Today was my first day at Warrnambool College, and it was a completely different atmosphere from Brauer. The students were much more chatty in the classrooms and asked me far more questions about myself, Canada, and what I thought of Australia and various Australian things.
One of the first things I noticed was the system of rewards set up in my mentor teacher's classroom. It was the end of a cycle in the classroom and the students were getting "lollies" (candy) as rewards, as well as some free time in class to do their own thing.
The teacher, Paul, explained to me that they decided together as a class what the expectations in the classroom were to be. They decided what was expected of the students, what was expected of the teacher, how they would be evaluated on their behavior in the classroom (which included attitude, but also effort). This was a process that took them several DAYS to hash out, and he has been dedicated to keeping the structure throughout the year. The students really responded well to it - apparently with one of the year 7 classes, they were not using the reward system at first, but once he implemented it, student behavior changed dramatically for a handful of students.
The point in all this is to build student-teacher relationships, which is something Paul has explicitly stated numerous times. He has a friendly, casual rapport with his students that I admire. Later in the day, I observed another science teacher run a lab and there were huge issues with students acting out. Would this class have benefited from some of the methods implemented by the other teacher, or is it all a matter of luck/personality?
A lot of the strictness seen at Brauer schools is just not present in Paul's classes. The students casually swear, etc. As long as they are showing an effort (according to their individual habits and personalities), he is fine with it. And the class seems to benefit it. The atmosphere was playful and fun. They clearly liked their teacher.
I wanted to implement a similar method in my classes on practicum, but I think it went off the rails and I had a hard time keeping it up. I want to learn more from Paul about his methods here. What he does to moderate the conversation about rewards and classroom expectations, what exactly he is looking for, and what other ways he has to build those relationships. I think this is really the way to go to have an easier time in the classroom.
One of the first things I noticed was the system of rewards set up in my mentor teacher's classroom. It was the end of a cycle in the classroom and the students were getting "lollies" (candy) as rewards, as well as some free time in class to do their own thing.
The teacher, Paul, explained to me that they decided together as a class what the expectations in the classroom were to be. They decided what was expected of the students, what was expected of the teacher, how they would be evaluated on their behavior in the classroom (which included attitude, but also effort). This was a process that took them several DAYS to hash out, and he has been dedicated to keeping the structure throughout the year. The students really responded well to it - apparently with one of the year 7 classes, they were not using the reward system at first, but once he implemented it, student behavior changed dramatically for a handful of students.
The point in all this is to build student-teacher relationships, which is something Paul has explicitly stated numerous times. He has a friendly, casual rapport with his students that I admire. Later in the day, I observed another science teacher run a lab and there were huge issues with students acting out. Would this class have benefited from some of the methods implemented by the other teacher, or is it all a matter of luck/personality?
A lot of the strictness seen at Brauer schools is just not present in Paul's classes. The students casually swear, etc. As long as they are showing an effort (according to their individual habits and personalities), he is fine with it. And the class seems to benefit it. The atmosphere was playful and fun. They clearly liked their teacher.
I wanted to implement a similar method in my classes on practicum, but I think it went off the rails and I had a hard time keeping it up. I want to learn more from Paul about his methods here. What he does to moderate the conversation about rewards and classroom expectations, what exactly he is looking for, and what other ways he has to build those relationships. I think this is really the way to go to have an easier time in the classroom.
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