Intentionally Teaching Classroom Rules through Video Modeling

Amy over at Delightfully Dedicated is doing a Summer Series Blog Link Up. This week the topic is the ever dreaded BEHAVIOR! 

A lot comes to mind when I think about behavior, but one of the things I think we miss is being intentional about teaching appropriate behavior in a preventative manner.  I have done a few posts on Rules and Expectations in the past, but in this one I thought I would share a bit more about how to intentionally teach the rules and expectations of the classroom. 

As I have shared before, brain research from Dr. Becky Bailey states that children think in pictures until age 9.   By having rules posted at all times, students can start to make connections with what is expected of them.

 

But sometimes pictures are not enough, especially in a world where technology is at the finger tips of our students in a variety ways.  In many cases they prefer to get information from the interactive and fast paced world of computers, iPads and other technology devices.  For that matter so do we!  When was the last time, you googled how to do something, and purposely clicked the Youtube how to version rather than the word and picture version? 

What we expect students to do can be fairly abstract to a young child especially when the rules and expectations are different from what is enforced and expected at home.  By sharing video examples of appropriately following the rules, I have found that my students can make connection with what they couldn't connect with or understand in the past! 

Which leads me to our morning meeting!  Each morning we review the classroom rules and expectations at opening group time via the Smartboard, but before we do so, we share a video model of one way to follow the rules.  The video is usually regarding a skill the students struggled with the week before.  For example:

Lining Up and Coming In From Recess

Transitioning From One Activity to the Next (and Sharing)

 

Raising Your Hand at Group Time

 

and Managing Upset and Frustration in an Appropriate Manner

Or skills and activities that are new to the students, for example:

Learning a New Song 
(the song in this video is from Jim Gill's The Sneezing Song an other Contagious Songs)

 

Playing a New Game at the Sensory Table

Using a New Visual Support
(for more information about this visual support click here)

or Using a New Communication Support to Request a Break When Upset
(for more information about this communication support click here)

Okay, I know what you are thinking. . . these are great, but how do you ensure your students are gaining meaning from the video examples? Well first off, from the students' behavior but secondly from a reflection after watching the video model each day. 

The rule helper for the week comes up and shares what rules the video example followed.  See a video of how it all comes together below:  (The Feeling Buddies in this video come from Conscious Disciplines Feeling Buddy Curriculum.)

So there you have it, Intentionally Teaching Classroom Rules through Video Modeling. 

A special thank you to my former student Bryce and his family for allowing me to share this video!  As well as my son EJ and his Friend Oaklye for creating a library of video model examples for students to grow and learn from.

Until Next Time, Best Wishes,
Lindy