Teach-Primary-Issue-19.7

expressions, physical movement, delivery pauses, body posture and eye contact. To be clear and compelling, these elements must be exaggerated. Subtle non-verbals are easily missed and misunderstood, so think of yourself as an actor playing to the cheap seats at the back of the theatre. That’s the level of exaggeration you’re after. Big quiet This is where you reduce your spoken volume but exaggerate your non-verbal delivery. Specifically, you speak just above a whisper while amplifying your body language, particularly gestures and facial expressions. This ‘big quiet’ combination catches the pupils’ interest and prompts silent attention. In effect, you’re signalling that the content is so fantastically fascinating it demands their full focus. Big quiet creates a chain reaction. Initially, a small group of pupils will quieten down and listen to you. Their W hen it comes to behaviour, there are two key elements to master: presence and clarity. These facets work together to create the effect you want; when you have presence, your pupils are more likely to give you their full attention, and when you have clarity, they are more likely to understand what you’re saying. When the two are combined, children are more likely to behave as you want them to behave. Primer and direction A good default for giving instructions is to use a primer and direction. The primer gets the pupils’ attention while the direction tells the pupils what you want them to do. Make sure you put a brief pause between the two to give pupils a moment to focus on you. That way, they won’t miss or misunderstand the direction. Here are some examples: • Year 5s … eyes on me. • Acorns … pens down. • Haley’s group … you may stand. You can also add a gesture for extra clarity and emphasis. For the examples above, respectively, that could be pointing to your eyes, putting down an imaginary pen, and raising your palms upward. Exaggerated non-verbals Non-verbal communication includes gestures, facial attentiveness, in turn, prompts a second wave of pupils to do the same. Very soon, silent attention has spread across the classroom. You now have all pupils attending to you. Casual confidence Most discussions about presence focus on its formal classroom elements, but you also need presence for less formal interactions, such as exploring an idea with pupils or having a class discussion. At those times, you need to exude casual confidence. The core elements stay the same. You still face the pupils square on, get eye contact and take up space, but you are more relaxed in how you do those things. You might lean against the side of your desk or perhaps even perch on top of it. Your body language will be more open and the way you speak more conversational. You’ll probably smile and nod more, too. Low-key humour might also feature. Yet, you are still very much the person in charge, orchestrating contributions and managing Behaviour THERAPY behaviour. In fact, it is the casualness of your approach together with an abundance of confidence that tells the pupils that you are the boss. Concise and precise Use the fewest words possible and be exact in your word choice. Avoid jargon and technical vocabulary unless you’ve taught those words. Plain English is best. Do not let your word choice be a barrier to understanding. Take small steps If your instruction or explanation has any degree of complexity or difficulty, give only one item of information at a time. If it’s a very simple communication, then you can give up to three items, but no more than that. Most people can (with effort) hold four pieces of information in their working memory, so three is on the safer side of this cognitive limit. Describe and demonstrate Describe what you’re doing while you’re doing it. Whether it’s how to put the Lego neatly away, safely collect scientific equipment, or politely contribute to a class discussion, when you describe and demonstrate the process, you get two routes into your pupils’ working memory – auditory and visual. Hence, the pupils are clearer about what to do. Learn how to harness the ‘big quiet’, and you’ll improve focus in your classroom, says Robin Launder ... “The ‘big quiet’ combination catches the pupils’ interest and prompts silent attention. You’re signalling that the content is so fascinating it demands their full focus” 22 | www.teachwire.net