Thinking about the beginning of the school year, especially as a new teacher, is overwhelming. A new group of students, a new next door neighbor, new administrators, and the cloud of unlimited challenges hanging overhead. I think I speak for all teachers when I say that at some point, we wonder, "What do I need to do to get off on the right foot." I don't think anyone has the answer, but this article, "Beginning of the Year Classroom Management," published by the AFT Education Research and Dissemination Program, certainly provides some interesting insight on the issue.
We know that we must consider how we are going to teach, and re-teach the rules and procedures of the classroom, and we must understand that our consistency, and reinforcement is essential to success. A significant point mentioned in the article, which we live every day, is the impact of positive relationships with our students and how significantly that can diminish behavior problems in the classroom. To see suggestions grounded in research, to me is refreshing. To know that teachers who were strong classroom managers have 31% fewer discipline issues is refreshing. I feel that we are often told to do things, and that things are important. In trying to do what I am told, I often wonder why, and this solidifies the importance for building strong relationships.
After having read the article, I felt that the most relevant to my situation, and struggles to be honest, is promoting positive behavior in students. I am teaching Algebra 1 to 8th graders who are far from ready for an Algebra class. Promoting positive behavior when student engagement is not strong is very difficult. The article, on page 11, lists the two purposes for classroom management: 1) to establish and sustain an orderly environment so students can engage in meaningful academic learning; and 2) to enhance students' social emotional growth. Both purposes I feel were jumping off of the page in neon letters. I feel my students are immature (not just because they're in middle school), and how can I help them to grow in this area? The lists on pages 12 and 13 will stick with me for a long time. The lists of strategies, that seem so easy and obvious, are essential to us building positive relationships, which will allow us to have strong routines, which will make our students invested in our classes, and ultimately will fulfill the purposes of a classroom management system.
Aubrey,
ReplyDeleteI am SO feeling you about the positive relationship piece. I believe that management is ALL about relationships...as is learning and engagement. I'm glad the researc spoke to you and I am curious to hear more about your personal classroom applications. Kellie :)
Aubrey,
ReplyDeleteI was so glad to see that building positive relationships with students really does help in classroom management. I feel very strongly about knowing students and have a good relationship with them. I have seen the results of this in my own classroom and it is very gratifying. The second thing that caught me was the promoting positive behavior. I walked into a very difficult situation at a difficult school and every day is a struggle. Some days I get so beaten down with negativity that it is hard to stay positive and be that role model. When I am having those days, I just try to remember, nothing comes from being negative and I try to say good job, even at the smallest things.
Melissa
Beginning of the year classroom management (Kaltz)
ReplyDelete"Successful managers integrated their classroom rules and procedures into their instrucion so that important ones became part of the curriculum"(Beginning of the Year Classroom Management, 7).
As a teacher of students with low incidence disabilites, having an instructional routine allows for the ability to incorporate multiple skills and strategies of low vision and blindness to support procedures and rules in the classroom and in core classes/classrooms. It is with these procedures that students learn to come into the classroom, set-up and arrange their assistive technology equipment, create a system of organization for papers, folders/files, label materials, and learn skills of independence.
With so much to learn, and the limited time in the day, the instrucional routines help manage time in the classroom for students to then take the skills they are learning and apply them to the work that is in the core classes.
As a new teacher reading the information presented in "Beginning of the Year Classroom Management", procedures and routines and knowing that it has been reseached and found effective reiterates the importance.
As discussed in Aubrey's post one of my big take-aways from the article was the importance of building positive relationships with students and the initial approach to introducing expectations and classroom management. For the past few years I have had a few different long-term substitute positions, and this is the first year that I will be in a classroom from the beginning of the year to the end. When I was reading this article I thought a lot about some of the differences in each of those positions. In schools that I started the year and I was able to starting off discussing classroom rules and expectations, I feel there was a big difference in student relationships I was able to build and how the students behaved in the classroom. It definitely allowed me to feel more in control of the classroom which allowed me to focus on content as well as the reinforcement of the rules and building student relationships. In the couple instances that I came in the middle of the school year I found myself struggling to maintain expectations that were set by the previous teachers. In one case I had 3 groups of around 35 7th graders (an age group I had not worked with previously) who seemed to have a lot of freedoms that I did not feel they showed they were ready for. Even though I started my first day discussing my expectations they already had their routines set. They would still do things that were freedoms I did not think they should have been able to exercise based on how I saw them handling themselves. While I would like to encourage group work and being able to get their own materials, I found them disrespecting each other’s’ materials (drawing on folders and work) and feeling free to hold side conversations during instruction, which when asked about they would always respond that they were asking a question about something relevant. Because I could hear their conversations I knew this was not always the truth. After a few weeks of constant redirecting, reinforcement of my expectations, and rearrangement of seats and desks, I found that student relationships became more developed and the overall atmosphere of the classroom improved.
ReplyDelete-Jessica
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ReplyDeleteI certainly find a lot of value in reading this article as it reinforces the importance of maintaining a good relationship with students, establishing clear procedures, and following through with consequences. As a first-year teacher, I can say that as my instructions have become clearer and I have implemented both rewards and appropriate punishments, my classrooms are running much more smoothly than they did during my student teaching days. That said, I would also like to emphasize that, at least from my experience, building a rapport with students takes time and there are other variables involved the affect student behavior, sometimes beyond the control of the teacher. In order to avoid feeling demoralized, it has been helpful for me to recognize that I might not be able to solve all the problems I face with all my students and that some students might take longer to come around. What I find motivating, however, is giving 100% to what does lie within my control, which includes fostering relationships, clearly defining rules, etc. It is indeed validating to read about how the variables that teachers have control over can have a significant impact on classroom management and, ideally, students' lives.
ReplyDeleteAdeodata "Didi"
I definitely agree that building strong relationships with students can significantly decrease negative classroom behaviors. Not saying if the students "like you" but if the students have a positive relationship with you, you are better able to have them engaged, and if they are engaged, why would they misbehave? I like to use the comparison of my personal life with my friends. If a friend and I have a negative relationship or come across a conflict because of negative sentiments, then of course we would say hurtful things (misbehave). If we have a positive relationship, we of course would be "engaged" with each other's live and managing conflicts between each other would be easier.
ReplyDelete-Shannon
After reading both the article and post above I also agree with the part where it was said how the lists on pages 12 and 13 will stick with you for a long time. I know that having a good relationship with the students is the biggest aide in helping with classroom management, but you also should try to do other things from those lists. I also had very little time to prepare for this new role of being a teacher at an inner-city school (2 days!!) so when I tried to implement a few of these strategies I failed. As I look back, I see that some of these things can only be implemented after you've done other things. For example, the idea of class meetings is wonderful, but before you can expect your students to be successful with an activity like this you'd first need to model the behavior you want them to elicit during them. You'd also need to teach the listening and responding back positively skills. Going even further with this, you could never have a group activity until you taught those basic skills to them because if there's one thing I've taken away from my classroom during this first semester it's that you can rely on your students knowing how to act in certain situations. I think that with the end of the 1st semester upon us, this is a great time to re-teach those skills (and even implement new ideas from these lists!) to every student in our classes.
ReplyDeleteStacey