Routine Management | Week 6 Reflection

In ED 640 this week, we read and discussed assessments and classroom management. Since classroom management has consistently been my biggest worry when preparing to teach, this was particularly of interest for me. We were given a video from the Teaching Channel to watch about a first year teacher from the Bronx who got tips for classroom management from a veteran teacher (click here to see the video). This was an interesting video to watch because it showed that teachers should be open to getting assistance with classroom management issues if they need. It also provided some suggestions for things to try in the classroom.

One of the concepts that was brought up multiple times through this week was the idea of using a routine to help with classroom management. Routines allow students to know what is expected of them and what they should be doing at a particular time in class. I've had experience with how routines impact students' behavior in the classes that I am observing. My mentor teacher began a routine at the beginning of the school year where there students know every day to grab a paper that sits in a table at the front of the room when they come into class. This is their drill and it typically reviews concepts from previous classes or introduces the concepts that will be covered in class today. Students know that they are expected to sit down and begin working on the drill right away. This allows the teacher to get administrative tasks such as attendance done at the beginning of class while also getting the students prepared for the class ahead.  I have observed other classes where there was no drill, and it often took the teacher more time at the beginning of class to focus students' attention for the first task. While there are still a few classroom management issues in my current classes, many problems can be avoided by having the students know what they should be doing from the minute they walk into the door.

One concern that I still have with classroom management relates to intervening when there is a conflict between students. In one class that I observed, an argument between two students escalated until they were yelling across the classroom at each other. My mentor teacher had already tried multiple times to diffuse the situation but was unsuccessful. Finally, she had to remove the students from the classroom separately and take them to the office. This is a situation I have no experience with, so I was glad to have an experienced teacher there to take control of the situation. Now, I have an example from which I can learn. Another issue that is occurring in my 9th grade classroom is that there are two students sitting next to each other that tease each other. The majority of the teasing is done by one of the two students and I've felt the need to intervene during several class periods because the teasing was mean spirited and inappropriate. I plan to have a discussion with my mentor teacher about the situation so we can figure out the best way to handle this situation.

Ultimately, I still have so much to learn about classroom management, but the resources we have been given this week have provided many helpful strategies that I look forward to implementing in my classroom. I've also learned that I should look for help from more experienced teachers if I am unsure about how to handle a situation in my classroom.