View Content #1894
| Contentid | 1894 |
|---|---|
| Content Type | 1 |
| Title | Classroom management |
| Body | Editor's Note: This was submitted in reply to a question about what student teachers should know and be able to do in the classroom. What I do for rules in the classroom is, in part, a result of some Assertive Discipline training I did during my first two years of teaching when classroom discipline was a problem for me... I have only 3 rules: 1. Come prepared to class every day. 2. Show respect for everyone in the room. 3. Do what the teacher asks the first time she asks you to do it. (NOTE: the 3rd one covers anything not covered by the first two, of course). Those of us who did AD training will recognized #3, of course. As for key ideas, I think the first two are key. Prepared: book, paper, pencil and attitude (we talk about this). I have an Attitude Poster that says "French First" meaning, do the French, and then handle other issues such as who's wearing what to the dance, etc... Respect: goes all ways -- student to student, student to teacher, teacher to student. No name-calling, especially. As for enforcing, I do all the standard things (changing seats, The Stare, phone calls home, talks in the hall privately, keeping a log of incidents in our gradebook program on the computer and accessible to administrators if and when I do have enough and send the kid down for a talk) with the addition of another AD tactic: time outs. I have a standing agreement with teachers in my hall: we all keep a chair open in the room, against a wall and facing away from the class (usually) and if a student walks in looking a bit sheepish and with his/her books, quietly seat him/her there and make sure s/he 1) doesn't sleep, 2) does the homework s/he was sent with, and 3) stays in my room for the rest of the period that day. Yes, sometimes students need a time out in another room (WITH a task to do)...it's somewhat embarrassing for them (my students know why they are there) and boring (often they don't know French at all) and it gets them away from their audience (buddies in class) and gives cool-down time for both student and teacher. And no involving administrators...and if the student is a regular pain, you can just have an assignment ready to go 'just in case' on a day when you don't feel like the extra stress/hassle. And it's another method you've tried when the administrator says, "So, what have you done to correct this behavior?" But, back to everyday things: I find that keeping them busy, and I mean busy (time limits, sponges, expectations, etc.) eliminates a lot of my need for a lot of disciplinary things. And I think that's the biggest thing I've learned, keep them busy. "Idle hands are the devil's playground" I think is the saying, or something like that. Blaz, D. Re: classroom management (was The Myth of "Teacher Training"). Foreign Language Teaching Forum listserv. FLTEACH@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (30 Jul. 2004). |
| Source | FLTEACH |
| Inputdate | 2004-08-06 01:11:00 |
| Lastmodifieddate | 2004-08-06 01:11:00 |
| Expdate | Not set |
| Publishdate | Not set |
| Displaydate | Not set |
| Active | 1 |
| Emailed | 1 |
| Isarchived | 1 |
