Classroom management for the 21 st Century Scholarship and certificate programme Workshop 3

Agenda for today: Introduction to communication Non-verbal communication Creativity in the classroom

An Introduction to Communication Look at the pictures of the boys: How would you describe the attitudes of these boys? What might you guess about their personalities? What role do you think they each play in their class? Which one do you think you would be most at ease confronting? How has all this information been communicated to you?

An Introduction to Communication Communication: “the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium” The Oxford English Dictionary Behaviour is an important form of communication, perhaps more so than the words we speak The classroom is a social setting Whole-class teaching stretches our normal social skills to the extreme

Behaviour as non-verbal communication: Head and body posture Facial expression Gaze Hand movements Interpersonal distance Intonation Pace of speech Dress

Non-verbal communication: Getting attention Conveying enthusiasm

How to get attention quickly and authoritatively: Use some kind of signal/marker to draw the class’s attention Look confident: o Maintain eye-contact o Adopt a relaxed posture o Position yourself at a higher level o Lean forwards towards the class o If necessary sit yourself on something Having got the class’ attention move on rapidly Neill & Caswell, 1993

Non-verbal communication: conveying enthusiasm You can’t force children to learn, you can only persuade them that the work you want them to do is an attractive way to spend their time.

Non-verbal communication: conveying enthusiasm Know your material inside out Allow lesson content to be intellectually stimulating Greet student contributions with enormous enthusiasm Use a wide variety of facial expressions, gestures and tone of voice Look intently at the class and use head movements to convey involvement Know when to keep silent Smile and remember to have fun Maintain a relaxed, controlled attitude Neill & Caswell, 1993

The Case for Creativity

Flow, Creativity and Motivation: Flow: ‘The state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it…for the sheer sake of doing it. ‘ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Creativity increases enjoyment Enjoyment allows you to achieve Flow Students who experience Flow when undertaking work are intrinsically motivated to persevere

A spot of blue-sky thinking...