Self-Study Activities
Review: 10 mins
Read the research and practice summary on this week’s topic. As you read, reflect on:
- the practices that you are already doing well
- the practices you are doing some of the time, but could do more of/more consistently
- the practices you do not use in your teaching yet
As you work through the activities in this week’s self-directed study session and mentor meeting, aim both to refine and extend what you already do well, and to build your skill and confidence in using practices which are not yet a regular part of your teaching repertoire.
Plan: 10 mins
Practical exercise
In last week’s self-study session you wrote vignettes about two of your pupils. This week you are asked to write a vignette about your own practice, in which you ‘catch yourself doing something right’ – in this case, a situation in which you managed behaviour effectively. As you saw above, it can be easy as a new teacher to focus on what isn’t yet going well, but remember that you have many successes each day. It is as important to build on and sharpen your strengths as it is to address areas of relative weakness. Celebrate this example of your successful use of strategies for managing behaviour.
To help you write this vignette, you could:
- describe the general situation – who was there, what was the broad setting
- describe what you did
- describe what happened
- try and connect your actions to their consequences, using the ideas in this week’s research and practice summary and those from previous weeks in Module 1
Example: tricky behaviour in Year 10 computing
‘My Year 10 computing class can be tricky, particularly after lunch as lots of them play football during the break and arrive hot and excitable. Often I struggle to get them to settle and this can ‘blow up’ into confrontation with some pupils who often accuse me of picking on them. Recently I have been starting the lesson with a quiet, independent, writing task so that pupils have a chance to cool down before moving to computers. I used the entry routine that I’ve been practising for a few weeks and this seemed to help them anticipate what would be happening. I can see that they’re getting more used to my expectations and this is helping them to calm down more quickly. A couple of pupils were being a bit chatty but I used physical proximity (walking casually towards the pupils) as a first reminder of my expectations and then a quiet 1:1 word with one of them when a second prompt was needed. I phrased my reminder as ‘you need to be working quietly on this task’ rather than ‘stop talking’ so that I was emphasising my expectations positively. By using strategies consistently with all pupils I seem to be reducing some of the initial perceptions of unfairness, so there are fewer incidences where pupils feel they’re being picked on. I am pleased that my consistency and tenacity seems to be paying off with this class.’
In this vignette you can see that there are strategies in use both to pre-empt disruptive behaviour (planning of activities, use of predictable routines, clear expectations) and also to respond to disruptive behaviour as it arises (early and low-level interventions). These are contributing to a predictable, secure environment in which behaviour is managed effectively.
Theory to Practice: 20 mins
1. Practical exercise
Now that you have identified where you are making successful use of strategies for managing behaviour, write a vignette that captures a specific situation that you found tricky in relation to managing behaviour. This could be about an individual pupil, a group or a whole class.
As above:
- describe the general situation – who was there, what was the broad setting
- describe what happened
- describe what you did (before, during and after the event)
- try and connect your actions to their consequences, using the ideas in this week’s research and practice summary and those from previous weeks in Module 1
All teachers have bad days, or situations within a day which they would prefer to have managed differently. It is important that you are able to reflect on events like these so that you learn from them and plan ahead for how you will use different approaches when you encounter something similar in the future.
2. Reflection
Using your two vignettes, reflect on how you could have taken actions before, during and perhaps after the second event to change the course of the situation. Visualise this event happening differently because you put different strategies in place before it happened and as it unfolded. Use this reflection to write a checklist for yourself of how you will approach tricky behaviour management situations in the future.
To help you write this checklist you could:
- note how you can ‘design out’ poor behaviour through the use of routines, consistent language and the development of a supportive, predictable classroom environment
- note how you can respond to poor behaviour quickly, consistently and with as little intrusion as possible
- note how you can reset relationships and expectations after an incident of poor behaviour
3. Independent planning
Now that you have worked through the contents of Module 1, you have the opportunity for your mentor to complete a developmental lesson observation of you putting your learning into practice. Begin to think about a lesson next week that you would value your mentor’s feedback on, and a specific focus from Module 1 topics that would most support your learning.
Make some initial notes about this lesson and a possible observation focus. You will have the opportunity to discuss this lesson further in your next ECT mentor meeting.
Next Steps: 5 mins
Bring your vignettes, your checklist and notes from this session to your next mentor meeting. Be ready to discuss your learning with your mentor.