Focus Area 4.2 Manage classroom activities

Demonstrate the capacity to organise classroom activities and provide clear directions.

Focus Area 4.3 Manage challenging behaviour

Demonstrate knowledge of practical approaches to manage challenging behaviour.

One of the key focus areas for my most recent professional experience was managing the classroom. I was teaching Year 7 English in a diverse public secondary school where I was expected to lead-teach from the first day. I had met the class previously before commencing and spoken with their regular teacher about the learning outcomes required and usual learning activities (4.2), school policies and classroom expectations (4.3), student data and some of the existing behaviour and learning issues within the cohort (4.3).

The class of 24 students was incredibly diverse and included six EAL/D (Indigenous and Yazidi) students, three students with ADHD, one-third of students achieved below satisfactory in Term 1 English, and six A or B students. Behaviour management was identified by my supervising teacher as a priority. My primary focus was to establish positive relationships with students, as evidence demonstrates that young adolescent students are more likely to experience declining academic motivation and self-esteem, with the attendant conduct issues that this involves (Beaty-O’Ferrall et al., 2010) (4.3). The cultivation of positive teacher-student relationships is a pro-active approach to behaviour management (Ellis & Tod, 2018) and underpins contemporary school-wide frameworks for student well-being, whether government, Independent or Catholic (Education Services Australia, 2019).

Students were arranged in a seating plan. I began my first lesson with a name-learning exercise where I gave students cards to write their names on and place on their desks. At the end of the lesson, students were to return their name cards so that I could try to learn each student’s name (I had a class list with student photos). I had to try and hand them out correctly at the next period. This applied the ‘self as stimulus’ approach (Marzano & For, 2007) where students are used as the subject of the activity, which was highly successful. Students enjoyed challenging me to remember their names and it gave me an opportunity to connect individually and attach personalised mnemonics or rhymes for each student, making them feel important and accepted (Caskey & Anfara, 2014). I learnt names very quickly which helped immensely in building relationships and managing classroom activities (4.2, 4.3).

When conducting lessons, my focus was on strengthening my openings and closings and ritualising the process of my classes so that students were clear about my expectations. Strong lesson openings are shown to contribute to overall lesson effectiveness and student learning (Lang, 2016) and should draw students in before clearly communicating the lesson objectives and behavioural expectations (Yale University, 2013). I commenced my lesson opening before students entered the classroom by requiring them to line up quietly outside, inviting them into the classroom to stand behind their desks and addressing them (“Good morning Year 7, please have a seat”) before commencing active teaching. Prior to launching into the lesson content, I drew students in by telling a story, asking a question, posing a riddle, or discussing a joke or meme that had some connection to previous learning or the lesson content. Evidence suggests that when teachers make explicit links between different concepts, ideas and knowledge, students’ ability to understand concepts in a variety of contexts increases substantially (Ambrose et al., 2010). I successfully conducted a range of activities during the unit including teacher-led instruction, group problem solving tasks, whole class reading and individual writing exercises.

Similarly, strong lesson closures that summarise the learning and make broader links to the content help with consolidation of concepts, but also promote relationship and a sense of community in the classroom (Love, 2013). I was mindful of always finishing the lesson five minutes before the bell to prioritise the group coming back together to reflect on the learning and ‘check in’ with students before closing the lesson with a salutation (“Thank you for your effort today, have a fabulous Tuesday afternoon) and an expectation that students reciprocate (“Thank you Miss / have a good afternoon”) – reinforcing mutual respect at the end of the lesson. The feedback I received from my supervising teacher is evidence of my success in these areas (Artefact 4.1).

During this professional experience placement, I improved on the following skills:

• Confidently making my expectations clear and reinforcing standards early to ensure that students remain on task, particularly in relation to noise levels (4.2, 4.3). Jones et al (2013) highlight the importance of teacher consistency, perseverance, and assertiveness in successfully managing productive classrooms.
• Using movement around the classroom to monitor students and prevent low level behaviours from escalating (4.2, 4.3). I focused on implementing CREEL: correction and re-direction for effective everyday learning (McLennan & Peel, 2020) to address behaviour early using the least disruptive intervention possible.
• Intentional seating plan and changing the physical room layout to relocate the teaching position, improve my ability to circulate and to remove the opportunity for students to physically distract others, whilst still facilitating group dynamics (4.2, 4.3) (Barrett et al., 2015).

No doubt as my career progresses and I encounter myriad behavioural challenges in the classroom my skills in this area will be tested. Being a mature graduate, a parent, and having a previous career managing difficult staff provides me with the confidence needed to assertively re-direct and correct the low-level disruptive behaviour of students (Peel, 2020). Whilst I understand the acting out cycle and the appropriate strategies for teachers in addressing the most challenging behaviour (Colvin & Scott, 2015), I do not have experience independently managing extremely challenging students. This will require me to develop knowledge and skills so that I can ensure I am meeting standards 4.3, 4.4 Maintain student safety and 4.5 Using ICT safely, ethically, and responsibly.