The first several weeks of term one are over and have likely flown by as you navigate all the newness and firsts that the beginning of a year brings. You have had the opportunity to really get to know your students and have established routines and expectations for the year ahead. And just about now, as kids become more comfortable, pecking orders begin to establish and true personalities start to emerge, you may have the sense that things are getting a little wobbly. That unique phase when everyone is still finding their feet and acting on their best behaviour is ending.
The honeymoon is over, so to speak. Around this time, certain patterns start to emerge. We start to notice, wonder, worry about some common behavioural archetypes. Let’s explore a couple of those that may be popping up amongst your students, and try some strategies to reduce the impact on you and the rest of the class.
If you are noticing you have a student or two who is starting to thrive in the spotlight, try responding in a way that minimises reinforcement of the attention seeking behaviour.
We all know them, and by now, those students who crave all eyes on them have probably started to hone their Oscar-worthy performances on the regular. You may notice that as the class has started to settle into a predictable routine, these students have upped the ante. They may be coming into class late and disrupting your instruction, going to extreme lengths to get a laugh from their peers, or doing everything they can to get a rise out of you.
What we want to first understand here is the motivator for these types of behaviours. For our attention seeking students, they trade in eyeballs – and they will try a myriad of ways to get attention from all those around them. A strong reaction from a teacher is just the cherry on the top.
While completely ignoring the behaviour may be tempting, we all know that this isn’t always exactly helpful when the student has the undivided attention of 25 classmates. Instead, what you might want to try is addressing the behaviour in a way that is least satisfying for the student. That is, just don’t make it worth all the effort.
Moving to stand next to the student while you continue instruction, a quick, “Hey, I love a joke as much as the next person, but I need to explain this part of the lesson so your classmates know what to do,” and calmly continuing your lesson might be the type of strategy that does just that. What we want is to give this student and their attention seeking behaviour the least bang for buck that we can, while acknowledging it with a light-hearted stored response. Because believe me, this isn’t what the student was expecting, nor is it the standing ovation they crave.
If you are thinking, I reckon I am going to have to start making some phone calls home to a couple of parents, try putting some deposits in the relationship bank.
By now there are probably some students who aren’t yet responding to the boundaries and expectations you have established in your classroom. They are pushing the limits, and you are at the point where you are considering your next steps, which may involve bringing parents into the equation. We want to aim to avoid that first contact with home being a negative. Now might be the time to get on the front foot in terms of communication with families if you haven’t started that process already.
Can you schedule in time to send a quick email or phone call with every family over the next few weeks, to share something positive about their child? For younger students, even a couple of photos of their child engaging in learning with a short caption sent through the schools’ communication system is a good start.
Many schools ensure this is part of their schedule every term and dedicate the first 10 minutes of team/faculty meetings to getting this done. While it may seem onerous, these bids for connection are rarely in vain. Building trust and communicating regularly that you are on the same team as your parents is almost always worth the effort. Now is the perfect opportunity to tip the odds in your favour so that the first difficult conversation you need to have with a parent is not as tricky as you anticipate.
While the honeymoon phase may be over for you and your class, the last few weeks of term one are an opportunity to reestablish your expectations and boundaries, and be intentional in the support you give to students to meet those expectations.
If we can persevere now, we will set ourselves and our students up for a more productive and enjoyable teaching and learning environment for those three big terms ahead!
Check out other articles Kirsty has written here.