Sunday, April 27, 2014

My Biggest Fears

For one of our assignments this week we were asked to reflect on our biggest fears about managing the learning environment.

I think this is a very valid concern and an important area to look at, because personally this is probably one of my biggest fears about being in my own classroom.

What if the student's don't listen to me? What if they don't take me seriously? What if they don't learn anything the entire year because of this?

When looking into the future at what my classroom will be like, my biggest wish is that I can create a supportive yet authoritative relationship with my students. I want them to feel comfortable coming to me and know that I am there for them, but at the same time respect me and my commands.

I know that I thrive on structure and I think I will do very well creating a structured learning environment with procedures for almost everything! I do worry though that I will create a structure that really doesn't work and then have to recant it. Will that create distrust with my students? Will they see my flaw and take advantage? I know as new teacher that many of my procedures probably won't work perfectly the first time. Even if I do have a "perfect" procedure it may not be a good fit for my particular students. As the title of our Prezi this week said, "It is a Balancing Act!".

I think going into my first year teaching with an understanding that it is a balancing act will help; it will take time and flexibility to find the balance. I will need to have patience with myself as well as my students. I hope to create an environment where we can work together to form this relationship and procedures that work for all of us.

Hopefully through my student teaching I will be able to observe multiple situations where my mentor teacher has to flex her command and take control of the class. I feel that these observations will be most important, more beneficial even than reading books on the topic.

I don't expect my first year to be perfect, my only hope is that my students finish the end of the year with knowledge and excitement for learning more. Only time will tell!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Classroom Rules, Standards and Procedures

As I have not had any experience working in my own classroom many of the following procedures are based on research I have done as well as what I can picture working. Of course I am fully expecting to re-evaluate these procedures and rules at regular time intervals throughout my teaching career as they might not work at all, or what works with one class might be horrible for another.


Standards and Rules:

I really like the idea presented by McLeod, Fisher and Hoover (81-82) about working with your students to come up with a set of Rules and Standards for the classroom. I plan on doing this the first day of school with my future classes. I will ask the students to come up with rules that they think will help contribute to a safe and productive learning environment for everyone. Depending on the age of my students we will either work together to group the similar ones together, or I will do it myself and then we will evaluate those groups and come up with phrases the represent all of them; I will limit these to about 5. We will also work as a group to be sure these are phrased in a positive tone, avoid using words like "can't" and "won't" This ensures that we come up with general standards that will apply to a multitude of situations in the classroom. It will also create a structure in which the students will be more motivated to follow these rules and standards because they played a crucial role in creating them. It empowers them, instead of always being told what to do. Of course I will also introduce the school rules and rules for general safety while at school.


Procedures:
Marzano (124) listed out categories teachers should be prepared to have procedures for in order to run a successful classroom. I have listed these categories below.


  1. General Classroom Behavior
  2. Beginning and Ending of the School Day or the Period
  3. Transitions and Interruptions
  4. Use of Materials and Equipment
  5. Group Work
  6. Seatwork and Teacher-Led Activities


I know that I will want to incorporate the following procedures into my classroom routine:


Entering the Classroom:
  1. I will greet my students at the door each morning.
  2. As students enter the classroom they will say good morning and then walk slowly while in the classroom.
  3. They will place their backpacks and coats on the hooks below their cubbies, or wherever the designated areas for those are in the classroom.
  4. They will then proceed to their mailbox and collect anything that has been returned to them.
  5. They will then go to their assigned seat and being the morning work that is on the board.
  6. If they finish their work before class begins they will be able to take out their assigned reading and read quietly at their desks. 


Leaving the Classroom:
  1. The routine will be that my students are not dismissed by the bell, but by me.
  2. I would like to do the same activity at the end of everyday like recognizing exception students or some sort of wrap up activity that has a social focus to bring us closer as a group.
  3. Once this activity is completed students will be dismissed by group to go collect their backpacks.
  4. They will bring their backpacks back to their tables and pack up the thing they will need to go home.
  5. They will then be dismissed by group again to line up at the door
  6. I will wait by the door to say goodbye to each student as they leave the classroom. 




Using the Restroom
  1. I would like to have an open policy for using the restroom, but also include a way to track which kids have gone and when.
  2. I will teach the students a hand signal, like a raised hand with their fingers crossed.
  3. I will acknowledge them at which point they will go over to the bathroom clipboard and place a check next to their name.
  4. I will have a policy that if it is an emergency they will be allowed to get up and go without asking, but of course if this begins to be abused we will need to reevaluate.
  5. I will monitor the clipboard to determine if anyone is going excessively, or if it is even necessary to keep the clipboard as the year goes on.  



It is difficult for me to say that any of these are non-negotiable because I do not feel that I have enough experience to know for sure. I think I have more of the teacher style of starting out the year with an idea of what I like, but really molding those ideas to fit in with the students in my class. I would rather not spend my school year trying to fit square pegs into round holes. I would like to be flexible in the sense that things can change and evolve, but I will still maintain a very structured classroom with procedures and rules for everything necessary. 

References:


McLeod, Joyce, Jan Fisher, and Ginny Hoover. The Key Elements of Classroom Management: Managing Time and Space, Student Behavior, and Instructional Strategies. Alexandria, VA: Association For Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2003. Retrieved from http://www.teachnowprogram.com/get_help_resources/activity_resources/module4/The_Key_Elements_of_Classroom_Management.pdf
 

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Group Project: Glog on High Expectaions

Reflection on Setting High Expectations within the Classroom

High expectations within the classroom is an integral part of setting up students for the opportunity to succeed and excel in school. This allows all students to be held to an appropriate individual standard that allows them to realize and reach their full potential.

Student Goal Setting:
It is important to take into consideration the students current skills and abilities when having them set goals. Helping them set goals that are just outside their skill set will ensure that the student does not become defeated from completing something too difficult for them, but also provides them with something challenging to prevent complacency.


Goals should be SMART:



One way to incorporate goal setting in the classroom is to have student select their own learning goal for a unit. This would involve learning about something they are interested that falls within the lesson, but is outside of the teachers prescribed learning goals and objectives. Students can then be taught how to monitor their goal process (Marzano, 2007).

The Affective Domain:
By allowing students to set learning goals they are interested in, this also brings an appropriate use of the Affective Domain into the classroom. The affective domain includes, “learning objectives that emphasize a feeling tone, an emotion, or a degree of acceptance or rejection.” (Bloom, 1956). The Affective Domain requires teachers to create a learning environment within the classroom that has the expectation for students to emotionally connect with the content. This can be done through tailoring lessons and assignments to particular student interested or things they can picture themselves doing or using in the future.

Pride in Student Work:
It is important for students to take pride in their work. This stems from working hard, making choices and accomplishing goals (Klaufeldt, n.d.) At all grade levels teachers should encourage their students to create final products they would be proud to show their peers, parents and other teachers. One way to implement this is by displaying student work throughout the classroom. Give students time to move through out the classroom admiring others work once a project has been finished. The teacher might even want to provide a time for students to give positive comments or compliments about their peers work.

All of these lead to academic achievement for the student. Showing them what they are truly capable of is priceless and well with the effort of setting and maintaining high expectations.


References:
Bloom, B. S.; Engelhart, M. D.; Furst, E. J.; Hill, W. H.; Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay Company. Retrieved April 1, 2014



Kaufeldt, Martha. "Begin With the Brain: Orchestrating the Learner-Centered Classroom." Google Books.  Web. 19 Feb. 2014 http://books.google.com/books?id=rlEWzT0VzJ8C&pg=PA167&lpg=PA167&dq=Begin+with+the+Brain:+Orchestrating+the+Learner-Centered+Classroom&source=bl&ots=jJKrLl2eT7&sig=-P27fm3P0kK0EnGUNXlAmFRpuHo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=u8oEU4_bE-r7yAG1mYGwAQ&ved=0CEUQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Begin%20with%20the%20Brain%3A%20Orchestrating%20the%20Learner-Centered%20Classroom&f=false

 Marzano, R.J. (2007). The Art and Science of Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.teachnowprogram.com/get_help_resources/activity_resources/module4/The_Art_and_Science_of_Teaching.pdf

image: http://dreamchoosers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/smart-goals.jpg