Q: What new professional learning did you acquire as a result of this project?
A: Learning about Self –Reg and reading Shanker’s books were very applicable to my professional learning, especially this year in my role of Behaviour Strategy Resource Teacher. As a resource teacher, I have the opportunity to connect with many students, especially those that are struggling for one reason or another each day. Actually, I have these encounters multiple times on any given day. Learning about the five domains was very helpful in naming and then in working through to reduce the stressors for the students. Quotes like ‘See a child differently, see a different child” really resonated with me. As well, Shaker talks about shifting from enforcing compliance to reducing the cause of the challenging behaviour. I feel this has positively impacted the way I approach every situation. I notice that the students sense my calm demeanor and in most cases, I can quickly de-escalate them and begin to work through the problem. It was very powerful to work along side my colleagues to problem solve and make changes throughout the school setting to support students struggling with self-regulation. It was a team approach, and I am confident our professional learning will continue to impact our student population in the coming years.
Q: What was the impact of your TLLP, if any, on your students? How do you know?
A: The impact of the TLLP was evident in our students. Working one-on-one with students who were not self-regulating was so rewarding when we were able to talk through the stressors and together identify what was the reason for their behaviour. As the year progressed, I knew it was working because I would hear the language from the students themselves, statements like “Being in a dark room calms me.” or “I can’t focus because I am hungry and my body can’t sit still”.
Q: What questions or goals do you have to sustain your learning? What are your next steps?
A: As I stated earlier, as a resource teacher, I will continue to support students with their self regulation on a daily basis. I will revisit the resources from this TLLP and hopefully will continue to refine my craft of “lending a calm lens” and being aware of my role during challenging times so that I can be the stress detective and not an additional stressor for the student. We have new staff joining us this fall, and I feel I can make an impact on demonstrating some of the strategies that we can use when dealing with a struggling student. I can be a change agent by helping my collegues reframe the behaviour and work along side them to find the stressors and work through the situation. It would be great to revisit with the TLLP team on an informal basis to help and support our students. Thank you Lisa, our team leader, for providing the opportunity for us to work and grow together!