This week, we're talking about High-Leverage Practice #7.  Establish a consistent, organized, and respectful learning environment. So I know, Candace, in the consult work that you do, you're constantly working with either teachers or paraprofessionals to create that learning environment for their students. So, for you in your practice, what does this look like?

It looks a lot of different ways in the classroom. The first thing is, I think, recognizing that the impact that the classroom environment has on behavior and engagement, and academic success, matters so much. Consistent, organized, and respectful environments will allow your students to flourish in a way that a chaotic environment wouldn't. So I think it's really important in the beginning to set age-appropriate expectations, make sure that those are very clear, that they're predictable, and that they're positively stated. I think that's the biggest one for me, that they're stated positively. I feel like it is more respectful to say, Please walk in the hallway than to say, Don't run.

Well, and I think aside from respect, too, like, it tells them exactly what to do, right? So you're not saying just stop doing what you are doing. You're telling them, and now you can do these things, right? And if we're just in it together and it's like, hey, can you walk instead of run, please? That's respect. It's also, you know, going to be maintaining that consistency if every time you're noticing it, you're just giving that respectful follow-through, right? Like you're just kind of fitting it all together. And it's just like you said, like it just is a predictable opportunity for students to then just rise to the occasion.

And for me, even when somebody tells me exactly what to do instead of what not to do, it reduces my anxiety. I know what's expected of me, and it calms me. Even if I don't like what they're telling me to do and I don't want to do it, it is still better than just telling me what not to do.

Yeah, for sure. That makes a ton of sense.

It's also important to model and practice, and reinforce those expectations. Role-playing and things like that can help them understand the expectations. And the most important thing, and something that I see so often in classrooms, is that those things have to be reinforced regularly, not just the first week of school. I think oftentimes we fall into the trap of they should know better, and the reality is they don't. They forget that's not their priority. Their priority is not walking in the hallway. Their priority is getting to lunch first so that they're first in line.

So they need to continuously be reminded, modeled, and reinforced. And we need to be open to adjusting our expectations as the school year proceeds, and they grow and they learn. And maybe something that seemed like a reasonable expectation at the beginning of the school year wouldn't seem like a reasonable expectation at the end of the school year. So to be certain that you're growing and evolving in that.

I appreciate that you're bringing this up because you work primarily with our secondary students. So middle school and high school, and what you're talking about is somewhat of a common elementary conversation where we're saying, like, we need to actually teach them those expectations. Don't just assume that they already know these things. Remind them and go over it multiple times. Don't assume because they have it one day, they're going to have it, you know, five months later.

I guess I'm really curious to learn from you. Like, how did you come to that place in the secondary world? It seems like it's somewhat of an elementary perspective that we run into in our schools.

I see it so often where, you know, students are doing things that, yes, the logical part of your brain might think they should know better. They're 14, 15 years old, but they're still doing those things. And. And expecting them to know better isn't actually making them know better. So there's got to be a proactive approach to achieving the goal that you're both after, which, you know, is an education.

So it's so simple and it's so basic, but it's so skipped at the secondary level. And I'm constantly reminding teachers and paras to go over those expectations regularly. Make sure that everything is clearly posted where they can they can see it, they can look at it even when you're not talking about it. But set aside a time every day to go over those things, or a couple of times a week, where you're going over your expectations and making sure that they understand them. Give them the opportunity to ask questions.

They might not understand why it's an expectation. Well, that doesn't make any sense. Why can't I run to the wide open hallway? Why can't I run down it? You know, let them ask the questions and then give them honest and respectful answers. It's not a stupid question. When I see a wide open hallway, I kind of want to run too, but there's, you know, safety concerns or whatever, and when you explain to them the reason behind it, they're more likely to then follow that and do what it is you're trying to do. But to expect that even at 18 years old, they just know that. They just don't.

It's not a priority to them. They know what's a priority. If you ask them about a video game, they can probably tell you everything about it. But if you ask them the classroom rules, they may know one or two; maybe if you're not going over them regularly, it's not a priority.

Well, that's, I don't know. The way you're talking about this is you're like, just have an honest conversation. Just answer the questions. You know, like, I think sometimes we forget that just simply being okay with taking whatever conversation it is that shows up is actually respectful. And I find especially in secondary, we can get into these kinds of either intentional or unintentional power struggles, where it's like, you should know better. You should know, like, why are you asking? You're challenging authority. And it can kind of spiral into these really ugly places when, as adults, we can just have the, okay, cool, ask me why you're wondering that, you know, or like, why did you see that? That way, can you catch me up on what's making sense to you right now? You know, we're just engaging in like, okay, help me get into your world, because then I can figure out how to get you where I need you to, you know, to go.

But that is, it's such a more respectful interaction style that you don't even have to think about, really, because it's just, it's a perspective shift. And then your interactions just automatically show up differently, which would kind of check, you know, in this High-Leverage practice, that respectful piece.

And I think the impact that having those honest conversations can have on engagement when it comes to academics is huge. They don't care what you know until they know that you care. So the more you're willing to engage in conversation with them and allow them to express themselves and ask their questions and feel like they're in a safe place, the more they're going to engage with the academics you're presenting to them.

Oh, for sure. And I know you have modeled that for a variety of staff that we've worked with, where I think at first you've gotten some maybe pushback or just staff being very uncomfortable with like, wait, what? You would let that student say that? Or, you know, like, you're okay with that, and then you've been able to walk them through it and be like, you know, this is an interaction. This is a moment. It's not how we are going to interact forever and ever amen.

Can you walk through just like, what? What is going through your mind as you're quote, unquote, allowing, you know, these students to interact with you in a certain kind of way? Because you have this other picture that you're, like, simultaneously holding while you're having those interactions. Can you walk through that?

You know, I kind of look at it as when a student's asking me about something, they might be a little bit aggressive. They might use language I'm uncomfortable with. They might say things in a way that I wouldn't. But that's because I'm coming into the conversation with a preconceived idea of how they should present me the question. They don't have that information. That only exists in my mind. They're presenting the question to me in a way that feels right to them.

Maybe they're agitated at the time. Maybe it's a cultural thing. Maybe it's a language difference. You know, there could be lots of factors that. They're not intentionally disrespecting me. I mean, sometimes they are, but, in most cases, especially in situations like this, they're not. It's just that's the way they present the question, and I just need to receive it the way they're saying it. And I. I may rephrase it back to them in a way that would be more respectful in an effort to model how I would prefer that conversation to go in the future. But I'm also not going to reprimand them or refuse to answer their question because they didn't present it in a way that my mind thought they should.

Oh, for sure. I mean, how do. How many times do we work with students who present a statement and sort of imply it as more of a question, and then we're like, Oh, do you mean. And then, like, reframe it in some of that, like, respectful. This is how you would ask a question to kind of get that need met type of way. And especially when you've got, like, a good working rapport with students, you kind of do that smirk of like, did you mean this? And they're like, yeah, Miss. You know, you get that. That other side where you're like, okay, yeah, I see what you're doing. Yeah, that. Can we do that? I'm like, okay, cool.

I also think it's super important to make sure that you're using meaningful feedback rather than generic praise. You know, we say, Good job, Great job all day long. But to be specific, that's a great question. Thank you for asking that. You know, something like that, even if it's not phrased. I'm not saying you asked me that question in an appropriate way. I appreciate that. I'm saying that's a good question. Thank you for asking. I'm not reinforcing the part of it that I'm hoping to correct, but I am praising them for their ability to ask that question.

Sometimes that's just a huge step, how they ask it. I don't care. I just want you to ask it. So I think celebrating those small wins and being really specific with your feedback in a situation like that, I don't want to say great job. I want to specifically point out what you did well. And while I might rephrase that in a way that would be more appropriate, you still ask the question, which is huge for a lot of our students.

Yeah, I think that's leading, or that's leading to consistency. Because if we are consistently noticing and then putting some words around what we're noticing, that on our end makes us predictable because we are continually showing them, like, yes to this. And I didn't say this, so we're going to somewhat imply that, like, we're going to work on that. But having that consistent style of interaction, it builds so much safety around that dynamic. You know, the interaction style, like, what can students expect from us?

 I mean, I'm even thinking of moments where, like, I was not okay. And students knew that there was enough, like, safety within that relationship to be like, you're not okay, are you? You know, like, and to engage in those conversations, that was not disrespectful. And it gave me an opportunity to be like, yeah, you're right. Like, I'm sorry, I'm a little bit off today. But even like, in the inconsistent, like, I didn't have to show up like a robot, I didn't have to be completely on my A game or perfect in every single interaction.

But knowing that, like, there was that, you know, freedom and kind of that relational reciprocity, like there's this give and take on both sides, and that's okay, expected, and like really healthy. That consistency allowed us to walk through so many different things that could potentially be perceived as inconsistent on a day-to-day basis. But if we're giving them that feedback in those ways, then that's building that consistency, which is then, like, we've got the consistency now of respectful interactions. And like, all of this, all just like comes together. I think sometimes this high leverage practice, people can get really in the weeds of, you know, all these little like micro moves or this checkbox approach to like, what does it mean to be organized? What does it mean to be, you know, consistent? Do I have to be a robot? Like respectful? They haven't earned it. You're like, there are all these different kinds of caveats here.

I'm wondering if from all of the different consult work that you have done everywhere, have you ever had a situation where someone thinks that they're either like, that they are organized or that they are respectful and you're looking at it and being like, that's not exactly what we're going for, or like, I don't think that, you know, maybe you're doing what you think you're doing in terms of this High-Leverage Practice.

Yes, almost all the time. I think that teachers come from a place of genuine care, and they don't do- Nobody walks into their classroom being like, I'm not going to be organized or respectful. You know, they believe that they are. Sometimes it's just tweaking the approach a little bit. You know, I've had classrooms where, you know, a board full of don't do this, don't do this, don't do this, don't do this. And it's just trying to say, like, hey, let's reword this and spin it in a positive way. Or yeah, you've got all the pieces in place, but now let's sit down and get to know the students. What are their interests? Like, what are their cultural backgrounds, you know, what are the things that will make them feel included and safe in your space?

You're working towards it, but you're just stopping a little bit short. Maybe it's just a fear of getting too personal or something like that. And there's a balance that has to be struck, for sure. But validating their identities and the experiences that they've lived, and understanding that it's not a one-size-fits-all approach. Every student is going to receive respect in a different way. And you won't know what that way is until you really get to know them, and you find out kind of what makes them tick and what their experiences have been.

So it's the same in teaching approaches. It's not one size fits all. Not every kid learns the same. And thankfully, we figured that out a few years back. And now everyone has the opportunity to be taught a little bit differently with different tools. But it's the same when it comes to the rest of the aspects in the classroom; everybody's going to receive it differently. I know that I do. I might hear something that I feel is disrespectful to me when it was never intended to be that way. And it's not disrespectful to somebody else. It's just my sensitivity that makes me feel that way.

Thank you for bringing that up, though, because I think especially with the respectful piece of this High-Leverage Practice, there's so much nuance to that. Right. Like, whatever is true for me, and that may not be true for you in that. And that comes from a whole bunch of different, you know, background pieces that are well outside of any control of, you know, especially anyone in schools or, you know, like, it's. It's just something that we need to see and understand and kind of work with and around as we're kind of trying to walk toward a, you know, kind of mutual understanding of it. So thank you for kind of bringing up that that may just not be the same, and that isn't necessarily wrong.

And I think it's built on intentionality. Like, we have to be really intentional about it in our classroom. You know, we have 180 days with these students. We need to be organized and intentional about creating those relationships that make them feel safe and encourage the engagement that we're looking for in the academics. And I think just being very intentional about it, doing what you can to pay attention. Get to know them.

Take data. Don't be afraid to take data. Data will help you figure out if you're on the right path. Like, if you feel like what you're doing is creating an organized, consistent, and respectful environment, and yet you're not getting the results you're looking for. Take some data and plot that, and find out if maybe it's just not working.

Yeah, I know you've got so many tools in your toolbox in this High-Leverage Practice because you have walked so many different people through so many different variations of this. So thank you so much for taking the time to share your expertise in this area.

Thank you.