Freeze Frame

Hey friends!

Today I wanted to share a little technique I have been using with my students this year to help them with practicing kindness and respect and managing their emotions.

I think we have to acknowledge that first and foremost it starts with us. We need to model to our students what we want to see in them. Wouldn't it be wonderful if that was the end of it but it isn't. Our little people are just that, people, human beings capable of making mistakes.

So I talk to my kiddos about imagining that our lives are a bit like a movie, in that it is a series of frames. During the making of a movie there might be a mistake, the wrong thing being said or something falling over. When this happens they have editors that can take that frame out and replace it with one that will correct the mistake. We call this Re-framing and I teach my littles that when we say things that are not kind or we are starting to feel frustrated we might make a mistake but we can edit it so that it will be better.

An example of this might be a student who may be playing a game in a small group and they accuse another student of 'cheating'. I may go to that student and ask them to reframe what they said to fix their mistake, if they need help with 'editing' their response I might give them an example or sentence starter.

If I can see a situation that looks like it may be escalating quickly I will say "FREEZE FRAME!" this is a signal to that student/s that they are heading into the red zone (we use zones of regulation) and they need to stop and have a break. They can take a walk, have a drink, go to the cool down zone, jump on the mini tramp or whatever they need to do. After they have cooled down, they can then re-frame the situation and fix their mistake.

I have had such great success using this technique and I am now hearing my students using the same language with each other. It also helps them to solve their own problems as they calmly ask someone to re-frame what they said. It allows both parties to maintain dignity whilst practicing kindness on both sides.

What do you think? Would you use this in your classroom?

Individual Learning Plans

Hey Friends!

This year my role is a Support teacher so it means I am that person who helps you write those dreaded Individual Learning Plans for your students who need a differentiated approach to the curriculum.

I know a lot of teachers see Learning Plans as extra work and initially they can be but I want to help you see this as a way to make your job easier!  I already hear you groaning but trust me this will be painless.

So lets start with what they are called, I asked some of my followers on my FB page what they call Learning Plans in their school and this was some of the responses

• IEP's Individual Education Plan
• PLP's Personalised Learning Plan
• ILP's Individual Learning Plan
• PLASP Personalised Learning and Support Plan
• ICP's Individual Curriculum Plan

Whatever they are called they all pretty much have the same function.  They are there to make sure the information about a particular learner informs the teaching and learning for that student.  These learning plans should be created in conjunction with a Support Staff, parents and Classroom Teacher, this way you will get the most relevant information and all stakeholders are aware of what will be happening for that learner in the classroom.

So what should an effective Learning Plan include?

• Student information including name, age, grade level, teacher
• Diagnosis information if relevant 
• Types of Professional assessments that have been done including psychologist, speech therapist, OT etc
• Student strengths and interests
• Information about sensory issues, personal assistance needed ie toileting, transition assistance, social management, communication
• Strategies and adjustments for the above information
• Curriculum outcomes and goals
• Personal and Social outcomes and goals
• Evidence to show the progression toward achieving the outcomes and goals

Phew!  Seems like a pretty extensive list but believe me when I say this is all relevant and will make your life and the students life easier.  When you have this at hand you can easily see what needs differentiation and what doesn't. Let's face it though most student who have a Learning Plan need it to access the curriculum in a way that needs adjustments and the heaviest subject areas are English and Mathematics so most Learning Plans I have seen usually include an English and Maths Outcome.

Most schools have a preferred template for you to use so if you don't have access to one find out from you admin staff if there is one for school use.  If not you can download this free one here or by clicking on the pic below.  This is a Word document so it is completely editable for you to add your school logo and anything else you need.

Classroom currency

Heading into the last term of the Australian school year and in my shared classroom we are still motivated to try some new things.  When I started in this classroom there was already a reward system in place from my teaching partner.  Students were given "buttons" when they were seen to be following the school expectations, this term we had discussed having this linked to money in order to help our Year 2's practice their money skills on an everyday basis.  So this is what we came up with.....each week there will be 2 bankers and bankers helpers (if they think they need one).  Students will still be given buttons but we have assigned a monetary value to the buttons, each one will be worth 5cents.  Students will be able to "cash in" their buttons to receive play money, this money can then be used to "buy" a reward.

I blanked out our class that is why there is a big space after the 2 for the cover.   The students will need to put their name on the list if they choose to bank that day.

This is for the banker so they can refer to this in the bank book.

Each student will have his/her own page in the class bank book and the banker will record the date, how much money they have banked and whether they will be spending their money or banking it.  The student then needs to bring their play money to the teacher and let us know how much they have and what reward they would like to buy.  We are hoping that this will not only give them practice with money but also give them some responsibility or ownership over the reward system.

I haven't made these pages available as they are not editable, but would like to acknowledge Mel @ From the Pond for the graphics and Jen Jones for the fonts.  If you are interested in them let me know and I will see what I can do!

It will be very interesting to see how this works out in the classroom, I'm sure there will be things we have to tweak here and there.  Do you use a classroom currency system?  Does it take up a lot of time or is it easy to run?  Would love to hear from others who have a similar system.

The excuses for rudeness

I am going to preface this post with the statement that this is my opinion and yes I may get flamed by parents and some of my colleagues but I am going to post it anyway.  I feel like I have this burning in my chest (no it's not a heart attack) and if I can get this out on my blog then I am hoping it will go away.

I had something happen to me this week during playground duty....twice ......with two different children.  Both children were being talked to for using inappropriate language and having arguments and or fighting with another child.  Both students gave me this as their reason for doing what they did....."I have ADHD" in fact in one incident it was also another student that told me "He can't help it if he is naughty, because of his ADHD."
My response was this, "ADHD is not an excuse for rude behaviour or for not following the rules, the rules are the same for everyone."

It got me thinking; I wonder who is giving these children the message that if you have ADHD (or any other diagnosis for that matter)  it is ok to hurt others and flaunt the rules?  Is it parents? teachers? peers? medical practitioners?  All of the above?  Who can say, but I think it is a very dangerous line we reach when students are justifying their actions with their diagnosis and hoping they will not get punished for poor behaviour.  Don't get me wrong I am not saying all students should be educated in the same way, definitely we should be catering for differences.......but this was not catering for differences, this was a kid feeling like he had a licence to do as he pleased and blame his actions on a condition.  Personally I will not accept that.  We can all work toward making sure these children are able to cope with conflict and conforntation without giving them the permission to using ADHD as a cop out.  I can't speak to what treatment if any these particular children were undertaking but I felt if that is the reaction they are giving to a teacher and peers, their treatment needs to be reviewed and parents and students need to educated about ADHD and that it is not about being a naughty child.

As I said this is my opinion but it is based on experience.  Now I don't usually share private details about my children but in this instance I feel it is important for people to know I come from a place of knowing what these children deal with on a daily basis.  My son was diagnosed with ADHD a couple of years ago and we have worked very hard to get him to a place where he copes in the classroom and at home.  I was actually the one that looked at his behaviours and realised that he had an issue that needed to be addressed.  He is an intelligent, curious boy but there was such a disparity between his intelligence and what he coul produce to show his intelligence, he couldn't sit still......ever......he slept poorly, he had trouble following 2 step instructions, he had difficulty focussing on, well, anything, he had periods of aggression.
We have never excused or accepted poor behaviour or rudeness and brushed it off as his condition, on the contrary, he needs to know that poor behaviour is unacceptable in our society at any level. So he does get consequences at home and at school, woe betide him if I get a phone call from school!!!!
We also work very hard on making sure we have a solid routine, good diet (minus the colours, preservatives and flavours) and adequate sleep and exercise.  Through this we have had some successes, and like others good and bad days, but we take it all in stride and we aim to raise him as a hard working, polite and courteous boy who has a happy childhood and grows up to realise his potential.

Don't get me wrong this is not an easy road to take and we have made some very hard decisions about his education and health and I do empathise with parents and children who have to struggle through this.  My reason for posting today is that I want to get the message out that I believe we are educating our children to excuse poor behaviour instead of taking responsibility for their actions.  Children need to learn that their actions at school and home will have consequences the same as anyone else.  ADHD is not a legal defence in a court of law and should not be a defence in the playground either, where do these children end up if the message they get now is "It is ok to hurt others because you have ADHD."  The thought absolutely saddens me and I was appalled at the fact that these children and their peers saw it as an excuse.  Now we have their peers and friends enabling these students as well.

I am sorry for being such a downer and posting such a heavy topic but I think the only way to get through to parents, teachers and students is to talk about it and not brush it aside.  As I said I am sure there will be many that disagree with me and you are certainly entitled to your opinion......this is just mine.

PS I will end this by acknowledging that I know there are parents who work very hard at helping their child and schools and still come up against walls and I feel their frustration, they are not the people I am targeting here.

Team Teaching Tuesday linky

I am linking up with Stephanie at Falling into First for her first Team Teaching Tuesday linky.
I love the idea of sharing ideas from around the world on a particular topic.



The topic this week is classroom rules and what yours are in your classroom.  This past year I revamped my rules (just the display)  Here are mine!

I organise them under Responsible, Respect and Safe

Responsible

Always ask before you leave the classroom

Respect

Always put your hand up to talk

Use kind words and friendly voices

Safe

Always walk in the classroom

Responsible, Respect and Safe

Keep hands, feet and objects to yourself

I like to use both a broad spectrum and then take it down to specifics so that the littles who don't understand words like responsible or respect have an example to guide them.

I gave these a remake to match my apple and gingham theme I had in my room this last semester, you can see the post here for the makeover and if you would like a copy of your own you can get them here for FREE!

You can link up with Stephanie by clicking on the button below and tell us all about the rules in your classroom.

Monday Made It!

I am linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for this weeks Monday Made It!
I have decided to revamp my rules posters for this weeks Monday Made It.  It is something that has been on my to do list for a while now.
Here is the before pic


Here is how I updated them.
First I created a new format with an apple theme, here is a sample of what they look like

I used graphics from Mel at From the Pond, the apple graphic is one I created and the font is a standard one on Microsoft, Segoe and one from Kevin and Amanda Carrington (?)  On my old rules I just had the "negotiated" rules that I would discuss at the beginning of the year with the students.  After being part of a PBS school I decided to add the headings RESPECT, RESPONSIBLE, SAFE to each rule depending on what category they came under.  I think is important for students to see the reason why we have rules in the class and this is a reminder when we refer to them throughout the year.

Once I printed them off I glued them onto coloured paper and laminated them.

Then I lined them up in the order I wanted them to hang

I used red gingham ribbon to join them using a hot glue gun.

Then I used the apple green cord ribbon to make a hanger

This is how they turned out. (I had to hang it on my daughters wardrobe door to take this pic.)

Now it 's your turn to link up!

How to handle behaviour problems with love Linky!

This is a subject close to my heart. I absolutely believe that teaching and behaviour management go hand in hand. I have taught mostly in the "tough" schools, you know those schools that when you say where you are teaching people say, "Oh, really, hmmmm, well good luck with that."

At my previous school I was privileged to be part of the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) team. This really cemented with me the idea that we need to explicitly teach the desired behaviours that we want our students to display, through lessons delivered and modelling appropriate and inappropriate behaviour. The success we saw at our school was amazing, the key is in being persistent and consistent. Students knew that if they went to another classroom the rules, consequences and rewards would be the same, there was no way they could get away with "Mrs ...... lets us do this." Even though I am not at a school that uses the SWPBS philosophy anymore I use what I have learnt in my current classroom, here are just a few things

• Explicitly teach behaviour with planned lessons
• Follow through on consequences and rewards
• Make sure that on your behaviour charts children move DOWN the chart rather than up when they have warnings.  I know this seems petty but I had a revelation when I heard my kinder children talk about moving up the chart to get to the top.  All my students started at the bottom of a triangle on Cool Dudes and then moved up the triangle through, Warning,  Cool Down (which was a reflection time), Time Out, then Exit.  We had a 3 step procedure but I put in an extra step for my kinders.  After I heard children talking about getting to the top being red I inverted my triangle so that they moved DOWN the chart they got the idea.
• Make sure that children always start on a clean slate when they have worked through the consequence.
• Inform parents of your Responsible Behaviour Plan, get them to sign it and retain it, so that when you have THOSE conversations with parents you can remind them that they were informed of the policies.
• Finally remind students daily of expectations, set the boundaries and stick to them.  

I found that my students were happier when I put firm boundaries in place and reminded them that being polite, courteous and kind to each other was an expectation and as such was not rewarded.  I also made sure they would know that they would be treated in this way from me.  I like to use this analogy; if I am driving my car and the speed limit is 60 km and I am doing 60 km, the police do not pull me over and tell me what a wonderful job I am doing by doing the correct speed limit.  Why?  Because it is an expectation.

My classroom is always calm, quiet and happy because I am up front with my students about behaviour expectations, rarely do my students end up at the Exit point.  If they do I investigate and usually it hinges on something external to the classroom. The other thing I try to remember is "Is this the classroom I would like my own children to be in?  Is this how I would like my own children to be treated and managed?"  These questions are key to me and my students.