Lisa Dieker 0:06
Welcome to Practical Access. I'm Lisa Dieker.
Rebecca Hines 0:09
And I'm Rebecca Hines. And Lisa, I know we've been talking about high leverage practices. So why don't you tell us what today's topic? All right? Well,
Lisa Dieker 0:19
I guess I will not sing because you won't like me. But the topic is RESPECT, thinking about how do we create respectful environments in all content areas, but specifically how there might be some unique opportunities and challenges for that respectful environment in STEM related areas. So I think Becky wanted me to kick this one off, I'm happy to do a little kicking, I think the first thing with respect in thinking about any classroom, but specifically in a respectful learning environment, math and science is to be respectful of the process, that that this process is, you know, reminding students, this process is about figuring things out. And sometimes figuring things out is hard. Sometimes figuring things out means you have to persevere longer. And sometimes it means you won't get it right the first time. But that is our goal is that you get to the end zone of finding what's right. But you don't have to start there. And that it is about exploring and understanding. And I like to remind kids, you know, if you like playing in the sandbox, you didn't really get told what to do in the sandbox. But you're swimming, you had an end result in mind, I wanted to make a castle, you want to make a dragon. So to me that respectful culture respects the process, that this is messy, this is hard, but it's fun. And you get to be a part of how you want to move in this process. But we are trying to get to some understanding collectively. So that's my first thought on respect.
Rebecca Hines 1:48
Well, if you're going to start with respecting the process, I will start with respecting the people. So in any classroom, and we talk often about behavior, but in any classroom, establishing a comfortable pattern of discourse is key. And it obviously starts with the teacher, again, we expect kids to come understanding how to have a social, respectful conversation, but they don't they don't all do that. So my first tip for teachers is to be sure that you're doing think aloud and modeling, talking to people the way that you would like them to talk to you. You mean yelling? Yeah, exactly. So so if you know if Lisa and I are in a class together, and I'm trying to teach something, and she's talking, for example, if I yell at her, I am only inciting more negativity here. So if I instead say, your classmates can't hear if you're talking, now, I'm just simply putting it on Lisa to make a choice. And I'm going to presume that she's going to choose the right thing. FYI, guys, I work with a lot of problem behaviors I understand it doesn't always work, but it's where we start is with explaining and modeling this is how I'm feeling. I feel like your classmates can't hear me right now and I need them to hear me. So how about pipe down Baker?
Lisa Dieker 3:20
Good luck with that. All right. Well, and I think, you know, we often think about respect in the learning environment in any content area, but specifically, as you think about math and science of this exchange of authority, and I really like to remind myself anytime I'm in because I did so much co teaching in the math and science area, that the authority in a great math and science learning environment is is the student is the authority in their own learning. Because otherwise, I should just stand at the board and do math problems and no offense, but I bet some of you remember those days of watching somebody do math problems. I'm not sure there was a lot of learning. So to me, the respect for the learner. And the flip side, is that to earn that respect with a student is to empower them, to respect the process, but also to say, You are the authority. So when kids say something, and their words are wrong, I don't say wrong phrase there, Becky. Instead, I say, you know, what, what are you looking at your book and see if there's a phrase, it's similar to that maybe the first paragraph, and let's see, you know, that plant went through that thing that put oxygen off well, okay, there's a name for that. But I don't I'm not going to tell you because, again, if I'm the authority in the room, I tell you, if you're the authority in the room, you figure it out. And I think that's another piece that we forget in the learning environment of respect, is the students are their own authority. And that's kind of my last point on that topic.
Rebecca Hines 4:45
Yeah. And I think you're kind of alluding in part in that response. you're alluding to respecting someone's esteem. And I think that is is where my final thought on this topic goes is in in respecting a person's needs for privacy for positive self esteem, if, if I'm a student with an IEP, and you're the teacher, and you're saying, oh, here, Lisa, here's your supports that you need, you're not really respecting my privacy. You know, I may not need that announced to everybody in the classroom. And honestly, at least as so many times I see, you know, teachers say things like, okay, all the kids who need that read out loud, go circle up in the back, it's like, Okay, hop out, if you could just respect that I may not want that publicly announced. So simple things that we can do. If we have a problem with the behavior, if we have a student who needs support, respect them enough to stoop down beside them and say, hey, you know, this is happening, or here's the thing that is in your IEP that you need, but it's not a public announcement, have it respect my privacy. And in so doing, I think you might have my esteem.
Lisa Dieker 6:03
Yeah. And I think the the final thought here, too, is just keep in mind, if kids behave better when the administrator walks in, probably they should just be behaving the way they do all the time when the administrator walks in or not. So if kids put on a specific show, that doesn't mean they like you, but let's hope they put on that show every day. So that that respect is already established. And, you know, I do laugh that that one of my students said, you know, hey, how do we do when the principal left and like we did just as good as we do every day, you know. So I do think that that respect isn't something that that kid should turn on. But I do think it's mutual you respect the student, they respect you. So hopefully, there were some few quick practical tips there. And we thank you for respecting us and listening to this podcast. So if you have any questions, please post them on our Facebook page or send us a Tweet @access practical
