All behaviour serves a purpose
-William Glasser
This week in ECUR 320, we focused on emotions and engagement in the classroom. I loved this week’s lecture because it was directly relatable to my ECUR 320 learning goal by exploring how I will build relationships with my students and support their well-being to nurture an inclusive classroom. To create transformational learners and support their critical thinking, I must first ensure that they feel welcome to share their thoughts, emotions, and opinions with their peers and me. Supporting my students’ well-being is imperative to allow for the diverse backgrounds of my students’ voices to be heard in the classroom.
The timing could not have been better for this lesson because I had a challenging day working as an EA yesterday with a student with behavioural issues. I felt so defeated and stressed out after because I could not get through to this student named River. River would not pay attention to me or listen to me. He refused to work within the group and would roam off and do his own thing. He would run around the class and roll on the floors, and he refused to participate in anything academic. The icing on the cake was the yelling, kicking, and screaming at me when I told River that it was time to go home. As you could imagine, I had a rough day on the job. I went home feeling defeated because no matter what I did, I felt like I could not get through to this student no matter how kind I was or how hard I tried. I felt like a failure because all I wanted was to make River feel welcomed and loved. However, I had to be kind to myself because I knew that there was a lot of emotional trauma.
After reviewing this week’s lecture, I went back and I reflected on my own beliefs and strategies and also tried to identify possible triggers for River’s stress and behaviour responses. Looking at River’s IEP plan, I learned that some of his triggers include new people, being told “no,” being controlled or forced to do activities he does not like, and no daily routine or structure. Again, this day was entirely out of River’s norm. To start, River used to come to school from 9:45 to 10:45. However, beginning on that day, River started to coming to school from 8:45 to10:45. Thus, River was already out of his routine. Additionally, I am not River’s full-time EA, so he worked with an EA who he was unfamiliar with, explaining his reluctance towards me because he did not feel comfortable. The point is that I had not considered these factors in the moment, and I felt like I let myself and River down. However, after this week’s lecture, I have realized that there are so many factors at play that impact a child’s behaviour, and it was not necessarily my fault.
I really needed this week’s lecture as a reminder that I am doing well and doing the best to try and help meet the emotional needs of my students and acknowledge what they are going through. However, I also learned some new methods to bring into my teaching and EA career to support building connections further and care for my students. This week I learned about the various factors the contribute to poor mental health and behaviour in students. 21st-century teaching is vastly different than what education used to be. Today, 2/3 of students have difficulty regulating their emotions, reactions, behaviours, and stress. I, as an educator, can support the well-being of my students by creating strong relationships. If I could go back and change anything that I did with River, I would have spent more time in the morning building trust with him. I would have played with him more and showed him that he could trust me. This tactic would have helped reduce fear in River and show him that I am not in a power position over him.
Connecting this week’s lecture to my EA experience, I must stress the power of relationships in my teaching career. I will not take for granted the strength that I have in showing empathy and kindness towards my students. I have the power to co-regulate my students’ emotions and teach them how to cope and manage their mental health. By modelling and promoting positive mental health, resilience, and coping strategies in my classroom, I can nurture a classroom where students feel safe, welcome, and willing to approach me about their emotions. Ultimately, through communication, empathy, listening, kindness, and boundaries, I can support my students’ mental health and well-being. My role as an educator is to understand my students and help regulate their emotions. I will achieve this by providing perspectives and tools to help them reframe behaviours, recognizing and reducing stress.
One of the tools/resources that I will take from this week into my future teaching practice is using the Glasser model or asking myself if my students’ needs are met. I would love to keep a poster of the Glasser model in my classroom as a visual reminder to ensure that I am checking in with myself and meeting my students’ needs. When I find myself in a stressful situation with students, I will refer to this model and ask myself what the student needs. Before jumping to conclusions, I will take a deep breath and use the Glasser model to respond to my students with care, kindness, and respect. I chose to include photos and a video about the Glasser models of behaviour management because I feel that this model is at the core of my ECUR 320 goal of teaching for safety, diversity, and inclusion. This video put into perspective how I must ask myself what my students behaviour means rather than just labelling them as troubled or bad. I have to believe that every student is capable and able to achieve greatness, no matter their challenges. I want to use these models in my classroom to ensure that my students also feel that I am representing their voices and perspectives into the classroom to feel empowered.
Referring back to my situation as an EA with River, I can see that River lacked power, love and belonging, and freedom, using the Glasser model. I think that River did not have a relationship of love and care because he was unfamiliar with me. Had River and I had more time together, I believe that he would recognize that he could trust me, and I was a safe space for him. Also, I sensed that River did not feel like he had a lot of freedom. He did not like switching to different circuits because he liked to choose his activities. Finally, I think that River felt a burning desire for power. He disregarded teachers and EA’s because he felt the need to be in control. By letting River chose his activities and praising him for his hard work, he would naturally become more interested in trying new tasks.
Another skill that I learned this week that I would take into my own teaching practice is self-reflection on my own coping strategies. After this week, I will be more mindful of how I cope with stressful situations in the classroom and how I respond. This week’s lecture encouraged me to get in tune with my own emotions and know my triggers to respond to each student and their situation with respect and care. It is easy to get caught in the trap of using rules and punishment to gain control. However, I have learned new strategies to apply to my practice to nurture a welcoming, safe, and caring environment where all students feel supported.
Callie's ECUR 320 Learning Journey 