One of the biggest worries to any would-be teacher is how are you going to get the class to behave. In my placement school the kids are lively to say the least. I don’t want to be on a power trip but its my responsibility to create a productive and supporting environment where the kids can flourish.
I’ve spent quite a lot of time with my Year 8 Tutor group and followed them round all day. It wasn’t difficult for me to drop back into being a school kid again. I traipsed around school immersed in my thoughts. I sat at the back and was bewildered by the instructions given to the kids about the task. Kids will turn around and say “Pst, Sir, what do we have to do?” And I sometimes I have to say “I don’t know!”. Poor instructions and a slow pace lead to boredom and boredom creates trouble.
There is an interesting Supply Teacher at school called Aine who is an artist but teaches art in schools when she needs the money. I was fortunate enough to be able to offer her and some other teachers who live in Brighton a lift back home. Upset with the hardline discipline stories of threats and detentions, I mentioned that I was looking for a non aggressive way of controlling the class.
She said (very roughly paraphrased) that it depends on your view of kids and how you relate that to your view of the world.. which includes things such as the Industrial Revolution and control of the masses… Well if you were to read richardradio you would know that this is a recurring theme for me – see a sample. So I pricked up my ears.
Aine says that she tries to feel the children’s energy and fuse all the different kinds in the class into something coherent. She tries to inject humour instead of challanging or being confrontational. She says she tries to mimic their energy and will even mimic their body language in order to point out the confrontational positions that they take.
She seems to be quite expert at going into difficult classes, who don’t know her. I’ve got a couple of free periods first thing tomorrow, so I’m going to ask if I can observe, the investigation continues.
Hey Richard, just wondering if you ever did observe Aine and find out any interesting classroom management techniques? If so please share
PS. Give me a shout when you want to discuss the kids blogging thing.
Yes, Mr McF I did go to see her teach. In fact I was almost relieved, there is no magic bullet. Aine’s classes didn’t appear much different to most others that I have seen. There were some unruly kids, there were some nice kids; some knew what they were doing, others were less enthusiastic…
What is sure though is that Aine consistantly shows a high level of respect towards the children, is patient and unruffled. Very little raising of voice. Not really any shouting. Nice.
After I’ve taught a few weeks more I will go back and check again.