Learning Focussed Culture 2017

Develop a culture that is focused on learning, and is characterised by respect, inclusion, empathy, collaboration and safety.

Establishing a classroom environment with expectations based on shared values

As a whanau class we worked on a collaborative expression of our Te Ao (PB4L) values. The class worked together to create visual representations of what the values meant to them and how we would express those values at school. Working together to establish these allowed for a great class discussion of each of the values and a shared understanding of what the values meant to us as a class and how we would work to embody these values. As part of this activity we also discussed the ancestress Te Ao Kapurangi, who the PB4L values are centred around. We talked about her journey, the challenges she faced and how she overcame them and acted in the best interests of her people. Connecting this ancestress to the school values helped the girls to see how they could embody the values in a practical sense and the type of leader they could aspire to be.

Behaviour Management Reflection

Main learning point of term one.....I was too nice (in the friend zone!) in weeks 1 and 2 and now I am being taken advantage of! I know now that I should have been a lot more clear on my expectations and setting clear rule guidelines in my first couple of weeks, especially with my year 10 and 11s who I think I was a bit less clear with than the year 9's who I expected to know nothing. Having made this realisation I focused this week on enforcing routines, making rules, and the reasoning behind rules clear and just generally working on decreasing off task rowdiness! I also decided to get my year 11 PE class started on their 1.9 assessment a little earlier than I had planned as it is an assessment that focuses on self management skills. Learning about self management this week has helped the girls in this class to identify where they could improve - and a number of them were able to identify that self-control and behaviour were areas where they could improve their self-management. From this we decided as a class that 1) phones would be handed in if students felt they did not have the self control to stay off them, 2) tasks in theory lessons must be complete before practical lessons could be planned and 3) to have respect while myself or other students are talking/presenting so that we can work through talk time quickly and spend more time on activities and learning tasks where everyone is more engaged. Students understand why these guidelines are set and that the rules and routines I enforce are in order to help improve their learning experience and ensure they have every opportunity for success in this class. After setting these guidelines I had really enjoyable and much more successful lessons with this class later in the week. I also spoke with my HOF to clarify the behavioural management plan and who my buddy class is if I need to remove a student from my class. This way when I begin to give warnings for disruptive/disrespectful behaviour both myself and the students are aware of the process and consequences. 

Behavior Management Plan (Teacher Managed Classroom behaviour) RGHS