Positive and Safe Learning Environment
Creating a positive and safe learning environment for your class is a vital thing. It must be set and clear to the students if you wish learning to occur in your classroom.
1. Clearly define expectations: Publish student guidelines and the consequences for not following them. Ensure they are voiced in positive terms.
2. Involve students in the process of defining rules/guidelines: This will increase their sense of ownership of the rules and guidelines.
3. Establish rules and guidelines at the start of the year: This will ensure that the rules are clear from the start and will minimize issues down the road.
4. Practice routines: This will help to ensure the norms become part of the students’ daily reality. Much practice is needed at the start of the year to enforce the norms, as well as after holidays and extended breaks.
5. Apply rules and guidelines with consistency: No favouritism is shown to any students, which will help to ensure students feel valued and trust is present.
6. Don’t treat students only as children: Regard students as people and treat them with fairness, courtesy and respect.
7. Do not tolerate any negative treatment between students: Bullying, name calling, teasing and roughhousing are not acceptable behaviours.
8. Never use sarcasm: Students do not understand sarcasm and will think it is acceptable if the teacher uses it. It can also undermine trust and cause emotional harm.
9. Create an environment where all questions are accepted: Students’ needs to feel safe and be able to ask whatever questions they want to ask. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
10. Physical education is for everyone: Not everyone may be a naturally gifted athlete, but all students can work hard to improve their fitness and find one activity that they enjoy and are good at. This is necessary to form positive lifetime habits.
11. Lead by example: Model appropriate behaviours for the students at all times through your own conduct.
12. Ensure children are behaving when travelling to and from the class: Practice the correct way for students to get from point A to point B and rehearse this routine.
13. Define proper stopping and starting signals: Start when I say ‘go’, use ‘3, 2, 1, stop’ or blow the whistle to stop the activity.
14. Maximize MIP, ALT-PE, and ToT: Ensure that all activities maximize these three principles as defined by Launder (2001).
15. Pick the teams for the students: They do not get to pick the teams; this will ensure that all children learn to work together and support each other.
16. Set protocols for picking up and returning the equipment: This ensures that order is maintained and that the students respect and take care of the equipment. The students who were listening and know what to do get their equipment first.
17. When the teacher is talking: All equipment is on the ground and is not being played with.
18. Critical demandingness: By showing consistency and communicate demands to children it ensures that they act to meet these demands. Students must understand the demands and work to live up to these demands. Expect that they will follow the rules, and they will know what you expect them to perform certain behaviours.
19. Firm but warm approach: All interactions with children must be done with care and consideration; however the teacher must be calm and firm in how they approach students. Teachers must mean what they say.
20. Promote ownership of student behaviour: Create a climate where students know what the expectations are and what behaviours are acceptable. They must also know that they are responsible for their own behaviours and their choices and actions. This entails accepting responsibility for the consequences of their choices and actions.
21. Ensure you are tuned in: Make sure you are paying attention not only to what is happening in a literal sense but also what the emotional climate of the class is. Are any children demonstrating ‘off’ behaviours? Is someone having a bad day? Ensure you catch and address anything out of the norm before it explodes or turns into a behavioural issue in the middle of a lesson.
22. Be passionate and enthusiastic: Show the students that you care about your work, them, and are happy to be there. Your enthusiasm will be contagious.
23. Show individual interest in every person: Give all of your students some of your attention and show them that they all matter to you. This will go far in terms of building trust with the class as they will know you care.
24. Catch them being good/positive pinpointing: Use positive pinpointing and highlight specific behaviours. This will cause others to emulate this behaviour as they will want the positive praise from the teacher.
25. Be positive at all times: In terms of feedback, how you phrase any rules and routines and expectations. Tell students what you want from them, not what you don’t want. Ex: Walk please, versus don’t run.
26. Give instructions in a positive and assertive voice: Display confidence, look the students in the eyes and be assertive, be a leader.
27. Keep your cool at all times: It is never acceptable to yell at a student or to take your frustration out on then. Keep a cool head and do what you need to do.
28. Address the behaviour, not the child: We all have bad moments and when a student acts out, address the behaviour, and remember to let it go and allow the student to resume the correct behaviour.
29. Check for compliance: If you ask student to do something, check to ensure it is done
30. Check for understanding: Ask students questions to ensure they understand your directions.
31. Ensure the approach is consistent amongst staff members: If you are not, it will be undermining your actions.
32. Promote an environment where students work together: Students must learn to get along and support each other.
33. Assign varied tasks: Change things up to keep students motivated and to keep their attention. If students get bored, they are prone to off task behaviour.
34. Develop a group/team spirit: This will help to forge a bond between classmates and increase caring/respect. Use unifying elements like mascots, songs, team names, practised routines.
35. Use a variety of different styles: Use a repertoire of different behavioural management styles to address different contexts. Some approaches do not work with all students in all contexts.
36. Use proximity control: Approach a student or group of students that are off task and give them the ‘look’ or quietly ask the child or children to get back on task.
37. Choose your words carefully: Students are vulnerable people and should be addressed with respect. Some words, sayings and terms may also be inappropriate. Ensure language is appropriate for their developmental level and level of understanding.
38. Learn children’s names and use them: First, this will increase trust and students will feel that they have your attention and that you care for their wellbeing. Second, it can be useful to get a child’s attention from across the room if they are off task by calling out their name.
39. Do not discipline a child in front of others: This can cause resentment and may inspire the child to further rebel against you.
40. Use overlapping: Address multiple issues at once and pay attention to what is going on in every corner of your classroom.
41. Use selective ignoring: Ignore some off task behaviours or undesirable actions if they are not interfering with your lesson or interfering with others. Sometimes the negative behaviours will stop on their own.
Creating a positive and safe learning environment for your class is a vital thing. It must be set and clear to the students if you wish learning to occur in your classroom.
1. Clearly define expectations: Publish student guidelines and the consequences for not following them. Ensure they are voiced in positive terms.
2. Involve students in the process of defining rules/guidelines: This will increase their sense of ownership of the rules and guidelines.
3. Establish rules and guidelines at the start of the year: This will ensure that the rules are clear from the start and will minimize issues down the road.
4. Practice routines: This will help to ensure the norms become part of the students’ daily reality. Much practice is needed at the start of the year to enforce the norms, as well as after holidays and extended breaks.
5. Apply rules and guidelines with consistency: No favouritism is shown to any students, which will help to ensure students feel valued and trust is present.
6. Don’t treat students only as children: Regard students as people and treat them with fairness, courtesy and respect.
7. Do not tolerate any negative treatment between students: Bullying, name calling, teasing and roughhousing are not acceptable behaviours.
8. Never use sarcasm: Students do not understand sarcasm and will think it is acceptable if the teacher uses it. It can also undermine trust and cause emotional harm.
9. Create an environment where all questions are accepted: Students’ needs to feel safe and be able to ask whatever questions they want to ask. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
10. Physical education is for everyone: Not everyone may be a naturally gifted athlete, but all students can work hard to improve their fitness and find one activity that they enjoy and are good at. This is necessary to form positive lifetime habits.
11. Lead by example: Model appropriate behaviours for the students at all times through your own conduct.
12. Ensure children are behaving when travelling to and from the class: Practice the correct way for students to get from point A to point B and rehearse this routine.
13. Define proper stopping and starting signals: Start when I say ‘go’, use ‘3, 2, 1, stop’ or blow the whistle to stop the activity.
14. Maximize MIP, ALT-PE, and ToT: Ensure that all activities maximize these three principles as defined by Launder (2001).
15. Pick the teams for the students: They do not get to pick the teams; this will ensure that all children learn to work together and support each other.
16. Set protocols for picking up and returning the equipment: This ensures that order is maintained and that the students respect and take care of the equipment. The students who were listening and know what to do get their equipment first.
17. When the teacher is talking: All equipment is on the ground and is not being played with.
18. Critical demandingness: By showing consistency and communicate demands to children it ensures that they act to meet these demands. Students must understand the demands and work to live up to these demands. Expect that they will follow the rules, and they will know what you expect them to perform certain behaviours.
19. Firm but warm approach: All interactions with children must be done with care and consideration; however the teacher must be calm and firm in how they approach students. Teachers must mean what they say.
20. Promote ownership of student behaviour: Create a climate where students know what the expectations are and what behaviours are acceptable. They must also know that they are responsible for their own behaviours and their choices and actions. This entails accepting responsibility for the consequences of their choices and actions.
21. Ensure you are tuned in: Make sure you are paying attention not only to what is happening in a literal sense but also what the emotional climate of the class is. Are any children demonstrating ‘off’ behaviours? Is someone having a bad day? Ensure you catch and address anything out of the norm before it explodes or turns into a behavioural issue in the middle of a lesson.
22. Be passionate and enthusiastic: Show the students that you care about your work, them, and are happy to be there. Your enthusiasm will be contagious.
23. Show individual interest in every person: Give all of your students some of your attention and show them that they all matter to you. This will go far in terms of building trust with the class as they will know you care.
24. Catch them being good/positive pinpointing: Use positive pinpointing and highlight specific behaviours. This will cause others to emulate this behaviour as they will want the positive praise from the teacher.
25. Be positive at all times: In terms of feedback, how you phrase any rules and routines and expectations. Tell students what you want from them, not what you don’t want. Ex: Walk please, versus don’t run.
26. Give instructions in a positive and assertive voice: Display confidence, look the students in the eyes and be assertive, be a leader.
27. Keep your cool at all times: It is never acceptable to yell at a student or to take your frustration out on then. Keep a cool head and do what you need to do.
28. Address the behaviour, not the child: We all have bad moments and when a student acts out, address the behaviour, and remember to let it go and allow the student to resume the correct behaviour.
29. Check for compliance: If you ask student to do something, check to ensure it is done
30. Check for understanding: Ask students questions to ensure they understand your directions.
31. Ensure the approach is consistent amongst staff members: If you are not, it will be undermining your actions.
32. Promote an environment where students work together: Students must learn to get along and support each other.
33. Assign varied tasks: Change things up to keep students motivated and to keep their attention. If students get bored, they are prone to off task behaviour.
34. Develop a group/team spirit: This will help to forge a bond between classmates and increase caring/respect. Use unifying elements like mascots, songs, team names, practised routines.
35. Use a variety of different styles: Use a repertoire of different behavioural management styles to address different contexts. Some approaches do not work with all students in all contexts.
36. Use proximity control: Approach a student or group of students that are off task and give them the ‘look’ or quietly ask the child or children to get back on task.
37. Choose your words carefully: Students are vulnerable people and should be addressed with respect. Some words, sayings and terms may also be inappropriate. Ensure language is appropriate for their developmental level and level of understanding.
38. Learn children’s names and use them: First, this will increase trust and students will feel that they have your attention and that you care for their wellbeing. Second, it can be useful to get a child’s attention from across the room if they are off task by calling out their name.
39. Do not discipline a child in front of others: This can cause resentment and may inspire the child to further rebel against you.
40. Use overlapping: Address multiple issues at once and pay attention to what is going on in every corner of your classroom.
41. Use selective ignoring: Ignore some off task behaviours or undesirable actions if they are not interfering with your lesson or interfering with others. Sometimes the negative behaviours will stop on their own.