Pick your battles

When I reflect on my first few years of teaching, I often think about moments in which with hindsight was a battle I didn't need to pick.

University trains you to be teachers, equips you with knowledge how to teach but is severely lacking in teaching students how to effectively manage behaviour when they soon become teachers. Practicum is set up in a way to ensure the vast majority pass, even those who the training teacher has little confidence in, we word the report in a way that might flag it to future employers without confronting the issue. Practicum isn't the real teaching world, if you happen to have a highly volitle student, the training teacher will step in at the first signs of confrontation.

I recall an over reaction of mine in my first year of teaching, which was also continued by the chain of command. I had a known behaviour student with learning difficulties who didn't want to partner with a particular person, the child who I asked him to work with wasn't who he had picked. In true tantrum style he sat at the front of the class and refused to move. At that stage, everything I had been taught said, I was the teacher and whatever I asked the student had to do, he needed to respond! Without going I to too much detail to protect identities, the child was physically removed by the executive staff and taken to an office where he had a complete meltdown!

I often think about this situation, as I have been confronted with a simialar situation, at a different school. This time the child had a fair amount more behaviour issues and did at times become very aggressive. My response to this action was simply ignoring the student, I was going to gain control by picking my battles. Did it really matter if the child sat facing the wall for half of the lesson? They will soon get bored snd rejoin the class and then, when they have calmed down you talk to them about their behaviour, ask the child were they being respectful to you and their peers, the answer is no and I generally ask what would be an appropriate consequence (within reason), Surprisingly these students are harsher on themselves then what I would be so we reach a happy medium. If we have a communication book (something I will dedicate a post to), inform their caregivers what happened and then the good they did that day.

I'm also aware, as I've had it happen, that ignoring some students can cause a massive increae in poor behaviour. I've taught 30 minutes of a maths lesson with a child screaming and crying. I ignored the child and encouraged the students to do the same. There may be some rare situations were, the child becomes violent and aggressive to other children and it is essential to remove the other children from the classroom. If the child continues on, send a child to the office for assistance, stay away from the child but still being able to see what they are doing. These are generally extreme circumstances, where the behaviour management is automatically handed over to the executive staff. In an incident such as this suspension is the general outcome and if possible ask as the classroom teacher to be present at this meeting. It's great experience, whilst providing you with a greater insight into the child's home life and the people management strategies of your executive.

If you are struggling with any student and feel like each day you are banging your head against the wall, talk to your supervisor, they are there to help, or another teacher with a bit more experienc who can give you some tips. Remember if there is a sudden behaviour change, there's a high probability that something drastic has happened in that child's life and how they express their emotions is by acting out in class. Students who do this often have learning difficulties which puts them at a further disadvantage.

I hope this helps my fellow teachers.