Duration: 20:54
About the teachers
Kellie Nicholson has been teaching Years 7 to 12 in metropolitan contexts for 20 years.
Emma Cheers has been teaching for 6 years. She has experience in both rural and metropolitan contexts, teaching primary school students in Years 2 to 5.
Danny Buller began teaching 2 and a half years ago, transitioning from a career as a personal assistant. She has taught students in the early years (Kindy, Year 1 and Year 3) in a metropolitan context.
Henri King is completing his Master of Teaching through a teacher training program. Henri was previously a youth worker.
Annmarie (Ally) Lehane has been teaching for 10 years in both primary and secondary settings. She has taught in rural, remote and metropolitan schools in Australia and internationally.
Niall Heron has taught Foundation to Year 6 in metropolitan contexts for 18 years.
Rachel Morrison has been teaching for a year and has taught Years 2 and 3 in a rural context. She previously worked in school administration.
Dave Chettle has been teaching for 17 years. He became a teacher following a career in sales. He has taught both primary and secondary students in a metropolitan context.
Fatima Kurtic has been teaching Prep to Year 12 in metropolitan schools for 10 years. She currently teaches and coordinates support for students with English as an additional language or dialect.
Transcript
[On-screen text] Viewer advice: First Nations people should be aware that it is possible that some individuals depicted in this video may have since passed away.
Kellie Nicholson, Head of Department, Science & IT, Woodcrest State College: Connecting with students is everything. We wouldn't have half the success that we would have if we didn't build positive relationships with students.
Emma Cheers, classroom teacher, Renmark Primary School: Connecting with students is fundamental to establishing a safe learning environment for all.
Danny Buller, classroom teacher, Briar Road Public School: Building authentic relationships with them, getting to know them personally, their family life, their likes, their dislikes, what kind of support they need in the classroom. Really helping, just building authentic relationships with them.
Henri King, classroom teacher, Xavier Catholic College: If they're onside and they feel that you are a source of safety, consistency, security, then they're automatically predisposed to want to work with you in class.
Annmarie (Ally) Lehane, classroom teacher, Xavier Catholic College: Having that trust and that individual relationship with each student to know what the warning signs are for if they are feeling a little off, or if they do need help, if they are feeling stressed or frustrated, or if they're having a great day, you know what to look out for with each individual student.
Niall Heron, classroom teacher, Briar Road Public School: You can get the best out of them. You can get the most out of them. If they can see that you're someone that they can trust, they will push themselves harder and further for you and for themselves.
Rachel Morrison, classroom teacher, Renmark Primary School: It's going to take the whole year. It's something that you should build on every day, every lesson, every week throughout the year because we want them to know that I'm always there for them. So, we've got that trust built up, those relationships built, so if they ever need support, then they know that they can come to me for anything.
Dave Chettle, classroom teacher, Woodcrest State College: I think every time you're at school is the time to do it, not just in the classroom. When you see them in the playground, when you see them at lunchtime and that sort of stuff, and between classes, that's a really good time 'cause they get to see the real you and they don't just see you as your classroom teacher, and I think that's where you can build the really good relationships.
Henri King: To build connections with students, I interact positively with all students.
Emma Cheers: Engage with parents and primary caregivers.
Danny Buller: I get to know my students.
Henri King: Interacting positively with students has had a huge impact on my classroom management. Firstly, for me personally, it makes it a lot less stressful. It doesn't mean it's a negative space that I have to walk into and feel stressed and drained walking out of. But secondly, for the students it means that they feel that same sense of positivity in the classroom. The classroom feels safe, it feels supportive. It's a consistent secure environment in which they are free to engage and express their own process of learning, and that's really enjoyable for them.
Kellie Nicholson: In my classroom, I ensure that I speak to students the way that I would like to be spoken to and show students respect at all times and use my manners.
So, I just want to say too to finish off, guys, thank you so much for your efforts today. I know that dissecting full animals isn't always easy, and I think overall you guys have done a really good job considering it's your first time doing it.
Danny Buller: I think using anyone's names, but particularly students, is a sign of respect, and I think showing students that you respect them is a major part in building a respectful and, like, safe environment. It builds a lot of rapport.
And eyes to me in 3 … 2 … and 1. Learning lips. Thank you, Destiny. Thank you, Kalani. Waiting for Chase's eyes to be on me. Bella, you were standing with your partner from the very beginning. Good job, I love that, Lowanna Learners. Bentley and Anaya, you were also standing at the front with your partner. Skylar, can you come and stand here? Tokoa, can you be Skylar's partner? Thank you. Well done, everybody. That was super quick and very sensible.
Emma Cheers: It's important to positively frame communication in the classroom because it helps students to reinforce the expected behaviours by drawing attention to these positives. Other students are picking up on what I am wanting in the classroom. This has then meant that I've had a reduction in explicitly correcting behaviour.
Okay. Thank you, Sophia, for your eyes. Thank you, Brooklyn. Hands in laps, eyes looking.
Henri King: Using acknowledgement and praise is so crucial for building those connections because it helps the students feel good about themselves. It builds their confidence, makes them feel like they can achieve things in the classroom. It makes them feel that because you're explicitly telling them they can. And if they hear that consistently over a long period of time, they'll start to believe it.
Amazing work up the front, drawing-focused. Well done, Steven. Well done, Samson. Excellent, Orlando, Timothy. Excellent, Outlaw.
Dave Chettle: Students are the best readers of body language, and they know exactly what you're feeling, and by giving that non-verbal praise, they actually get the praise and they don't get embarrassed by getting the praise because a lot of students don't like being praised publicly in front of people. So by doing that, they can read you and understand totally.
Fatima Kurtic, EAL/D coordinator, Woodcrest State College: Especially for our EAL/D students who are coming from different cultural backgrounds, at times they feel like they're not valued or what they're bringing to the school is not really seen as important, so giving them a chance to actually share that is very valuable if we're wanting our students to succeed.
Looking at your grades from last term, you did really, really well. You smashed English.
Student: Thank you.
Fatima Kurtic: Well done.
Danny Buller: Interacting positively with students has had a massive impact on my classroom management. I think it sets the foundation of really strong classroom management. It means that I have a good relationship with them. They feel safe with me. They know that when I am correcting them, it comes from a place of wanting them to succeed and to learn and not a place of punishment.
Dave Chettle: When I first started teaching, I thought you had to set expectations by being strong and gruff. I then worked out really quickly by being positive and focusing on the good things rather than the bad things has had a huge impact.
Danny Buller: Engaging with parents and primary caregivers is a really important part of building connections with students and with a wider community.
Niall Heron: At the start of the year, we send a little fact sheet, ‘All About Me’. So, I'd send an information sheet about myself that had my face, my name, my interests, why I like working at the school, previous teaching experience. Just lets the parents know and the caregivers know a bit more about who I am.
Dave Chettle: I like to make a phone call the start of each year and introduce myself because I believe that with just myself and the parents, we can help manage the child and get the best out of the child.
Hello, is that Fiona? Oh, hi, Fiona. How are you? David Chettle for Woodcrest College. How you going? That's good. I teach your daughter, Stephanie, and we are doing maths and science this year in Year 7. I just want to introduce myself because she's made a big jump from primary school to high school. So, I just want to – have you got a couple of minutes to have a chat?
The considerations when phoning parents or caregivers is to give them a message that me as the teacher is on their side. That's the most important consideration, that I'm here to help, let's work together to get the best outcome for your child.
What's the best way you like to be contacted? Do you prefer a phone call or an email?
Emma Cheers: Parents have a lot of opportunities to engage with us. They can come and see us in the morning in our Care and Connect time. They can communicate with us through emails and our messaging system. The other option that we have is that we have Breakfast Club twice a week, where parents can come in with their child to Breakfast Club and chat with their child's teacher or any other members of staff that might be around in a more informal setting. I find that this is really beneficial because it helps the children and the parents to feel more comfortable at school and it provides a great environment to talk about any concerns.
I guess the other thing as well that's been a bit of a challenge for Piper lately has been with her fracture in her arm. So, is there anything we can do at school to support that? And I guess what's going on at home in terms of the sling in what she can and can't do?
Piper’s father: Yeah, I think, well, obviously it's been a fair distraction and a concern of Piper's that she would probably, that her schoolwork would suffer.
Emma Cheers: Those meetings can be a great opportunity to discuss a range of things. Could be student engagement, it could be if they're accessing any additional support, it could be about any programmes that we're providing. It can also be a great opportunity to talk to them about how their learning is progressing and what they could do to improve.
She's been working really hard on using the success criteria and particularly The Bumps to improve her work, and she's really been taking on feedback and applying that, which is a really good skill to have and it's really tricky to develop.
Piper’s father: Yep.
Emma Cheers: So that has been really awesome to see. I think in her information text, that was really high-quality learning. So that was excellent.
Piper’s father: Yep.
Piper: Yeah.
Piper’s father: It does seem to be a change in her mindset.
Emma Cheers: Yes, definitely.
Piper’s father: And it is definitely a lot more positive.
Emma Cheers: These meetings have supported me as being able to have the child there allows for really open communication. It allows the child to hear what they need to work on and make changes in the classroom. So, I've often noticed that after these meetings, the child's engagement might have increased. I can see that they're trying the certain goals that we have set, and it also allows us to follow through with an email or a message just to let the parent know how we're travelling in class. And then it allows for that continuous loop of communication.
Niall Heron: When you have a good rapport with parents and caregivers, you can bring that into the classroom. The students are aware that you have that rapport. They can … They'll see you talking to their parents or the caregivers outside at the school gates. It's almost like having a mini parent–teacher interview. Sometimes, you can give them a quick positive message at the end of the day or quickly pass over any concerns you've had about that child. When the students see that constantly, they really see there's a network wrapped around them, and when they're in the class, it makes managing that class a lot easier.
Hi, how are you?
Mother: Good. How are you?
Niall Heron: Doing very well. Yeah, she's had a really good day in math today.
Mother: Yeah, she said she's going really well.
Niall Heron: Yeah, she's enjoying it. She's sitting really intently listening to all the instructions, and because of that, she's just firing through all that work. And if she says she's finding anything tricky, she's putting up her hand and asking for help straight away. It's been really nice to see when she gets something, she's really happy about it.
Mother: Yeah.
Niall Heron: She's saying, ‘Yes, I've got this, now I can do it.’
Mother: Yeah.
Niall Heron: How's she doing at home with her homework and stuff?
Mother: Amazing. Oh, amazing. She's actually showed me some new work.
Niall Heron: Oh, super.
Mother: So, she's going really well in class with it.
Niall Heron: Excellent.
Mother: Yeah.
Danny Buller: When you go in speaking to a parent, it can be very easy to become intimidated or to not be sure how to approach it in a way that isn't going to offend somebody or make them defensive. So, for me, I find it really important to discuss with a trusted person, usually my supervisor or someone with more experience who may have dealt with a similar situation. I might talk to them, ask them for any advice on how best to word certain things or how should I approach the parent? If I go in without thinking about it ahead of time, often I don't say it in the way that I mean it and then miscommunications can occur. So, to prepare for the conversation, the first thing I would do would be to gather all the data and work samples, information that I want to show the parent, but then make sure as well that I'm going to word that in a way that the parents can access easily. We can tend to use a lot of teacher jargon that they might not understand. It can be a little bit overwhelming. I find talking to my supervisor really helps me to plan those conversations because he has a lot of experience in talking to parents in a relatable way. Preparing for the conversations beforehand, particularly with meeting with my supervisor, makes me feel a lot more confident going in. Because I'm confident, I think I enter the conversation a lot more calmly, which then immediately brings down the level of the conversation. The parents are calm as well.
Supervisor: And if you keep it to the facts, stick to the facts of what happened and also honing in on what we are going to do to support moving forward and how we can work together to make sure.
Danny Buller: When I'm phoning the parent or caregiver to have a conversation about their child, I would make sure that I'm phoning them at an appropriate time. I wouldn't call them at recess or lunch because sometimes the conversations can go for a bit longer. I don't want to rush off the phone or not be able to resolve the conversation positively. I would make sure that I have – if I needed – things written down in front of me for me to refer to so I don't feel flustered or forget what I wanted to say. And I would also make sure that even if the parent or caregiver might become a little bit defensive or upset, I make sure that my tone is always calm and positive.
Hi, how you going? It's Danny Buller from Briar Road Public School. That's good. How's your day been? Oh, wonderful. That's really good. Look, I'm just giving you a quick call. It's nothing too serious. I just wanted to let you know about something that happened on the playground today. Yeah. So, at lunchtime, we were playing a soccer game with some of our friends, and there was a little bit of interaction over who's turn it was to use the soccer ball. Yeah, and unfortunately it did end up in a bit of snatching and hitting when we didn't get the ball. Yeah. And we know that's something that he's really been working on and he's been making a lot of improvement in that area, but I just wanted to give you a call to let you know that it has been happening still with the supports that we have in place.
When the phone conversations are prepared, they almost always go positively. We don't always agree or come to a conclusion where we agree on what needs to be done, but both the parent and I walk away feeling like we've had a constructive conversation and we can move forward from there. If it's not planned, many times I've left the conversation thinking I didn't actually even say what I wanted to say, or we've spoken around the situation but not actually addressed it in the most efficient way or the best way. It can be easy to fall into, again, a deficit mindset. When you're communicating with the parents, it helps you build a relationship with them, but also to understand the student a little bit more, and then the scaffolds and the supports that are put in place tailored to the student, which then assists with behaviour management overall.
Henri King: Getting to know my students is so important for building connections. If I'm showing that interest in who they are, if I show that I care about them and what their goals are and who they might want to be in the future, it's showing them that I'm here to help, I'm on their team. I'm not some kind of disciplinarian authority figure trying to keep them in line all the time. I genuinely like them. I genuinely care about them and I want to support them.
Niall Heron: Getting to know your students is probably one of the most important things in classroom management. It's a long game that pays huge dividends. Once you know that child and you can speak to them about their interests, you know what it looks like when they're having a good day, when everything's all good in their headspace, they'll produce more for you. They will be happy to sit and learn in your classroom. The school supports the staff by getting to know the students. We produce an 'All About Me' fact file that's completed by the children within maybe the first day or so of them being in your new classroom. So, it will just say everything about them, their likes, their interests, hobbies, favourite colours, their strengths at school. One of my favourite parts of it is ‘I like it when my teacher does this’, ‘I don't like it when my teacher does that.’ That just gives you a really quick snapshot about those children, which you can then use when you're doing your other daily interactions with them.
Danny Buller: As a school, we really prioritise and value spending time with the students before school and during lunch and recess breaks, and we have quite a lot of teachers who, even if they aren't on duty, we will still go out and play games with the students. It's a really low stakes way to get to know them and build some relationships with them. We also, as a school, encourage getting to know students' cultural backgrounds, their interests, their siblings, their family life in a casual way.
Dylan, he's pretty strong.
Student: I want to get strong like my dad.
Danny Buller: [Gasps] Is your dad very strong?
Student: Taylor's the most biggest in this room.
Danny Buller: Taylor's your biggest? I thought you meant Taylor Swift for a minute, and I got really excited.
Student: My sister, Taylor.
Danny Buller: Your sister, Taylor. Yeah. Is she the one that went to Melbourne to watch the concert? That's exciting.
Henri King: It's really important for me to show interest in my students because it shows that I not only respect them as individuals, but I also care about them as a whole class, as a school community and in the broader community as a whole. It shows that I care about being here, that I moved to this community in order to get to know them and to encourage and support them, and that's crucial. That's the first kind of foundation for building a really great relationship to help them get through their whole school and career. Two ways in which I do this. One, I really make an effort to participate in community events, particularly footy – AFL football – here on Tiwi Islands. That's something that the whole community loves, and I don't even have to be good at it, which I'm not. I just have to show I'm interested. I just have to turn up to watch the games, turn up to training, have a crack, go on in the field and play, and people love that – students, parents, the whole community. The second way is through respecting culture and language by trying to learn it too.
Class: Good morning, Henri!
Henri King: [Speaks Tiwi language] How are you mob?
Class: [Speaks Tiwi language] Good.
Henri King: [Speaks Tiwi language] Yes. What did you mob do last night?
There's a lot of resources out there, and for every piece of time, even if it's just a little bit that I put into that, it pays me back tenfold just because the way it encourages student engagement, it shows that I care. It shows that I'm interested and it actually allows that teacher–student relationship to be flipped. Asking all of the students about their language, trying to get them to teach me in the classroom but also in the playground, and that just provides hundreds of opportunities for positive interactions that you can build on every single day.
Annmarie (Ally) Lehane: I live in the community with the students, so they are my neighbours, they're across from me, they're beside me. I play footy with some of them. It's such a small community that if you go for a walk, if you go to the shop, no matter where you go, you're going to meet them every evening. I also would share, especially here – I feel like they really acknowledge and appreciate you sharing your, kind of, life with them. So, they have met my family, they know who my friends are, they know what I'm interested in. They would know what I do for term holidays. It's knowing where that line is and that you can share general information about what you might do on your term holidays, but you're not going to give them any specific information. You're going to introduce them to your family when they're here, but they don't know the specific lives of any of your family. So, it's trying to give them a little of that information to get them to trust you and to build that relationship but still understanding that you are their teacher, and you are in a professional position with them.
Rachel Morrison: Showing interest in your students is a really important part of building those relationships. Talk about the things that they like all the time. So, I like to also have a bit of background knowledge about what they are talking about, whether or not it's video games or sport or things that they do on the weekend. I think they just really enjoy sharing those things with the teacher, and I want to be able to get involved as well. Those connections are nice to have. I share information with the children around my likes and interests and things like that, or I touch on a little bit about my family and background and things like that and my schooling. I don't go into depth too much about the ins and outs of my whole life, but I don't think they need to know those kind of things, but I like to connect sports and things that I like with the sports that they like. I think that builds a nice little connection with some of the students.
Dave Chettle: When I'm on duty or when I'm on a break, I like to play games with them. So, if instead of standing around watching them, get involved, play handball, play basketball, teach them how to shoot hoops – that sort of stuff.
Henri King: Getting to know my students has had an unequivocally positive impact on my classroom management because I show that I'm interested in them, I'm interested in their culture, their language. I'm interested in who they are as people and what they want to achieve. If I'm approaching them with that positive outlook, they respond equally positively.
[On-screen text] Building positive connections with all students: Recap
- Interact positively with all students.
- Engage with families.
- Get to know your students.
Acknowledgements
- Briar Road Public School, New South Wales
- Renmark Primary School, South Australia
- Woodcrest State College, Queensland
- Xavier Catholic College, Northern Territory
- Tammy Kerinaiua for Tiwi translations
Keywords: student engagement, disruption, disruptive behaviour