Effective Supervision Practices MMS Safe & Civil Schools Team February, 2008

A Positive Adult Presence Promotes:  An invitational school climate  A spirit of cooperation  A sense of adult availability  Student/Staff connections  Student rule-following

An Effective Supervisor will…  Be there on time  In the right place(s) physically  In the right place mentally  Be supportive of other supervisors  Be willing to initiate contact with any student  Be knowledgeable about policies and procedures

What does Effective Supervision “Look Like”?  Positive, random verbal interactions with students  Continually moving throughout the area – use of proximity  Continually visually “sweeping” the setting  Watching/Listening for unusual crowds, sounds, noise levels, activities

Watch this supervisor – what is she doing that makes her effective?

Common Expectations  How are students expected to enter the setting?  How are students expected to behave in the setting?  How are students expected to exit the setting?

How does an Effective Supervisor actively communicate with students?  Create an assumption of cooperation and compliance with expectations Use body language and tone of voice  Intervene early with low-level misbehavior  Make early and positive contact with students misbehaving

How NOT to do it!!

Consistently…  Consistently means that- Every observed misbehavior receives a response Responses to similar misbehaviors are the same  Not responding sends a message that the expectation is not important  Inconsistency breeds a climate of “unfairness”

Calmly…  Respond in an unemotional manner  Emotional responses Are inappropriate models for students May escalate the situation May reinforce behaviors for students who are seeking attention  Remind yourself- Don’t take it personally “I am the adult” Consider the interaction a teaching opportunity

Respectfully…  Use respectful words, tone of voice and body language  Keep the responses as private as possible/reasonable  Respectful responses- Model appropriate behavior for students Contribute to a positive school climate Allow students to “save face” with peers

How does this look?  Get the student’s attention - quietly say “I need to speak with you”  Remove students from a peer group setting  Position yourself in a non-confrontational stance This allows you to speak AND continue to observe other students Prevents an escalation or emotional response from the student

The same situation….

An Effective Supervisor will have a “Menu” of productive responses “Gentle Responses”  The quick “one liner”  The “instructional reprimand”  Humorous reprimand  Relationship reprimand

 Ask the student to “Stay where you are and think about (the expectation).”  Useful when a student is “en route”. An Effective Supervisor will have a “Menu” of productive responses “Brief Delay”

An Effective Supervisor will have a “Menu” of productive responses “Positive Practice”  Have a student demonstrate the expected behavior – “Please go back and walk – Thank you.”  Useful when the offense has a physical component.

An Effective Supervisor will have a “Menu” of productive responses “Restitution”  Having a student “repair” damage that has been done.  The student also apologizes to someone he/she has harmed in some way.

 Having a student move to a different location or to a restricted space.  Useful when the current location may be a contributing factor in the misbehavior. An Effective Supervisor will have a “Menu” of productive responses “Change in Location”

An Effective Supervisor will have a “Menu” of productive responses “Referral to a more intensive consequence”  For egregious or repeated offenses – especially when safety of others is put at risk.

An Effective Supervisor conveys an assumption of student compliance  Using body language and tone of voice to demonstrate an expectation that the student will follow direction.  Getting the student’s attention first  Not giving direction from a distance  Avoiding an “audience” or “squaring off” with a student

Consider these 2 examples…

 State the direction positively  Not framing the direction as a question  Being as brief as possible  Giving the student reasonable time to respond An Effective Supervisor conveys an assumption of student compliance

What does an Effective Supervisor do when a student fails to respond?  He or she will try- Appealing to cooperation Using humor Using the “broken record” technique Offering the student a choice  He or she will avoid- Arguing Escalation with the student Letting the student “get away with it” Threatening or physically trying to make the student comply

If a student continues to fail to respond????  Record what has happened  Inform the student that there will be a follow up regarding the matter  Forward the incident to the appropriate adult (teacher, administrator)