On a recent Professional Development day, our Learning Support Team organized three short presentations tailored specifically to the needs and experiences of aides at our school. Our counsellor, Colleen Knutson organized a session on "Playground Politics" and ways to support and intervene when on Playground duty. My other Learning Support Colleague, Linda Caklova did a session on reading Strategies and supporting kids during the Reader's Workshop time. I organized a session about Language and Effective Communication to reduce conflict and increase understanding. Below you will find an overview of the session, including video clips.
In one of my first teaching positions, I worked with students with Behavior and Emotional Disorders (BED). I learned much from that experience that informed who I am as an educator today. One of the most important trainings I completed during that year, was in Non-Violent Crisis Intervention. Thankfully, I did not often need to restrain kids, but I have used so much of the training on deescalation and communication to avoid conflict in my daily teaching work. Working with BED kids taught me the power of language and the danger of making the assumption that they understand what we mean.
At my current school, there are few if any kids that would qualify as BED, but there are many non-native English Speakers who do not share the same cultural experience of school and that can often lead to confusion. Plus, there are a number of kids with language processing disorders and Attention issues who can be confused or overloaded by language. I have found that many of the same communication and language strategies that are effective with BED kids are simply good teaching strategies that can be highly effective with our population.
We began the session with a role play taken almost word for word from a class of mine last year which illustrates what can happen when we think we are saying one thing, but our kids understand something else . One of our kindergarten classroom aides Jana, agreed to play the child. Click on the link to see the video.
One of the most effective ways to develop a culture of inclusion in schools is to help teachers and staff to better understand students with unique learning profiles and develop their skills to better respond to their students' needs in the classroom. Providing timely and appropriate professional development is one way that Learning Support Teachers can empower other staff members to take greater responsibility for accommodations in the classroom. Our Elementary School is very lucky to be well resourced with Classroom Aides throughout the school. We thought a great way to support students, would be to provide better training and strategies to aides in these classrooms.
So what did you notice? What was happening in that miscommunication? What could we do differently?
I then shared some tips and suggestions for more effectively communicating with kids including information taken from two different resources.
Effective Parenting Strategies for Parents of Children with Disruptive Behavior Disorders
by Marilyn Adams
25 Ways to Talk So Children Will Listen
I highlighted some tips and tools in the section below.
Effective Parenting Strategies for Parents of Children with Disruptive Behavior Disorders
by Marilyn Adams
25 Ways to Talk So Children Will Listen
I highlighted some tips and tools in the section below.
Next we reviewed some scenarios and discussed ways we would have reacted differently. The sound on this last clip is a little challenging because there were often many people talking. Hopefully you will be able to understand the highlights. We considered some of the following:
What would you do/say instead?
1) Child is running down the hall. The teacher calls out to them, “No, running!”
2) On the playground a student is pushing another kid. The Teacher yells from across the playground, “Stop, pushing!”
3) A child on the playground is crying or getting angry because he wants the bike, swing, ball, etc. and someone else is on it. The teacher says, “You just have to wait.”
4) The student is playing with blocks (reading, drawing, etc). The teacher asks to clean up and get ready for math. The student doesn’t stop. The teacher says from across the room, “I said it is time to clean up.”
5) It is time to transition to math from reading. The teacher says, “Ok. Let’s get ready for math.” Kids start moving and the noise level picks up a little. The Teacher starts talking over the noise. “Put all your reading things away. Come to circle ready for math.” 3 students join the circle but do not have their math things. 5 students have left out all their reading things on their desk. The teacher says. “I asked you to clean up and come ready for math. Julie – why are the things on your desk? John – why don’t you have your math notebook and a pencil? Don’t you guys listen?”
6) Max is writing in his journal. The teacher says it is time to clean up. Lucy is asked to collect the materials. When she gets to Max, she takes all the things he is working on. Max yells, “That’s mine! Give it back!” From across the room, the teacher tells him to stop yelling. Later in the class, Max knocks Lucy’s things off her desk. The teacher gets upset with him.
7) During group work, two students start yelling at each other. One of the students is close to tears. The teacher comes over to see what is going on. “What happened?” Lenka starts explaining in a loud voice the problem and George keeps interrupting and is close to tears. They are both very upset. The teacher says, “Stop crying and yelling or I can’t understand you.” “Both students get very quiet and neither wants to talk.
What would you do/say instead?
1) Child is running down the hall. The teacher calls out to them, “No, running!”
2) On the playground a student is pushing another kid. The Teacher yells from across the playground, “Stop, pushing!”
3) A child on the playground is crying or getting angry because he wants the bike, swing, ball, etc. and someone else is on it. The teacher says, “You just have to wait.”
4) The student is playing with blocks (reading, drawing, etc). The teacher asks to clean up and get ready for math. The student doesn’t stop. The teacher says from across the room, “I said it is time to clean up.”
5) It is time to transition to math from reading. The teacher says, “Ok. Let’s get ready for math.” Kids start moving and the noise level picks up a little. The Teacher starts talking over the noise. “Put all your reading things away. Come to circle ready for math.” 3 students join the circle but do not have their math things. 5 students have left out all their reading things on their desk. The teacher says. “I asked you to clean up and come ready for math. Julie – why are the things on your desk? John – why don’t you have your math notebook and a pencil? Don’t you guys listen?”
6) Max is writing in his journal. The teacher says it is time to clean up. Lucy is asked to collect the materials. When she gets to Max, she takes all the things he is working on. Max yells, “That’s mine! Give it back!” From across the room, the teacher tells him to stop yelling. Later in the class, Max knocks Lucy’s things off her desk. The teacher gets upset with him.
7) During group work, two students start yelling at each other. One of the students is close to tears. The teacher comes over to see what is going on. “What happened?” Lenka starts explaining in a loud voice the problem and George keeps interrupting and is close to tears. They are both very upset. The teacher says, “Stop crying and yelling or I can’t understand you.” “Both students get very quiet and neither wants to talk.
The feedback from the day was very positive. It was a great way to get everyone together to talk and consider practical and useful ways to help our kids. One note I received was that the aides especially appreciated the role play and scenarios because it made it real. In future trainings I will try to incorporate more of this and allow more time for questioning as we were rushed at the end of the session.
What types of professional development or professional learning are learning support teachers providing/facilitating at your schools? What suggestions or feedback do you have for me about this particular session?
What types of professional development or professional learning are learning support teachers providing/facilitating at your schools? What suggestions or feedback do you have for me about this particular session?