There are several aspects in our Conscious Classroom Management program.
Firstly, we look at Teacher Presence. It is the most significant aspect in the classroom; the teacher in the room in creating leadership and culture. Other aspects are Practical Strategies and Classroom Management and Teaching like:
- Preventative Management Strategies
- Supportive Management Strategies
- Corrective Management Strategies
The Whisper Correction
The main idea is that we want to spend a lot of time and energy looking at what can prevent distraction and misbehaviour. But obviously, regardless of what we put in place, there are going to be times when we need to support our students to get back on task, and that’s the Supportive Management strategies.
Then there are the Corrective Management strategies. The reason I wanted to show you this is because I love Supportive Management Strategies in the classroom. As a teacher, especially if our presence is not right which is the first area of this conscious classroom management training, sometimes we can overreact to things that are not really big issues in regards to student behaviour or distraction.
Supportive Management strategies really look at supporting the student to get back on task without stopping the flow of the lesson or getting 30 people, who are now looking at our show, between the teacher and the student. In other words, if the teacher’s reaction is more than the student’s misbehaviour, that can stop the flow of the lesson.
I love the post by Doug Lemov where he has a short video clip which I’d like to show you. It’s about a teacher in his Math class, Jason Armstrong, and a technique called the Whisper Correction. I really love this and I wanted to show you how this works and how it relates to Supportive Management strategies.
At the 2:17 mark he whispers, “I’m writing, you’re writing. Don’t miss it.” It’s a very soft supportive correction which means there’s little interruption to the flow of the class.
The other thing I love in this scene 2:39 is you see that he’s walking around the classroom, so he’s constantly checking being present in the room.
You’ll see at 3:00, the girl at the front that he spoke to originally has got a hand up and her head is resting on her other arm on the table. And watch this correction at 3:09…
“I’d call on you if you’d sit up next time.” What I really love about this is that the teacher has a strong presence in the room, doesn’t compromise on expectations and is consistently teaching not just the content but the behaviour and the procedures of the class consistently. The students then have a clear understanding about what is expected.
The other thing I liked about what the teacher did in 3:33 is not only did he whisper and look at the student but he also used his hands to gesture sitting up. A fantastic example of a Supportive Management strategy. Not only was he assisting the student to get back on task without interrupting the flow of the lesson, he was also teaching here not just the content but behaviour and the procedures of the class.
CLICK HERE to find out more about the NEW Conscious Classroom Management Training, which is now online.