Week in Review plus Classroom Management prompt
Hello Ladies,
Here is a prompt for you to consider. Please post your responses by next week in addition to your weekley reflection. (so that means 2 posts each :-) )
Classroom management is often a struggle as you are establishing yourself as the teacher. What have been your challenges and successes? What have you learned about yourself and the management style you are developing?
Heidi and Chris
posted by Heidi @ 3:24 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Classroom management has been my biggest struggle through this student teaching experience. At first I thought that if I just keep talking over a few of my students that they would stop talking but that did not work in fact that just caused me to raise my voice more. Raising my voice started to cause other behavioral problems.
At first, I did not realize that these behavioral problems were coming from my classroom management style. There was one week right before Chris’s visit that was tough for me and it was because the kids were not listening it was a nightmare. It was stressing me out and I did not realize what was going on. I brought it up to my mentor teacher and I told her how I was feeling and then one night I thought about it and I decided that I need to change something or I was going to lose all control of my class.
The next morning I came in to the class and told my mentor teacher I was ready to make a change and I told her my plan. I was going to tell the kids my expectations and wait for them to follow the directions. I was stern with the kids but did not raise my voice. I realized that my plan was not going to work over night and that it would take time. After day one of the my plan I felt positive. Since that day I have made a conscious effort to work on my classroom management. It seems to be working as long as I tell the students what my expectations are.
At that same time I implemented a new system in my class. They have the rules laminated on their desk. If I catch students following the rules I will give them a star. If they get 5 stars they get a certificate, but if they break the rules then they get a tally mark. If they break the rules 5 times then they have to write a letter home and then write one back with a plan that will help them follow the rules. This new plan also seems to be working because it is more private and personal!
One thing that I have really learned is that you do not need to raise your voice to get the students attention. That if you have a sign and use wait time the students respond in a positive manner. I also realized that it is more effective to calmly express my feelings such as saying “ I am not happy” or “I am disappointed” rather than raising my voice.
I feel that I have been having a very positive learning experience when it comes to classroom management.
This past week has been successful. There is one student that I was struggling with. I knew he was a good student and he would listen to my mentor teacher but it seemed as if him and I were going around and around in a struggle. He always seemed to be up wandering around and not listening to my directions. My mentor teacher suggested that I take a different approach to him and ignore his negative behaviors and only recognize the positive. With this student the positive reinforcement is working very well.
We have another student who skipped school the other week . He was on his way to school and decided that playing in the park and around post sounded like a better idea. When he came back to school we decided to tell him how much we missed him and we were so worried. We focused on how much we needed him in class. We have also noticed that the students don’t want certificates as much as they want bumble bees so they can have lunch with us.
Things in the classroom have been going really well. I have been overwhelmed with massive amounts of correcting but it is all getting sorted out and I almost have it all done. The students seem to be listening more and I have been using wait time a lot. The past two days have been very successful using wait time, part of this is because I have not been feeling well and have not been able to raise my voice to gather their attention.
All in all it has been another successful wonderful week! Delome and I have been focusing on the pilot program and it seems to be successful. I still wish we could have more time to actually talk and plan but at least it is more of a co-teaching atmosphere!
Classroom management has been a continual challenge for me. Sandy put it well when she told me that she's seen too many nice student teachers taken advantage of by classes over the years. I have expectations of the students and I try to make sure they know what those expectations are before I let them begin a task. I've noticed they are more successful when they are reminded of the classroom expectations and expectations of sharing and being on task on a regular basis. The times when I forget an expectation seem to be more difficult for both the kids and me. It seems to be more difficult on the kids because they don't have as much direction and more difficult on me because I have to work to get their attention and correct my directions. I think giving clear directions at the beginning is one thing that can help the class to run smoothly. Another thing I've noticed is sometimes when there a few chatty kids (or class) it seems second nature to raise my voice and try to get their attention that way, but it doesn't work because they get louder then, and the whole atmosphere crazier. One thing I've found that can work is complimenting the kids that are following directions or whispering "if you can hear me touch your nose, ear, knees, etc." My class is wiggly so movement helps to get their attention and because it is in a quiet voice they have to pay attention. After one day when I was trying to get the class' attention by talking over the kids I realized that something had to change. Sandy and I talked about it and she pointed out the natural tendency to become louder to be heard. Ever since then I've tried to find more effective ways of getting the kids attention. It's amazing how much a teacher's style can affect the kids and classroom environment. Another challenge that I've had in regards to classroom management is following through on the consequences. There have been times when I did a great job of setting up the expectations but then didn't follow through with a consequence when an expecation wasn't followed. At the time it was as if I thought it would come together for the kid or the class if I just gave them one more chance. It may be they need one more chance but at a certain they might also need something to remind them of the expecation. At the same time, if I don't follow through with that expectation it gives the perception that they don't have to follow the expecations. When I do better with the follow through the day seems to flow better. We get more done, the kids have fewer complaints, and I have more energy at the end of the day.
This week has had some great moments and some others that I'd rather forget. Some of the kids finished their zig zag books which I was very happy about. It was also fun because they were so proud of their books. The plans that I put in place often times turn into a project in themselves. I'm learning what realistic expecations are for primary kids both academically and with timelines.
One of the boys that tends to be more of a challenge had three green days in a row. It was a great run, he was more ready to learn, more willing to try, and more receptive to feedback. I think one thing that helped this change was that we were focusing on the positive and we'd talk about behaviors that needed to change when he was calm and ready for feedback. While I'm still very excited about this, there was another student who had such severe behavior issues in the last week that a new plan was made for that student. Hopefully we never see behavior like that again and that he gets the support he needs inside and outside of school.
I'm trying to get ahead as my parents and boyfriend are and will be visiting and I want to devout just as much energy to the kids, but still have time to spend with them. So far the planning is going well and I'm excited for our upcoming projects and units.
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