NCFE2 Session sixteen
From Usefulwiki
Contents |
Introduction
10:00 - 10:10
Learning Objectives
- The student should identify a range of positive behaviour strategies (3.2.8)
- The student should list a variety problems encountered when supporting learners (3.2.9)
- The student should evaluate ways of encouraging independence (3.2.10)
- The student could explore ways of giving constructive feedback (3.2.10)
Using Behaviour Strategies in Practice
10:10 - 10:30
Brief recap of last week
Activity
In groups of two or three discuss the following scenario:
You have been asked to read a story from a big book with a group of eight Year 3 children in an area just outside the classroom. You are pausing to ask questions. Some of the children keep calling out answers. One little boy talks loudly about other things the whole time. Two little girls are giggling together and not paying attention. What do you think would happen if you tried each of the following strategies?
- Smile and say softly, "Please don't chatter"
- Smile at the one child who is sort of paying attention and say "I love the way Jenny is sitting nicely and paying attention."
- Continue to smile, touch the boy softly and say "Okay, I need quiet now. Thank you".
- Pick out one child, perhaps the boy, and really tell them off.
- Threaten to send the whole group back to class if they don't behave.
- Yell "Shut up" at the whole group.
- Make up two more solutions of your own.
Use the table provided to rate how effective you think each strategy would be on a scale of 1-10 (0 = bad). Then explain what you think might happen next after using each strategy.
Which you would try and why?
Note: There is no single correct answer here but some solutions work better than others. Be aware that some ways of dealing with things might work in the short term but can set up worse problems for the future. This is the sort of problem TAs deal with every day.
Feedback
10:30- 10:40
Problems supporting learners
10:40 - 11:20
What problems might you encounter in supporting learners?
Activity
Short discussion and collected answers
Encouraging Independence
Encouraging independence is a key aspect of the TAs role. It is common for TAs to feel they must always be 'one step ahead' of the pupils but in fact being 'one step behind ' is much more helpful for promoting independence. If you are always forseeing the pitfalls and removing them from the path of the pupil they will never learn strategies to help them cope when you are not around. You need to enable the child to complete a task not do it for them. The teacher knows you can do it, she needs to know if they can. The child has to feel that it is OK to try and fail. You provide support the children do the task.
Strategies to use when a child is very needy and negative about a task:
- Give clear explanations
- Encourage confidence. Use positive statements but make them really specific and believable. If you tell a child that they are clever when they know they are in a low ability group they will simply ignore you and pay less attention to everything else you say.
- Help the child to think positively about themselves. Give reminders of other successes
- Offer initial support and then move your attention away. Possibly use an egg timer or similar.
- If the child needs it stay physically close but with your attention on others. Give occasional signals that you are pleased with their behaviour.
Activity
How do you encourage independence?
In pairs
- Make a bullet pointed list of strategies.
Coffee
11:20 - 11:35
Exploring Our Own Resilience
11:35 - 12:00
Looking in more depth at last week's homework. Group discussions of our findings.
I did it too!
Portfolio Workshop
12:00 - 1:00
Organising your work
Not just for yourself, or for me to see but so that someone who does not know you or your work can make sense of what you have done.
Unit Dividers
- Use a file divider for each unit
So far you should have 3:
- Unit 1 - Skills and Qualities of a TA
- Unit 2 - Legislation including Health and Safety
- Unit 3 - Supporting Learning
Start two new ones:
- Key Skills
- Classroom Observations and Witness Statements
(Brief explanation of witness statements)
Using page numbers
- Why use them
- How to do it
What should be in each section
- Unit checklist at front
Then in session order:
- My session notes
- Your notes from that session
- Any handouts filled in during session
- Session homework
- Any formal feedback from me
Finally
- Any copies of school policy documents relating to that unit
- Other papers from school, copies of teacher's plans.
Homework
Theory into Practice
1. Look back at your learning journal.
2.Choose a time when you worked with a child or a group and the first behaviour strategy you used to support them did not work.
3. Describe in the first paragraph what happened, what you did and what happened next.
Now reflect on the incident and write four more paragraphs. In these explain:
- How you felt at the start of the incident and how the child might have felt
- How you felt at the end of the incident and how the child might have felt
- What you have learned from this and how you will behave differently if it happens again.
(300 - 500 words)
