following Behaviour Chart – which was visited several times a day so that she (and others) could point out what feelings a fellow classmate had at any given time. I noticed a definite improvement in the student after the introduction of this chart in the classroom – and she also felt proud that she had created something that was useful in the classroom.
An example of the student made Behavioural Chart – as a part of her specific Action Plan.
As you can see whilst my skills in this particular area are still developing – I have come leaps and bounds in the last year. I really enjoyed the freedom I had on my last placement to establish and practise my behaviour management techniques. I cannot wait to see what I will be able to do in the future.
Reference List
The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (Online). (2016). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from: http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list
GoNoodle. (2016). GoNoodle Online. Retrieved 17 September 2016, from https://app.gonoodle.com/champ
Hannam, W. (2015). Learning Theory. Theory Fundamentals Online. Retrieved 15 September 2016, from http://www.theoryfundamentals.com/skinner.htm
Watson, A. 50 fun call-and-response ideas to get students’ attention. The Cornerstone for Teachers. Retrieved 17 September 2016, from http://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/2014/01/50-fun-call-and-response-ideas-to-get-students-attention.html
Excuse Me Miss Parker 