Behaviour Management

One of the most challenging aspects of being a teacher is behaviour management. This also happens to be one of my weaknesses and is something I need to control once I become a trainee teacher. I tend to go for the calm approach when I am faced with bad behaviour, when I should be raising my voice and showing my disapproval. In my head, the scenario is different. I raise my voice, give a speech on how disappointed I am and the child responds in a positive way. Unfortunately, the good old-fashioned telling off is rubbing off on today’s generation of children. They are so used to being shouted and screamed at by their parents at home, that when they are being told off in school it has little to no effect. Today I had to tell a child off (I work as a teaching assistant) who persistently ignored my instructions for him to move places and when punishment was mentioned, he replied with ‘So what?‘.

Throughout my education, I always had respect for my teachers, even the ones I didn’t like very much. I knew it was wrong to answer back or argue with a teacher, yet I have witnessed such events in the school where I work and it shocks me. Children don’t have the same respect for adults as they used to. This is something that I really want to work on as a trainee teacher. It is important to develop a behaviour management plan or strategy that will work for both the teacher and class, creating a positive learning environment. Another thing that concerns me is manners! There are not as many ‘Please’ or ‘Thank you’s anymore and some children want, want, want… then get, get, get. Is it silly to think that all children should be taught, maybe once a week, how to use manners? Even if it was for 15 minutes, I think it would make a big difference and could help improve relationships within the classroom.

I have a lot of ideas of what I expect from a class and I musn’t be afraid to show my assertiveness. We must remember that no school and no class is the same. On a teaching placement, you might be given a horrible class with no respect and no manners… or you might be given a class full of angels who hang on to your every word. Either way, tailor your behaviour management plan or strategies so that they are specific and relevant to all children in that class.

Here are some links to websites which I have found useful:
http://headguruteacher.com/2013/01/06/behaviour-management-a-bill-rogers-top-10/
http://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2010/feb/09/pupil-behaviour-management-tips
http://www.huntingenglish.com/2013/12/10/top-ten-tips-behaviour-management/

Hopefully when I start my teaching placements, I will be able to reflect upon and share with you how my behaviour management progresses. In a way I am glad I’ve been able to experience bad behaviour; it will be less of a shock if I come across it as a trainee teacher and I will be able to deal with the situation as professionally as possible. Undoubtedly, there will be a few people on the course who haven’t seen a badly behaved child, or at least had to deal with one!

Rachel

The journey so far…

Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to my blog! I created this blog as a means of sharing my journey with others as I become a primary school teacher. I’m Rachel, a twenty-four year old postgraduate with ambitions of sharing my passion for teaching with others and enabling children to become better thinkers and learners.

It has taken me two years to get onto a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) and I will begin my journey in September. I have mentally prepared myself for the trials and tribulations that come with such a demanding course but I know how rewarding teaching is. No two days are the same and the face a child makes when they have achieved something speaks volumes.

What’s the journey so far? I did a three year degree in Fine Art, and to put it bluntly, I did not enjoy the course. There was a lot of negativity surrounding the attitude of the tutors, the course structure wasn’t planned very well and there was a general lack of enthusiasm from almost everyone. I knew after the first year that it wasn’t the course for me, but at the time quitting wasn’t really an option and I stuck it out to the very end. Although it was an emotionally painful experience, I graduated and I was proud of myself… but I knew that university life should have meant something more. Once I graduated I have a few menial jobs before I decided to volunteer in a primary school. Instantly I knew that this is what I should have done at university – teaching.

Since then I have worked in different primary schools and on a playscheme during the school holidays and my experiences have differed from place to place. I have seen how challenging it is, working in a school and with children, but I have seen how the children look up to their teachers as their main source of inspiration and guidance. I took the plunge and applied for teacher training last year and got 3 interviews but I wasn’t successful. After these interviews, I had enough time to mull things over and I realised I needed more time and more experience. I’m glad I did this because the job I have now has enabled me to prepare for the demands of a PGCE. I applied again in December 2013 and this year round I had 1 interview… and I was successful! I had an interview at the same place last year and it really helped to keep in touch and express my interest in applying for the course again. I passed the professional skills tests (English first time, Maths second time), which all trainee teachers must undertake before they start a teacher training course, and I knew then that the new path of my journey had begun. I will try and explain more about these tests in a later post, for anybody who is yet to take them and may not be feeling too confident about taking them.

My blog aims to share with you my daily, weekly and monthly experiences leading up to and during my PGCE year. Hopefully it will be of some use to people who are thinking about teaching! I will try to review books I have bought, discuss CPD courses I have attended, etc… hopefully to give people a better understanding of what it’s like to become and be a trainee teacher. Throughout my blog I would like personal details, names of universities, schools, etc to remain anonymous… – the reasons for, I am sure you will understand!

Well, that’s enough from me for today. If you would like to know more, please leave a comment on any of my posts and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Enjoy!

Rachel