In my classroom, I always tried really hard to maintain the same number of kids during the lesson that I started with. Not always a simple task. But most of the time it seemed to work and when it didn't, I always reflected 'Was that my fault' Working with SEBD children really keeps you on your toes and the apparent humorous quip doesn't always go down well if it's misinterpreted and as the chairs fly along with the comments, you realise you have made a poor judgement. I think it's a lifelong learning process when working with any children but the feedback from SEBDs is often not too subtle and always immediate, you are left in no doubt that something went wrong.
Because my classroom was a safe haven with supportive staff (not just me), we frequently found other kids turning up for sanctuary, knowing that the lesson they were supposed to be in would be too difficult to manage, or perhaps they had gone along, had some conflict and been sent out of the class to report to some senior member of staff but independently made the choice not to go and end up fending for themselves until the end of the lesson. My room was also open at lunchtimes when I would find a whole range of ages dropping in rather than getting into trouble on the playground through lack of play and social skills
It's quite common for some teachers to have very short fuses and remarkably little flexibility when managing some of the behaviours of our students and the students are very good at finding the buttons and pressing them. Little things can blow up very easily unless managed with some restraint. Equally, some students show little tolerance and things can go downhill very quickly.
So it was really interesting to come across this post by Pamela Kripke which describes a very similar set of situations - kids being exited from rooms and looking for help, it really reminded me of my day-to-day routine.
Supportive Behaviour Management actually encourages this interchange and conflict avoidance between staff and students. Frequently in my school we used to collect up wandering students and find work from their class teachers, help them complete it successfully and then present the end result to a usually surprised class teacher. Frequently, it is more work than they usually produce and with less hassle. Over a period of time, the conflict dies down and with support, these young people can start to build new relationships that were previously broken.
Positive relationship coaching can work really well and can take the pressure off teachers and students to get along. Little by little, it can be rebuilt and is often much stronger.
First published 6 Feb 2011
Because my classroom was a safe haven with supportive staff (not just me), we frequently found other kids turning up for sanctuary, knowing that the lesson they were supposed to be in would be too difficult to manage, or perhaps they had gone along, had some conflict and been sent out of the class to report to some senior member of staff but independently made the choice not to go and end up fending for themselves until the end of the lesson. My room was also open at lunchtimes when I would find a whole range of ages dropping in rather than getting into trouble on the playground through lack of play and social skills
It's quite common for some teachers to have very short fuses and remarkably little flexibility when managing some of the behaviours of our students and the students are very good at finding the buttons and pressing them. Little things can blow up very easily unless managed with some restraint. Equally, some students show little tolerance and things can go downhill very quickly.
So it was really interesting to come across this post by Pamela Kripke which describes a very similar set of situations - kids being exited from rooms and looking for help, it really reminded me of my day-to-day routine.
Supportive Behaviour Management actually encourages this interchange and conflict avoidance between staff and students. Frequently in my school we used to collect up wandering students and find work from their class teachers, help them complete it successfully and then present the end result to a usually surprised class teacher. Frequently, it is more work than they usually produce and with less hassle. Over a period of time, the conflict dies down and with support, these young people can start to build new relationships that were previously broken.
Positive relationship coaching can work really well and can take the pressure off teachers and students to get along. Little by little, it can be rebuilt and is often much stronger.
First published 6 Feb 2011