Blog 6

Education World
Classroom Management: Ten Teacher-Tested Tips
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr261.shtml

Reflection: reading the article helped me think about my current classroom management strategies and how simple modifications could change the outcome of my students' behavior. The question I kept coming back to was how I handled rewards and consequences in class. I have yet to come up with an effective punitive measure to address students that violate the rules multiple times, although I am now asking students to sit in the "focus" seats at the front of the room closest to me when this occurs. I've emphasized that students who sit in the seats will become more focused and successful in my class as a way of keeping the "consequence" positive. Whether this will work is still up for questioning.

I really like the concept of student regulation of behavior. I do have enough rapport with some of my classes that students will "shush" each other during a lesson. I generally stand still and quiet when there is a disruption and the class naturally quiets down before I continue. This isn't the case for all of my classes, but it was oddly fabricated as an expectation from the students to each other without my prompt. Perhaps I need to make it a unified expectation or habit for all of my courses.

Prompt #6: How effectively is your classroom management system working at this point in the year? What are your struggles? What are your successes?

On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the lowest; 10 being the highest), I would say that my classroom management is an average 6. The values for my classroom management are 'love and respect for each other.' And while this moral vision has kept my questioning and management positive, the vague nature of this expectation has caused students to stretch their interpretation of the concept. I continuously have specific students that try to defy my authority, cause disruptions in class, and display aggression towards me. While that number is small enough for me to count on one hand, dealing with them every day is draining.

While it hasn't been the most effective strategy, I've been categorizing certain behaviors as either: disruptive to the classroom or disruptive to the individual student. Generally speaking, I prioritize the disruptions that affect the entire classroom and address them publicly. The first warning is merely verbal and involves a choice of respecting the learning of others or sitting in the focus seat. The second warning involves moving the student to the focus seat. The third warning (which has only happened once) forces me to take the student out into the hallway for a one-on-one conference.

I've decided (through trial and error) that I will not be issuing additional homework as a punitive measure. It creates the idea that homework is a punishment and the current issue of students turning in incomplete assignments is bad enough as it is. While I have issued lunch detention to students for infractions as well, it has only worked for students that comply. I have no real way of enforcing lunch detention (especially on my students who have courses after lunch) on my students. Once again, I've turned "lunch help time" into a more positive, optional service rather than a punishment.

At the beginning of the year, I created several seating charts, but some of the arrangements were problematic. Students were not on task because they were chatting with their friends, but as soon as I moved them they would shut down and do nothing. Literally nothing. For weeks. The motivation and self-esteem of my students is so low that I'm concerned whether tipping them in the wrong direction even in the slightest will have highly negative effects. And then it brings back the question of how effective are my teaching strategies. Is it really the students' fault in this case that I might not have the clearest expectations, the most relevant and engaging objectives, or the time to focus on every student's needs?

I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing is correct, but, if anything, I'm trying. I'm trying new things. I'm making mistakes, and I'm learning. I hope my students can do the same.