As I began my teacher certification program, my advising
professor told me to buy the book “The First Days of School” by Harry Wong. I
read and re-read the book…several times. There was a lot of great, practical
information that I took to heart. I endeavored to use that advice and make all good things happen once I
started teaching. I can see a lot of the same advice here in “Beginning of the
Year Classroom Management.”
Though I did not have much time to prepare before I started
working this year, I was determined to make a plan and stick to it. When I
began teaching at an inner city high school, I was shocked to see how many of
my classroom concepts did not work. They needed to be spelled-out, reworked and
adjusted. The student body was far more challenging than any one I had ever
encountered before. I reviewed all
of my classroom management techniques and tried to figure out how to proceed.
I did eventually find that my rituals and routines needed
tightening and that I needed to form better student relationships. It has surprised me how a class can
improve when a teacher has real and genuine relationships with his or her
students. Especially in teaching students from difficult circumstances, I have
found that fostering these connections has allowed for more opportunities for
the classroom management techniques to succeed.
When the new school year comes around, I hope to return with
an even better plan to manage my classroom . Next year, however, I’ll be armed
with a lot more knowledge of students than I started with and I feel that will
make a major difference.
I read the same book to which you are referring; I'm glad you saw some connections here. Just curious...what changes do you plan to make next year? What will you do differently? I'd love to hear you say more about that! Kellie
ReplyDeleteI will have to take a look at that book. I'm quite sure it is a good book just by the title.
DeleteI am experiencing re-establishing rituals and daily routines in my "NEW" classroom right now. It has been very challenging the past few days to set a new tone in my classroom when it seems as though their has not been any sort of structure in the classroom all year long. Switching from high school to K-8 has been a huge adjustment for myself. Being the third teacher in this position this year I can`t blame the students for not have stability and routines. any suggestions would certainly be help! because I am a bit overwhelmed at this point in time because it is the middle of the school year.
ReplyDeleteWong's book was extremely helpful to me as well, great post!
ReplyDelete