Classroom management is very important when it comes to teaching. Students need to respect the teacher and the classroom should have some control. As students come in the door Ms. A greets them and has them write the daily schedule in their planner. She also tells them what they need for the day, like their book or a notebook. I think this is an effective way to start class because it gets the kids ready to focus.
Ms. A says that discipline is her weakest point. The day we were observing there were several kids who were misbehaving. One kid jumped across the desks to get to his seat. She told him to go back to the other side of the classroom and walk to his desk instead. It was good that she called this kid out because other students shouldn’t think it’s okay to jump around the classroom.
When she is trying to get the attention of the class she holds her hands up and counts down from 5, but she doesn’t say anything out loud. I don’t know if this is the most effective strategy because it is silent. Also, Ms. A tells the kids to use “kid words,” to describe the vocabulary word list. This seems juvenile, even though they are in 7th grade I think they are more mature than that. It does help the students know the terms in an easier language.
One kid was reading while Ms. A was lecturing. She went over to his desk and asked his quietly to pay attention. I thought this was a great strategy because it didn’t embarrass him, but it helped him focus more in class. Another kid was loudly talking and distracting the whole class while Ms. A was reading out loud. She asked him to take over the reading to the class. This worked really well because it was effective. This was a benefit of keeping the trouble maker in class, versus sending him to the hall or to the office.
Certain students are slower, and Ms. A will help them and explain the instructions over again which is great since there are different levels of learning in the classroom. When students are absent, she pairs them up with another student who was in class to have them explain the work they missed. That way she doesn’t have to explain the instructions over again and it means more classroom involvement. When the students are working on a project, Ms. A sets a timer for 10 to 15 minutes. This means kids can’t argue with how long they have been working.
Overall, I think Ms. A does a great job of classroom management. There will always be several kids who are disruptive. I think they respect her as a teacher and the classroom. Her strategies remind me of my middle school years. My teachers handled rowdy kids the same way Ms. A does, they try not to embarrass them but they just bring the students back to the focus of the class.
I think it is good that she admits that, that is a weakness for her, it is a good step forward as she knows it is something she needs to improve on.I like that she sets the timer for the kids to work, that is a good idea i think making sure the kids actually work for the time they are supposed to is very important, i have had a teacher do a similar thing but it was a timer for amount of time we couldn't talk and if we talked during that time we would have to pull a card or something like that. I think that is a very effective way to get the kids to behave. Hope your aiding continues to go well.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to hear about your teacher's method of management. I think the "kid words" for vocabulary is interesting. It does help to relate the words, but I agree, they should be held to a higher standard. This summer, I was the lead counselor for the older campers, and we had a lot of behavioral issues. The counting helps, but it takes a while, and usually by the age of 12, the kids stop responding to that method. I love the idea of redirecting her student to take over the reading, because it keeps the child busy and attentive to the lesson. That is a great strategy.
ReplyDeleteI love that our teacher is so connected with her students. When she has them redefine a teerm in their own words, it makes them think about what it means to them, and sets it in their brains more concretely than a simple lecture or lesson can.
ReplyDeleteThe way that she makes them copy the schedule every day is also really smart. It's something I might consider implementing in my classroom someday.
Also she admits that discipline is not her best strong suit, but she takes a commanding role when it is needed. All of us CAN calm our class down, I feel it is just a matter of knowing what works best in your classroom.