The Importance of Actively Monitoring

 The Importance of Actively Monitor

As teachers we wear many hats, from “mom” to nurse to policeman and everything in between. We are called to be whatever our students need in the moment. The most important thing we do for our students is to create and maintain a safe space. Without meeting our students’ basic needs, we cannot help them reach their full potential. Our number one job is safety. We must do everything we can to keep them safe.

To paraphrase my mother, the mother of 5 and an educator for 30 years, “I trust our kids, but I don’t always trust them together- everything is funnier when you are in a group”. We do not want to give our students the opportunity to make poor choices. They need to know we are always around watching and monitoring them and their actions. Our students need to be guided to make good choices, taught the value of making good choices, and given opportunities to practice these decision-making skills in a safe space. We have made sure our students have the skills to make good choices, even when we are not around. We cannot expect that they come to us with the ability to know what the best choice is in every situation. Students are a product of all different experiences, and it is important to know and understand each of them, know their abilities, and know what we need to do to scaffold tasks to help them be successful.

One scaffold that we do as teachers is to monitor students, especially when they are in unstructured times. We must teach students what the expectations are for transitions in the hall, at lunch time, during recess time, and at arrival and dismissal- then hold them accountable. Teachers are vital in the process of making our students safe during school hours. One thing I often hear is that teachers don’t want to “reward kids for doing what they are supposed to do.” If they haven’t been taught and held accountable for these actions, is it fair to expect or assume they can do this? We need to explicitly teach students these skills and hold them accountable every time.

What are the ways we teach students to transition in the hall? We set the expectations at the beginning of the year, we practice it in the hall, and we return to the point of origin if they aren’t able to demonstrate these expectations. We remind students of the expectations every time we walk in the hall, to help keep them focused. At Lunch, we walk around monitoring the kids while they talk and eat their lunch. We open packages and remind students of the behavior expectations when we correct errors. Sometimes we sit with a student and check in, but this is not more than a minute or two and then we are up and actively monitoring again.

Recess and dismissal are my personal largest concern. Students have a lot more freedom and less structure at this time. Are we spreading out and monitoring all areas of the playground? Are we covering all places where students are exiting the building and ensuring they are not being unsafe? When you go to your duty stations or when you are with your kids in the hall- be intentional and set the expectations and then monitor the expectations.