Blog Post by Craig Gibbison
I have been at Meden for over 9 years now and over recent years have had the privilege of visiting so many lessons on a daily basis. I get to see students thrive and experience amazing lessons every single day.
I get to see the good (often amazing), bad and very occasionally the ugly. This can, of course, happen when you work with teenagers. It is inevitable.
Meden students claim they hate rules/boundaries and often claim that they attend a ‘prison’ rather than a school but they love it really; care, support and typicality- although they would never admit it!
So I thought I would share what makes the lessons I see at our school successful because in my opinion they are all underpinned by teachers ensuring the 3 R’s are at the forefront of their lessons: Respect, Routines and Relationships.
Some of our students have non of these in their lives and we can often forget this when carrying out our daily practice. What is important to us is often not important to them. Therefore WE have to model excellence – day in, day out.
Respect, is of course, a two way process but we always need to take the lead to show the students what it means and what it looks like, through how we behave. Our students excel in lessons when they feel respected and this often occurs through verbal and non-verbal communications that they have with you, as the teacher. You have the power to empower and must always remember that. YOU will be at least one student’s role-model in life!
When considering and reviewing classroom behaviour, the worst time for us as a school is always after a half term. Why? Because some students have lacked a daily routine for a week, two weeks or more. It may take a week or two (sometimes more!) to ensure students regain that routine but that stems from you – use your energies to ensure this takes place.
So why do some students thrive in some of our lessons and not others? Because in the lessons they are most successful in, they know what to expect (routines). How they enter the room, where to sit, when they are allowed to communicate, how you as the teacher will ‘typically’ respond to different situations….and so on. These routines take time to establish but then save you time in the long run. Meden students enjoy order and processes. Take the time to develop your own routines and reap the rewards in terms of engagement and also achievement. It will manifest itself in longevity.
Finally and most importantly in my experience – focus on building relationships with our students.
It takes time to ‘crack’ them. Get to know as many students as you can- they shouldn’t just be a predicted grade on a mark sheet.
What makes them tick? Who needs comforting and who needs taking out of their comfort zone? If you show you care and believe in them, aspirations and achievement go through the roof.
