There were many approaches and strategies included in this week's unit on classroom management. Now it is time to share your experiences, questions and reflections with your peers.
For example: My exposure to classroom management in my undergraduate teacher education program included only an article by a nun on how straight rows and attractive bulletin boards promoted better behavior.
As a first year teacher, I had given my secondary students class time to review for the test scheduled the next day. Yes, that was all I told them. Of course, within a short period of time the noise and activity level (not related to class material) was becoming a problem.
Naive teacher that I was, I told them, "Since you've wasted this study time, you MUST come for an after-school study session here. Any student that does not show up will be withdrawn from this course (remember - we are in a secondary school).
I found out during my planning period that I could not enforce this. I waited in my classroom that afternoon (very nervously) - and to my surprise, EVERY student showed up and began quietly studying.
As an experienced teacher - I now know what I did was wrong - but I also know why it worked - let's see what you think.
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Classroom management is one thing I'm really scared I won't be good at when I start teaching because I'll be teaching kids not much younger than me. I am afraid that they won't respect me when I ask them to do something.
ReplyDeleteMy experience in school was similar to those feelings I am having. I feel like the classes with the younger teachers were always the more laid back, and often out of hand classes.
In an effort to effectively manage my classroom I plan to be strict, but fair, and stay true to the rules I have set forth in my classroom. I want my students to respect me, but also feel that I am fair and respect them as well.
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ReplyDeleteI plan to teach preschool or kindergarten. In my experience, children of this age are very easy to redirect and influence. I have been babysitting and nannying since I was 12 years old so I have tons of experience with young children. I have learned different approaches to redirect the children’s behavior and also simplified ways of answering the crazy questions that some children come up with. Because of this reason, I do not feel that classroom management will be particularly difficult for my students.
ReplyDeleteI have been babysitting since I was about 13 years old so I have a lot of experience. Even with my 9 years working with children, I am still very nervous about controlling my own classroom. I really wish KSU had more classes that would help us future teachers with dealing with student's behaviors. I don't want my students to take advantage of me and I want the respect to go both ways.
ReplyDeleteI'm not too nervous about controlling my classroom. All you have to do is establish a trusting and respectful relationship between myself and the kids. At the beginning of the year, I will allow my children to have some choice in the classroom activities, rules, and consequences that way they'll be more likely abide by the rules and have some more choices and freedom within the classroom. I've also worked ASP for 3 years, boys and girls club manager for 1 year, gymnastics camps for 2 years, as well as babysat and nannyed since I was 12. In other words, I think I'll do pretty well at managing my own classroom. What I'm more concerned with is all the paperwork I'll be faced with and whether or not I'll be able to get a job with all the budget cuts coming in the future.
ReplyDeleteI am actually pretty good at controlling a classroom, knowing this from being a preschool teacher of 15 3 year olds. But I know when they get a little older (2nd grade) they have more of an attitude and how to get around things. I am nervous that I will get frustrated with a student and make them feel embarrassed or shameful, I remember as a student that was the worst feeling and also escalated my anger towards the teacher. I know that is necessary for students to learn what they did wrong though.
ReplyDeleteThe think that I find to be the most important about classroom management is the first few weeks of school. It has been my experience that if there is a routine in the classroom then there will be order. Having the students participate in creating the rules also helps. I feel that classroom management is more important than the lessons.
ReplyDeleteHaving a good classroom management plan requires being prepared and being able to think and react quickly to the unexpected things that happen in classrooms. When I first started out in education, I observed seasoned teachers and they taught me many tricks that I still use. One of the most valuable things I believe in an effective classroom management system is to involve the students in the process - they feel empowered when the students are part of the process.
ReplyDeleteHaving good classroom management starts with building a rapport with the students. They need to and want to trust you. It is beneficial to learn their names quickly because it shows that you want to get to know them. While this bond is being built between all of you within the class, you may want to review the school rules and use them to create your classroom rules together. Even though you are in charge it shows them that you trust them. After the rules and consequences have been established it is very important to stay consistent. If a rule states that a student must not run in the room be sure to acknowledge the student and have them take the responsibility of telling you what the consequence is for the infraction that the class has established. The next student that runs in the room be sure to follow through with the same consequence.
ReplyDeleteI feel that rapport and consistency are two very important strategies that can contribute a great deal while establishing classroom management within your classroom.
Classroom management can be very difficult to implement in a classroom. I think it is important to start off the year with certain 'house' rules so that the students know what to expect from day one. As a teacher, when you set these rules, it is hard to take into consideration the students that have disabilities and how they are going to react to certain rules and expectations. I feel that for dealing with students with any type of disability it is important to be patient and take things one day at a time. It is important to know that not every child is going to like the rules or follow them, but that is something that you are going to have to deal with. It is also important to make sure your students respect you and do not walk all over you. Sometimes consequences are necessary and that may be the only way that student understands what he or she did wrong. Every child is different and reacts to things different ways. By establishing good classroom management skills in your classroom, there is a lesser chance for acting out. Therefore learning and knowing about classroom management is extremely important.
ReplyDeleteIf I am being completely honest, I have to say that classroom management terrifies me. I have always been awful at raising my voice (even if it is not in the context of anger) and regaining the attention of a group of children. Because I desire to teach around the age of second grade, I know that I will need to get over this fear. One technique that I have always thought would work for me is the use of a bell. Ringing it would regain the attention and silence of a class. If it does not work on the first ring, a second ring is done. If a third ring has to happen to gain order, then consequences will occur. I feel fortunate because during my field experience for this class, the inclusion class I was placed in used the bell technique! It pleased and reassured me that the technique is worth a try in my future teaching experiences.
ReplyDeleteOther methods I have seen include singing or saying melodic phrases that require students to complete them and gain their attention. Also, simply turning off the lights seems to always work. My methods to maintain order in the classroom will probably all come from ideas that I borrow from other more experienced teachers.
We have been talking about this recently in my Curriculum class. There are lots of great comments here, and I share many of the same ideas presented. I would like to think that I will have an open classroom, that I will be firm but not too strict, that I will emphasize respect as priority. I like the idea of letting the children take part in creating the class rules so that they have a sense of ownership and can hopefully access those rules easier than by trying to remember some list posted on the wall. I think that an important thing to remember is that there is no cookie cutter class and there is no one set of rules or management style that's going to apply effectively to all classroom settings, especially when you have different types of special needs included in the class. Flexibility is going to be key, and some manipulating of rules is to be expected.
ReplyDeleteI believe that classroom management can fall under two categories of teachers. The first group are teachers who use disappointment and shame to maintain control in the classroom. My TOSS collaborating teacher uses this style and its very effective in maintaining student behavior on a controllable, consistent level. The other style is to use a domineering, almost threatening, strategy where the teacher imposes his or her will and students are to follow. Students who fail to do so are ridiculed and ceremoniously made an example in front of their peers. I can see that teachers who don't want to constantly be stressed and strung out everyday would use the disappointed style. I think most teachers would like to be able to call on both a certain times and instances and that is okay so long as the teacher is consistent and understanding of the situation. All these kids care about is fairness, if a teacher can do that you have your students for eternity.
ReplyDeleteWilliam, both categories you describe focus on teacher control of the classroom. The goal should be helping students develop self-control. The mistake I made in the example I posted was to threaten students. I was teaching in a very high-risk school and this was a dominant strategy - and one that I used because I didn't know what else to do. Why did it work? Not because of the threat, but because the students knew I cared. This can be viewed as an example of disappointment. Disappoint also focuses on the teacher.
ReplyDeleteWhat did I learn from this? I needed to intervene earlier. I planned a review activity to keep the students engaged - since I learned that vague directions like "study" have no meaning. I began to use games as a review strategy such as vocabulary bingo. I had them develop group outlines or other study guides. I circulated around the room and redirected discussions with proximity control and prompts.
Drawing attention to a "misbehavior" in the classroom stops the flow of the lesson more than the misbehavior. For example, students not paying attention are missing the lesson - but when you announce to them that they need to pay attention (in the "old days" - teachers would throw an eraser at them) the whole class is disrupted. It would be better to ignore the behavior and complete the lesson - then meet with the student privately and develop a strategy such as change of seating or address any underlying issues (boredom, lack of sleep, etc).
Look at the goals of the behavior - for some students, negative attention from teacher and peers is better than no attention at all. Sometimes it is an avoidance of something they fear (reading out loud, written assignments). When you understand the goal of the behavior - you can help the student gain control by helping hm/her develop new strategies for self-control.
Students develop self-control when we phrase comments to them (and never as a public comment) with a focus on their goals and needs. How does this behavior help them learn? How else could they approach the problem?
As a facilitator of learning - we need to focus on how to engage students in learning - and how to work with them to develop self-control.
I am concerned, but not too concerned about how to manage a classroom of young children. I plan to teach kindergarten and based on my experience in a preschool classroom (I taught preschool for 4 years prior to returning to school), I learned that it is critical to have structure in the classroom. My preschool class had a schedule and they knew exactly what they had to do and when they had to do it. I believe that this helped manage my classroom. I feel that it is also important for students to help make the rules and to keep the rules simple (i.e. we walk, we listen, we clean up, etc.). My preschool class helped to make the classroom rules and they respected the rules because they decided what the rules were. By making the rules it gives the students a certain amount of responsibility and accountability in their classroom behavior.
ReplyDeleteI am a little concerned about classroom management as well. I have never worked in a daycare setting so I do not have the experience of managing a classroom that size. I teach a Sunday school class at my church with nine 5 year olds but I have never managed a class bigger than that. I have learned during my field experience for ECE 3313 that students will need to view me as an authority figure. At the beginning of field experience, my students would not listen to me when I asked them to do something. Now that I have been there for two months, they listen.
ReplyDeleteWhen I taught English as a Second Language in Korea, it was the first time I saw a teacher use physical discipline in a classroom. Most teachers in Korea no longer use physical discipline, but there are still some experience teachers that see this as the last form of punishment. What I learned from that experience is that it still did not change the behavior of the students. The students who misbehaved, continued to misbehave because they knew what the punishment was going to be and were willing to take it. I don’t believe the teachers who used physical discipline ever got to the root of the issue of why the student(s) were acting out.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Dr. Brown said about the goal of classroom management being that students learn self-discipline. You can redirect students day after day, but they will eventually get tired of hearing you. If a teacher establishes, from the very beginning of the semester/year, a classroom environment of respect and adherence to rules, then he/she will have an easier time throughout the year controlling the classroom. Another point to remember is to be consistent. Students pick up on inconsistencies and use them as excuses..."But you said we could turn homework in late last time...But we were allowed to sit wherever we wanted yesterday...But she didn't get written up for chewing gum..." Students should know exactly how they are to behave in the classroom, and as a teacher, it will be my job to set up this environment. Fairness and consistency are huge parts of classroom management that can either make or break a class.
ReplyDeleteClassroom Management is not something thsat I really worry about, but the reason is I have had experience with the toughest kids; 3 years olds. I taught private preschool for four years and learned that you have to earn the respect of the children and then you will be able to manage your classroom effectively. It helps to have a good rapport with the students', then they will listen to you and respect rules that you have within your classroom.
ReplyDeleteClassroom Management is something that I worry about a little. The key to having good classroom management is having a good lesson plan. I have just started developing lesson plans and realize that by creating a good lesson plan with fun activities, applying lessons to the childrens interest and keeping the children involved can make a big difference. As a teacher wanting to teach the earlier grades I have heard that they tend to listen more to the teacher than in a later grade. I feel that it is important to build a trusting relationship with the children and have their respect and these things will help in having an orderly class.
ReplyDeleteAnita Harkins
ReplyDeleteIn TOSS, I have seen a variety of classroom management styles used in working with middle school students. One thing I noticed is how much the attitudes of the students as a whole seem to change from sixth grade, when there is more elementary school-style respect and admiration for teachers, to eighth grade, when students could be surly but amazingly seemed to have better overall attitudes than seventh-graders.
I think this brings up the matter of trying to adapt classroom management style to grade level and the accompanying attitudes of students. In middle school, as we all probably remember, students are really testing the waters of their independence and many love to get near -- or even cross -- the line of authority.We need to match our approach to the type of students we get.
In some classrooms, I saw teachers who mainly stayed at their desks in a corner or maybe at a podium, and rarely walked around in an effort to take the pulse of the students, keep an eye on things, and stay in control. In those classes, the noice level and distractiions were obivously high.
By contract, in classrooms where teachers walked around, had a firm but interesting voice, and were sure to call on plenty of students, especially those who were starting to slack off or not pay attention, there was a better atmosphere for learning.It was quieter, more students answered questions, and the students hadn't hijacked control.
The classes where noise level and talking-back attitudes rose quickly and often seemed to be those in which students were just told to follow along while the teacher read a worksheet or a PowerPoint out loud. I even got bored in those classes, and I can see how kids end up fiddling or goofing off, etc.
-- Anita Harkins
Classroom management is something that can easily get out of control. I believe that the best way to go about classroom management takes place the first few weeks of school. A teacher needs to let the students know that there is going to be respect in the classroom. By letting your students know that there are classroom rules and expectations, they will be aware of them throughout the year. I feel that it is important for there to be a trusting teacher-student relationship. Students must be confident in their environment and with their teachers, but they have to know that there are guidelines.
ReplyDeleteAs long as there are clear guidelines and expectations that are enforced in the beginning and throughout the year, I believe that for the most part there will be a good classroom management.
ReplyDeleteI think that they all returned back to the classroom because you were new to them and they did not know how to take you. I am sure you shocked them most of all by having them come back after school. You commanded respect and received it. I am a liitle nervous about taking control of my own classroom. It is not so bad when you are substituting or working as a parapro because it is not your class.
ReplyDeleteI have learned through my experience in special needs that you need to be careful when dealing with a student that is acting out. A student acting out is trying to gain something. They could be trying to gain your attention or that of their peers. They could be lacking something or dealing with a tough situation at home. All the questions surrounding a child acting out makes it difficult for the teacher to know how to respond. First and foremost a teacher should never talk down or call out a student in front of their peers. This will cause them to talk back to impress their peers. You can either get close and speak to them softly or as them softly to join you in the hall. Often times if you show respect you will gain respect. I know it's tough to think of them as little adults but in today's society they really are more advanced in their thinking than back when I was in school. Second a teacher shouldn't try to use power to get what they want. This will
ReplyDeleteonly engage the student in a power struggle. Let's face it, if we believe in what we think then we don't easily give in when someone tries to tell us our thoughts are wrong. We will stand there and argue and so will a student. The reason I feel this worked for you was because of the time era. I'm 37 and when I was in school you never talked back to a teacher and you always did as you were told. back then our parents backed up the teacher. Those days are over. To prevent the power struggle allow the child to take a break to release the tension and calm down. After the break you can see if you can talk with the student to find out what the stressor was. If they are not able to talk at that time show concern and tell the student you would like to talk later to work on the problem. This allows the episode to continue to deflate and allows the child a thought process to think of what they will talk about.
I am hopeful that when I begin to teach I will have the basic tools in place for classroom management. I also hope that there is a support team in my school that can help me through any rough patches along the way. I think that the information I am gaining in school, along with more experienced advice, should help me be a good classroom manager.
ReplyDeleteI feel that one of the most important jobs of a teacher is to provide students with the tools they need to be successful. We all, no matter what age, have a responsibility for our own “work”. It is important to model, but that modeling should include real lessons showing the student how the next time a situation occurs they can adopt the behavior as their own. My goal is to raise self sufficient adults who can thrive in their own lives.
I used to think that the classrooms where all the students were quietly working in their seats were the best managed. I then worked with a Pre-k teacher who completely changed my opinion. I remember walking in the first day and thinking these kids are all out of control and nothing was being accomplished. I then learned that it was a controlled mayhem, and this teacher was focusing on creating a positive environment. For many of these kids, this was their first school experience and she wanted to make it fun and nurturing. Children learn differently than adults, they need to explore and discover through their senses. If they feel they are being micromanaged they may act out in order to obtain freedom, which may lead to behavioral issues.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I want to teach older students, I learned a lot through watching her. Teaching has little to do with the teacher, and everything to do about the students. Children will rarely act in accordance to what adults want, if they do not feel secure. For those teachers who understand that we are really facilitators for each student, it is then that success is usually achieved. Teachers have to guide their students through their lessons and through their daily routine allowing them to make decisions in order to acquire much need confidence.
Setting the students up to make good decisions requires modeling, encouragement and above all gaining their trust. Securing trust from the students is vital, and that is in essence what my behavioral management plan will entail. I feel the best way to gain trust from the students is by giving them options; let them feel that they have control over their learning. If students act out limit their control, and they will most likely revert back into appropriate behavior in order to gain their freedom back.
Right now I am afraid that classroom management will be my hardest part of teaching my first few years. I am hoping that through TOSS and Student Teaching I will develop good classroom management skills that I can later apply to my teaching career. Right now I work in ASP with third graders who are quite difficult. It surprises me the attitude differences between 2nd and 3rd and 3rd and 4th grade. Kindergarten and 1st grade seem to be at about the same and need step by step instructions and only firm hand when absolutely necessary. 4th and 5th graders are about the same, but 5th graders seem to be getting into that middle school mind set. I enjoy 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders the most and hope to teach one or all of those grade levels throughout my career. I believe that in order for the teacher to have a smooth running and well controlled classroom, the children have to want to behave for the teacher. The teacher cannot be the student's best friend, but they cannot be the student's worst enemy either. The student should want to make the teacher proud of them for their accomplishments and the teacher should give praise to the students who are succeeding (whether it is sitting quietly or scoring a 100 on a math test). I agree with Dr. Brown that for some students, negative attention is better than no attention at all. As teachers we need to figure out what works and what does not work for each individual student. Not every child will respond the same way. While sitting out at recess might work for one child it probably will not work well for a hyperactive child. We also need to know our student's emotions. Some children are over sensitive and need a simple frown and head shake to let them know you disapprove of their behavior. Over-punishment could really hurt a child's feelings or embarrass them and possibly discourage them from coming to school or hurt your relationship with that child. Each teacher really needs to take the time to get to know each child inside and out to learn the best way on how to handle each child the most effective way possible.
ReplyDeleteI agree with so many of the comments and ideas that have already been posted. I also believe that classroom management is built on a foundation of respect and rapport with the students. I would like to teach high school history or perhaps even on the college level. At this age level mutual respect is very important from early on. I have been a substitute in the Cobb County school system and I have worked on the high school and middle school level with that. I have never had a problem managing the classroom. I always start off from a place of understanding and getting to know them and I pick my battles with them. I try not to harp and small behavioral problems, I just work through that. My field experience teachers for this class take the same approach with their students. They allow some quiet talking during warm up and between activities. During their instruction however they are much more firm and demanding of attention. This balance seems to work well with the students. I have also been involved with the youth from my church and taken kids to camp and so forth and even in these settings the respect them first strategy works well.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it when you tell people that you want to teach high school, they say “good luck,” and act like you will have the worst job in the world? Do elementary –age kids not have their challenges too?
ReplyDeleteAlthough I too have concerns about managing a classroom full of kids (most of whom will be bigger than me!), I know that it can be done. In some aspects, I believe that high school students can be easier to manage than younger ones- Hey, they are ALMOST adults!! You can relate to them (and them to you) in a different kind of way, and that is one point that I plan to use to my advantage. The number one thing I think you can do in your classroom is to give your students respect- and not just assume that they will follow your direction just because you said so. If they feel as though they have a stake in the classroom, then they will be more likely to buy into a positive classroom environment.
When I think about my experiences with classroom management, I think about the classes in which I was a student. In middle school, I had a class where the teacher had absolutely NO control over the class. I believe it was because she did not enforce any rules what-so-ever. She did not even tell the class what the rules were, so how could we be breaking any??
Overall, I think that I will have to find the right balance between taking control of the classroom, and letting the students control themselves.
Classroom management begins with setting the tone for your classroom. Your students will treat you in accordance to how you allow them to treat you. Project an air of confidence, not cockiness, and it will go far. Treat them with respect and you will receive it in return; this does not mean allowing them to treat you as an equal because they are not. Let them know your expectations up front, but also that they have the opportunity to earn rewards for following your classroom rules. As a counselor, I get to work with a variety of teachers and students, and it tickles me to no end when, during a teacher/student conference, the students with one particular teacher (Ms. H) always say, “No way would I act up in her class! She won’t allow it!” yet are acting like heathens in other teachers’ classrooms. Ms. H lays the law down the first few weeks of school and demands that everyone live up to those expectations. She does not threaten her students at all, she clearly lets them know the expectations of the classroom and that she wants all of them to succeed.
ReplyDeleteClassroom management is one thing that I feel that I need more experience with. I feel that the way you handle the children in your classroom is half of you experience and actually your job as a teacher. I do not feel that I have had enough education in classroom management, and actually this is the first course that I have taken that had taken me so deep into managing classroom situations. My first and only experience with classroom management was a video of how to "set the tone" for your students on the first day of class. Honeslty, I felt that the video did not benefit me in any way if anything I felt that the teacher was too hostile with the students. This is on thing that I feel that is make it or break it for teachers, is the way that you handle behavior in the classroom and how well that management effects the rest of your class. I do feel that this course is giving me great tips and ideas for ways that I can successfully manage behavior and facilitate learning at the same time, but I am getting the feeling that it is going to be SO overwhelming my first year trying to accomplish all of this.
ReplyDeleteI have always been anxious about classroom management because I feel that I have not had enough experience with it. I feel that classroom management is the foundation for having a successful school year. I agree with amackey1 when they say that the way in which you manage your students and set the tone for your classroom environment is half of the experience of being a teacher. If you do not have a classroom management plan in place or if it is not working you will have lost valuable teaching time. So I think that it is very important that the tone of how the class will operate be set very early in the school year. In all of my field experiences I have only observed one class where the classroom management plan appears like it did not work and the teacher is just going along day by day. I believe that I will have many failed strategies before finding a style that works for me.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I am most worried about when it comes to teaching is how I will manage my classroom. I work as an ASP teacher now, and some days, keeping my classroom under control is completely impossible. I have tried several techniques that I have learned in classes, but still, some students have such a hard time following directions, and when they get out of line, so does the rest of the class.
ReplyDeleteI think I worry about this the most since we don't have a classroom management class that is required for us to take at KSU. I feel that there should be a required class that needs to be taken, rather than a class that is optional and only given at certian times.
I feel that although I have found many strategies for classroom management that sometimes work, that I haven't found the one that will work at all times, and that I feel alright using.
I believe the key to classroom management is learned behavior. Students must be told what kind of behavior is expected in the classroom; as teachers we must work with our students to help them create certain habits to contribute to better classroom management. It is all about following the rules that have been established. Students who follow daily routines without being asked could be rewarded with bonus points on a test. Some will say that a teacher should not have to bribe their students by rewarding them for behavior that is expected of them. I believe if the reward leads to the creation of behavior that becomes natural, then your classroom will be a much happier place.
ReplyDeleteI have worked in a Pre-K for two years. It is very trying at times but can be very rewarding. The biggest part of classroom management to me is structure. When the structure is gone the children tend to go wild. This is proven in the after school program. Some of the students are unrecognizable because they are well behaved in class and wild after school. I hope that if I keep the structure in my classroom I will keep the children in line.
ReplyDeleteI truly have mixed emotions regarding classroom management. At times, I feel as if I will really have things under control as I am organized, a multi-tasker, and feel I have good management skills in other settings. In various field experiences I have encountered different scenarios in which there has been uncontrolable chaos that I felt very anxious and insecure about. Other field experiences, the teachers appear to have extreme control in the classroom while maintaining a fun enviroment. That is my ultimate goal. A classroom that is well organized, on task, and fun all at the same time. I definitley realize that our methods will evolve over time. I am sure year one, we will have very little preparedness for a real classroom setting as opposed to being all alone and "winging it" year one. While I do have apprehensions, I do look forward to the challenge of managing a successful classroom!
ReplyDeleteI plan to teach kindergarten. I think the hardest thing to manage for students that age is their attention span. For the first time, many of them are in a controlled environment away from their primary caregivers. Students cannot be allowed to treat their classmates how they treat their siblings. I think patience is key!Also, providing a routine and a caring environment.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that I am a little worried about is classroom management. I currently work at a daycare at which I work in just about every room whenever needed. That being the case I have had experience with classroom management on a variety of different age groups; however, sometimes I still find it difficult to control a classroom. Throughout my daycare experience and other field experience through school, I feel like I have picked up tips and strategies to controlling a classroom that make me confident that I will have many resources to use and I won't be going into a classroom blind. For example, I have seen on several occasions that if you let the students help you determine the classroom rules during the first few days of the school year, the students are more apt to follow them because they helped establish the rules.
ReplyDeleteAs beginning teachers, WE DO WHAT WORKS UNTIL WE LEARN THE ROPES. Of course we know that you can't really get away with that ever again, but it worked. I can't even judge you, because when I did my TOSS field experience, I offered the students candy,so they would be quiet. Once I offered them the candy, they were perfect angels. What 11 year old kid would turn down candy. I know I wouldn't. I must admit that I panicked and didn't know what to do, so I did what I knew. KIDS LIKE CANDY. Sure they became expectant of receiving candy every time they followed the rules and when I didn't reward them for following the smallest of rules, they were not so willing to please and candy wasn't a big deal anymore. Especially when they starting to bring their own candy.
ReplyDeleteI will be teaching k-5th grade and at this age I feel it will be very difficult to decide what is appropriate classroom management and what is not. As teachers we are very limited as to what disciplinary actions we can take. As a soon to be first year teacher this makes me very nervous. I want the kids to like me which often times causes poor structure within the classroom. I feel that by stating very direct rules and boundaries I will be able to run a productive classroom and maintain a loving friendship with my students
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say that in TOSS right now, I have the hardest time with clasroom management. The problem is, is that these kids are so used to a threatening teacher environment (a teacher who is hard on them) and domination that someone like me, who hates, and I mean hates yelling at kids. I do not enjoy screaming at children. It hurts me every day that my CT gives me a lower rating on clasroom management. We are two very different people. The kids however are not quite sure what to do with me in the classroom. They try to push buttons and they try to cross lines of course, but i'm not what they are used to. I think that is my issue as well. When I get my own classroom, from day one the kids will know my expectations and they will be accustomed to how I handle things, and how i run my classroom. Management should have something to do with kids too. They need to have a part in it, because if they get the opportunity to make rules, they might just follow them better.
ReplyDeleteI love Dr. Brown's story! I think that when teachers show that they are serious like that that students realize that the have acted wrongly and they want to make it right. As a student sometimes school can become a prison and the only solution seems to be acting out. It gives them power, which the schools love to take away. No talking, stay in line, do this homework, etc. I think that when you give the students a choice. (i.e. like Dr. Brown did) They will make the choice that is right for them. Many of you have suggested something like this already and I agree that when the students feel like they are making choices for themselves they will respond better.
ReplyDeleteFor classroom management, I am willing to try different techniques until I have found the right way to control the students. One technique I would like to try with the students is having them attempt to make their own rules that they feel is the most important to implement. I have seen this tool in a fourth grade classroom and it felt as if the students wanted to keep up with the rules because they were the ones that have made them suitable for their classroom. I also like the idea that the students have to earn their materials when it comes time to use them because that means know they will not be able to complete their assignments without them.
ReplyDeleteClassroom management is a worry for many of us as future teachers. It is important to have a plan at the beginning of the school year before the students arrive. I am fortunate to be able to see behavior management "in action" because of my job as a middle school parapro. I work with a variety of teachers who manage the behavior of their students differently. I know a teacher that has the "don't smile until Christmas" approach. She rarely has behavior issues because the students are afraid of what she might do. By mid-October this teacher softens up and the students feel secure and thrive in the structured environment she creates.
ReplyDeleteAnother teacher I know has a more relaxed attitude towards behavior. She develops a trusting and caring relationship with each child at the beginning of the year. She is usually able to prevent inappropriate behavior because she knows her students so well. This teacher has her behavior plan posted and the students know what to expect if they do not follow the rules.
For middle school behavior management, preparation and structure for the class time is important. Students know when you are unprepared and the assignment given to them is not meaningful or relevant. Although "free time" can be a great incentive for students, it can also be a time when the class can get out of control.
I think classroom management is a common insecurity for most new teachers. I think that can be true for any grade level. YOu could potentially have just as much chaos from a rowdy room of 12th graders as you can a class of crazy preschoolers. I think the key is that you try to set boundaries with the students at any age. You establish rules from the beginning and implement those rules throughout the school year. If students feel there are no consequences, no rules or management will be respected. You must have a rule driven, structured enviroment in order to attempt to maintain a stable classroom!
ReplyDeleteAs much experience as I have nannying & babysitting I am still a but nervous about having good classroom management. I am personally not good about watching the time, and often run late, or dont complete things on time. I am nervous I will run behind on assignment being graded, and assignments that my students are working on in class. I know the first year is going to be a learning experience. I am hoping once TOSS, and student teaching come I will be able to watch and learn from the teachers who are mentoring. Since I am going to be teaching middle school, I know students of that age tend to have attitudes, and tend to talk back, this means I will have to be firm and stand my ground, so I am respected. I think most new teachers will be nervous about managing their classroom, and gaining respect from their students. Hopefully student teaching will give us all a better understanding of how to manage in the classroom.
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