Contracts

Reading Helen’s post about her experience reminded me of a student I came across when volunteering in a grade 6/7 split class. The student would disrupt the class, avoid doing her work and has also been given a suspension a few times for misbehaving. During the time that I was volunteering, I was told that she had actually changed her attitude about school since the beginning of the year; all the teacher did was talk to the student—known as informal chat. I feel that contracts will help with such behaviour, as students can see what is expected of them and work to improve their behaviour. If students are given of a choice of what is expected of them and what the consequences are for their action, then they would surely be more aware of their roles as students. This way, students are also given choices in how they learn to change their behaviour in the classroom, and prevents them being in settings that will discourage them to do any work. Students can create the goal with the teacher by listing what needs to be changed, and then they can be rewarded at the end of the year, or after particular time, with a good mark. Thus, informal contracts would be a good idea, where the teacher would talk to the class—if the class has been misbehaving since a long period of time—or the student to come up with an agreement of what they can do to improve. Formal contracts on the other hand sound like they would not be as effective, as students can be discouraged from school. Sometimes the students just need extra support and help from teachers, and know that everyone cares for them and their learning.