With the support and encouragement of their principal, Lucia Paolella, veteran teachers, Pat Consiglio and Donna Ryan, transformed the classroom where they co-teach the Read 180 program for struggling readers into the Turn Around Room. They had worked together closely when Pat was the special education teacher assigned to work with Donna's 6th grade class. As the name implies, the Turnaround Room is a place where any student in the K-8 school can come to turn their day around. Everything they do in the Turn Around Room "is based on the Comer philosophy and the six Developmental Pathways," said Ryan.
"Kids come to school with things on their minds, worrying about things they don't understand about life," say Paolella. "We're trying to help them understand how to clarify things in their lives. We have normal kids with everyday problems, and we're cultivating them where they are. We're keeping the individuality and the strengths of the kids in mind."
This school year the focus of the Read 180 program has been on a group of 6th graders. The way the students were in September is "like night and day to the way they are now," said Consiglio. She and Ryan acknowledge that it took time and considerable effort to get where they are today. "When they come in here now they are confident, pleasant, cooperative, and extremely motivated. They know what they have to do. They might say, 'Hey, just a bit of advice. You're going to get in trouble if you do that.' Or if they interrupt someone they might say, 'Excuse me. I didn't mean that,' from a kid who would have thrown a desk at the beginning of the year."
Many students who come to the Turn Around Room feel angry or frustrated. They can choose several areas in the bright, cheerful room to de-escalate on their own. They can sit in the rocking chair or on a beanbag, wrap themselves in a Native American blanket, and read, draw, listen to music with headphones, or continue working on whatever they were doing in their classroom.
If Consiglio and Ryan are teaching, the student can signal them that they want to speak with one or both of them. "Sometimes a student needs an intervention almost immediately, and one of us will help the child settle into the room," said Consiglio.
Once a student has calmed down, they use a reflection sheet to write about the situation that brought them to the room either voluntarily or at the direction of their teacher. They are prompted, for example, to think about and respond to the question: What positive actions could I have taken? What do I need to do to make me feel better about me?
If they were sent to the Turn Around Room, their teacher uses a reflection sheet to give their perspective on why they asked the student to leave the room, and their ideas about how to create an environment that would discourage the negative behavior from being repeated. Teachers are reminded that once the behavior has been "turned around," the child can return to class with a fresh start. Within 24 hours the teacher and the student must get together to develop a contract. "They come to some peace and agreement about better options, perhaps for both of them the next time," Consiglio said.
"It's beneficial to us that the entire school has been trained with the six Comer Pathways, because those strategies are not only taught to them here, but they're also constantly being utilized within their classroom," said Ryan. "Here it's just a quieter atmosphere for them to be able to get control of whatever was disrupting their day."
Ryan and Consiglio collaborate effectively with classroom teachers. "They depend on us a lot," said Consiglio. "They come to us for both advice and to let us know how they're doing things differently. It's bringing us even closer to classroom teachers. You go from a good idea to a great idea, and we're finding a lot of that."
"We give classroom teachers index cards that say two 10-minute breaks during the morning, and the student is allowed to choose when and if they come in here," said Consiglio. "That's a warm snuggly for a lot of kids even if they decide not to use the pass cards," said Ryan. "It's a comfort for them just knowing that they're in their pocket or on their desk. If they're not feeling so great that day they can just come in. The teachers have said what a difference it makes if a child was very angry or was frustrated and needed to just remove themselves instead of acting out in the classroom."
They have also seen students learning to advocate for themselves. "Sometimes a student needs to step up to the plate if they're having a problem, whether it's academic or behavior, with a particular teacher," said Ryan. "There's nothing wrong if it's done in a very polite fashion for them to advocate for themselves with their classroom teacher. They seem to be more and more comfortable doing that."
"We ask students to come to us after they have done it the right way using the ethical and language pathways," Consiglio said. "They may come back and say it was an absolute disaster, and we'll sort that out with them. We'll do some role paying to explore options about what they could have done differently. When the opportunity comes up again to go in the right direction, we ask them to write a card about how it worked and put it on the Comer Pathways Tree."
The Comer Pathways Tree
Consiglio and Ryan came up with the idea for the Comer Pathways Tree and worked with the art teacher on the design and construction. The tree has six branches, one for each of the Developmental Pathways: social, physical, language, cognitive, ethical, and psychological. Dr. Comer was the honored guest at the unveiling of the Comer Pathways Tree in the Turn Around Room in February 2011. Students in the Read 180 program did skits on each of the six Developmental Pathways and had an opportunity to talk with Dr. Comer.
Every Friday the Read 180 students respond to questions Consiglio and Ryan ask them using the Developmental Pathways as the framework. Students use index cards to write about how they have used the pathways to change their behavior at school, at home, and in the community, then attach them to the appropriate branch on the Comer Pathways Tree. Here are some examples:
There was a kid messing with my friend and my friend wanted to attack him. I talked to my friend and said it was not worth it. I used my psychological pathway because I had confidence. We walked away.
We were at basketball practice and someone was talking about my dad. I was really mad but instead of fighting I used my language pathway and said 'Would you please stop talking about my dad?'
Mrs. Ryan was talking and I needed help so I used my language pathway and said 'Excuse me, Mrs. Ryan. I need help with my work.'
I was at home and my sister was in a bad mood. She wanted to argue with me and I told her that I was having a good day and didn't want to argue. I offered to help her out and I did.
Four times a year Ryan and Consiglio test students in the reading intervention program. "When they took their second test in December and saw how much their SRI scores had gone up, it increased their determination and motivation," said Ryan. "That was really exciting for us." She and Consiglio anticipate a jump in their 2011 Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) scores.
"Once you get that rapport going you can get a lot further academically," said Consiglio. "You're not going to have the constant battles because you're already beyond the game playing. All that's gone, and you can accomplish a lot more and faster, and I think that's what it's about."
Reflections on the Nathan Hale Turn Around Room: Dr. James P. Comer and Dr. Fay E. Brown
Dr. James P. Comer
What I was struck by about the Turn Around Room was that it operates very much like the Crisis Room that we had in the early days of the program. When teachers could see when children were getting out of hand or when they had problems they were struggling with, they had ways of helping them in the classroom. If that didn't work they allowed the children to go out of the classroom to work with someone who was prepared to receive them and deal with their feelings.
They do need to work on their feelings, and once they work on those feelings, they're then able to behave and learn better. The methods they learn of working differently and handling their feelings they can take back into their classrooms, and also into their communities and into their families. It's something that all children should have and receive at home and at school.
There has to be some knowledge of how to handle your feelings and how to express yourself in words rather than fighting, but there's no place where we train children to do that and there should be. There's no place where we train parents and teachers to do that, and there should be. That's what we're trying to do. Everybody at home and at school needs to have the knowledge and skills necessary to handle their feelings and emotions in a way that is better for them and everyone they're interacting with. That's what the pathways, the tree, and the room provide: an opportunity for people to learn how to handle their fears, their anger, and their doubts.
To watch Dr. Comer's video about the Nathan Hale Turn Around Room, please click here.
Dr. Fay E. Brown
Nathan Hale's Turn Around Room is a terrific concept. I see it as an alternative to suspending kids. I believe that's the philosophy of Pat and Donna who run the room. They see it as a place where kids can come and experience it as a psychologically safe place to be, if they're having difficulties in a classroom. Kids have bad days. Teachers have bad days, and unfortunately sometimes a trigger in the classroom can cause a kid to act out.
The Turn Around Room gives students a chance to turn their behavior around without punishing them, but allowing them the opportunity to think about their behavior. What happened? What could you have done differently? And if something similar happens in the future, what will you do? Will you make the same mistake or will you think differently? It's a growth opportunity and a developmental opportunity. And that for me is the philosophy of that room.
To watch Dr. Brown's video about the Nathan Hale Turn Around Room, please click here.