Fast Llamas,
I found a strategy from Jim Knight called, "Power With Rather than Power Over" and I was intrigued by it. The strategy speaks to having high effect sizes for goal setting, building student relationships and improving classroom behaviors and management. In speaking about negative behaviors there is good new and there is bad news. The bad news is if you ask any teacher, they will tell you that negative interactions with students is the most frustrating thing about our roles as educators. And negative student behaviors show up in many differents ways on the spectrum, from outbursts to shutting down. The good news is there are ideas and strategies that we can use to change our students behaviors. We have a lot of power over our students, and we can use this to our advantage and inevitably our students favor. This strategy keeps us on what Doug Curry says is the "side of hope" for all kids.
Let's think about it:
1. few people have more direct power over others than teachers. Don't think this is a bad thing, we are in the job of changing lives!
2. Students are served well when a teacher recognizes students need for autonomy against their own need for power over them (even when we are trying to change their behavior for good)
3. Teachers can avoid the idea of "Power Over" when they reflect on how their students see their classroom culture and see it through "others' eyes"
Power Over can show up as:
1. subtle ridicule or talking about a kid's behavior like they are not in the room
2. lecturing students on "who is the boss" - "this is my classroom"
3. using the "teacher glare" - the kid already thinks you don't like them...
4. "show up" students when they show they have greater knowledge and experience in a debate
5. not allowing students to have roles in the classroom and carry some of the workload
6. not allowing students to have a say in the norms, procedures or systems
7. "Rounding Up"... this is when a teacher finishes a kids answer or adds to their answer instead of just eliciting more from the kid... Sometimes this shows up as being in a hurry to move the conversation along, or as excitement... the teacher is so excited that the kid is correct they join in... stop doing this
8. being inconsistent with affirmations. If you say "great job" to one kid, and "wow, that was fantastic" to another, it sends a message that you have favorites, or that some answers are better than others... this is why giving snaps is so good, can't judge it... I guess avoid giving one kid one snap and another 25...
All of these actions breakdown relationships with kids and make kids lose their desire to learn. They will not work for you if they think you do not like them. And trust me, they latch on to this idea immediately. I don't mean liking them as "friends". I do not want to be best buds with my students, I am talking about being kind, nice, fair and consistent. These are things that make students "like you" and think you like them.
To the teachers who say, "I am only here to teach my content", yeah, we know that already... and so do the kids... When kids leave your classroom, they tend to remember two kinds of teachers...
1. teachers who were kind, they have fond memories of the learning, yes, even if it was challenging
2. teachers who were mean, they don't remember learning anything useful and they class was awful
3. sorry mediocre teachers... they don't remember you at all
We can build our Power With by:
1. asking about our students day
2. by listening and giving students your full attention when they are talking (grab a chair and get on their level, kneel down to get on their level, face and shoulders face the speaker, teach others to do the same)
3. connecting with students with one to one conversations and affirm their contributions (celebrate their effort)
4. refraining from "rounding up" don't interrupt kids when they are talking and finish their thoughts
5. avoiding sarcasm and singling students out - no power trips
6. communicating consistent respect for all students
7. empathizing with students and seeing the world through their eyes
- thinking about your class culture from their perspective
- is your content and lesson delivery providing meaning while knowledge is being applied?
“How does this actually relate to me, how does this work for me, with my understanding?” "What's in it for Me?"
5. focusing on building our students "Possible Selves".
- this occurs when we take time to teach students how to write goals they believe are achievable, support those desires to achieve the goal and help students develop a plan to achieve the goal
- these goals can be short term or long term
When we talk about goals with kids we are sharing with a highly valuable life skill and we are instilling with them feelings of hope. On lame duck school days (days at the end of a semester or the day before a holiday) think about having student complete a Possible Selves activity. Because envisioning their future selves can be very motivating. Here is a great survey to use:
https://studysites.corwin.com/highimpactinstruction/chapters/Student_Survey_Middle.pdf
What are their hope for their Possible Selves, what are their dreams?
What are their short term goals (today's expectations)
What are their fears (what do they want to avoid)
We can also reflect on ourselves and our behaviors.
We can:
1. Think deeply about our student's needs and emotions
2. Think about the student's experiences during class, when planning, picture your students in your class. What are they doing? How are they feeling?
3. Think deeply about the meaningful learning experiences we are providing for students. Are we challenging them appropriately?
4. Reflect on these questions:
Until next time...
references:
https://www.slideserve.com/denton/possible-selves
https://studysites.corwin.com/highimpactinstruction/toolkit.htm
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