Perception Camp Training

To: Graduates of Group Mastery
From: Sharon Sayler, Michael Grinder & Associates’ Manager
Re: London 14-18 July Perception Camp at the Novotel West Hotel (Hammersmith)

Dear Graduates,

Michael is pleased to announce ITS’ sponsorship of his Perception Camp. As a Group Mastery attendee, this is a personal invitation to you from him. This camp focuses on the artistic level of perception; it is the next level of Group Mastery. Because of the design of the program, it is limited to 20 people to ensure Michael’s close and personal attention to each and all.

What is the Camp about?

During the week with Michael, you will:

• Learn how to recognize behaviors and the beliefs behind those behaviours using Michael’s system of Pentimento.
• Add the refinement of timing that is critical to taking your work in non-verbal communication to the artistic level.
• Get instant feedback, coaching and support from Michael!
• Bond and network closely with the other like minded attendees with the same love of learning as you have.

And, after the training, you will be able to view the videos time and time again to gain the long-term benefits of implementation and not just training.

What makes the workshop different?

The camp is quire different from anything that Michael has done before. He will train you in his simple Process of Perception. For the first time ever, Michael is offering his blueprint of perception, his step-by-step way to get precise with the subtlety and the precision of human perception.

For me, the thing that makes this workshop really beneficial is the opportunity to get inside the mind of a genius. Learn how he reads actual patterns of behavior in other people and then draws amazing inferences from them. By the time Perception Camp winds down, you will have your own blueprint of perception.

The powerful and dynamic insights you gain will work in all areas of life. You will increase understanding and communication with colleagues, clients, customers, suppliers and even those who know you well. You will develop your own perceptual learning momentum. Join Michael this July. Be part of this exclusive group of dedicated learners. Crease the most effective approaches for your specific needs.

Format of the Workshop

Michael views perception in three categories:

• An individual
• Two people interacting
• A group interacting

Collect up to five minutes of video footage of one of the three categories. (From previous camps, we know that some people regret that they did not bring footage of an individual or group in their work or other life that they especially wanted to learn about.) The footage can be clips of:

• Yourself
• Close friends or family
• Colleagues
• Superiors or subordinates
• TV programs
• Movies

You can either bring the footage with you or create the footage at camp. Which category you choose will influence what you and Michael are attentive to. For example:

• When watching an individual, we seek to predict, "What are likely this person’s values, attitudes, beliefs and style?
• When watching two people interact, we seek to predict, "Who is likely to dominate?" This is the origin of the metaphor for "Cats and Dogs."
• When watching members of a group interact, we seek to predict, "What is likely to happen next?"

Every two days, at a minimum, you will show the camp your video footage. In preparation, you will study the footage and fill out an observation form. You will have the option of studying the footage in teams and jointly filling out an observation form. Teams can change during the week. The forms are part of the packet you will receive at the camp.

When showing footage, we follow the format of:

1. You tell the group what category of perception you will be focusing on (individual, two people or a group).
2. The footage will be shown to the camp three times:
   1. First, you show the footage and the camp watches in silence.
   2. As you show the footage a second time, you pause the tape at selected moments and comment on what your perception is. You can have your team assist you.
   3. The footage is shown a third time. This time, Michael pauses the tape and comments on what his perception is.

The difference between what the participant sees and what Michael sees is the basis for each participant’s learning and growth.

Preparation and IT Equipment

ITS provides camp LCD projectors, screens and speakers for the audio portion of your footage plus the packet with forms. You provide the footage and your (or an attending team member’s) laptop to show the footage via the projectors. Come prepared to show your footage. In advance of camp, make sure you know how to show your footage via the projectors. You are encouraged to bring a camera so that you have the option of filming while at the camp.

Michael meets with the camp six hours every day. Because of this unique opportunity to refine and develop your perception and inference capacity, you are encouraged to free this week of obligations. Outside this tructured time, the voluntary gathering of team filming, viewing, filling out observation forms and professional dialogue is invaluable. You may want to make reservations to stay at the venue or nearby for the convenience of the optional evening gatherings.

To Register

We really do hope that you can come, enjoy the learning, and connect with Michael and other very interesting people during 14-18 July. We look forward to your registration with the ITS office in London: 44 (0) 126-8777 125.

Kind regards,

Sharon Sayler
Michael Grinder & Associates
Webmaster

Note: ITS and MGA reserve the right to open the program to non-Group Mastery attendees. The non-graduate will prove to be well-versed in the Pentimento. This will ensure that the camp is an advanced program. The applicant will be required to purchase and study the book, The Elusive Obvious and the companion DVD. To indicate their mastery of the Pentimento, the applicant will take and pass the Pentimento quiz. The MGA website (www.michaelgrinder.com) has the Pentimento Q & A. The applicant studies the Q & A version and then takes the Q version and emails it to Michael Grinder at mgamg@qwest.net.

Dear Friends

Kelly is a bright, perceptive, young person who has dedicated her "free-time" to working with schools in under-funded neighborhoods. The majority of students from these schools live below the poverty line. MGA is pleased to showcase Kelly’s selfless work and understanding of the need to encourage and inspire beyond the classroom.  Bravo, Kelly!

Kelly
St. John’s H.S.
7 April 2008

The Miracle of Literacy for a Nation

His name is John. He’s a seventh grade student, and he’s forever changed my views on education. We come from opposite sides of 610, but we might as well inhabit opposite ends of the Earth. Yet John’s smiling face erases all my nervousness as I help him with his new list of vocabulary words. John is a student at Albert Thomas Middle School where he is part of the inclusion program that mainstreams special needs children into the regular education program. I got the chance to work in his classroom for two days to study and experience the subject of literacy.

The nickname for John’s neighborhood is Dead End, a place where the calloused hands of poverty envelop their territory with a ruthless grip. The weeds and beer cans in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant, the old trash that lies beneath the broken street lights, and the letters that hang precariously on the neon lights of decrepit grocery stores make me wonder if I’ve crossed Houston and entered a third world country. In the middle of such a place lies Thomas Middle School, surrounded by a black, six-foot chain fence, an oasis of safety with its colorfully painted walls, clean classrooms, and enthusiastic, dedicated teachers. But in the midst of poverty’s territory, the staff of Albert Thomas works every day to create large and small miracles for their students.

What is literacy? According to the National Institute for Literacy, literacy is the ability to
“read and gain information from specialized text, for example the science section in the local newspaper” (NIFL). Only one in seventeen 17 year olds meets this criteria (NIFL) and only one in three adults has the ability to extract meaning from a simple sentence such as the one you’re reading right now (Literacy Advance of Houston).  But what is the importance of literacy in daily life beyond facts and statistics? Literacy is the ability to read the newspaper, fill out an application for a job, understand a contract, or even decipher meaning from food labels at the local grocery store. Illiteracy is the designer of poverty, the catalyst that begins the domino effect from unemployment, to poverty, to welfare in America. Seventy percent of those with the lowest reading skills are unemployed or working part time, and forty three percent of people with the lowest literacy skills live in poverty (Literacy Advance Houston).  But where do most kids learn how to read? In the school system.

The area surrounding Thomas Middle School reflects the neighborhoods of thousands of public schools throughout America. Poverty has no preference to the weather or region, and the schools in these areas deal with many of the same problems. At Thomas Middle School, eighty four percent of students are eligible for a free or reduced-price lunch program because their families simply cannot afford to pay for sufficient meals (greatschools). In an interview with principal Bill Sorrells Jr., Mr. Sorrells explains how many of the children lack one or both parents, and some just don’t receive the care they need. He explains that oftentimes, the school acts “in loco parentis,” the Latin term for “in place of a parent,” and for many students, school may be the only stable environment. A large majority of the students have never even traveled outside the boundaries of their neighborhood.  

Until three years ago, Albert Thomas Middle School defined the typical school for a low income area. When the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) examination, a state required test distributed to all students in Texas public schools, was administered to Thomas Middle School students three years ago, the number of students that passed the TAKS examination festered beneath the state requirement and placed the school on academic probation.  Talk about pressure. One year to pull up scores or Albert Thomas would face closure. The school needed to increase scores in all subjects tested by the TAKS exam—that is, the core subjects of reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. So what is it that made the number of students (40 percent of which are children with special needs ranging from autism to tube-feeders) who passed the TAKS reading examination in 2007 skyrocket to 86 percent for the eighth grade, 64 percent for the seventh grade, and 74 percent for the sixth grade?

I asked Mrs. Reed-Byrd this same question after her English class of seventh grade students heads to lunch. She proudly points to a certificate above her desk labeled ENVoY Coach. In an interview a few weeks ago with a leader of the ENVoY program, Ms. Mary Yenik, Ms. Yenik provides a brief history of ENVoY, a learning environment program. Developed by communication genius Michael Grinder after research in more than 6000 classrooms, ENVoY is a system of classroom management that helps teachers create a positive classroom environment through influence instead of power. Through simple, non-verbal communication techniques such as pausing or whispering at times when the noise of a class reaches an inappropriate level, teachers are able to keep the attention of their students in a positive way rather than employing strategies of fear to keep order. Among these non-verbal techniques, ENVoY particularly focuses on strategies concerning voice patterns and the idea of “going visual” in which teachers provide visual instructions on a board or poster that can be referenced at anytime by the teacher or the students. “Going visual” helps students remember their tasks, increases the learning of the day’s lesson, and helps eliminate confusion.  When teachers practice ENVoY’s strategies daily, they create an atmosphere conducive to learning while simultaneously holding students responsible for their own actions and behavior.

When asked about the challenges in teaching her students how to successfully prepare for the reading section of the TAKS exam, Mrs. Reed-Byrd didn’t know where to start. “The hardest part is instilling concentration. Our students can score at their grade level or better in math, but with reading it’s a struggle for students just to score at their grade level. When they have to read long passages their attention drifts. ” She also mentions that she can’t make any assumptions of what the children know. For her students to fully understand the process to answering reading comprehension questions, she must take her class through step-by-step strategies, leaving little time for exploration of her subject. But she especially emphasizes the importance of concentration throughout the two days I spent in her classroom. “That’s why ENVoY is so important; it really helps me keep the kids’ attention.”

Knowledge Arts Foundation works to teach ENVoY strategies to teachers in order to create a supportive environment for all schools with a focus at this time on schools of poverty. The program’s successful effects are incontrovertible; in every school ENVoY enters, the test scores increase. Part of the program entails selecting teachers who demonstrate leadership skills to become ENVoY coaches. These selected teachers then return to their schools with new skills and act as resources for their colleagues as well as new teachers. ENVoY not only helps teachers become better teachers, but it contributes to a greater sense of community within the schools. However, the impact of ENVoY really hit home after I interviewed a student on his favorite part of reading class. Terron started out the year as a shy seventh grader, but his grades are soaring and he now participates actively in class. “When I make a mistake, no one gets mad at me. The posters on the wall help me remember how to fix my mistakes, and Mrs. Reed-Byrd helps me make it better for next time.” I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect example of power through influence.

Adding to the effectiveness of ENVoY in the classrooms, the staff of Thomas Middle School strives to create an overall positive environment for the students. Every adult and many of the kids wished me a good morning. When I was searching for the main office of the school after I arrived, a cheerful teacher sent a student to help me find my way. Walking in the main office of the school, I saw posters that lined the walls with bold, encouraging words such as loyalty, self-confidence, and respect. When the receptionist answers the telephone, she smiles and says, “We’re having a great day at Albert Thomas, how can I help you?” If an angry parent is on the other end of the line, she calmly replies, “We’re still having a great day at Albert Thomas, what else can I do to help you?” The hallways are brightly painted with the same, bold words on posters that I saw in the main office, and the doors are bright red or blue. In casual conversation, I mentioned to Mrs. Reed-Byrd how colorful the hallways are, and it turns out that the principal, Mr. Bill Sorrells Jr. painted them himself.

When I stepped into Mr. Sorrells’ cluttered office, I felt an aura of booming enthusiasm and dedication to educating children. After teaching for more than twenty five years in schools of all socio-economic backgrounds, Mr. Sorrells doesn’t have enough wall space to cover pictures of former students, family, and his own artwork for which he’s nationally recognized. In the corner there’s a big box of trophies which he awards to the teacher of the week, and another box of smaller trophies which he awards to any faculty member who just did something nice. As I interviewed him about the three years he’s spent at Thomas Middle School, it was obvious to me that Mr. Sorrells is not only a man who believes in what he’s doing, but a man who employs every strategy possible to create a positive, optimistic environment for everyone at Thomas Middle School. In 2005, Mr. Sorrells implemented a community pantry for Albert Thomas in which any parent can simply ask Mr. Sorrells and receive a bag of food while maintaining strict anonymity. Why? Because you just can’t focus on reading or numbers when your stomach’s growling. Mr. Sorrells also firmly believes in the importance of developing trusting relationships with his staff and that positive relationships are essential between students and teachers. “I don’t care about race or color. You could walk in here polka-dot for all I care. Impressive résumés are nice too, but my main concern when I hire a teacher is, ‘Do you love children?’.”

And hire great teachers, he certainly has. The members of Mr. Sorrells’ team work hard not only to educate in their specific subjects, but to encourage and inspire beyond the classroom. Mr. Whittington, an ENVoY coach and assistant math teacher who specializes in children with special needs paused and beamed from ear to ear when I asked him about the best part of his job. “I don’t just get to teach math, but I get to teach about life, about English, and I get to mold a child. There’s so many diamonds who don’t realize they’re diamonds. They just need some polishing.” Mrs. Mask, the school counselor, cheerleader coach, and test coordinator, (many faculty members have several different jobs at Thomas) helps students in any area ranging from personal issues to finding a way to supply a student with a new set of glasses. Ms. Williams, a math teacher, band director, and soccer coach has her students free write a paragraph about any topic before she begins her math lesson. “I think it’s important that students know how to write a paragraph. It gives them a chance to express things they might not mention otherwise, and I get a chance to learn more about them.”

I had no clue how much energy and sheer dedication it takes to teach a class before my two days in Mrs. Reed-Byrd’s classroom at Albert Thomas. Initially determined not to become a teacher, Mrs. Reed-Byrd began her teaching career only three years ago after she married and had two children. She felt a calling to teach. Mrs. Reed-Byrd teaches three class periods that last for an hour and a half, each with about thirty students. Mrs. Montgomery, a teacher who specializes in children with special needs helps provide extra attention for the students who need it, but Mrs. Reed-Byrd admits that she often feels drained by the end of the day. However, she is one among many teachers at Albert Thomas who strongly believes the satisfaction she feels when her students succeed is worth every ounce of her effort. She tolerates no slandering in her classroom, and she praises often. She’s a firm believer in ENVoY, and she truly thinks it’s made her a better teacher. Most importantly, Mrs. Reed-Byrd believes in her students. I asked Mrs. Reed-Byrd if she could remember a student who particularly stood out to her, and her eyes widened as she slowly nodded. “There was one student I had that I’ll never forget. He had been held back in the seventh grade for several years, and he was a classroom bully. One day, I took him outside and said, ‘Do you really think I don’t care about you, because I do care about your life. Just like you’re a leader in your gang, you can be a leader of a company, a CEO, or anything you want to be. Anything. And I think that’s the first time he really had someone to believe in him.” This student passed the seventh grade that year, went on to high-school, and still goes back to Thomas Middle School to visit Mrs. Reed-Byrd.

Thomas Middle School is one sample of thousands of public, poverty-stricken schools in America. After it was deemed academically unacceptable and placed on probation, three years later it has made giant leaps in TAKS scores across all subjects. With the help of ENVoY, a very positive environment, and the dedication and generosity of its teachers, Thomas Middle School serves as an example of excellence without a great deal of funding behind it. But its achievements are possible for any school. Miracles are not limited to the area of Dead End.

Before my two days in Mrs. Reed-Byrd’s classroom, the only time I ever heard about a School like Albert Thomas was if it was in the local news for some kind of crime that occurred in the neighborhood. I didn’t realize the amazing feats that occur every day in this environment. From the simple task of celebrating when a student answers a reading comprehension question correctly, to believing in a child for maybe the first time in his or her life, I can’t begin to describe all the big and small accomplishments that occur. In a school like Albert Thomas, literacy takes on the faces of real people and real children. It is no longer just a statistic. Now, instead of seeing black and white numbers, I see brightly painted walls, I hear Mrs. Reed-Byrd calling on a student, and I feel the feeling of success of a student named John who understands his new vocabulary words. The voice of Mr. Sorrells rings clearly in my ear, and I see a program called ENVoY marching through those cold, hard numbers, ready to battle the challenge of illiteracy. I now know that we as individuals and we as a nation can take the grimness off those statistics. Now I know that a program called ENVoY and other initiatives dealing with literacy do it every day. 

——
Works Cited
"About Literacy Advance of Houston." 2008. Literacy Advance of Houston. 8 Apr. 2008 <www.literacyadvancehouston.org>.
"Reading Facts." 19 Sept. 2007. National Institute for Literacy. 8 Apr. 2008 <http://www.nifl.gov>.
"Thomas Middle School: Learn About This School’s Students." 2007. Great Schools Inc. Not-for-Profit Organization. 8 Apr. 2008 <www.greatschools.net>.

My good friend, Gary Phillips got some great news last week! His first book has been released…

It’s called, The Art of Safety. Don’t be misled by the title though. In this book, Gary has seamlessly blended advanced communication concepts into the world of corporate leadership, personnel management and his passion for occupational safety—a treasure trove of practical tools for every business leader.

This is not another text covering the “what’s” – the nuts and bolts of safety. This is about how you handle yourself when interacting with others — how you communicate leadership and personal effectiveness.

Yes, it’s true, Gary’s background is in optimal safety performance for major corporations, but in this book Gary has combined his advanced training he has received from me in Group Dynamics and Non-verbal Communication along with his serious background in language patterns and NLP to produce a book that will become a communication resource for anyone that works with people.
I just got done reading it and I told him I’d do him a favor and help spread the word. Why? Well, because his first book is filled with  tons of immediately useful information. The Art of Safety book blends many communication techniques together, yet it also covers the serious component all communication success stories have… that many books don’t necessarily talk about – MINDSET!

Mindset is the difference between just learning and implementing. Any of you that have heard me for very long now, know that I say every chance I get, in trainings, my books and here on our website that at Michael Grinder and Associates we are all about IMPLEMENTATION!

      Here’s a link to grab it — www.artofsafety.net

By the way, this is not an affiliate promotion (not that there’s anything wrong with those). I just want you to know I don’t make a penny off of letting you know about this book. I truly believe it benefits you to own it, read it, and practice it.

And I’m not alone in knowing this book is immediately useful.

“I had an opportunity to read this book and found it immediately helpful. I was able to utilize the concepts to help me understand and resolve an issue in our workplace totally unrelated to a safety issue. Although aimed at safety the material, concepts and exercises are universal in nature and transferable to a wide variety of operational and organizational initiatives. It may be the Safety component that initially attracts you to this book, but you will find yourself employing these concepts in a variety of work and life situations.”
—Robert Gordon, Director of Court Operations, Ministry of the Attorney

“Would that I had Gary’s book years ago. Many health and safety meetings I attended over the years would have been shorter, more effective, and, in fact, enjoyable. This guidebook could have spared me many hours of frustration.”
—William Baarschers, Ph.D., Lakehead University

There really is no book out there quite like it. Let me know your thoughts when you sink your teeth into it—at my blog – www.michaelgrinder.com/blog  Add your comments about Gary’s new book below.

Interesting article on Classroom Management in the Portland Tribune March 25, 2008

Title:   Attitude Adjusters: Schools take on behavior problems with new ideas

Link to article

Please comment below on our blog and let us know what you think about classrooms of today.

Course Description:

The Salem-Keizer School District is pleased to present a one-day training on developing dynamic classroom relationships. Michael Grinder, known for his groundbreaking work in group dynamics and classroom management, has designed a class specifically for the district to help instructors increase their charisma in the classroom by providing an understanding of group dynamics in a classroom setting and instruction on the use of non-verbal management skills.

Mr. Grinder will be teaching from his latest book, “Cats and Dogs, The Art of Relationships”—an fun analogy of cat and dog-like behavior in relationship to understanding classroom group dynamics. By identifying specific attributes that create these behaviors Mr. Grinder’s latest book offers new and exciting non-verbal techniques as a blueprint for developing classroom charisma.

Course Objectives:

This course will give you concrete ways to use non-verbal techniques and group dynamics to benefit your classroom. Learn to:

• Understand and accept yourself and others
• Separate your and others’ intentions from actions
• Interpret your and others’ behaviors more accurately
• Provide new ideas on resolving conflict including knowing which conflicts not to try to solve
• Improve your leadership style and manage difficult personalities
• You will also learn specific strategies for:
• Managing disruptive students
• Recognizing and utilizing classroom leaders
• Coping with surprises and changes
• Accelerating the formation of the class

About the Presenter:

Education expert and author of the ENVoY training method, Michael Grinder is the pioneer in teaching others how to perceive non- verbal communication in a group setting. He holds a Masters degree from Loyola University.  After 17 years of teaching experience on three levels of education, he has spent the last nine years as an international educational consultant specializing in the needs of the “At Risk” student population.

Date: April 19, 2008
Time: Registration starts at 8:00 am, Class 8:30 – 3:30pm
Location: West Salem High School Commons, 1776 Titan Dr. NW, Salem, Oregon

Cost: $60 includes course materials.
Early Bird Special by April 7th, 2008 — $50

Credit: One semester graduate credit is available through Chapman University for $70.00.  Registration for credit available at the training.

Snacks / beverages will be offered in the am and pm sessions.  Lunch is on your own.

Use More Than Your Words It’s never easy, yet getting it right is critical to your students’ success, not to mention your sanity. It’s classroom management. by Leanne Miller Thanks to teachers at Toronto’s Jarvis CI for their help illustrating some non-verbal management signs.

A teacher can’t get his students’ attention and his volume starts to rise. He glares at them and tells them to look at the board. Some do; most don’t. His volume increases again: “Don’t look at me; look at the board.” Some kids squirm; most still look at their teacher.  To read the rest of Ms. Miller’s article, click here.

Third Grade Teacher in Louisiana re ABOVE pause Whisper from marys videos on Vimeo.
Raegan Quebedeaux, teacher in Opelousas, Louisiana, talks about some of the non-verbal techniques she is using:
1. Color coding subjects
2. Getting attention
With ABOVE – pause – whisper (Gem 2)
With “give me five” when she needs attention fast

Benefits: better student behavior, saves time

Clip used with written permission from Ms. Quebedeaux.

Teacher demonstrates color coding by subject -40 seconds from marys videos on Vimeo.

Raegan Quebedeaux, teacher in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, demonstrates her use of color coding to help students in her third grade class. This is an example of "right brain visual" as suggested by Michael Grinder in his ENVoY program of non-verbal classroom management.

Used with permission from Ms. Quebedeaux.

Guest Blogger: Sharon Sayler of www.impressionengineers.com

It is already midway throught the first month of 2008. I can hardly believe it!. Has that ugly word, procrastination found it’s way into your new year’s plans yet?  If you find it has, it is not too late to get started. Here are some tips to conquer procrastination.

Before you begin accept three things:

1. There is no perfection.
2. Expect some setbacks.
3. Everything will take longer than you thought.

And answer two questions:

1. Is this the best use of my time?
2. What do I need to really own what I’m trying to accomplish?

Procrastination usually happens because we don’t have enough information about what we are trying to do. One way to rein-in procrastination as we gather more information is to trick your procrastination "brain" by working backwards.

1. What do I want to do or what will the finished project look like? Describe in detail what it will achieve or change, including a completion date?
2. Break the project into tasks, working backwards, from the finished project to the current time.  Imagine the last thing you did to make it work? Write it down… What was it you did to get the last thing done? Write it down… What was it you did to get the second to last thing done?  Write it down… (you get the idea.)
3. Develop this list into small and easy tasks that can be accomplished quickly, no more than a few each day… 
   Do only one task at a time. Consider a thirty-minute plan—set a timer and work on something for just 30-minutes. At the end of 30-minutes, switch to something else if you want. (Chances are you are so involved you will keep going.) Reset your timer for the next 30-minutes.
4. At the end of each task, celebrate its completion.
5. Plan the next task and establish priorities for getting it done.

If you still find yourself getting stuck try modifying your environment, or enlist a friend to hold you accountable.

"There will always be reasons to wait…The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons and results, and reasons simply don’t count."~Robert Anthony

Have a great day in whatever your adventure.
To success! To Life!� 

Sharon

More of her tips can be found at http://www.impressionengineers.com/blog/

Why are the two weeks before Christmas so difficult?
By Rachel Babbs 

I was talking with a teacher friend the other day, and, as is typical of most educators at the holiday time of the year, we started grousing about the usual seasonal difficulties we experience during the pre-holiday season. One of our key frustrations is regarding the class responses to certain individuals; individuals whom the teacher has spent a lot of time in the months prior, teaching the class to ignore. And, until very recently, the class had been doing a fine of job of just that.  But, in the two weeks before the holidays, even our most on-task and academically motivated students were getting hooked by these highly entertaining future HBO comedians. Instead of moan and groan about it as we do every year, we thought it might be more beneficial for us to try to figure out why this occurs and what can be done about it.

Seasons of the Classroom

We started doing some research and found that if we look at what Michael Grinder teaches us in the book, A Healthy Classroom, during certain seasons of the school year, students become more Right Brain-oriented. Even our so called “good students” become more random and kinesthetic. They all become more motivated by entertainment than by learning. There is an increased amount of attention towards inappropriate humor.

And, at the same time, when they are not giggling over some snide comment made by someone “in the peanut gallery” of the classroom, the students are breaking down in tears over something as minor and trivial as a broken pencil.  We’ve all heard of “Seasonal Giggles”. What about “Seasonal Sobbing”? They cry at the drop of a hat. And, since the relationship between the teacher and the class has shrunk to the size of a peanut, the teacher can no longer call upon the student’s ability to reason.

We find that if the teacher asks anything of the class during this time period, the response time is very slow or nonexistent. It is as if they’ve all been invaded by an internet virus that has slowed their programming to a crawl. We give the command and they have about a minute delayed response. Or, if they’ve really been infected, the command is completely ignored.

In order to better understand the teacher’s frustration over classroom behavior during this time of the year, let’s back it up to before the season begins. Let’s look at a regular day, in a regular classroom. If it is late September and early October, the students are more linear and logical. They are more academically motivated. Even if they are not, they will comply because the teacher is asking a favor of them. The relationship at this time of the year between the teacher and the class is strong enough that the class will do something because they want to please the teacher. The routines have been established and the students have a sense of the teacher’s expectations. The class hums along like a well oiled machine.

Fostering–the Well-oiled Classroom

Now, please understand that this machine didn’t just build itself. No. The teacher starts putting together the parts of this machine on the first day of school. And, the key to the functioning of this engine is the establishment of relationships between the teacher and individuals in the class and the between the teacher and the class as a whole. Once these relationships are in place, by the time late September rolls around, the teacher is, for the most part, able to operate through something we all love, called “influence”.

And, one of the most important aspects of “influence” is a strategy the teacher utilizes to build a healthy classroom called “fostering”. With fostering, the teacher can utilize relationships to foster behaviors that the teacher values, values that may be missing from the class as a whole. So, even though individuals in the class might exhibit these behaviors, the desired behaviors are not present with the group as a unit. In math, we say that the value equals the sum of its parts. In group dynamics, we say that the value of the class equals the value of the class leaders.

For example, many of us have a high value in “working hard”, or “curiosity”, or “kindness”, or “appropriate humor”, or “ambition”, to name a few. If these values are not being exhibited by the class’s current leaders, the teacher looks for individuals who exhibit the desired behaviors and start to give these students attention in such a way that the class sees the teacher doing the fostering. The rest of the group sees the fostering being done and, if the group likes the teacher, the group will take on the same behaviors. They say, “Oh, that’s what I need to do to get the teacher’s attention around here.” Since a leader is anyone who is noticed, the teacher can increase the noticing of the individuals who have the values that the teacher wants to foster.

Class Culture

Now, let’s tie in with the idea of the sub-groups that make up the class culture. The teacher, once they have established a certain amount of rapport with the class has a tremendous influence over which students the class will notice as their leaders. A leader is anyone who is noticed, positive or negative. Each leader is a member of a sub group. A sub group is made up of a group of students who have the same values. Each sub group has a leader and each classroom is made up of several sub-groups. These sub-groups can include the “humor group”, the “likes to work hard group”, the “slow to grasp group”, or the “likes to help group”, to name a few. And, in the classroom, there is a hierarchy of these groups, a pecking order if you will. In other words, there are certain sub groups that influence the culture of the entire class, certain groups that are noticed, just like leaders are noticed.  The rest of the needs of the other sub groups in the class are subordinate to the needs of the sub group at the top of the food chain. The leaders of those sub groups are noticed by the rest of the class. And, that is why a smart teacher will find students who exhibit values that the teacher wants to foster and increase the leadership of those students. This will, in turn, cause the sub-group that those students are members of, to move up the hierarchal ladder. The more positive sub-groups will now have influence over the rest of the class.

The Right Brain Season

And, this brings us back around to the initial conversation and our frustration during the two weeks before any kind of a break. My friend felt like she had taken all of the above steps towards creating a very positive and healthy atmosphere in her classroom. She had squelched the negative sub groups that had dominated her class at the beginning of the year and had fostered the more positive sub groups that had the attributes that she wanted present in her class. So, what happens every time there is any kind of break? Since the relationship between the teacher and the class diminishes, the teacher loses his or her ability to influence which sub-groups the rest of the class is going to notice. The value of the entire class changes during the Right Brain Season. Unfortunately, before any kind of vacation comes, the sub-groups of entertainment, drama, and humor will emerge as the top sub groups in the pecking order. And, because the teacher’s influence is greatly diminished during this time of year, there is very little the teacher can do about it.

This phenomenon usually happens right around Thanksgiving. Suddenly this fantastically functioning, highly productive and motivated class, evolves into a different beast altogether. And, every year, even though we’ve been through it the before, we walk around scratching our heads, saying, “Who are these gremlins and what have they done our students?” They are no longer functioning as a unit. Their motivation is not towards academic achievement. It is towards the inane. Our ability to inspire or push them has gone down the tubes. We whine, we plead, we berate, we yell, we bribe. We will try anything to get them to return to the yesteryears of a class will stocked with students full of curiosity, productivity, and motivation.  

So, the question becomes, “How can we still manage to make this time period educationally productive when we have such little influence over the class?”  In our research, we spoke with many legendary teachers and looked at what they did during the difficult seasons of the school. We trust the some of the following suggestions will offer some tips that other teacher will find useful.

One teacher said that he aligns himself with the current class leaders. The teacher does this by showing the rest of the class that he or she has a relationship with these students, that he likes these students. The rest of the class sees that the teacher is part of the “in-crowd” and will associate positive intention towards the teacher. For example, this particular teacher said that in one of his more difficult classes, (he teaches at the high-school level) he has a student who has an audience addicted personality. The student, because his behavior is so belligerent and constant, quickly used up his tokens with the rest of the class. By early October, the class, along with the teacher, would just ignore this student when he would start doing his usual antics. But, recently, just before the holiday vacation was to start, the class started to give this student attention again. The teacher, seeing this newly established leadership with the class knew that he had to figure out how to align himself with this re-emerging leader. The teacher also knew that this student was a bit of a hypochondriac. So, one day in the middle of the right-brained season, just as class was about to begin, the teacher stepped away from his teaching area, looked at the student, and in front of the entire class, said, “J.R., are you okay? You look a little pale.” The student’s response was that he was fine, but did feel a little bit like he was getting a cold. The teacher then said, “Well, keep me posted. Let me know if I can do anything to help.” The teacher looked down, stepped back to his teaching area, and started the lesson. The rest of the class watching this interaction, noticed that the teacher was concerned and that the teacher liked the student.  And the student, who was normally such a problem, got the much desired attention he craved and was perfectly well behaved for the rest of the class period. 

Another teacher said that she changes how she teaches during this time period.  She shifts her teaching style in such a way that satisfies the needs of the current dominant sub group. For example, she will do more project based activities during this time period to meet the needs of the kinesthetic sub-group. Similarly, another teacher said that he uses humor more often during this time period or tells more stories to reinforce a concept. Another teacher said the she focuses on more review activities that reinforce previously taught concepts.

When Influence Doesn’t Work

There is one more strategy that may need to be implemented. Whether we want to admit to it or not, during this educationally challenging time of the year, we may need to resort to appropriate use of power to maintain the safety and functionality of the classroom. Influence is no longer effective. We would all like to be able to operate with influence throughout the entire year, but we know that it is just not possible. In order for influence to work, there has to be a relationship between the teacher and the students. And since, as previously noted in this article, the relationship between the teacher and the class shrinks during the two weeks before the vacation comes, utilizing influence during this time period is ineffective. So, what is our back-up to influence? We want to suggest appropriate use of power. We know that for most teachers, this is not our preferred mode of operating. We tend to shy away from it because we philosophically don’t believe in it. But, there are times, such as the two weeks before Christmas, that the students will need us to go to power to maintain safety and order in the classroom. So the question becomes, how do we use power in such a way that is effective for the students and lets the teacher feel okay about it?

In the book, A Healthy Classroom, the author, Micheal Grinder, helps us understand the difference between Power and Influence by using the metaphor of Flight Attendant versus Captain. The Flight Attendant is in service to and the Captain is in charge of. On days of the school year when the group is functioning as a cohesive unit, the teacher gets to operate as the Flight Attendant, also known as influence. On days of the school year when the group is operating more as a group of individuals rather than as one unit, the suggestion is that that teacher has to operate as the Captain, or with power. If we look at the behaviors of real flight attendants and real captains and adopt some of those behaviors, we find that we can operate with power in such a way as to not personalize it. Taking on the behaviors of a captain of an airplane when we go to power allows us to stay dissociated and not in touch with our feelings. Grinder likes to say, “We are paid to feel when we teach. We are not paid to feel when we manage.” Taking on the behaviors of a Captain gives us a way to do just that.

In summary, my friend and I both agreed that while right-brained days will always be a difficult time of year, it is no longer an impossible time of year. We now have some new strategies to implement and we will no longer take it personally when the students don’t respond to us as they did in early October. We learned a lot and trust that we can now approach Right Brained Days with renewed fervor. And, I’m sure we will continue to find time to moan and groan about the difficulties of our profession. At least now we will have one less moan to groan about.

Rachel Babbs is an ENVoY trainer and coach, is an Oregon school district staff trainer and teaches A Healthy Classroom.  You can contact her at rachelbabbs@msn.com.