Duration: 7:03
About the teachers
Niall Heron has taught Foundation to Year 6 in metropolitan contexts for 18 years.
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.
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.
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.
Niall Heron, classroom teacher, Briar Road Public School: Scanning the classroom is intentionally moving your head around the class, letting the students know you are looking at every one of them.
Annmarie (Ally) Lehane, classroom teacher, Xavier Catholic College: It allows me to communicate to the students that I am monitoring their behaviour.
Dave Chettle, classroom teacher, Woodcrest State College: Any behaviour management needs to know what everyone is doing in the class. Scanning is one of the most important parts because you need to keep an eye on what everyone is doing in the classroom and so that helps you do what you need to do next.
Annmarie (Ally) Lehane: Scanning the classroom: it's about safety. I'm allowed to see that it is a safe environment for the students. I can also see if the students are on task and if there is a student struggling and if they need one-to-one support.
Miley, the sheet can go up on the cupboard there. Yeah. Thank you, girls, for putting it into the bin. If you can come and sit back down when you're ready. Okay, girls, can I get everyone to put down their pens? And everyone looking up to me. Thank you, Fiona. Thank you, Rosie. Yeah.
I would start at the top of the classroom to scan the classroom fully to see if there's any major issues. Then, on my circulation of the classroom, I would also scan to see is there anything from a different angle? I try to do it on a continual basis. It is not just a one scan or one circulation of the room. Even when you're working individually with students, you're taking that quick pause to look up, to scan, to make sure all students are still on task. By scanning the classroom, I'm able to identify students who may be becoming disengaged or disruptive due to not understanding the lesson content. So, by seeing students who may not be on task, I can identify if there's something that is too difficult or too easy for them and then differentiate the lesson content to suit their needs.
Excellent, yes. Onto the next one.
Giving that non-verbal gesture or giving eye contact to get them to continue their work. Students know that scanning the classroom is done continually so they are less inclined to become disruptive or disengaged when they know that it is going to be identified and responded to very, very quickly.
Niall Heron: Scanning the class helps me monitor the behaviour of the students by making sure they're all meeting the behaviour expectations, and it makes them aware that I am watching them.
Last couple of people, 10 seconds. Oh, Javarn, there's a pencil on the floor. Could you grab that? Thank you.
Where I position myself when I'm scanning is usually at the front of the classroom, which the importance of that is that's where all the students are facing. They can see you there, there's eye contact there.
Okay guys, great job. We're going to get ready to leave the classroom to go out for our lunch.
I scan the classroom numerous times through lessons, after I've given an instruction, when the children have been set off on task, as they're working.
Okay, row one, can you tuck your ... almost … can you tuck your chair in? Come and line up outside, please. Great work, Lachlan. Good job. You can smile. Well done, guys. Beautiful. Let's go row 4. Just when Chance gets comfy. Well done, boys. Good job.
Okay, off we go. Straight on it, boys, well done. Good job. You're going to work on a 3, remember, okay?
Just make sure you're working on your own boards, keeping that voice off, working in silence. Well done, guys.
It's really important to scan the classroom when you're working with individual students to let the students still know that you are watching.
'Crept' is good. And what's the word you're going to write there? Fear? Why are you writing that word?
I make my scanning intentional by doing a fairly obvious head movement from side to side, making sure the children can see I'm going from one side of the classroom to the other.
Frequent scanning of the classroom has helped me manage behaviour by giving the children the knowledge that I am aware of what they are doing. They're less likely to get distracted or disrupt when they know they're being watched all the time.
Dave Chettle: Scanning helps you monitor the behaviour because you get an idea of what everyone is doing and you know who's engaged and who's not.
Okay, everyone stop, look —— Excellent. Really good. So for the fast finishers, this is your task ...
It's really important to make it intentional by letting the students know that you're moving your head and watching, because the students are watching you. Then, if they see you moving your head, they know you are scanning and they know that you're looking out to see what's happening. I think one of the most important things you need to do in your classroom is set it up properly for yourself, so that you can actually move in points around the classroom where you can keep a constant monitoring and look at what's going on. I like to set up the room with a couple of spots that I have. And depending on the classroom, the spots change depending on where the students are. By getting into the habit of frequently scanning, what it means is, and the key part to behaviour, is stopping it before it occurs. Because you'll get a constant look at what's going on in the classroom. You know who's engaged, who's doing the work, who might start to fidget. Because you know the students well, you start to get signs of when they're going to start to escalate. By knowing that early, you can then de-escalate.
Okay. So. So, you have —— Thank you —— Good. I've got some girls over there who aren't watching. Thanks, girls. Okay, so you have $35 to spend.
[On-screen text] Scanning your classroom: Recap of elements for success
- Position yourself to see all students, including when talking to an individual student or group.
- Use intentional and obvious head movements so students are aware that you are scanning the class.
- Ensure all students and areas of the learning environment are monitored.
Acknowledgements
- Briar Road Public School, New South Wales
- Renmark Primary School, South Australia
- Woodcrest State College, Queensland
- Xavier Catholic College, Northern Territory
Keywords: student engagement, disruption, disruptive behaviour