Thursday, September 3, 2009
Classroom Management 1
Through your experiences as a student in elementary, middle or high school, describe a classroom management technique that a teacher used (don’t worry about the name of the technique, just describe it). How did you feel about the management technique as a student? If you were the teacher would you use the same technique? Why or why not?
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In my 2nd grade class, my teacher was really organized, not only with her papers in her desk area, but also in the classroom. There were designated places for school supplies such as markers, scissors, pencils, rulers. Everyone was the have their coats and back packs on their hooks and off the floors. And at the end of each day, she would have everyone pick up five things off the floor as a way to constantly keep the classroom clean. Thinking back, I really liked this form of classroom management because it made the school day less stressful and seem to flow easier. As a teacher, I would hope to use the same strategy but I might need some practice to get into the routine of organizing after every school day.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to rules, my teacher let everyone vote on what classroom rules they wanted (with the teacher as a mediator to enforce the important rules) so that everyone student would know what the rules were and since the class voted on them they had to be followed. As a student, I liked the feeling of being a part of the classroom decisions and since we, as students, helped create the rules they were easier to remember and understand. As a teacher, I would like the implement this strategy in my classroom, however, I would have to be careful to plan out how the voting will go because the discussion could get out of hand.
One of the classroom management techniques that one of my elementary teachers would use occured when we were too talkative or off task. She would not scold us, but rather come to us and ask us what our job at that time was, and if we were completing it. If that did not work, she would give us an option, such as, either you do your job now, or you can do it afterschool or during recess.
ReplyDeleteAs a student, this was a nice way to be told to get on task, and it was in a nice way. This teacher was almost all of the students in my class' favorite, simply because she didn't just talk down to us, but let us know nicely our job, and made it be our choice as to whether or not we did it at the appropriate time, or during recess.
As a teacher, I think I would use technique. I do not want to threaten my students in anyway, and by just scolding them or telling them to be on task might do that. This technique nicely reminds the student to be on task, and in the end, makes it his or her own choice as to if they get it done at the right time, or have to make it up later.
The classroom management technique that instantly came to my head was done by my high school PE/Health teacher, and it was about swearing in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteDuring an intense game of flag football or ping pong, people can get upset about making a bad play or losing. At the beginning of every semester, she would explain her rules, and her rule on swearing was this: the f-bomb was 100 push-ups and anything else that was crude was 25. She further explained that they were to be done during the class, and if they didn't finish them on time they would have to come in after school and finish. This usually embarassed the students and wasn't done again. I know some of my peers didn't feel that it was necessary to make students do physical things as punishment, but I felt that since it was a PE class, it shouldn't be a problem. I definatly knew I wasn't going to be swearing because I can hardly do 5 pushups!
If I were my Health and PE teacher (high school), I would do this technique. I feel that it can prevent crude outbursts. If this were a different subject and/or age group, I don't think it would be quite right.
A classroom management technique that my second grade teacher used was very effective for me. Before giving directions to our class she would remind us not to move until after she said the, "magic word." Once she explained the directions to our class, she then said the "magic word," and then we were able to go about what it was we were supposed to be doing.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher I will most likely use this technique because it is a good way to be sure that everyone in your class is listening to your directions. At an earlier age it is good to use a "magic word," but may be too juvenile for upper level students. There are other ways you may implement this technique for older students, such as "Do not follow through with these instructions until I turn off the lights."
The classroom management technique that I remember most would be our 5th grade seating arrangement. My teacher rarely ever changed the desks around as some teachers would, it was frustrating to us, but looking back now I can see the reasoning behind it. His desk was right in front of the chalkboard and our desks were shaped like a horseshoe facing him. He always placed two desks on each side of his own, very close and right up front. If anyone stepped out of line, talked when we weren't supposed to, looked off other students' papers, we were directly put in one of the front desks. As a student, I can't say that I liked the set-up because if you were the one to get moved you no longer could be with you friends but that is why we all tried hard to stay on task.
ReplyDeleteLooking back now, and after learning more about classroom management, I feel I would definitely use this set-up in my classroom. First of all, it made it extremely easy to keep an eye on the students (talking, eyes on someone's paper) and the way we were positioned really had us focused toward the front of the room, where it should be. As far as the two desks next to his, they were there to let us know what his expectations were without having to go through them everyday. From the very beginning, we knew what the desks were there for and what actions would cause you to get to that point.
In my high school college-credit math classes, my teacher made it very clear that this was a college level course and he expected us to act like college students. This included knowing when to talk and when to listen, how to come to class, and how to handle tests and homework properly. After him telling us this on the first day of class, he never spoke of it again. However, if someone did something that he didn't feel was acceptable, he quickly reminded them that this was a college level class. Just by him telling us this made us feel like he saw us as responsible adults and he trusted us to do the right thing.
ReplyDeleteIn the 4th grade, my teacher kept a clear, glass jar full of marbles on her desk. She kept another jar inside one of the drawers in her desk. The goal was to keep as many marbles in the jar as possible. If the teacher had to ask us to quiet down more than once, she would move a marble into the jar inside of her desk. If we still had marbles in the jar at the end of the month, we were allowed to have a movie party on the following Friday. At the time, I liked and disliked the technique at the same time. I liked it because it was a chance to have a movie party. I disliked it because I had very little control over the movement of marbles. I could be quiet myself, but that didn't stop other children from talking. We lost multiple marbles due to the same kids talking continuously. I do not plan to use this technique in my future classroom for a couple of reasons. First, there is no relationship between marbles and being quiet. There is the future chance of losing a movie, but there are no real immediate, relatable consequences if the children are not quiet. There are also many, many marbles in the jar and losing one does not seem like a lot. Some children may view this as, "If we only lose one marble today, there are still a lot more marbles left." Second, I would not use this because of one of the reasons I did not like it as a child. Not everyone has complete control over their own fate. Two or three children could ruin the movie opportunity for everyone. I believe each child should be responsible for their own actions. Sometimes this works as a motivating factor for children not wanting to upset the rest of the class or take the blame, but some children do not take that into consideration at all.
ReplyDeleteIn my fifth grade class, I had a teacher that would hold a "class meeting" once a month to discuss issues that were presented by fellow students and teachers. We would align all of our desks together to create open communication with the teacher in the middle. I believe this was done by the teacher in order to have a handle on classroom management and to promote social development. By fifth grade cliques were already being formed and this presented an opportunity for all students to come together and talk while the teacher could also better manage all of her students. I personally found the class meetings to be fun and also gained a better relationship with my teacher. She was great at communication and therefor excelled in classroom management. However, I do not think I would do this in my own classroom, especially during my first years. I do believe communication helps in classroom management and teachers should be responsible for creating an atmosphere conducive to learning.
ReplyDeleteIn middle school, my class would often get off task because we were a pretty large class and full of the typical cliques. If we weren't doing what he asked us to do, he would come over and make sure the directions were clear and that what he asked was understood by us. This shifted the responsibility from the teacher onto the students. Once we realized that there wasn't any good reason for not doing the task, we usually slipped back into being productive.
ReplyDeleteI think the main reason this worked was the amount of respect involved. My teacher may have raised his voice a time or two, but other than that, he kept a steady, matter-of-fact tone throughout the year. This made it less likely for an "us-vs-them" feeling in the classroom where the students are suspicious of the teacher's intent. We began to realize that he was there to help us become successful adults.
Most of the classroom management techniques I have learned so far at UNI seem to be geared toward elementary age students. However, two of those techniques were used by my high school spanish teacher. The first one is when the teacher raises his or her and counts down from five to one. Once the teacher gets to one, all students are to have their eyes on the teacher and be sitting quietly. As a student, I liked this strategy because it gave me a few seconds to finish what I was doing instead of having to stop immediately to listen to the teacher. Because this technique seems to work so well with all ages, I would more than likely use this in my own classroom. Another technique my high school spanish teacher used was to ask students to put a finger on their nose if they were listening. As a student, I didn't really like this strategy because it seemed like it should be done with younger students than high schoolers. However, the strategy often worked as far as getting students to quiet down. If I am working with elementary students, I may use this technique because I am able to see which students are paying attention, but I probably would not use this technique with older students.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the "magic word" management. I agree with it being a good and simple technique to use. After reading the post, I remember several of my elementary teachers saying that as well and just today, I heard my mentor teacher say it when the students were jumping ahead before she had finished instructions. It's a good way to let students use their patience and listen to the instructions before they do their taskbecause it can get pretty chaotic considering they will hear the first two words of the instructions and assume they know what to do from there.
ReplyDeleteLike the marbles post, I was in many classrooms that gave rewards such as candy or movies or a "read and feed" day for good behavior. Not only that, but many of the classrooms I have visited for field experiences and other classes also do this as a type of classroom management.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Many of our books in our classes tell us that those methods do not work as well as internal motivation. They suggest instead of offering rewards, we should make learning very fun in interesting in the first place, and then the students will want to learn and misbehavior will be a much smaller issue. They say that the reason alot of children misbehave is because they are bored, not interested, or do not understand what is going on in the classroom.
I guess I don't know whether or not reward systems are good or bad. Every classroom I have actually been to has had this implemented, and it seems to be working. But, our texts say that this makes kids feel left out and behind, and something that we should try to avoid. So I guess I am not sure if it is a positive or negative thing, or maybe if it just depends on the students in the class as to whether or not it is successful.
In response to Kerby's post, I tend to agree with wanting to shift the focus to internal motivation. I think it could definitely make the kids who may not be doing as well get discouraged. Another reason for shifting the motivation to an internal one is because it is more likely to translate to similar situations outside of the classroom. If the students are focusing their energy on getting tangible rewards, once they get into another classroom that doesn't offer those rewards, what happens? They may be less motivated than they are when in rewards-based classes.
ReplyDeleteIn commenting on this, I realized that as teachers, especially those in middle and secondary schools where students change classes a lot, we need to recognize that our management techniques have implications beyond our classroom, and that it affects students' lives even beyond the school. Recognizing this will help us to come up with even better techniques, which in turn will benefit our students.
After reading Sayrems post, I can remember having something similar to a "magic word" in grade school where the teacher could grap everyone's attention. I would agree that using this technique for older students would seem juvenile but I think it is both neat and effective when used in lower elementary. I can also remember having teacher's that would sing a phrase and everyone would finish off the song which was fun and definately made everyone ready to switch gears.
ReplyDeleteThis is in response to Emily's post about having a super organized teacher and using the method of having everyone pick up 5 things at the end of the day. I have used this technique during the summer while serving as a camp counselor and found it very successful. All of the children are involved to keep the environment clean, without singling out anyone. The method teaches teamwork by getting all of the kids to work together to keep the area clean. Also, it was a motivating activity for many kids because some saw the competitive nature of it by wanting to be cleaner than the other groups. I have also seen counselors use "lets see who can pick up the most pieces of trash" or "lets see who can find the most pieces of recycable items".
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was in 1st grade, I had a teacher who was very great about keeping the class in order. She always seemed to have things organized and she was great about keeping us on task. There were times, however, that we would get a little too rowdy. When that happened, she'd quietly go over to the light switch and turn off the lights. It sounds like a really small thing, but that switch of the lights was enough to shut us up and get us back on task. When children are little, that type of change in environment is enough to stimulate their brains to focus on stimuli. This means, all of our eyes went up to the teacher at the light switch and all of our mouths went quiet. This classroom management technique was very effective in our classroom, so I hope to use it one day in my class.
ReplyDeleteI like talking in class a lot growing up. Most of my teacher would have a hard time dealing with me until fifth grade. When the teacher had me stay after class and talk to me. She explain in clear direction to me what my action were doing to the class. I never though how my talking affect the class and the teacher. Form that day on I was able to control my talking because I didn't want to be a problem to the class. I want to make it easier on my teacher. I believe just sitting down with a student and talking to them could really help.
ReplyDeleteAnother great management technique that was used by my second grade teacher, Mrs. Ehret, was the song, "Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?" This was used as we lined up at the door for lunch. At the beginning of the year we were very chaotic while lining up; we always fought over who would stand by who and so on. When Mrs. Ehret used this song to help us line up, the chaos stopped.
ReplyDeleteIf I teach younger grades in elementary, I will probably use this management technique. This may be too juvenile for upper grades.