Chapter 3 EDU 380
Last week we learned about professional responsibilities of a teacher, including being a reflective decision maker, understanding legal guidelines and being committed and competent. Chapter 2 also introduced us to the idea of individual teaching styles and some teaching strategies for instruction. This week we will cover the classroom environment, including classroom management and student misbehavior. This is particularly important for specialists, who usually see multiple classes each day for short periods of time. Be thinking how this chapter directly relates to you as a specialist.
1. Read Chapter 3 a. Personal Learning Strategy: Before you start reading a chapter, review the summary and/or questions at the end first. b. There are some terrific exercises at the end of this chapter (different classroom management systems, avoiding sending opposing messages, and a self-check review of identifying teacher behaviors that cause student misbehavior). Please take the time to look at them…you won’t regret it. c. Participate in Threaded Discussion B (Feb. 7-11) 2. Start to think about a middle school lesson plan using the ETP lesson plan format and a non-traditional teaching model (Learning Cycle, 5 E's, Multiple Intelligences, Conceptual Change). You will be graded on content in addition to correct format. Submit to D2L by midnight Tuesday, Feb. 19th or late points will be deducted (5 pts. per week). 3. If you are interested in extra credit, read the SMART BOARD PROJECT instructions under CONTENT. We’re going to share our projects with each other so we’ll all have many different activities which can be modified to match our different content areas…
It doesn’t matter if you know your content well and have great teaching pedagogy skills if your classroom management is poor and students are off-task or misbehaving. Each teacher needs to develop his/her own effective approach to classroom management. The more effective strategies you know, the better you can adapt them to your approach.
How is your classroom set up (for specialists, this is very important) Getting to know your students is important, but often difficult for specialists because of the large number of students you see each day. What are some strategies that specialists can use to get to know their students better? Being organized is essential for classroom management. If you are not well prepared, you might “lose” students’ attention; trying to get them back on track takes valuable time.
Procedures rather than rules; consequences rather than punishment Use positive rewards as motivators Have students participate in designing class rules (don’t have more than 5-6 and post them where all students can see them each time they enter your room). Elem: If you are a “traveling” specialist (go from room-to-room with a cart), have a poster on your cart that students will see each time you come into the class. Elem: Find out the school discipline plan or if they don’t have one, individual teachers’ plans if yours in not working.
Try to handle your behavior concerns in your classroom; don’t ask the elem. classroom teacher to discipline a student for you (miss recess, etc.). Avoid sending students to the office unless it is a severe issue (see below). Determine whether the student is a threat to him/herself or others. If yes, get assistance immediately. Look carefully at pages ; these are scenarios for student misbehavior caused by the teacher as well as mistakes to avoid (wish I’d had this list my first year of teaching!).
Read Chapter 3 and be ready to discuss it by Thursday, Feb. 7 th. You may want to start reading Chapter 4 to be ready for next Wednesday, Feb. 13 th. Threaded Discussion B starts Thursday, Feb. 7th (get on Thurs. or Friday or you will lose 1 pt.) and ends Monday, Feb. 11 th at midnight. Work on your second lesson plan (middle school) which includes one of the teaching models other than the traditional (due Feb. 12) Do you know a teacher you can visit for your classroom observation? HAVE A GREAT WEEK!