Part 6: TAKING THE TEMPERATURE OF YOUR BUS

 

Being able to read the moods of your students as they enter your vehicle is vital in determining which one of your kernels are ready to pop off. It is helpful then, to determine what amount of scrutiny and special attention is required, per the situation provided.

For instance, a student showing visible signs of anger would warrant more attention than a student merely showings signs of sadness or frustration. Not that we shouldn’t be paying attention to those moods, it’s just that anger would be something that could be an immediate risk of a serious problem.

With this in mind, consider using Cooper’s Color Code of Awareness to determine the amount of scrutiny and attention each emotion requires. Cooper's Color Code of Awareness is a useful tool to grade these emotions, and it looks something like this -- 

 Of course, I don’t really mean to suggest that you spend a lot of your valuable time studying the Cooper’s Color Code of Awareness and evaluating each of your students as to whether they are a code red or orange. 

Just try to remember the “spirit” of this lesson and apply it as students enter your bus.

Maybe it’s easier to think of yourself as a physician on the battlefield of student management and you must triage (diagnose) which patients (students) need your attention the most.

With this in mind, let’s look at 3 common situations you may find yourself in, then let’s rate them as to importance and degree of attention required.