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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

techniques for classroom discipline at secondary level.

27 replies

OhYouBadBadKitten · 24/05/2010 15:39

Please

Am preparing for an interview and need some effective techniques for classroom discipline to talk about.

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EvilTwins · 24/05/2010 19:00

A well planned lesson is always a good starting point - keep them busy and they will be less likely to mess around.

Positive discipline is far more effective, generally, then telling-off - ie picking on good behaviour in the hope that all students (and most do) want to be given positive attention.

Giving "choices" - eg - "James, you can choose to focus on your work, or choose to continue as you are. However, if you choose to continue, then there will be consequences" etc.

A consistent approach is always the most effective, so ensure you know what the school's policy is (is this a teaching interview or a PGCE/GTP type thing? - if it's the latter, then talk about finding out what the school's policy is and sticking with it. If it's a teaching interview (or similar) get hold of the school's policy beforehand - most places have it on their website)

And, as my Dad told me, when I did my PGCE (he was also a teacher) - never threated anything you can't carry through. So (this was Dad's example) if you tell a kid you're going to throw him out of the window, you have to.

Coderooo · 24/05/2010 19:02

whispering
i love to whisper
also just repeat ins truction
"no you cant get a drink"
no
no
no
and they bore
dont explain

saphrie · 24/05/2010 19:56

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mnistooaddictive · 24/05/2010 20:11

as above really

Capture their interest and imagination
Praise , praise ,praise
Be consistent and always follow through
speak authoritativly without shouting
body language that speaks pf being in control but relaxed with it
be prepared to laugh at your self when necessary
Don't overreact and use humour where possible
Seek help when you need it. There will always be a few you can't win with - asking for help is not a failure it is a strength!

OhYouBadBadKitten · 24/05/2010 21:09

oh you lot are so brilliant its for a cover supervision job, so lots of ideas for reducing noise level and keeping on task needed. (esp if having to do something where not much has been prepared!)

have read the school policies so that's good.

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saphrie · 24/05/2010 23:06

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OhYouBadBadKitten · 25/05/2010 15:08

oh excellent. Will look that up to use in my new job.

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Coderooo · 25/05/2010 15:12

just come up wiht any old incomprehensible selection of three words
like whispering for learning
and ti will sound good

"hitting for learning"
etc

OhYouBadBadKitten · 25/05/2010 15:16

I suspect I might have come up with some gibberish like that fortunately they were able to decipher my ramblings and give me the job.

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Coderooo · 25/05/2010 15:17

ooh well done OYBK

Coderooo · 25/05/2010 15:17

OH MY GOD I KNOW WHERE IT IS

girls?

OhYouBadBadKitten · 25/05/2010 15:18

no - mixed.... good old fashioned comp.

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OhYouBadBadKitten · 25/05/2010 15:19

of course now I will need a clothes advice thread for practical but smart

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MaureenMLove · 25/05/2010 15:31

Yay!!! Congratulations again!

One top tip that I love to do when I'm in a classroom where I don't know everybody, is to listen to them when they are talking to eachother, so I can get their names.

Or do a sneaky, 'could I look at your work' then without them knowing look at the front cover to see what their name it!

They are so when you then call them by name, having only met them 5 mins before! Hilarious! They think you're magic! They ask how you knew their name and I simply say, 'I know everything....'

OhYouBadBadKitten · 25/05/2010 15:40

I will remember those tricks! its a big school, I'll never remember them all.

thank you so much for your advice.

(can't believe it.....)

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BigHairyLeggedSpider · 25/05/2010 17:45

Right OYBBK! Tell me how you did it!

I've got an interview for a similar role in the midlands! [

bloss · 25/05/2010 17:57

Message withdrawn

OhYouBadBadKitten · 25/05/2010 19:16

aww bloss - you are a complete star thank you so much. I'm going to print those off to read when my brain isnt imploding - can't believe how shattered I am!

BHLS I used Mos advice here

and some advice from here and of course from this thread.

bit stunned though - didnt think my experience was in the right area but there we go!

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MmeTrueBlueberry · 25/05/2010 19:48

The key thing to good classroom management is to have a well-planned lesson. As a cover supervisor, you may get rubbish from the regular teacher.

If at all possible, get hold of the work ahead of time so you can either discuss it with the teacher or modify it yourself. If the work is to 'read from the text book and answer questions', make this as active as you can - get them to take turns reading alound, and answering the questions aloud, before settling down to write down the answers in sentences. If you have 'silent reading' in English, get the pupils to come up to you one by one to read alound - they love doing this up to Year 8 or so.

If you are basically supervising silent work, do it yourself so that you improve your knowledge which will help you in the future - it is not that hard to be one step ahead of the pupils.

You will be on a very steep learning curve - even after one week you will know tonnes more than when you started. An important thing is to establish a good reputation, which basically means blagging your way through the first week or two.

Easy things you can do is to have a class list, and seat them in register order (unless the regular teacher has a seating plan that you can use).

If you have to 'discipline' anyone, follow a procedure, eg explain how you expect them to behave and warn them of the consequences. If they continue to misbehave, then follow up. The school should have a clear sanctions policy that you should follow, eg to involve Head of Department or duty Senior Manager.

MaureenMLove · 25/05/2010 20:23

I often write a topical word or short phrase on the board, as soon as I walk in and ask them to make as many words as possible from it. This works in all subjects.

For maths, I put a countdown style number thing on the board.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 25/05/2010 21:52

thank you so very much both of you. I'm sure I'll be needing lots of those tactics. I'm going to copy them into a document of what to do when I'm stuck.

Am used to doing things like '20 questions' with juniors so I need a whole new toolkit (see that - I'm learning the jargon )

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MaureenMLove · 26/05/2010 19:40

Actually 20 questions is just as good for teenagers. Especially KS3. They love all that.

Get stickers too! Even the Yr11's love a sticker to take home to show mummy!

OhYouBadBadKitten · 26/05/2010 20:53

Really? I have stickers! excellent. And I like 20 questions too. I theme it round a topic I know they are doing in juniors.

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MaureenMLove · 26/05/2010 22:30

Excellent! When do you start Kitten?

OhYouBadBadKitten · 26/05/2010 22:46

September, but I'm going to do some shadowing before hand which I think is a brilliant opportunity to get the hang of things. I'm pretty excited (with some nerves)

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