mrs. Alison VanOverbeke
The Management of one's classroom can determine the level of control one adult can have over 30+ students, the amount of time dedicated to learning, as well as the level of engagement those students have with the learning material and one another. This begins with, but is not limited to posting and discussing the following expectations:
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Rules of our positive classroom community
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Positive consequences for following the rules
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Negative consequences for not following the rules
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Classroom Jobs/Rotation
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Transition Procedures and Expectations
Classroom Management
Transparency
Transparency with administration, your students, and their families is also key to successfully managing a classroom. This includes starting the semester off with a syllabus, as well as posting and discussing the following:
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Unit Essential Question
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Weekly Objectives
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Daily Schedule of Tasks
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Standards (State and/or National) to be addressed
Posting these acts as an ongoing reminder of the courses purpose of learning at any given time. It also encourages students to stay on task, enables students to monitor their own time management, and keep up with a student agenda of home work.
Providing students and their families with data regarding each student’s success in terms of assignments, projects, quizzes, tests, and classroom involvement is also vital. I accomplish this with classroom websites where anyone with the students access codes can review and learn from the data a student produces. These websites are updated weekly as informal progress reports.
Formal progress reports are printed halfway through each quarter; they must be turned back in with a parent or legal gaurdian’s signature as well. This ensures that students whose families do not have Internet access are also informed of their students success.
Materials
The Materials available and in use can greatly increase the engagement and amount of student learning; it can also effect the classroom procedures and routines.
I believe the more materials available the better! As an English teacher, the hope is that the classroom will have a SmartBoard or Promethian, and the teacher as well as EACH student will each be outfitted with: a laptop and Internet access, books and other print texts available for each student, individual class binders with dividers, and enough paper (both lined and copy) to last the entire school year.
This optimal situation allows teachers to fully utilize technology and fully engage a 21st century learner by aiding student learning with the Internet, a classroom website (such as Moodle, Blackboard, or Google Classroom), and other educational websites (Kahoot, Student generated blogs and projects, etc.). It also allows for the potential to more easily invoke personalize learning and data collection/assessment with the assistance of programs like Summit Learning (PLT), Think CERCA, IXL, Digital Readworks, Lexia (for EFL/ELL), and more.
Materials can be limited at times and I have made due without the aforementioned situation. With a bit of creativity, at least one school computer lab and one classroom computer, a projector available some of the time, and the chutzpah to apply for grants, and hit the pavement asking companies for donations of needed materials.
Structure & Scaffolding
The Structure and Scaffolding of learning is another important component. While there are exceptions to the format that follows, I typically try to structure my overall unit plans and individual lessons in the following manner:
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Individual Inquiry (Typically journaling or other introductory activities on various aspects of the Essential Question)
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Whole Group Instruction (Addressing the objective and meeting the applicable standard)
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Independent or Small Group Work (An opportunity for students to show what they’re in the process of learning)
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Individual or Small Group Instruction (Based upon the data gathered from the former step)
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Independent or Small Group Assessments (Final Projects, Papers, and Tests)
I provide a classroom library filled with donated books, as well as selections of books on current topics being studied borrowed from the school library (if possible). If space is available, the library offers a rug, comfortable seating, and alternate lighting. I also prefer to have at least one community table for small group meetings and more. While I am a teacher who walks and engages students throughout their days in my classroom, I do create a “Teacher’s Corner,” set askew from the students areas; this corner functions as my personal office.
In my classroom, the organization of student tables and desks changes throughout the school year. I begin with rows as I find it easiest to learn student names and ensure everyone is paying attention while establishing the classroom community. From there, the desks may go into small groups or a giant U formation depending on the unit of study and the activities associated with it. We may also ditch the desks and sit on the ground (or on pillows) in a circle to discuss a multitude of texts and topics.
I have also been known to take classes outside, to the library, to the teachers lounge, to a nearby park, and on field trips provided our classroom culture has cultivated mutual respect, responsibility, understanding, and the appropriate behavior that accompanies those attributes. Those attributes and more are all made possible with the establishment of a positive classroom community.
The Space
Classroom Culture:
Studies have shown that the physical space a person is in can affect their overall mood, their interactions with others, as well as their ability to think and learn. In turn, I try to make my classroom warm and welcoming. I fill the bulletin boards with student work, the walls with colorful posters, pictures, and quotes.
Classroom Community
A Positive Classroom Community is imperative and it starts on day one! The aspects of a classroom previously touched on all play integral parts of a positive community. It is also important to establish a few additional things to cultivate a sense of safety and comfort. These include, but are not limited to:
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Really getting to know your students and allowing students to really get to know each other
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Providing opportunities for students to better get to know themselves
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Establishing that “Hate has NO home here”
Taking the time to get to know every student (home life, extra-curricular activities, interests, how they learn best, etc.) and allowing students to get to know each other not only within the first few weeks of the school year, but throughout each semester allows for a more fruitful semester of educational gains. Providing time, space, and activities for students to better get to know who they are and who they want to become helps students both in and out of your classroom for life. Establishing that “hate has no home here,” meaning discrimination based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, so on and so forth, is more important now more than ever. Ensuring that your classroom is a safe place comes a great deal of comfort and thus participation in classroom discussions and small group work with peers. This also allows for a greater effectiveness of differentiation and inclusion.
