Classroom Management

Classroom management is something that can complicated. Not every class is exactly the same, so the teacher should be flexible and willing and able to adapt to the needs of the class to reach the goals. My practicum teacher this semester showed me how she managed her class, which was very interesting. She described it as "pulling stuff out of my bag of tricks." In a weird sort of way I see classroom management as a very systematic thing (if "A" doesn't happen, I should do "B") However I think that there's much more to it than that. One of the most important thing to do is to create a good first impression, which can go a long way. You should try to prove to them that they are there in that class for a reason. To do this I would start by getting the students hooked in some way. For example, if I were a Spanish teacher, I could ask them what they already know about Spanish and then give them an introduction to how what we will be learning will connect to what they have learned, making it more relevant (CLT). This will help them understand their expectations in class and can prepare them to achieve them (DLT). In order to keep them mentally engaged, I would try to find ways to pass the entire time of class: have them answer  questions that I have written on the board, work in groups, etc.

In order to manage the class, I would create some sort of routine for the students. This is not to say that I would expect every day to be the exact same, which it will not be at all. However I could create a structure of events in the class to which the students would become accustomed (example: start class at a certain time, first thing- review what we did yesterday, second- go over homework, third- learn new lesson, fourth- go over in groups, fifth- do homework, etc.). This is very manageable because the students would know what to expect and be able to play on what I expect from them (BLT). Then if I wanted to do something different to what they're used to one day, they can be a little more surprised.

In a classroom where language is the essential key, I would not put the students' desks in columns. Instead I would put them in circles or a closed in space. This would make it much easier for the students to be able to confer with their peers and discuss what we have been learning. I could then walk to each group and assess their conversations. This would also help us be able to interact on a more personal level and be able to understand the subject at a level that they can understand. I will also need to watch my nonverbal behaviors. I will have to consider how standing in one corner will affect how the students perceive me, as opposed to another (SLT).

Thursday evaluation

I have no idea why it took me so long to write this blog. I must've enjoyed Fall Break too much.

Anyway, I liked how in the first one used very concrete examples. I liked how we could touch and eat the candy. I became addicted to squishing the lard in the bag. However I think they could've done a better job at making a better distinction between what's good for you and what's not.

The second group did a good job at using constructionist learning theory to help us understand what homophones we did and didn't know. The riddles were really fun to do.

I loved the story that the third group read to us. I never expected that the plot would end up how it did. It definitely would help build new schemas and help children understand what being rude means.

The fourth lesson was really fun. It would definitely be a good way for children to get used to letters in the alphabet and what they need. It uses SLT because we had to say all the words that matched the letters. It's definitely a good way to become accustomed to the alphabet.

Group Presentation

I guess our presentation was decent. We planned out what we would teach and the process in which we would do it very carefully. This worked out quite well because we used a very good concrete example ("I reads well" and the rocket ship) to explain the concepts. We then were able to motivate the students with showing them how simple it could be to conjugate by making a little story to go along with the lesson. Also using the race was a great way for the students to get motivated about the experience.

I think there were a lot of things that we could have improved on. It did seem all that much like a teacher oriented classroom. Before doing the race, we could have started by conjugating the "yo" and then asking students to come up and conjugate the rest. We also should have asked students to maybe work in groups to conjugate or we could've had the groups race against each other instead of individuals. I think another problem Jason and I had was that we didn't really distribute responsibilities amongst each other. We should have had one of teach half of the material and the other teach the other half. This can be a problem with teaching. The teacher needs to prepare beforehand what precisely he or she will do and then create a bag of tricks if all else fails.