Hi! I hope everyone enjoyed their first day of full time student teaching! This getting up early thing may take some getting used to! :)
My teacher has both positive aspects of classroom management and some areas I think could be slightly improved. There is always a daily agenda posted on the blackboard so that the students know the daily activities and can anticipate hw assignments. This keeps the students from asking over and over what the day has in store. He also has a website and moodle page that allows students to constantly have access to resources, materials, assignments, practice problems, etc. The students always know they can access these sites at home or after school. He also gets the students started very quickly. There is usually notes or something on the board that students can get started on before he quickly takes attendance. He is also very good about calling in absentees in the first few periods of the day. I think this really helps the office/administration stay on top of where students are at all times. My teacher takes the school rules very seriously which I think translates well to the students. He also has a great sense of humor and knows when to be silly with the kids, I think this is a necessity as a school teacher and plays an important role in managing certain attitudes in the classroom.
The one area I see that could be improved is when students have free time. There is always deliberate free time at the end of each period in which students can work on a variety of assignments for science class. I can see how this time would be beneficial for students to catch up on assignments and ask questions, but I do not think it is being used correctly by the students. They tend to just talk and do other things in that free time. I think maybe that privilege needs to be taken away if it is not used correctly, or students should only be allow to have science assignments out at that time. It seems like a difficult concept for my teacher as well because he wants to help them and give them time to do hw/assignments, but I think he thinks they abuse it as well. It is difficult to force students to do anything they have already decided they are not going to do. Any suggestions??
PS...Random tid bit...I saw a mouse in a school today, carrying a dorito.
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That is hilarious! A mouse with a dorito! I guess that's the closest thing he had to cheese...haha! Anyway, back to management...I really like that the kids have something on the board to get started on. I forgot to mention that my teacher also posts a weekly agenda, which helps with organization. As far as suggestions for free time, I think maybe your teacher should give them one specific task to work on instead of letting them choose. For example they could tell them to work on the nights homework, a specific lab report, or project. Not sure if that would improve the situation or not. If they still are wasting time, I agree that maybe the privilege should be taken away and that time would be better used for teacher-led instruction or review.
ReplyDeleteI like daily agenda. My teacher posts the whole week's activities on the dry erase board at the front of the class as well. That way the kids know what to expect for the week (and whether or not to bring their books to class). The website is a great idea as well. Currently, my teacher only posts the weekly schedule on his website but with the schedule changes he told me he will probably post notes on the website as well. He used to be able to leave them up until the next class so the kids could have extra time to copy them down, but with another class using his classroom, he can no longer do that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with JP about the free time issue. If my teacher has any time left over at the end of class, he gives them a specific assignment that they should be working on such as completing their science homework, organizing their science notebook, or reading the next section in the textbook.
As for the mouse... if you see one, chances are there are many more in the building, especially this time of year when its so cold out. If you don't want mice in your room, I would make sure that the kids either don't eat in there or clean up after themselves if they do eat. Is the school doing anything about the mice? At the school I was at last semester, they had mice traps all over the teacher workroom.
The mouse is hilarious!!! I can't believe it... psh what am I saying. I CAN believe it.
ReplyDeleteFree time is such a dangerous thing to have in a classroom especially as a student teacher. I think it's great that your teacher allows that time for the students, but I don't really think it's necessary. So I agree that this privilege should be taken away if abused.
I would just give the students a chance to redeem themselves before the privilege is taken away. But once it's taken away, it needs to stay away. Kids know when you're a pushover. Gosh... I need to work on that.
good luck!
If students are using the time wisely and actually getting some work done during the free time, it would be a great resource, but if students are just wasting time talking to each other, I don't think there should be that free time at the end of the period. Like suggested above, it would be great if specific task is given for that free time, so it's not technically the "free time." Hopefully when you start teaching, you have activities designed, so that students won't get too much free time. Putting up notes online helps a lot for those students who have missed school or those who have hard time keeping up with the papers they get everyday.
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