Beyond Behaviour Charts

In my work as a consultant, I wish I had thought of using a behaviour chart like this with educators.  What better way for them to see and feel the impact that this approach can have on student engagement and motivation. Imagine if at your next staff meeting your administrator called you out in front of all of your colleagues and made you move your clip for scrolling through email on your cell phone, digging through your purse, or talking to the educator seated next to you.  And imagine how much more upset you'd be if your transgressions were actually work related - checking email for a field trip confirmation, looking for a pen to write notes during the meeting, talking to your colleague about the meeting content!

Behaviour charts do not help educators to determine the underlying causes of behaviour.  Instead of dealing with the problem, we are only reacting to the symptom.  If we don't address the cause, the 'problem behaviour' is most likely going to continue to happen.  So the child who is rummaging through their desk when the teacher is teaching a lesson - maybe they are looking for a pencil because it helps them to remember instructions if they write them down, maybe they need a fidget toy in their hands to help them listen - we'll never know if we don't ask.

And while behaviour charts may shame students into compliance, they do not help students to develop skills they need to be successful in school and life, like self-regulation.  Often, instead of focusing on the behaviour, the use of behaviour charts focuses on the child. The child who is frequently moving their stick into yellow or red is seen by their classmates and, often in their own mind, as 'the bad kid.'  

See Aviva Dunsiger's great blog post on this idea: When and How Do Perceptions Matter?

For the child who is seldom asked to move their clip, having to do so can impact their learning for the rest of the day.

So what can educators do instead of using behaviour charts?

• when thinking about student behaviour, ask 'why and why now?'  All behaviour is communication, so what is the student telling us with this behaviour? 
• reframe behaviour: Is this stress behaviour or misbehaviour?
• keep conversations about behaviours private, when possible
• build community in the classroom rather than compliance. A great resource for this is Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community by Alfie Kohn or the articles listed below
• help students to develop skills of self-regulation in age appropriate ways. What does calm feel like? How does being calm help them learn? What helps them to feel calm? What are classroom appropriate ways that they can use to manage their energy states, emotions, behaviour and attention in ways that are socially acceptable in the school and classroom context?
• read and reflect on our own practice.  

Here are some articles that discuss why to remove behaviour charts as well some alternatives to use instead. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments or to send them to me in a DM. 

Tear Down Your Behaviour Chart by L. Jung and D. Smith, Educational Leadership, September 2018

Hey Teachers, Stop Using Behaviour Charts. Here's Why from PBS

Death to the Behaviour Chart! 3 Reasons to Resist the Lure of Punishments and Rewards - Education Week Teacher

5 Reasons I'm Against Behaviour Charts (What I Do Instead) from WeAreTeachers.com

When Behaviour Charts Don't Work, Throw Them Out from Edutopia

Step Away From The Stickers - a previous blog post I wrote for the MEHRIT Centre

NOTE: Jon's original tweet generated a lot of discussion on Twitter and, if you follow him, you can see the responses he posted to clarify his Tweet.  His post, and my blog, are not meant to blame and shame teachers but to prompt educators to reflect on what we do, why we do it, and the impact our actions may have on our students. 

#HandsOffFDK

In 2009, the Ontario provincial government announced the implementation of Full Day Kindergarten in all publicly funded Ontario schools, to be carried out over a five year period from 2010 - 2014. Each kindergarten classroom would be staffed by a kindergarten teacher and an Early Childhood Educator, except classes of less that 16 students which would be staffed by a teacher only.

The Draft Full Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program document, which was released in 2010 detailed the program expectations and pedagogy which was a play-based, student inquiry driven model which supported student learning in language, mathematics, science, physical education and health, the arts, and social-emotion domains.

Research conducted by the Ministry's own staff in partnership with Queen's and McMaster University  as well as research by others has shown that the FDK program has had a positive impact on student learning and achievement"

Yet, in spite of all of this evidence, Premier Doug Ford recently announced that his government will not guarantee the future of FDK beyond the 2019-2020 school year. In mid-February, my former school district will begin kindergarten registration for children beginning school in September 2019, welcoming parents to Open House and Registration events.  Yet parents who are registering their child to begin a two year kindergarten program in September have no idea what the program may look like by the time their child reaches senior kindergarten in September 2020.  Educators who are welcoming these parents to their programs have no idea what the kindergarten program will look like in another year, or if they will still be the ones staffing the program.

Immediately following the initial announcement there was a huge response from media, parents and educators denouncing the government's plan to cut FDK and outlining the importance of the program to children, to families, and to society. We know that the earlier we can intervene in a child's learning, the greater the chance of changing their trajectory.

A few days later, the government issued a clarification and stated that they are "committed to full day learning."  What does that mean for the future of the program, for the educators, the families, and the children? No one knows.

What can you do?

• contact your MPP and tell them Hands Off FDK
• share your stories on social media using the hashtag #HandsOffFDK

Share your ideas for action in the comment box.

Articles:
Experts call Ontario's full-day kindergarten visionary
With Our Best Future in Mind - the Pascal Report and additional research and resources
FDK: Why it works (ETFO)
FDK: How it works (ETFO)

Ontario considers removing kindergarten, primary class size caps

Never Stop Learning

This week I celebrated a major milestone in my life - convocation for my Doctorate of Education degree. It's been an amazing, frustrating, fantastic, exhausting, wonderful learning journey. There were days when I was excited to be engaged in such rich learning and discourse and days when I wondered why I was doing this and why didn't I quit? I retired from our board in June 2016, so this degree would have no impact on my employment or my salary.

The speaker at our convocation was Dr. Charlotte Fischer.  She was born in 1929 and received her degrees in Mathematics and Chemistry in 1952.  She went on to study at Cambridge, was the first woman to win an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship, has authored over 300 articles in her 50+ years of research. She currently, at age 89, is the Professor Emerita at Vanderbilt University's School of Engineering.

In her convocation address, Dr. Fischer reminded us that with today's modern medicine and health care, we can expect to live very long lives and we must endeavour to fill our lives with meaning far beyond the usual retirement age.

So, even though I have retired from full-time employment with a school board doesn't mean it's time to stop learning and growing. I'm not sure what the future may bring, but I know that my intention is to keep reading, reflecting, learning and writing for many years to come.

Congratulations to my fellow graduates!  It's been a pleasure learning together with all of you for the past three years and I can't wait to see what the future holds for all of us.

Official program from Western University

My bedazzled mortarboard from our pre-convocation reception

Take Me Outside Day

Today is "TAKE ME OUTSIDE DAY" here in Canada.  Take Me Outside (TMO) is a non-profit organization committed to educating and creating awareness with Canadians about our connection with nature and our time spent outside. As a teacher, I enjoyed spending time outside with my students and found that I got to see a side of them that I would have missed had we only done our learning indoors.

To participate in Take Me Outside Day you can:

1. Get outside with your class!

2. Let Take Me Outside know that you are participating by filling in the online form.

3. Complete the TMO Challenge - they have separate ones for students, parents and teachers.

4. Share your outdoor learning experiences on social media #TakeMeOutsideDay

5. Spread the word - let students, parents, colleagues and the media know why outdoor time is essential for healthy students.



On the TMO Challenge page, they note: A connection to nature and time spent outside is invaluable to building optimal mental, emotional, social and physical health for every child and youth. Research supports the links between a child’s connection with nature and their health. Increased outdoor time can be directly connected to improved physical activity levels, higher academic achievement, decreased child injury rates, increased attention spans, positive social interaction and increased engagement at school, home and in the community.

In addition to the resources on the TMO page, here are others you may find helpful:

Natural Curiosity: Building Children's Understanding of the World Through Environmental Inquiry - a free downloadable book for Kindergarten to Grade 6

Ready Set Wonder: Nature Prompts for the Early Learning and Child Care Educators - a free downloadable book from the Back to Nature Network
(also available in French at http://www.back2nature.ca/readysetwonder-version-francais-de-attention-prets-a-lemerveillement/)

Into Nature: A guide to teaching in nearby nature - a free downloadable book with lesson ideas for students in kindergarten to grade 6 from Back to Nature Network
(also available in French at http://www.back2nature.ca/teachers-guide-into-nature-french/)

101 Nature Study Ideas

25 Mighty Girl Books about outdoor discovery

9 books that will inspire your little animal to get out of the house and into nature

7 books to inspire nature play

Community or Cohort?

In an earlier blog post, I wrote about strategies used by instructors and participants to build community in online classrooms.  Last week, Doug Peterson and Stephen Hurley discussed this post as part of their program, This Week In Ontario Edublogs.

Their discussion was quite profound; they explored issues and ideas I hadn't considered at all and dug deep into the meaning of 'community.'  Their conversation prompted me to think more about this topic, particularly the difference between a cohort and a community.

Stephen talked about the Latin root word 'munity' in community, which is also found in immunity.  He said it means making something stronger.  'So being part of a community should make us stronger, or make our learning stronger. I researched this idea further and found this etymology of the word community:

The word community is derived from from the Latin communitas, fellowship, which, in turn, is derived from communis, or "common". 

The prefix "com" signifies "with, together, in conjunction, joint". Removing the "com" from the latin, leaves you with munis, which derives from munire, meaning "to fortify, strengthen, or defend".
AKA: Strength in numbers. 

When we talk about a learning community, then we are saying that we are learning together, with one another and this strengthens or learning.  Doug likened it to the idiom, "A rising tide lifts all boats." Usually this is in reference to the economy - a strong economy benefits individuals and businesses at all levels.  But in this context, can we say that building an online community then strengthens the learning of all participants?

These three examples from my own experience to help to explain my current thinking on building an online community versus a cohort.

The MEHRIT Centre - I recently finished an 18 month series of online courses to become a Self-Regulation Facilitator with The MEHRIT Centre. There are several reasons I would characterize this group as a learning community. We were together for a long period of time, which allowed us to get to know one another, building trusting relationships and sharing our learning.  But what really brought us together as a community is our shared passion for self-regulation and our beliefs about how important self-reg is for children and adults. Through a Facebook group, we continue to learn and share with one another long after the courses have been completed.

Western University EdD Program - I also recently completed my doctorate online through Western University, which is where I did my B.Ed (in person) so many years ago. The participants in this group also became a close community, and even though we have finished our studies, we stay in touch through social media.  In this group, we got to know one another through small group assignments using Skype, Blackboard Collaborate and Google Docs as well as through online discussions. We used our Facebook group to support one another when the going got tough - when the assignment requirements seemed too much, or when the feedback was too harsh or inconsistent. When someone was feeling stressed and ready to throw in the towel, the Facebook group was there for support and encouragement. At the end of the course, several people posted that they had considered quitting but the group helped them make it to the finish line. We were definitely stronger together.

Intermediate ABQ - I have participated in online AQ and ABQ courses, both as a participant and as an instructor. As a consultant, my position at our school board was posted every four years and I had to reapply and re-interview for my job. The first time I had to reapply, my superintendent suggested that I take my Intermediate ABQ so that I would be eligible to take the Principal's Course. I did not have any intention of becoming a principal, and if I returned to the classroom, I certainly did not want to teach intermediate.  I was the Teacher Consultant for Kindergarten and Primary Programs, and that was my passion. Nevertheless, I signed up for an Intermediate ABQ in Family Studies. I completed the course, but as Stephen said, it was just about getting the work done and finishing the course.  I had no passion for this topic, and no shared interest to sustain with other participants once the course was finished.

In this instance, I was part of the Intermediate Family Studies ABQ Cohort but not part of a learning community. It is possible that there were others in the course who were passionate, who may have formed a community that continued on beyond the course. Perhaps communities and cohorts can co-exist within the same group of participants.

Thanks for pushing my thinking on this topic, Doug and Stephen.  I can't wait to discuss this with others at #BIT2018 this November in Niagara Falls.  See you there!

Next steps

When writing report cards for students, we conclude each subject area with 'next steps.'  The Ministry of Education in Ontario has recently released Growing Success: The Kindergarten Addendum which addresses Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting and it states that  Next Steps in Learning refers to ways in which the child can move forward in developing knowledge and skills, in relation to the overall expectations, both at school and at home. Developmental stage, learning trajectory, and/or other individual processes of learning should be taken into account when determining next steps in learning.

Since we believe that as educators we need to think about next steps for learning for students, I think we also need to think about our own next steps. At different times in my career, I have had to reflect and determine my next stage and learning trajectory.  Staying at the same school in the same grade assignment doesn't fit my restless nature.  I've been fortunate to teach a range of assignments in a range of settings - from open concept school to a classroom in a portable out by the parking lot.  I've taught in urban, suburban and county schools; in small schools with barely 200 students to large schools with over 800 students.  I've had my own homeroom classroom, taught 'rotary' when I was the primary literacy teacher for 14 primary classrooms, and then moved on to work at the board level.   I worked as an instructional coach for primary math and primary literacy - travelling from school to school supporting teachers and administrators with implementing balanced literacy, small group instruction and hands on mathematics. 

Taking a group of educators to Fighting Island for Outdoor Education 

Facilitating conversations during in-school collaborative inquiry

After school math workshop - doing the math!

At the end of this month, I will be retiring and moving on to my 'next step.'  Only 7 more work days and then I will be moving forward to new learning and a new stage.  I am only one year in to my studies at UWestern on my Educational Doctorate, so there will be that new learning and I intend to continue to teach online for Queens.  I wonder what other new learning will be part of this next stage?