PLAN PLAN PLAN.... I have learned many things from my internship but the most important thing I have taken away from it so far is to plan in advance. Planning cuts down on "winging it" and will give the students structure in the classroom. I have noticed, especially with the class that I am in, if you pause for a second it shows them you do not know what you need to do next, and you loose control of the entire classroom. What my students really need is a schedule laid out for them with what they are doing that day. This will give them an idea of what the day is going to look like, which might get rid of some of the behaviors in the classroom. In observing my teacher I have noticed that most behavior problems stem from open-ended time that does not have structure or expectations for the students. I believe that if a schedule is posted and talked about in the morning meetings and the expectations are set for the day this class would loose a lot of its behavior issues.
Another thing that I have noticed in my class is that being CONSISTENT with the student's behavior is necessary. In my class there have been a lot of behavior issues due to the inconsistency of consequences. One reason for this might be that the rules were not set up in the beginning of the year. To me guiding the students in creating the rules during the first few days of school builds relationships with your students and sets the tone for the environment of the classroom. Sine the beginning of the year my teacher has reached out to administrators and specialist for help with the behaviors in her room. So in her defense a lot of the "severe" behavior issues have been ignored because she was told it would benefit the students. Meanwhile, other students have picked up on the "severe" behaviors and expect to be ignored, but are instead reprimanded which confuses them. So consistency among the behavior is necessary to keep the classroom management under control.
ENGAGE your students! Engaging your students is KEY...to classroom management. I know not all lessons can be the most exciting especially in my 1st grade there are a lot of basic lessons that need to be taught to build their fundamentals. But as a teacher you know when your students are not listening and need some other type of instruction. If I was teaching and noticed most students were disengaged. I would get the students up, do an energizer, and change the lesson to meet the needs of my students. As we are learning in our differentiation and assessment class we will have a classroom full of unique learners and we are expected as teachers to meet their needs. So, our instruction needs to be differentiated and if we are meeting their needs the students will be engaged:)
I totally agree with you on these 3 points! I had to present a writing lesson (not my own, but the classroom teacher's) and it was sort of spur of the moment because the teacher was called into a meeting. Luckily, I had a little time to go over the lesson plan and figure out what needed to get done and sort of play it out in my head how the lesson would go; and had it not been for that (albeit short) time I had to prepare/plan, the lesson might have been a disaster!
ReplyDeleteI've also noticed throughout my own experience that consistency is probably one of the most difficult things to have/maintain. Especially when it comes to addressing/responding to behaviors. Even one of my teacher's who is in her 7th year of teaching says it can be a tricky thing to do but I am sure it's especially difficult in the beginning of the year, as the rules are being established/set and hopefully gets easier as the year progresses!
Oh, and speaking of "energizers," (in your ENGAGE section) what are some fun ones you have come across? I love these things and plan on incorporating at least 1-2 a day into my daily routine!
I couldn't agree more with you about planning, being consistent and engaging the students. I've not only seen this in my classroom that I am observing, but almost every classroom I walk into. I don't know which point is necessarily more important, but planning is key. My classroom has the schedule posted every day so the students don't have to ask her what they are doing next. This is especially important now that the students are part taking in band and they are constantly moving in and out of the classroom. It drives me a little nuts when I go into a classroom that doesn't have a schedule posted.
ReplyDeleteI think at any grade engaging the students is critical, but I find in 5th grade it is definitely needed. Kids are starting to get to that age where they don't all love school and it is so important to get them excited about learning. At the beginning of a science lesson last week, the teacher introduced the lesson with asking students what they knew about light and showing them material they were going to be using. This immediately got their attention because they couldn't wait to try the experiment with the materials they saw.