How do my responses to behaviour influence classroom climate?

 Professional Growth Cycle (PGC)

Focus: Maximising Learning Time Through Proactive Classroom Management

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Year Level: Year 4

Cycle Timeframe: Term 1 to the end of term 4, 2026.

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1. Inquiry Focus

How can I reduce time spent managing behaviour by implementing proactive, structured classroom systems that support engagement and self-regulation for all learners, particularly those with ADHD?

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2. Rationale

In my Year 4 classroom, a significant amount of learning time is lost due to managing low-level disruptions and supporting learners with ADHD and behavioural needs. These interruptions impact the flow of teaching and reduce opportunities for sustained engagement.

This inquiry aims to shift my practice from reactive behaviour management to proactive systems that create a calm, structured, and predictable learning environment. This aligns with the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum (2025), which emphasises wellbeing, belonging, and inclusive practice.

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3. Teaching Council Standards Links

• Learning-focused culture: Creating a safe, inclusive, and predictable classroom environment

• Design for learning: Planning for diverse learners using structured and accessible approaches

• Teaching: Using effective strategies to maximise engagement and minimise disruption

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4. Baseline Data (Weeks 1–2)

Summary of initial findings:

• Average time lost to behaviour per block:

• Most frequent behaviours:

• Times of day with highest disruption:

Reflection:

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5. Action Plan

Strategy 1: Strengthening Routines and Transitions

• Explicitly teach and practise transitions

• Use consistent signals and countdowns

• Display visual expectations

Strategy 2: Reducing Downtime

• Implement “Do Now” tasks at the start of each lesson

• Ensure materials are prepared in advance

• Provide early finisher options

Strategy 3: Chunking Learning and Adding Movement

• Break tasks into manageable steps

• Include short movement or brain breaks

Strategy 4: Clear Behaviour Expectations

• Co-construct class expectations (kawa)

• Regularly revisit and reinforce expectations

Strategy 5: Pre-Correction

• Remind students of expectations before transitions and key moments

Strategy 6: Targeted Support for Priority Learners

• Use non-verbal cues and proximity

• Implement “First–Then” strategies

• Set short, achievable goals

Strategy 7: Teaching Self-Regulation

• Teach and model calming strategies

• Provide a calm/reset space

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6. Evidence Collection

Quantitative Evidence

• Reduction in time lost to behaviour

• Transition speed improvements

• Frequency of key behaviours

Qualitative Evidence

• Student voice

• Teacher reflections

• Observations (self or peer)

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7. Mid-Cycle Reflection

What is working well?

What needs adjusting?

Impact on priority learners:

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8. End-of-Cycle Reflection

What changes did I make to my practice?

What impact did these changes have on student behaviour and engagement?

How has this improved learning time?

What will I continue or refine next?

Growth Cycle Inquiry 2025

My inquiry this year is based around the CPA approach to teaching, and how implementing it within my practice will enable students to gain a greater mathematical understanding of the concepts being learned.  

What is the CPA approach to teaching?

The Concrete Pictorial Abstract (CPA) approach is a means of scaffolding learning that uses physical and visual aids to help students understand abstract topics. Students are introduced to a new mathematical concept through the use of concrete resources (e.g., Multilink cubes, Base Ten Materials, Dice, etc.).

According to Third Space Learning, "Pupils achieve a much deeper understanding if they don’t have to resort to rote learning and are able to solve problems without having to memorise". 

How will I document this journey?

Throughout this inquiry, I will utilise the use of IRIS recording to capture my math lessons. The recordings will be a great way for me to reflect on, plan from and eventually compare back to when looking for signs of progress. Ideally, they may end up being a source of rewindable learning for other teachers to use. I expect the first recordings to show me reading from the textbook quite a bit, whilst I become familiar. I believe this will change somewhat over time as I acclimatise to this style of teaching and it becomes the norm.

Third Space Learning

Term 4 reflection

 As another way to encourage inclusive, thought-provoking discussions within the classroom, we also use Talk Moves in other curriculum areas, not just for reading. This helped build the student's confidence when it came to talking about their learning. It became more routine and familiar. They still need prompting to get going. I have noticed they have also become better listeners. We have concentrated on thinking about what is being said and what is being asked before blurting out a response.

Term 3 reflection

During term 3, we used more reflective discussions. These types of discussions encourage students to think and talk about what they have observed, heard or read during a reading session. Sometimes, I did the reading rather than the students. I found it gave them more freedom to think in-depth about the text and their discussions, rather than worrying about reading as well. 

The students still often need prompting to have discussions. This is something we will work on where they initiate the discussions, not me.  I want for it to be a natural part of their lesson, but at this stage, they still require a lot of scaffolding.

The video below shows a good example of how a teacher has implemented using Talk Moves within her class.

The journey so far....Term 2.

How the journey is going.

I have started trying to utilise provocation as a way to promote critical thinking as well as leading into critical literacy. 
"Critical literacy is the term used to refer to a particular aspect of critical thinking. Critical literacy involves looking beyond the literal meaning of a text to determine what is present and what is missing, in order to analyse and evaluate the text's complete meaning and the author's intent". (https://www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca/en/program-planning/cross-curricular-and-integrated-learning/critical-thinking-and-critical-literacy).

April, Term 1

Throughout the term, I have made a concerted effort to incorporate more discussion time across all curriculum areas. For example, during maths we have been focusing on being active listeners and doers, using Talk Moves and giving and taking others' opinions. Reading time we are focused on reciprocal teaching and building thought-provoking, rich conversations. 

Growth Cycle inquiry for 2024

My inquiry for 2024

For my Growth Cycle inquiry for 2024, I decided to revisit one I did previously. This is to incorporate extended discussions within reading through Reciprocal Teaching. My reasoning behind this is to accelerate students' overall comprehension of multimodal texts, therefore building students' communication skills. My focus is on developing their ability to explain and justify their thinking, elaborate on their ideas, and build richer communication skills and comprehension.

Target students

My target cohort is a small group of students who are at their expected level for reading. I chose these students as I feel they lack some of the communication skills required to progress more and that it is holding back their ability to confidently move ahead. 

I also strongly believe these particular students will pick up the reciprocal teaching strategies quickly and we should soon see positive results. These students will then be able to become mentors within the class to help establish reciprocal teaching and extended discussions with their peers.

How will I document this journey?

Throughout this inquiry, I will utilise the use of IRIS to record reading sessions. The first recording will be a baseline. A video for me to reflect on and plan from and eventually compare back to when looking for signs of progress. I expect the first recording in particular to contain a lot of off-task conversations while students are learning their new roles.