0:18
Look at that first slide, by Gravells.
"A suitable learning environment is crucial
to enable your learners to learn effectively."
Creating positive learning environments.
1:18
The learning environment. Think about your classroom at the moment,
sometimes you may not have a classroom. In South Africa for instance, many
classes happen under a tree, because it's very hot in a room
and in summer it's much easier to go outside and to teach.
Think about the layout of your room.
Is it too hot? Is it too cold?
Is the room too large or too small? Are there too many students?
2:10
Is the teacher unsupportive? So think about your classroom in this way.
And I'd like you to draw a diagram
that thinks about your classroom.
What scope do you have about changing the classroom?
Is it possible for you to move things around,
and rearrange desks and tables?
2:34
There are several ways of arranging furniture in a classroom
and all have their advantages and disadvantages
and we're going through a few,
just to look at some of the advantages.
What could work with that arrangement,
and could it work for you? And that is the most important thing.
So, what are the advantages of a traditional classroom layout?
With all the desks lined up and the teacher standing at the front.
Think about what the disadvantages are of that.
3:10
What sort of activities would work well in this layout?
And yes, some activities would work really well,
but perhaps one of the things that might be disadvantageous,
it could be construed as that the teacher that is standing up right at the front
knows everything and that the learners sitting down
would just need to receive and take in all the teacher says.
But that's not neccessarily true because teachers
could also be standing at the front, in a traditional setting,
and have a very interactive, participatory class.
Now does your class have a traditonal layout,
but is it a very participatory and interactive class?
Or is it pretty much a one-directional pedagogy,
a one-directional teaching style?
Think about the horseshoe layout,
have you tried that out?
What are some of the advantages to using this method?
4:43
I'm sure many of you've used that, particularly for group work with the
learners themselves sit in groups, and
have a conversation or construct knowledge in
ways drawing from magazines or building models, and you may be part of
that discussion as an observer watching how those learners work in those groups.
5:24
but may also chair, or facilitate the discussion
and maybe use the circle to give everyone an opportunity, in a very democratic
kind of way, so that each one can share
or the teacher can process information, or what has just happened.
Now, creating a positive environment: how does the layout of the classroom effect
the interaction between the students and the teacher; the interaction among students;
the nature of the discipline. Of course, all of this is important because
sometimes the very nature of the discipline might
influence how you're going to layout the class.
6:46
The emphasis is on catching students doing something wrong.
How about turning this around
and also catching students when they're doing something right?
Do you like the notion of catching students when they're doing something right?
And really validating them and saying, "What you just did there is wonderful,
7:21
is something that happens in many classrooms and also in the playground.
Sometimes the harassment, or most of the times, is a learner to
learner, but in many classrooms teachers
are often responsible for harassing their learners.
7:44
But sometimes the things we can say,
that might be just subtle, that can just
make a learner feel very unmotivated, uninspired and
just not wanting to learn in your class.
7:59
So, how we use language - verbal teasing, name calling, threatening and taunting -
is equally as destructive to the spirit as the physical punitive
measures we put in place.
Think about relationship assaults: gossip, destroying relationships,
and teachers in many schools are also responsible for this.
Verbal harassment: words do hurt.
8:28
Think about experiences in your class and your teaching when
learners have come to you and spoken to you about learners
saying things to them. How have you responded to that?
How have you facilitated that discussion
and brought attention to the class of how destructive
gossip is and the emotional scars that it can leave on people?
Sometimes, what starts off as verbal leads into physical violence.
Now, what are some of the teaching strategies for positive discipline?
And I'd like you to look at these four points here.
You may be more creative and generate points
that really becomeuseful in your class.
But, put the list up of perhaps ground rules or boundaries that you can create
for your class and make those visible all the time for your learners.
So, whether you have sixty learners in the class,
they all need to understand collectively what the class boundaries are.
And of course, when somebody transcends those boundaries
you can draw their attention to them, "Listen, we've all agreed
to these set of guidelines, and you're not following those guidelines
which we all have collectively come up with."
So, in many ways, you kind of dilute
yourself from the setting of rules for the class.
Teachers with effective discipline are proactive.
Look at the do's and don'ts.
10:07
Feel free to add on to these do's and don'ts.
Be assertive.
Act, and be consistent. Sometimes we
forget our principles of consistency.
When a learner does something, we may be very hard on that learner.
And maybe just two years later, another learner does the same thing
and we ignore it or we are silent.
10:46
Personally, I always use pleases and thank yous, just to encourage my learners to
do the same, and I find that the more they see me do it.
"Please will you open the window?"
"Thank you very much for doing that, I really appreciate it."
11:14
and calmness is always wonderful for them to receive it, rather than you being
anxious and tense with them, because that just feeds fear and tenseness for them.
Let's look at the list of dont's. Being reactive to what learners do
sometimes can be destructive,
and remember our conversations in our sessions of being the adult,
Of, how do we be rational?
How can we be rational?
But most important is how do I announce
the relationship with the student all the time?
Because, remember, being reactive in that moment,