Lost at School Chapter 7

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 Chapter 7: Meeting of the minds

Big Question - How are we going to reduce the negative impact of the challenging student  on the learning and safety of their classmates?
What I took from this chapter is the idea of Plan B for every student. 24 brains are better than one when deciding on ways of solving a problem. For example - problems moving from one task to another - we all have this feeling of annoyance when we are 'into' some task and the teacher says it is time to put that away. By engaging the whole class in creating the solution to a problem - it empowers the whole class to participate in the solution they have constructed. In this example of 'task changing' - it may be that the class decide the teacher needs to give more warning of this, and also tell the class when they will be able to return to the task they wanted to continue.

"Fair does not mean equal." - "In our classroom everyone gets what they need, " and In our classroom, we help each other."

In my classroom the children are able to celebrate the skills they have and to have compassion and understanding that not all children have the wonderful skills they have, thus they need to support those that need more help.

Children are praised for their understanding of children with extra needs. The class has previously discussed the 'why' around children that need more help. They have also had a discussion around the life-skills they can gain from having the chance to work alongside others less fortunate that themselves. This can put a positive spin on the behaviour and teacher responses for students with extra needs.

I ensure students have an opportunity to say how they feel about our responses and support of students requiring extra support and plans. This is a safe place to voice your feelings and any safety concerns. It is done without the 'children requiring extra support' present.

We have even had (last year -2023) a phrase students can use to indicate to the teacher they are feeling unsafe. Armed with this tool, students were able to gravitate towards the student when they were acting positively, working alongside them and building relationships, and move away when they were unhappy with the behaviour. Finally using the 'safe phrase' if they were feeling at risk. This was empowering for all students, and a positive experience for all.

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