Introductions please

[Mike Temple]

Hi

It would also be great of you could take a moment to introduce yourself to the other folk here. Please let us know about your children's age range, your areas of interest and any hopes you might have for joining in here.
Thanks
Mike

[Mike Temple]

I'm Mike Temple from Ashford in Kent and I am the founder of Supportive Behaviour Management. I also am part of The Life Skills Company, having taught for 13 years (out of a total 30 years) in special education, followed by four years working the SBM programme in a local authority.
The foundation of SBM rests on the principles that difficult children are not inherently bad but perhaps have other issues that cause them to make poor choices. Many of these choices can be viewed negatively and deliberate, but on closer inspection, can be seen to have roots in emotional disability, poor social skills, immaturity and poor resolution techniques and tools. Many of these traits have become embedded and appear to be typical of 'this type of child'. I think as professional adults, we should have the capacity to see beyond this and see a better, happier, more contented and independent child and work towards that goal with all our hearts.

I believe, that with support , suitable environment and encouragement, all these children can be successful within their context and can achieve far more than would be in a punitive and consequence based environment.

[Teresa]

Hi, I'm a 2nd year teacher in Colorado who has been blessed with a small class of 11 kids, all of whom are boys. I'm hoping to find support and ways to change my classroom environment to better support the learning of my students. They are a rowdy bunch, most of whom have home lives that are less than happy. Unfortunately, many of them take out their anger and their frustration in the classroom on each other.

[Ed Whittaker]

Hi, I'm Ed Whittaker from Rochdale, UK. I've spent 28 years at the chalkface teaching chemistry in the 11-18 sector in Manchester. As well as teaching chemistry I have an interest in classroom management techniques. I have coached ITT students, NQTs and experienced teachers to help improve their effectiveness in the classroom. I have developed whole school behaviour management systems and for several years ran the school isolation unit.
Together with my school's MIS manager I have developed an on-line behaviour management and analysis facility, IRIS. I left teaching in July 2008 to set up a company to develop IRIS further.
Along with Mike, I am a strong believer in positive strategies for managing behaviour in schools, which is why there is a strong emphasis on managing and analysing rewards in IRIS. However, coming from a mainstream background, I also believe that there needs to be clear sanctions for those pupils who choose (and I use that word advisedly) to disregard the rules.

[Katherine]

Hi! My name is Katherine and I teach a special day class in California. I teach 4 core subjects to my class of 15 at a high school. I teach in a low income area and see medium violent offenses in my classroom. Physical violence is normal as well as verbal attacks. I am here to learn new strategies to try and qualm these behaviors and incorporate behavior management that is more positive.