How effectively do you feel you discuss and implement the rules of the classroom with your students? After reading and reflecting on the secrets of this chapter, what changes do you foresee making when you have a classroom of your own?
Because I am teaching seniors, my cooperating teacher does not put rules on the board. She discusses the rules with her students orally at the beginning of the nine weeks. However, she does implement many procedures in her classroom that I have found to work well. I believe I am implementing these procedures well, and I am getting increasingly better at it. One procedure my cooperating teacher has is for every student to have a binder and mailbox located in the classroom. This helps transition time of passing out papers, etc, because the students are aware of what they are expected to do and get as they come into the classroom.
One thing I would definitely do differently once I have my own classroom is to put the rules in the room somewhere the students could see them. This way, if a teacher breaks a rule, the teacher can refer the student to the rule chart. I am eager to try having the students come up with their own rules and wording of rules maybe in my next placement. I believe this would hold the students more responsible for their actions, as well as provide a great review to what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior.
An additional point the chapter mentioned is time management and teaching "bell-to-bell". I am learning the importance of this, as even my seniors goof off if there are even only a few minutes left in class with nothing to do. In a sense, I am still struggling with planning a full block each lesson, filled with instruction for the whole ninety minutes. Although I am getting better at it, there is definitely room to improve. This is something I am constantly working on while lesson planning.
The one part of the chapter I questioned working for me personally with my seniors is addressing the student one-on-one to practice a procedure. While I believe certain instances would work, such as leaving the classroom, I think if I talked to my students the way suggested by the book, the seniors would sense that I was treating them like middle schoolers and not respect me. I think it is situational in these instances and teachers need to react in a way that is individual to the student.
I agree that the rules should be posted somewhere in the room. The students need to have a visual reminder that the teacher can refer to easily if a student misbehaves. In my own classroom, the students will be an integral part of setting up the rules and consequences so there will be no questions when one is broken.
ReplyDeleteI also have an issue with teaching bell to bell with the academic support students I teach. They have very short atention spans and my co-op does not teach the entire class. She knows when the students are losing interest and she ends instruction long before the bell rings for the end of the day.
I have developed a great rapport with the students and they seem to be hanging in there longer than expected. I have had a few days where I keep them engaged until the end of the class. I believe the reason is that when they watch a video after verbal instruction, I keep stopping the video and encourage open discussion with them. They seem to stay more engaged and participate by adding their input. If you just leave them to watch a video on their own, they lose interest quickly.
Jim Butts