Thursday, November 15, 2012
Observation of Communication
Each morning my students eat breakfast at school and immediately go to support class (music, art, P.E, library, or computer lab). My students were in PE while I went to talk to a fellow co-worker at the door. I was able to see a range of communication occur within a matter of minutes with one of my students. The PE teacher was trying to introduce his lesson, and all the children were sitting in a circle. All children were doing pretty much the same thing: talking with friends, and spinning around. The one thing they were not doing was listening to the PE teacher. One particular student that was not paying attention, was yelled at by the PE teacher and asked to stand on the wall. The student stomped his feet and yelled as he went to the wall. Therefore, he did not get to participate. Thankfully, the art teacher, who did not have a class, saw this take place and immediately went to the young boy. She bent down at his eye level, and calmly asked him what was going on. The response of the child was so much better than the response he gave to the PE teacher. He told the art teacher what happened very calmly. It was from this point I was able to hear some of the response the art teacher provided. She stated, " I believe you and I know what happened made you very mad. I know it did not seem fair for you to be put on the wall and not the other people doing the same thing." The next part of the conversation was really important for this particular student because over the past two years with him we have learned a great deal about him emotionally and are trying to improve on him not letting one thing ruin his day. The art teacher went on to say, " I want you to do your best to not let what has happened define you. When you leave PE today, I want you to leave what has happened here and have a fantastic day. I will talk to Coach. It makes me sad to see you upset and we want to fix that."
I found this to be a significant observation in adult conversation with children because of the different effective communication qualities the art teacher displayed. Dangel and Durden (2010) identify the importance of getting down on the child's level, using simple words and sentences, and the tone of voice as critical factors in effective teacher language. It is in this observation I was able to see how the eye contact, level and tone of voice greatly differed between the PE teacher and the Art teacher, as well as the response of the child in each of these interactions.
To make this more effective, I feel communication with the PE teacher and student would have been great. Rather than the Art teacher talking to him about it, the student could have also talked about it too. Then, he could share his feelings with the person directly involved.
In this situation, it is evident that this child felt cared for, and that the Art teacher believed in him. As the teacher who spent the rest of the day with the child, I can say that this situation was truly left at the door, and he was able to continue with his day. Past experiences have also told me, that had the Art teacher not stepped in, this situation would have impacted his entire day and make him feel excluded from the group and not "liked" by the PE teacher.
Observing this scenario, I am aware that my communication with children could be improved. I am always rushing from one place to another, and probably do not take the time to slow down and handle situations like I should. Even though it is hard for me to slow down and have a calm personality, it would still be possible to have a classroom that allowed for more conversation and effective teacher language such as Mr. Max and Mrs. Mollie (Dangel & Durden, 2010).
References:
Rainer Dangei, J., & Durden, T. R. (2010). The nature of teacher talk during small group activities. YC: Young Children, 65(1), 74-81. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database. http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=47964033&site=ehost-live&scope=site
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Jo Ann: I really LOVED the art teacher’s response to this particular young man. When I read it, my heart literally said “Awwwwww”. This professional clearly understands that communicating effectively with children is just as important as teaching them. Their feelings and ideas should be respected and valued in order for children to feel humane and dignified. Thanks for sharing. Great post!
ReplyDeleteJo,
ReplyDeleteI am also guilty of rushing and being busy all the time, thinking of the things that will come our way and we tend to overlook what is important right now. I believe we have to slow down and reflect on the things that is important to us and our children. We need to be sensitive to their needs and give them the opportunity to express themselves so that we can understand and get to know them better.
Communication is not just us talking and children has to listen. It should be both ways because we can learn from them too.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful post.
Jo, I understand that children can get out of hands at certain times, but we as educators have to find the skiils and techniques to work with students that will challenge us from time to time. It seem to me that the P.E teacher did not communicate very well with the child; therefore this made the matter worse. Collaboration with co-workers is always a plus for we all bring different skills to the table, but at the end of the day, working together for the benefit of the children is really whats important. Great Blog!
ReplyDeleteJo,
ReplyDeleteI observations were very similar this week. I too noticed another educator stepping in to resolve a problem with communication. We are both lucky to work in a school where others care for our students to slow down and have these conversations with the students. I am sure we will have plenty of opportunities to step in to resolve miscommunication with other students were we will be able to use the strategies we have learned.
Jo,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this exchange. Kudos to the art teacher for communicating positively with the student. I agree that the same exchange should take place between the student and the PE teacher. I have witnessed similar exchanges in my building. Maybe you and the art teacher could find a suitable time to approach the PE teacher together about this. Excellent job!!
Jo,
ReplyDeleteThe Art Teacher's quick response to this situation enabled this child to have a meaning day. Many times, as adults, we don't always consider the child's feelings or emotions. The PE Teacher did not handle the situation well at all. We have to remember that children need to see effective communication modeled in order to relate and understand how to show effective communication skills themselves. Great Post!