Reflections

Megan Anderson

Monday Dec. 4, 2023

My lessons today went well. I used some of the class management skills my TA has been
teaching me and the students are responding well to my more consistent approach. I have been
having difficulty with students pushing me to test my boundaries, and because my threshold for
chaos is quite high, I don’t realize they are getting out of hand until they already are. To combat
this, I have been working on consistently waiting until they quiet down—literally saying, “I can
wait”. Amazingly, it works every time! Because they are now realizing that I will not keep talking
when they are talking, they quickly redirect their attention back to me. When I first started
teaching, I thought that PE class would be the area I struggled in. However, my commanding
(some say bossy) presence from my years of coaching kicked in and students tend to focus on
my instructions well. I have found that in the classroom however, the students often mimic my
own energy. When they are talking and acting wild, if I react in the same energy they are
emulating, they escalate quickly. However, when I remain the “calm in the storm” they mirror
me and de-escalate themselves without much prompting.
My TA has also been helping me with managing the class behaviour by having activities
available for students who are considered “fast finishers”. We know who these children are, so
we often ask them to assist other students with their work. Today we were working on a
worksheet on urban and rural communities, and “D” was having a difficult time getting going.
He often struggles with motivation during activities but does well when working with others.
We sat him beside “B” who is a quick learner and is often done her work early. Rather than give
her more activities to do, we created a collaborative experience for them both where she was
able to employ her leadership skills, and his social skills were encouraged. By the end of class,
both their work was done and “D” had a boost in his confidence which he desperately needed.

Tuesday Dec. 5, 2023

We had a little bit of a difficult day with behaviour today. The students in my class are
often very well behaved and rarely need more than a gentle prompt to get back on task.
However, today they seemed amped up and challenged authority more than usual. I spent a
great deal of time today waiting for them to refocus, and their defiance was challenging.
However, I focused on “being the calm” while remaining vigilant in my discipline. “C” continued
to shout out during class discussion, so I began starting my questions with pre-emptively stating
“don’t shout out, just raise your hands” before asking the question. This works like a charm.
Additionally, I’ll always call on the child with their hand raised while overly praising their effort
to be polite when others are shouting out. “C” has been responding well to this approach. He
knows how to raise his hand, but just forgets and gets excited when he knows the answer. This
gentle reminder is all he seems to need.
We had an “in-class” PE class today as the gym wasn’t available, and the students
seemed out of sorts from this switch. The wellness class that took the place of PE was fun, and
we used most of the extra time to allow sharing and discussion. I find that if I give ample time
for sharing opportunities, they are less likely to interrupt.
Wednesday Dec. 6, 2023
I taught a math class today, but it was split into 2 blocks because a coach was in the
school to teach the students how to play lacrosse. It’s funny how the slightest change in
schedule can lead to disorientation on the students part, and this directly affects behaviour. I
have found that redirection and purposeful distraction works to get students back on track.
When they were getting antsy and cranky with each other during my second block of math
(they aren’t used to having 2 blocks of math in a day), I had them all stand up and do some
deep breathing exercises. I asked them to imagine 5 things they can see, 4 things they can
smell, 3 things they can touch, 2 things they can hear, and 1 things they can taste. Then they did
three more deep breaths, and they were calm. I had read about this technique in a behavioural
education book I had been reading, and it worked like a charm. I’m positive they were out of
sorts because of the schedule change, but we also had a substitute in for the afternoon and this
often leads to chaos.
Following a previous lesson, my TA had told me that if I am going to separate them into
groups for activities I should select the groups before hand in order to be purposeful in my
selections. My math activities were in small groups of 3-4, so I selected the groups ahead of
time. After the first class, I realised that there were two boys together that were quite
explosive. I had never seen them in a group together, so I didn’t know they would react this
way to each other. After class, I talked to my TA and she said that she tried that once too, and
then never again. For my second class that day, I switched the groups so that those 2 boys were
not together. This went much more smoothly and I made a note of the groups that worked for
next time.

Thursday Dec.7, 2023

Today I decided to focus almost solely on making sure all students were on task and
engaged. My inquiry question relates to how behavioural issues decrease in correlation with
the use of differentiated instruction and activities. For my first class, I taught a literacy class
where we discussed Santa’s elves and the silly things they do—as many students have an elf on
the shelf in their homes. I began the class by reading a story and allowing the students to share
some silly things their elves have done. They had so many ideas , so I wrote them down on the
board as we discussed. This kept them engaged as they collaborated to make the list. Following
our discussion, I gave them a writing worksheet called “If I were an Elf” where they had to write
down all the things they would do if they were an elf. When we do creative writing, about 75%
of the students spend most of the time alotted brainstorming what they want to write about. I
sidestepped this by having them brainstorm ahead of time, and this running list became a
template for the students who struggle with spelling and are more focused on practicing their
letters. This freed me up to engage with students who were struggling in other ways. During a
lesson where I would normally be surrounded by students who are not sure what to do, I was
able to sit and help “D” with his writing. Additionally, I had included an elf to decorate and
colour once their writing was complete. This gave the “fast finishers” something to do when
they were finished, but also gave the others motivation to finish their writing neatly so they
could start to colour. We repeated the mantra “do it nice or do it twice” a few times as we were
working, and this helped them to slow down so they didn’t have to repeat their work.
Friday Dec. 8, 2023
Being Friday, the air was slightly charged with anticipation for the weekend. We spent
the morning sewing the teddy bears we have been working on and my TA asked a bunch of
grade 5 students to come help the kids with their sewing in a one-on-one capacity. It worked so
well! Most of the students were able to finish, and those that weren’t benefited from having
someone with them to visit with and keep them on task. A few students told me after recess
that they had played with their new grade 5 buddy at recess! It was a lovely collaboration, and
I’m sure I will use this as an idea in the future.
I then taught a patterns class for math, and considering how focused they had to be
during the teddy bears lesson, they did amazingly well. The worksheet they had to work on was
fairly straight forward, so many students were done quickly. I had warned them ahead of time
that we were going to make fruit-loop pattern necklaces for the last part of class if they did
their work well, but I pre-faced these warning by telling them that even if they don’t get their
worksheet done today they would be able to finish the necklace at home. I had prepackaged
bags of fruit-loops with the string, so all I had to do was hand them a bag. It was very
straightforward. Additionally, because I didn’t make them feel rushed and they knew they
would still be able to make a necklace, many students took their time with their worksheet and
did a beautiful job of drawing and colouring their patterns. The ones who were done quickly
had an engaging activity to participate in and those who took their time didn’t miss out on a fun
activity. The behavioural concerns I had surrounding the fruit-loops were not an issue because
there was always something for the students to feel engaged in or something to look forward
too.

Holistic Reflection:
As my time in this classroom winds down, I realise how much I have learned. I have seen
the differentiations we practiced put into action in real time, and I have seen the various
motivational factors we learned about in educational psychology present in my students. I
thought I would see more issues with behaviour in students who are struggling, but the
opposite is actually true. The behavioural issues I have seen are usually coming from students
who are either bored or feel disengaged with the content. There are three main contributors to
chaos in this classroom. “C” is often trying to get attention and laughs from his peers, so I find
that he is far less disruptive when he can share a story or experience often. He knows the
answers, but gets so excited that he knows the answers so he shouts out rather than raise his
hand. This led me to the friendly reminders BEFORE asking a question to not shout out, and
praising his efforts to raise his hand which gives him the attention he is seeking- only in a
productive way.
“A” has been chaotic lately, but I find this is usually because he wants time with his
friends. To combat this, I made sure to put him in a group with his friends once in a day with
the preface that he would only be able to be there if he worked together as a team and they
stayed on task. I had to switch the groups the next time but made sure to tell him that I
switched them because he was disruptive. I then gave him another chance to behave with his
friends, and he didn’t let me down. I find that he responded well to me telling him I was
trusting him with this chance. While this approach wouldn’t work well with all students, “A” is a
people pleaser and wanted to make me happy by behaving and showing responsibility.
 “D” has been following the lead of other students lately. He doesn’t have a great deal of
confidence, so he has been seeking connection with whichever personality is strongest at the
time. In response to this, I have been asking him to be my “helper” lately, and he has been so
much more confident as he completes the tasks I ask him to do. His classmates are also very
supportive, and he beams with pride every time one of them says thank you or tells him he is
doing a good job. I have also had him team up with “B” who is a natural leader and cheerleader.
She encourages him and this helps him get the motivation to complete his work.
I am learning that every child is different, and I might have to try a few different
approaches before I find something that will work. I am learning that every behaviour has an
emotion and a reason behind it, and if we find and treat this issue, we are more likely to curb
the behavioural disruptions.
As I wind down on my time here, I am feeling deeply bittersweet. I am excited for the
next chapter of my learning journey, but sadness over leaving a group of kids I have grown to
love. I have learned so much from my time in a grade 1 classroom. The things I am taking away
from this experience most is having clear expectations for behaviour is key, and following
through on discipline will lead to increased positive interactions and less behavioural issues in
the future. Additionally, when planning lessons, having additional activities connected to the
content available for “fast finishers” is useful with controlling behavioural issues. Finally, I have
learned how tailoring lessons to address common struggles will ultimately help every student to
remain engaged and confident about their abilities.