Dr Bill Rogers - Students who just say "NO"

Summary

In this video, Dr. Bill Rogers discusses effective strategies for teachers to handle situations when a student says "no" or refuses to comply. Shared through an engaging anecdote with a student named Harmony, Rogers emphasizes the importance of addressing primary behaviors over secondary ones and using tactical ignoring to manage difficult interactions. He highlights the use of directed choice and the importance of allowing students to face natural consequences when they still resist following rules. These techniques, according to Rogers, help in maintaining classroom discipline without escalating conflicts.

Highlights

• Dr. Bill Rogers shares a story about a challenging student named Harmony, illustrating effective classroom management techniques. 👩‍🏫
• Primary vs. secondary behaviors – focus on what's essential in behavioral exchanges. 🔍
• Directed choice and the power of giving students control over their actions. ✋
• The art of tactical ignoring – sometimes the best response is no response. 🤔
• Handling defiance by setting clear consequences without engaging in conflict. ⚖️
• Distinguishing between situations that require immediate action versus those that allow for deferred consequences. ⏳

Key Takeaways

• Address primary behaviors over secondary ones to effectively manage classroom interactions. 🎯
• Use directed choice to guide students towards the right decision without force. 🧭
• Tactical ignoring can help de-escalate situations and maintain control. 🤫
• Understand the impact of letting students face the natural consequences of their actions. 🌱
• It's crucial to differentiate strategies based on the age group of students. 📚

Overview

Dr. Bill Rogers kicks off with an all-too-familiar scenario for educators: a student who boldly says 'no.' He provides an insightful account of managing such defiance through a personal story involving a student named Harmony, who initially refuses to stop using her mobile phone during class. 👩‍🎓📱

Rogers delves into the art of distinguishing between primary and secondary behaviors during teacher-student interactions. He highlights the importance of focusing on the core behavior to address, while tactically ignoring minor disruptive actions, thereby maintaining a calm and controlled teaching environment. 😌📏

The video underscores the significance of using directed choice and allowing students to experience the natural consequences of their resistance. Dr. Rogers emphasizes how these thoughtful strategies cultivate a respectful learning atmosphere without unnecessary confrontation. 🌟🎓

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Handling Student Defiance The chapter introduces the challenges educators face when dealing with student defiance, particularly when a student outright refuses a teacher's request. It highlights a real-life scenario where a teacher encounters resistance from a Year 11 student. The chapter aims to offer guidance on handling such situations effectively.
• 00:30 - 01:30: Case Study: Harmony's Phone Call The situation unfolds in a setting where individuals are gathered around tables, likely in a social or public space. Harmony, a character in the chapter, abruptly moves her chair away from the group. Initially, the narrator thinks the sudden movement is due to something they might have said. However, it becomes apparent that Harmony is engaged in a phone call when she starts speaking loudly to another table, and responds to the narrator's invitation to return to the group by stating she is 'on the phone.' Harmony's phone, a white iPhone, is discreetly tucked behind her bleach-blonde hair, making it invisible at first glance. Despite the narrator's efforts to bring Harmony back into the group activity and remind her of some unspecified rules about phone use, Harmony continues her conversation unabated. This chapter explores themes of communication etiquette and the distractions of modern technology, particularly the impact of mobile phones on social interactions.
• 01:30 - 03:00: Addressing Primary Behavior vs. Secondary Behavior The chapter discusses the difference between addressing primary behavior (the root behavior) and secondary behavior (the reaction or outcome of primary behavior). It begins with an anecdote about a student during a class interaction. The student initially displays a form of resistance or aggression during a conversation, symbolized by her abrupt response to a phone call interruption, which suggests deeper issues (primary behavior) beyond the immediate action (secondary behavior). The narration illustrates how the teacher, referred to as Bill, deals with this by allowing some time and space for the student, which eventually leads to her engaging in a more positive interaction. The chapter aims to highlight the importance of understanding and addressing the underlying causes of behaviors rather than just the symptoms or immediate reactions.
• 03:00 - 04:00: Offering Directed Choices This chapter, titled 'Offering Directed Choices,' focuses on addressing behaviors in interactions with challenging children. The primary goal is to tackle the main behavior displayed during these exchanges, rather than getting caught up in secondary behaviors like sighing, eye-rolling, or limited eye contact. The transcript discusses a situation where engaging effectively with a child named Harmony emphasizes the importance of staying focused on collective goals, as represented by the phrase 'we got a score Ro,' indicating a shared achievement.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Giving Take-up Time and Consequence Management This chapter explores the concept of 'giving take-up time' and managing consequences in an educational setting. The scenario involves a teacher addressing a student about phone usage during class. The teacher is about to present the student with a directed choice regarding where to keep the phone, emphasizing the respect for the student's autonomy due to her age. However, the situation is complicated by the student's remark that another teacher, named Lindsay, is more lenient. This reflects on the challenges of maintaining consistent rules and expectations across different teachers, especially when mentoring newly qualified teachers.
• 05:00 - 06:00: Deferring Consequences for Upper Primary and Secondary The chapter discusses the challenges and strategies related to managing classroom behaviors in upper primary and secondary education settings. It highlights a scenario where students engage in behavior such as chewing gum and dancing on tables, which some teachers may allow. However, a teacher insists on maintaining the school's clear rules and promises to verify with a colleague named Lindsay about the permissible activities. The teacher employs a technique called 'takeup time' to manage the situation without immediate confrontation, signifying a more deferred approach to handling classroom management issues.

Dr Bill Rogers - Students who just say "NO" Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] another panic moment in teaching can be if you ask a child to move and they just say no what would you recommend a teacher do or any situation where a child says no I mean I was talking to a a girl in a year um 11 class back in Australia she I was working with the group doing some micro teaching she
• 00:30 - 01:00 dragged her chair away quickly I thought might have been something I'd said but she turned around and started talking loudly to another table and I called her back to join the group I said Harmony you know come on just to call her back and she said I'm on the phone and I didn't see her white iPhone because it was tucked up behind her hair she had kind of very bleach blonde hair and and then she continued to talk on the phone and I simply said Harmony come on we got to schore roll for mobile phones brief statement we got a score R
• 01:00 - 01:30 for mobile phones and she said it's a job placement call so she was quite bul she in the way that she was responding to me so I left her alone for a little while carried on talking to the group I was micro teing with and several of them rais her eyes as if to say don't worry Bill we got to put up with Harmony first name school by the way non-uniform first name school year 11 class and um after about 2 minutes she she turned around her chair and looked looked at me
• 01:30 - 02:00 and she said yes as if to say okay I'll talk to you now and in th in those transactions we have frequently with ch more challenging kids the task the challenge is to address the behavior that's Primary in the exchange rather than secondary like the sighing the eyes to the ceiling the pouting the 7030 eye contact and I said I repeated what I'd said before Harmony we got a score Ro not me but we've got a score Ro for mobile
• 02:00 - 02:30 phones and I was about to say off and in your bag and give her a directed choice you know in your bag or if you like leave it on your teacher table till break time I was about to give her a directed Choice cuz I'd never take it off her she's 17 for crying out loud um I was about to give her the director choice and she said Lindsay doesn't care pointing to the teacher I was mentoring a young newly qualified teacher he said Lindsay doesn't care and I frequently get this that other teachers allow to
• 02:30 - 03:00 chew gum wear hats dance on the tables or whatever the other teachers allow them to do and she said Lindsay doesn't care I said I'll check that with Lindsay the school rolls clear not I don't care what Lindsay does I'll check that with Lindsay the school rolls clear often in your bag or if you like leave it on Lindsay's table till break time and at that point I turned aside to give her some takeup time you know I took my eyes off and carried on talking to the group and then she said loudly she said put put it away then if it makes you
• 03:00 - 03:30 happy and when she said all of that stuff you know just a couple of meters away from me that's what we tactically ignore and she huffed and puffed she put the phone away and dragged a chair back and started to sit down like that and all that all that flouncy behavior which is quite common in some adolescents who are more insecure in Social settings that kind of behavior we tactically ignore and if you watch a respectfully
• 03:30 - 04:00 confident teacher they learn to discriminate in the immediate emotional moment when there's conflict between what is primary in the exchange and what is secondary in the exchange and it's often things like I the way eyes are used and you know the sighing the rolling of the eyes and the you know the the non-directional eye contact and so on if if after giving her takeup time she still refuses to put it away and I've had lots of kids refuse to put mobile phones
• 04:00 - 04:30 toys obj away you know that they're mucking around with we need to make the consequence clear so if I have to take up time she's still faffing around with the phone or the iPod or whatever she's playing with now vanish or or whatever we say I I go back and make the consequence clear if you choose not to put it away if you choose not to put the phone away now in your bag of and in your bag I will have to follow this up in your own time at the end of the lesson now some kids at that point say okay put put it away then gee big deal
• 04:30 - 05:00 and again you leave them to sulk their way through the putting the phone away but if they don't put it away and some kids won't I'll say no put it away I'm not moving or whatever the direction is I'll say well I'll have to follow this up in your own time and as I walk away I get kids saying don't care instead of saying you bloody well will care instead of fighting that we leave them with the consequences of their choice I wouldn't do this with 5-year-old but upper primary and
• 05:00 - 05:30 secondary we leave them with the consequences of that deferred consequence unless it's a safety issue then the consequence will be immediate and may occasion some kind of timeout but most the most common consequences we use are a third but they're given within the framework of a directed choice now most kids will come on board sually but they'll come on board [Music]
• 05:30 - 06:00 B