5th Observation 10/24 And My Essential Question

Time is a precious thing in the classroom. And classroom management plays a large part in either maximizing the little time teachers have with students or watching it waste away. It is not a question of whether classroom management is a skill that can be mastered, but more so an understanding that students must know these processes so the potential for a fluid, well constructed classroom is there everyday. Let's face it - with 25 students, all with different personalties and tendencies, everyday won't be incredibly efficient, but the goal is to limit those days.

During my time in the classroom last week, I saw just how quickly this valuable time can waste away. And I should mention that the class I was in seemed like a great class. The teacher was monitoring the students, doing his best to keep them on track. But in a room where every minute is critical, more has to be done to get the students from the hallway to their seats in as little time as possible. While five to seven minutes may seem like a short time, it does add up over the course of an entire year. If students are taking an average of 7 minutes per class to be seated and begin their work, they are wasting an average of 35 minutes per week.

I've always known that classroom management is a vital part to student success, which leads me to my essential question: How can I create a classroom environment that is structured to promote student growth and efficiency.

The Importance of Student Input

A student walks into class, already knowing the daily routine: He'll sit there, listen to the teacher's lecture and do the in-class work, rarely interacting with his English teacher. Eventually the bell will ring and he'll leave, looking forward to his next class: 2nd period algebra. It's not that he enjoys math, but Mr. K, the math teacher, makes him feel as if he "belongs" in the classroom. This routine continues. The student will pass his English class and move on, depending more on his ability to self-regulate and less on his desire to do well in the class.

This scenario takes place far too often in high schools across the country. In most cases, students don't have the ability to self-regulate as well as the child described above and their grades will suffer because of it. Chapter 7 of Subjects Matters describes how teachers can create an accepting environment by providing "social support," an idea that is easy to incorporate into the classroom.

Students need to feel as if they "own" the classroom. They need to feel like their voices are being heard. There are multiple, non-intrusive ways to do this. I say non-intrusive because we should always consider all students when making decisions. In the scenario above, the student's English teacher didn't do this, which lead to the less vocal student feeling ostracized. One way to convey the message that the classroom belongs to every student is to use a suggestion box. Students can anonymously give their opinions about anything. May they think the class is "dull" or they feel like you should teach a certain element of the content differently. By doing this, students understand that they have input in how the class functions. Too often educators forget that they work for the children, not the other way around.

4th Observation 10/17

 I've always had a question: As an educator, how structured do I want my class to be? After this week's observations, I realize that the answer isn't quite that simple. Above all else, I have to consider my students. I was fortunate to see classes on both ends of the "structure spectrum."In one class, I saw an extremely structured environment, with the teacher guiding the students through the lesson in steps. It is my fear that in a classroom that is too structured, students will feel constrained in what they can and cannot do. Here, the students were engaged and attentive. This was in large part due to the classwork, which involved personal responses. It is very important to connect the classwork to the personalities of each child in any class, but what I took from this is that structure doesn't have to stunt the creativity of students the right kinds of assignments are given. The next class I walked into was quite different, in terms of structure. They were having a class discussion about a character. Students were just as engaged as the previous, more structured class, yet the class wasn't "off the hinges," a fear of less structured classes.

What does this all mean? It follows with what Chapter 7 of Subjects Matter says about knowing your students. You must know what they can and cannot handle, and this will dictate what level of structure you bring into the classroom. So as an educator, I don't believe I should dictate structure in my class. I'm here to teach the students and it is their classroom

3rd Observation 10/3

Spending time in an ELL classroom was a learning experience. The educators I saw in action seemed to be "connected" to their respective class, clear by the way they were able to organize the class in a way that was most conducive to learning. It felt, to me, that this was more than simply knowing their students. A teacher must know when and how to incorporate constructive peer interaction during class, otherwise instead of inhibiting learning, it could take away from the students' learning experience. An example of this was the math class I observed. The teacher clearly had "withitness" - she saw students having trouble and instinctively placed them with other students that could help. To me, this is the mark a great educator.

Chapter 5 of Subject Matters lists multiple reading strategies, and I was excited to see evidence of these strategies being used in the classroom. One that I saw posted in numerous classes was the "KWL" reading strategy, one that I feel can be very beneficial. If you think about it, it does exactly what we consider to be appropriate reading techniques for students. They begin by brainstorming, in the process unlocking prior knowledge. This is followed by asking questions, creating a purpose for reading the text, which keeps the students engaged in their reading. Finally, the students summarize what they have learned, developing connections. Of course, this strategy can only be effective if the students complete all stages. But I feel this is a simple, easy to grasp strategy that should absolutely be used.

The Textbook: An Archaic Classroom Item

It's the 21st century and technology is flourishing inside the classroom. Because of how accessible technology has become, schools are finding it easier to incorporate it into the classroom. So, children are as knowledgeable about technology as they have ever been and it's more readily available than it has ever been. Why, then, are students continuing to carry around heavy, often unhelpful textbooks? In a previous chapter, Subject Matters discussed the need for students to begin acting like lifelong learners now, actively reading material that adults are reading in the "real world." This includes newspapers, websites and novels. I don't know about you, but I can't remember the last time I walked into a coffee shop and saw someone casually reading a 1500 page textbook. I guess what I'm trying to say is, with so much "real world" material available to students, why are textbooks still such a big part of the classroom?

I'll follow that question up with another: How can we expect students to spend their time mining through walls of text that offer, as SM puts it, "zero emotional engagement"? Use textbooks as reference material, the chapter suggests - while going on to point out how textbooks are often outdated. For this reason, I feel the teacher, as an experienced reader, should create banks of information that the students can easily "digest." Powerpoints can do this, but, I might add, should only be used as a guide.

I understand textbooks may never be removed from the classroom, but they shouldn't be the main source of knowledge.

I found a great article in The New York Times that details the changing digital landscape: As Classrooms Go Digital, Textbooks May Become History

Brainstorming: A Low Risk, High Reward Strategy

Chapter 5 of Subject Matters offers a wealth of strategies that can be used to serve as aids to help students build their reading comprehension skills. The chapter includes strategies that can be used before, during and after student reading. Before reading, a stage I feel is most vital to student success, it's important that students activate prior knowledge and build a base of understanding for what they are about to read. If they begin reading without doing this, then the subsequent strategies for during and after reading will prove to be unsuccessful. Teacher's must equip students with the "key," or information to unlock texts. Of the "before reading" strategies listed in the chapter, the easiest to incorporate, in my opinion, would be a classroom brainstorming session. While the ease in which this strategy can be incorporated into most any learning situation is important, brainstorming does two key things that are vital to the success of the students First, as the chapter mentions, by using this strategy, the teacher is able to gauge where his or her class is in regards to the objectives. This is a useful, non formal assessment that can make the lesson more successful. Another, less obvious benefit to using brainstorming is what it does for the students in terms of their willingness to share ideas. Brainstorming creates a comfortable classroom environment, where input is not judged. Students feel that they are able to share ideas without fear of being wrong, something that can add to the depth of class discussions in subsequent classes.

For a more in-depth look at brainstorming for teachers, check out this site:  Brainstorming For Teachers - SDSU

Second Observation 9/26

My time spent as District C continues to become more enriching, especially as I become more comfortable in the school. I am also becoming more observant of small details -- things I feel add to the overall makeup of the school. One of these details is the interaction between Principle J and the students. Something as small as a handshake or a pat on the back as he is walking through the halls makes a big difference in how the students view authority figures. There seems to be a comfort level that should prove beneficial to the students' desire to succeed. As someone who went to a high school where the principle was rarely seen, It means a lot to me to see that Principle J hasn't lost touch with his school.

Another thing that was apparent during this day was the varied teaching strategies I saw. I feel as novice observes, we may have certain ideas about how a teacher should teach, and this may skew are impressions of certain classrooms. For instance, of the few classrooms I observed on this day, the math teacher's class stood out most. It was a fast paced classroom, where dialogue between students and teacher was continuous. This was great for the students who enjoy this type of class. But I did notice certain students who seemed removed from discussion. So, to these children this teacher may not be as great as we, as observers, perceive him to be. I think we sometimes fail to realize that there is no "right" way to teach. Loud and energetic may be great for some students, but others may fail in this type of classroom environment, and do better in a slower paced, teacher-centered class, the latter typically considered outdated and ineffective. Maybe that's up to the student to decide.