Duration: 15:02
About the teachers
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.
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.
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.
Danny Buller, classroom teacher, Briar Road Public School: A non-verbal correction is a gesture, or a look or moving closer to a student, so they know they need to correct their behaviour. It's important to use non-verbal corrections in your classroom because it ensures that the flow of the lesson isn't interrupted and that minimises behaviour.
Henri King, classroom teacher, Xavier Catholic College: If I'm verbally teaching to the class, if I'm explaining something or giving simple instructions about a learning activity, non-verbal corrections can be delivered simultaneously. I can keep teaching and keep engaging with the classroom as a whole, whilst also gently reminding a student that they need to put that away or they need to re-engage with me talking.
Rachel Morrison, classroom teacher, Renmark Primary School: Sometimes they don't realise that they might be disengaged or disrupting the learning of others, so I am able just to individually just give them that little prompt and then they can move on with their learning.
Danny Buller: A common non-verbal correction that I might use in my class is a finger to my lips to remind students to stop talking. I might put my hand out if I want a student to stop what they're doing.
Rachel Morrison: Just like a look, just to prompt them to just regain their attention with my teaching.
Henri King: Proximity – so simply moving closer to students, perhaps as I'm talking to the rest of the class and explaining something. There could be a gentle tap on the desk where the student is sitting to help them lift their eyes up to me and re-engage with whatever it is I'm saying. Or it could even be bobbing down next to students, using my body language to remind students that I'm here and that I'm listening, and to help them re-engage with me in a way that's discreet and subtle and doesn't point it out to everyone.
Danny Buller: When students receive a non-verbal correction, they usually correct their behaviour without any further prompting. It creates an environment where they know that the teacher is watching them, but they're not going to be called out in front of all their peers. I use corrective gestures when I'm in the middle of teaching a lesson or explaining behaviour expectations and might be something as simple as a handout to let the student know that I want them to stop what they're doing or a finger on the lips to let them know that I want them to stop talking.
Roses, garden forks, food forks, pitchforks and cranky cats.
I use proximity to support me with my classroom management by maintaining the lesson flow, particularly when students are working individually or at their desks. If I notice that they're not on task, I can move closer to them, so that they know that I'm monitoring them, but I don't have to stop teaching the lesson or communicating with other students.
Hands on head. I'm having a quick scan, and I can see …
When I use deliberate pausing to support me in my classroom management, I have to use it quite strategically. It can be difficult in the kindergarten classroom because pausing when they're talking, waiting for them to stop, isn't always obvious to them and they might not notice it. So I would use deliberate pausing instead after giving an instruction, to make sure that they've all followed instructions, or with a non-verbal gesture.
And you’re going to —— Oh, my turn —— We're going to fill our page with ’ih’ and ‘ff’.
A teacher look is another really good non-verbal gesture that you can use at any point during your lesson to just remind a student that you can see what they're doing and it hasn't gone unnoticed. And again, it avoids interrupting the lesson flow.
Now we know how loud we can —— Oh dear —— Now we know how loud we can talk to our friends.
I would support students who might misinterpret non-verbal corrections by explaining what the non-verbal correction is, practising it and modelling it for them. If they still had trouble understanding the non-verbal correction, I would include a verbal correction to go with it.
You’re going to think, what does that word start with? And you’re going to write that letter on your whiteboard. Are you going to call out your answer?
Class: No.
Danny Buller: No. When Ms Buller says, ‘Chin it’, what are you going to do? Casey on the ground please.
Class: Chin it.
Danny Buller: Chin it! Even if you're not finished, are you still going to chin it?
Class: Yes.
Danny Buller: Yeah.
If the non-verbal correction didn't help the students to meet the behaviour expectations, I would escalate to a verbal correction.
Let's do another one. What do we see? What do we see? Oh, I'm going to wait for everyone's eyes. Still waiting for eyes and learning lips. Okay. What sound?
Class: ‘Mm’.
Danny Buller: Using non-verbal corrections has impacted my teaching really positively because it means I can continue teaching without having to interrupt the lesson flow.
Henri King: Non-verbal corrections are so important in my classroom because it gives me the opportunity to correct a student's behaviour in a way that doesn't shame them in front of the rest of the class. By using a non-verbal, quite discreet correction, it means that that student can be gently re-engaged with the expectation without making them feel embarrassed because other students have noticed that they're doing something ‘wrong’. But also, in our school community, there's a lot of non-verbal communication that's regularly used anyway, so it's actually easier for the students to engage with it because it's something they're quite familiar with. I use proximity whenever I am explaining something to the whole class and I notice that students need that non-verbal correction to re-engage. By simply moving closer to them, I can continue to explain what I'm needing to say to the whole class, and my proximity automatically makes them re-engage because they realise that the focus is now on them and that they need to be brought back into engagement. I also use proximity in situations where the whole class is quiet and engaged in the learning, but if I see students starting to disengage, I can move closer to them as part of my circulation, bring in that proximity, and at their awareness of my presence is usually enough to help them re-engage and realise that they should be doing the learning task. I use a deliberate pause in instances when if I'm trying to explain something verbally to the whole class and I notice that a student is disengaged and talking quietly over the top of me, a verbal pause automatically makes a whole class aware that there is a disruption. My teacher look helps with my classroom management because it means that that student is aware that as a teacher, I do actually hold authority in the classroom. And that if I can use that look in a way that's non-verbal and obviously non-threatening, but it helps them to realise that actually there are expectations that they're failing to meet, and that kind of eye contact or that facial gesture brings them back on board.
Good taste. Good. So that's our lesson goal today —— Thanks, Paddy. Today we're learning about Yilinga. Success means …
I use corrective gestures in instances where I'm either speaking to the whole class and I need to subtly gesture to students to re-engage. For example, if a student has pulled something out under their desk and it’s distracting them, I can do a simple gesture to put that away, and students know that gesture – they respond to it. Or I can just tap gently on the desk where that student's sitting and that immediately makes them aware that there's something they're doing that needs to stop and needs to be addressed. That's really helpful because all those gestures can be done whilst I'm also monitoring, engaging with the rest of the class; teaching the rest of the class; doing what I need to be doing. It doesn't disrupt the flow of the whole lesson – it's just quick and easy and quite subtle.
Let's go, Iggy, Scooby, shirt on. Good work. Good morning, come on in.
Student: Henri!
Henri King: I can support students who might misinterpret non-verbal corrections by following up with them. If I've noticed that a non-verbal correction hasn't produced a response that I wanted it to, or has been misinterpreted or even ignored, that can be the point at which I can re-engage with those students. Maybe follow up with a verbal correction or a verbal clarification to see if they need my help. And that works because it means that even if the non-verbal correction is misinterpreted or fails to land, that's just the first level of correction. And then I can move up to the next level.
And fill in the missing words where there's a blank line. When you're ready up the back. Thanks, Orlando. Five ... Four ... Three ... Two … One. Excellent. Read it with me if you can, or you can sit and listen.
What I've noticed about students' responses when using non-verbal corrections is that overall, they tend to respond really well. Most of my corrections can happen non-verbally because it's a way that's subtle. It's easy to do. Students understand it. Most of the time it works, which is really helpful. There's rarely a time where I need to escalate that correction: I can just use a pause, a gesture, a tap on the desk, that kind of thing. Non-verbal corrections has made my teaching a lot easier because it means that I'm not constantly shifting my focus and verbalising corrections in between trying to teach. If I can be teaching verbally and correcting non-verbally, it just makes the whole classroom management situation a lot smoother.
Rachel Morrison: Non-verbal corrections support my teaching because it allows me to just quickly give that gesture to a student without stopping teaching for very long – continue the flow of the lesson – and it's usually enough just to prompt a student to correct their behaviour. I teach my students the responses to non-verbal corrections by modelling them, reteaching them throughout the term or the year, setting those expectations up early in the year so they know how to respond to them. I use proximity when I’m wanting to continue the flow of the lesson. So if I'm teaching, I might just move over next to a student who might be disengaged in the learning so they know that I'm aware that their behaviour’s not meeting the behaviour expectations.
I'm going to come around and drop off the sheet. You need a pencil and coloured textas or pencils to complete this sheet —— Thank you.
The deliberate pause is a great strategy to just support a student that's not engaged in the learning at the time. I can just pause, wait for all students to re-engage and be focused on me – and it just doesn't draw attention to the student that was disengaged – and then I can get on with the flow of the lesson.
Okay, waterfalls. Four units, Willow, fantastic.
Student: Four units.
Rachel Morrison: Thank you, okay. Now that you've all had a go at doing …
Using the teacher look is something that students know very well, especially if they're later on years in their schooling. They know that if a teacher pauses and gives them the look that that's usually the teacher's wanting them to correct their behaviour or they're not meeting the expectations of the learning task. And it allows the teacher just to give that quick look, wait for the student to re-engage and then get on with the learning.
So you'll move to your table quietly. When your whole table is ready, I will say —— When your table is ready, you'll be able to go get a marker.
Corrective gestures are usually non-verbal and they're just a quick way for teachers to keep the lesson flowing. It might be if I want them to pop their hands down just a quick, like hands down, finger to the lip if I would like them to be silent. And it's just a quick way for students to correct their behaviour independently and allows the teacher just to move on with the lesson. If a student's misinterpreted the non-verbal correction, usually I'd follow that up with a verbal or just have a quick quiet word to that student so they know what's expected of them.
Okay, so I've got your sheets here.
So if the non-verbal hasn't had the desired effect, I would give that a bit of time and then go back to that and use a verbal to back up the non-verbal that I made, so students have that understanding that if I'm using the non-verbal gesture, this is what it means and this is the expectations.
Textas down —— All eyes on me —— Great, thank you. Now, you've all had a …
Students' responses with non-verbal corrections are usually well-accepted. They're quick and they're usually able to re-engage without any disruptions.
[On-screen text] Non-verbal correction: Recap of elements for success
Proximity
- Move near the students.
- Ensure you’re still able to see all other students.
- Scan the whole class.
Deliberately pausing
- Sustain a deliberate period of silence.
- Ensure the period of silence is long enough to gain the students’ attention.
- Combine this with scanning for the students’ responses.
‘The look’
- Intentionally turn towards the students.
- Look at the students.
- Combine this with a gesture.
A gesture
- Make a corrective gesture.
Acknowledgements
- Briar Road Public School, New South Wales
- Renmark Primary School, South Australia
- Woodcrest State College, Queensland
- Xavier Catholic College, Northern Territory
- The Balloon Blow Up by Andy Geppert, used with permission from Lothian Children’s Books
Keywords: student engagement, disruption, disruptive behaviour