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Classroom Management
Creating
an atmosphere conducive to learning is of utmost
importance in a classroom where students are expected to thrive
academically. It’s my belief that the learning atmosphere the
teacher is able to maintain can be the difference between a
teacher being able to successfully foster enthusiastic learning
within her classroom, or a teacher frustrated by the wonderful
ideas she has for implementation, but without the tools for
successfully implementation. Providing the students with clear
expectations, motivational instruction, and behavioral consequences
all play significant roles in successful management.
Physical Environment
My classroom is organized into modular
pods, with pairs of students all working on different strands
of technology simultaneously.  I’m
lucky in that I arrived in this position at a 3-year old school
with a brand new office-type modular setting already in place.
The pods are separated by partition walls in-between working
pairs of students, aiding in the isolation of activity from
other activity. Nonetheless, I found that students could easily
find themselves distracted, finding interest in sending the
occasional “surprise missiles” from one partition to another.
The partitions that were intended to provide separation conducive
to a variety of activities occurring separately yet simultaneously
from one another, also provided a barrier from easy detection
by me trying to monitor classroom activity. Keeping students
on task and tending to their own work was a learning process
for me that first year in 2000.
Formally a Math teacher, this new activity-based environment
provided me a whole new lesson in classroom management. Each
year I’ve improved my skills in adding structure to an activity-based
classroom while allowing the activity necessary to happen.
Behavior Management
A key aspect to my behavior management is the specific outline
of behavioral expectations and consequences shared with the
students the first two days of school. I open the class with
a general outline
of class rules, content, and grading. I share an introduction
of myself, and I ask for the students to share some things of
themselves. I consider it a "getting to know each other"
session.
The second day of class is dedicated to more specific behavior
expectations and a clear list of consequences to unacceptable
or off-task behaviors. This day, the students complete a
worksheet I call their contract, and I explain that I keep
the contract on file in the event they claim to not have been
aware of expected behaviors.
In essence, my behavior management program is a combination
of positive and negative reinforcement. Students are given 10
days at a module, and they work independently at its completion.
Diligent students can usually finish the module within 6 to
8 days, while others  might
need the full 10 days. When students complete a unit, they have
me average their scores to receive a final grade. Students with
an average grade of 80% or above are given the option of playing
(educational) games from the time they finish until the 10-day
rotation is complete. This creates a desire to stay on task
to complete the assigned work in good time, while also necessitating
the need to do it well, if the reward is to be earned. In the
event a student finishes before the end of the alloted 10 days,
but does not earn at least an 80%, extra credit is offered,
usually in the form of an extension activity related to the
technology they are currently studying.
Parent Communication
As a parent of four children, I find that communication
between the teacher and home can be the most valued resource
in keeping a student on the right track. I have experienced
first-hand the surprise of a child performing below her level
of expected achievement in a subject area without any sort of
communication from the teacher until it was too late to make
a difference for that quarter. The parent, in my opinion,
is most often the teacher's greatest asset in bringing about
a change in behavior when necessary. At the same time,
when a child is deserving of praise for achievement, the home
setting is where the greatest reward can be achieved through
recognition. I believe very much in open and frequent
communication between school and home, especially when it involves
the student who benefits from continual guidance in these very
important formative years of developing independence.
I've been known at times to bring a
student directly to the classroom phone with me in the middle
of class in order for them to explain to their parents an unacceptable
behavior that just occurred in the classroom. I inform
my students in the beginning of the year that they will find
me to be a teacher that is perhaps a bit quick to phone home,
because I believe that their parents are the most influential
people involved in their successes, and my job is to help them
to perform to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately,
it seems that many of my colleagues don't seem to understand
and take advantage of this wonderful and effective tool of management.
The most common question I receive
from parents is, "What exactly is Tech Ed?"
It sort of makes me laugh... I've heard it so many times.
I send home a class outline (similar to a syllabus) at the year's
onset. It provides  information
on classroom procedure, grading, expectations, and safety rules.
It also explicitly explains some of my disciplinary procedures
and consequences in the event it becomes necessary to remove
a student from the hands-on environment to do book work for
the rest of a rotation.
Early in September we also have an
Open House for parents. I prepared a brochure
and a parent
video to provide the parents with an abundance of information
about the class, including the class content, structural procedures,
and grading.
Instructional Planning & Delivery
Since students are all working at their
individual paces, and on different technology units, my role
is generally that of a facilitator. We have a routine of students
picking up their worksheets at the beginning of class, logging
into the Tech Lab program and getting right to work. I have
a computer management system that allows me to freeze each of
the students computers in the event I have announcement or specific
instruction for the group.
When students are in need of assistance,
they turn their lights on at their stations to notify me. My
role during any given class period is to float around the room
answering questions and offering guidance.
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