Learning & Teaching

Glen Pearsall

Glen Pearsall was a Teacher Leader and board member of the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority. He works throughout the world as an educational consultant. Glen specializes in positive behaviour, feedback and questioning, differentiation, coaching and leadership and teacher workload reduction. 

We were fortunate to have Glen Pearsall join our staff and share practical low level strategies for managing minor behaviours without disrupting teaching time. This work complemented our ongoing collaboration with Patrice Wiseman on our Positive Behaviour Approach.

Some of the strategies you could use at home too! 

• Use non-verbal signals (hand gestures, eye contact, moving closer)
• Stand or sit near the child to guide behaviour quietly
• Notice and praise positive behaviour
• Give short, calm reminders
• Redirect attention back to the task or to another activity if needed
• Pause and wait briefly to reset attention
• Give clear, simple instructions (focus on what to do)
• Use a calm look or presence to show expectations
• Use light humour to defuse small issues
• Move around the room (or stay nearby at home) to keep focus
• Offer small choices (e.g. now or in 2 minutes) or (put it in your room or in your bag)
• Use routines so expectations are clear
• Speak calmly at the child’s level
• Increase engagement (e.g. game-based tasks) to keep children on task

• Adjust the task if it’s too hard or frustrating.

   

These are all about keeping things calm, low key, and not interrupting learning.

Josy Reeder

Learning and Teaching Leader