|
|
The Blue Room |
 |
The Green Room |
| The motivation room |
The
doing room |
|
Creative,
imaginative, dreaming, visualising, self-oriented |
Thoughtful,
rational, caring, sharing, other people-oriented |
| Sees possibilities |
Acts
on possibilities |
| Mind wanders, often dreaming |
Mind
focused, purposeful |
| .. |
.. |
| The Orange Room |
The Red Room |
| The emotional room |
The
fight or flight room |
| Thoughtful, caring, engaging, happy - simmers, brews ideas, stews on issues |
Impulsive,
destructive, action-oriented |
| Considers consequences |
Ignores
consequences |
| Sadness, happiness, love, surprise, shame |
Anger,
fear, rage, panic |
| Mind filtered through emotions (Orange and Green Rooms interact) |
Access
to logical thinking (Green Room) usually denied |
KEEP OUT of your
Red Room when teaching.
AVOID your Orange
Room if you feel you might lose control of your Green Room.
PLAN your reactions
to known crisis triggers.
Using the Rooms as a
counselling tool
Develop programs
and strategies so that students can:
|
|
Be
motivated to be in control of their own Rooms |
| Blue |
|
Visualise
the benefits, change their attitude towards schooling |
| Room |
|
Make
believable affirmations |
|
|
Relax,
meditate, write, seek feedback |
| .. |
|
|
Recognise
and name emotions and physiological responses |
|
|
Understand
the causes of emotional incidents |
| Green |
|
Manage
negative triggers, find positive triggers |
| Room |
|
Write
goals, share with trusted others |
|
|
Identify
weaknesses and strengths |
|
|
Plan
solutions to known problems |
| .. |
|
|
Be
mentally prepared to deal with situations |
| Orange |
|
Choose
best option based on pre-planning |
| Room |
|
Debrief
situation from a range of perspectives |
|
|
Take
responsibility for own actions |
| .. |
|
|
Remove
self (& or others) from negative triggers |
| Red |
|
Breathe
deeply |
| Room |
|
Don't
try to resolve issue, ease back to Orange |
|
|
Use
a soft voice, allow soft touch or restraint |
© 2000 John Joseph and Kym Brown
Read this full article and extract from John Joseph's website.
Beginning teachers who expect their students to enter classrooms
with exemplary behaviour patterns, or to do what they are told because a teacher has spoken, are often shocked by the seemingly
disrespectful nature of some students. The tendency to move towards punitive
consequences or to try and ignore issues through natural consequences is strong. Resist
this. Both options place beginning teachers - and many experienced teachers -
in their Orange and Red Rooms. This makes reflection on issues difficult to
undertake because they become caught up in emotional processing.
Examples of consequences in
action:
| A student refuses to undertake
a learning task: |
| Natural
consequence |
| The
student falls behind in learning |
| Punitive
consequence |
| The
student is sent to time-out/detention or given extra work to do |
| Logical
consequence |
| The
student is required to catch-up the learning at another time |
|
A student tosses
rubbish onto the classroom floor: |
| Natural
consequence |
| The
floor looks untidy |
| Punitive
consequence |
| The
student is sent to pick up numerous papers at lunchtime and/or to write lines |
| Logical
consequence |
| The student
is asked to pick up the paper and place it in the rubbish bin |
| A student is bullying
another student: |
| Natural
consequence |
| The
students become physically and emotionally involved. Learning for the rest of the class stops. |
| Punitive
consequence |
| The students
are sent to detention or suspended |
| Logical
consequence |
| The
students are supported in sorting out or managing their conflict in non-violent ways |
| A student verbally abuses
another student |
| Natural
consequence |
| The
students become emotionally involved and the issue escalates |
| Punitive
consequence |
| The
abusive student is sent to time-out or asked to write lines |
| Logical
consequence |
| The
students are counselled, following the school's grievance procedures for harassment. Some form of restitution is planned and
implemented. |
What do I do when students ignore
a logical consequence?
This is where it gets tough because the issue has now escalated into two problems. For example, the paper tossed onto the floor was not picked up and the student has now refused to follow
a reasonable direction. Can you feel the tendency to punishment getting stronger? Resist it! You will be passing most of
your power and control directly on to the student, who may actually be seeking this.
Remain
in your Green Room. Ask the student once more to pick up the paper. If refusal follows offer a choice such as, 'Either you pick up the paper now or we will discuss this issue
at break time.' At this point leave the issue alone. Avoid escalation but make certain that the whole affair is discussed at the earliest opportunity. Deflect from escalation, Diffuse when necessary but always Deal with issues.
Optimal Learning States
|
