stimulated and need a gross motor activity or outlet to help get out any pent-up energy? What questions do we need answers to in or- der to help us identify the lagging skills? Once we have identified the key lagging
skills, we can begin to teach the skill and prioritize that child’s learning in a particular area. Keeping these ideas in mind also helps us regulate ourselves and maintain our calm when a child’s behaviour is hard and frustrat- ing for us to manage.
PRACTICAL PHRASES WE USE WITH OUR STUDENTS
Te language we use holds tremendous pow- er, not only for those who hear the words we use, but for ourselves. Using the following phrases has helped us reframe behaviour, get curious about our students and feel more connected. We have seen students adopt these phrases in their own turn and use them with their peers. We invite you to pick one, or try all three, and see how they change stu- dent responses and your own reactions to challenging behaviour or situations.
PAUSE
Te beauty of “pause” is its simplicity. Pause has effectively replaced “stop” in our class- rooms. Why? We have found that if we are constantly saying stop, it becomes easy to ig- nore. We reserve STOP! for matters of safety and urgency, and it is heard. We’ve encoun- tered a number of students whose behav- iours escalate when they are told to stop. In- stead, we might say “Woah, everyone, pause. Let’s take a big breath and come up with a solution together.”
Have a crowd of students all trying to get your attention at once? “Pause!”
See students building with blocks a little too high? “Pause. Have you thought about…?”
Pause does not mean full stop, period, done. It means we will continue aſter taking a mo- ment to regroup or reassess together. We love hearing our students ask each other to pause so they can re-examine the rules of a game or ask a peer a question.
THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW
Students love structure. Tey crave rules and boundaries. Not surprisingly, once they know the rules, they frequently feel the need to tell you when one is being broken. “Tat- tling” is the word most would use to describe this behaviour. We’ve seen a lot of different
14 ETFO VOICE | WINTER 2024
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