TBCS -Margaret - Keeping Ourselves Safe

After an ongoing situation with a few students misusing their laptops by accessing sites they shouldn’t along with inappropriate language and actions, Steve and myself sat the class down to go over expectations again and steps everyone can take to keep themselves safe in situations that may not feel right to them.  One of our devotions this term has been responsibility so the focus was on students taking responsibility by helping our classmates by reporting what we have seen and not carrying the burden ourselves.  In this way it can be dealt with it openly.

It was good to hear some of the things students thought were going well in class in particular our memory verses which relate to our devotions and something for the students to fall back on during difficult decisions

Next Steps

Follow up regularly with students – (regular pow wow) individually and as a class to keep things on track.  Monitor students involved – laptops have been removed for now and students will be working from books.

Deal with problems immediately (bigger problems perhaps some role playing or discussions in class of actions that could be taken.  Now that I know what to look out for.

Find out more about cell phone policy – Do parents need to sign for this?  Do students need cell phones at school for any reason?  What are the consequences of being caught with a phone?

Laptop free days during the week – can we do our regular work Mon-Thurs then Fridays free (students have suggested Trade Days, Friday Frenzy, cooking, science) What do other teachers think?

Part of the workshops at the Teachers Conference deals with mental health in young adults so hopefully I can take some things from this when dealing with this age group.

Many things that had never crossed my mind to be aware of or prepared to deal with while teaching primary school but thankfully there is a wonderful support network at school and much experience amongst others.

Links to Standards