Today has marked my first peer observation! I don’t know about you but I LOVE being observed and the feedback … well I love that even more! I love learning and investigating how I can improve and be a better teacher! My colleague Jayne came in today during a History lesson and during our debrief after with the principal I had a major light bulb moment! Jayne was discussing how she goes about disciplining and you know what… it’s a bit different to my approach!!
I, at times, feel pressured to get through the curriculum so up until this point I give out consequences (I’m also quick to hand out rewards and the same idea to be discussed applies here too.) without having a dialogue about why or ask the student to think about what they did and what that means! I am very quick to hand out warnings and minutes but only rarely do I take to time to discuss and have an actual conversation with the child to empower them to think through their actions and to think about how they can fix the mess they’ve created!! I keep forgetting that it’s about empowerment of the child!! How much will they learn from me oppressing them with “minutes”, “minutes”, “minutes”. What if I actually do what my colleagues do and talk through these issues with them…. questions like “what did you you do?” “what should you have been doing” THEN discuss the consequences!! I can’t believe I had missed a whole step in this whole relational discipline thing!!
I am beginning this new approach tomorrow … im a bit worried about the time this may take…. BUT in the end, it’s all about relationships, relationships, relationships…… this beautiful (and sometimes messy) relationship between student and teacher IS THE UTMOST important thing and we can establish this through conversations!! Conversation is the key!! WOW….
I must say, I feel a bit silly that the whole “conversation” thing is my light bulb moment but…. hey I am learning…. bring on the next peer review and the next light bulb!! Loving life!!
Dr Shaileigh Page 