ED 645 Module 1 Blog

One of my main goals moving in to this semester was truly getting to know the students and the school environment rather than going about my own business. In regard to this, I believe it directly connects to this week’s topic of classroom management. In my first few weeks here, I was simply just observing different teachers in the science department to see their own styles before I took over some classes. It was obvious right from the get go the teachers who were involved with students resulted in an extra bit of respect they garnered from students. For example, my mentor teacher runs several clubs after school and is always in the hallway between classes talking to students about their extracurricular activities and outside school-life. When he walks in to his classes there is a noticeable amount of respect and attentiveness to his presence. Whereas other teachers who hardly leave their room and talk to students during class time have a very difficult time keeping students on task. It even goes as far as sometimes being ignored by students and talked down to. While this may be due to respect issues by the students it also goes to show another form of ownership that could take place. If the teacher said to herself what can I do to change this rather than blame students, things could possibly change.

 

From the get go it seemed as if students wanted to challenge me a little bit since I was the “new guy” around here. A little rowdiness took place at the beginning of classes along with some minor things such as staying on task or doing what was asked of them. To add to that, it must be noted that there is also a cultural difference between myself and a large majority of students here at the high school. A few things were done with the advice of my mentor teacher to help combat these issues. First of all, we adapted a style in the beginning of class where students have the first fifteen minutes or so to get any extra energy out of the way. During that fifteen-minute period students are allowed to talk, listen to music, or whatever else they please as long as they copy down from the board the days agenda, essential question, objective, and vocabulary in their notebooks. When this period is up they know it is time to focus and get going.

 

During my observation weeks I took the time to get to know the interests of the students; sports, music, and hobbies. While making note of these interests, I worked them in to conversations throughout the days to show them I was listening and also shared similar interests. This helped to put some of those cultural differences they may have expected at ease and help me gain some respect. Now students are eager to talk about last night’s game with me and get my opinion, something that serves as a nice break from only talking about the day’s class content.

 

Aside from those obvious examples, the rest come from individual’s work ethic and needs. Our periods are eighty-five minutes, which is long for some students. Finding little ways to differentiate instruction and provide breaks to those who need it is a work in progress. With some students it is as simple as allowing a student to go for a brief walk to regain their attention, or for the class to provide a “stretch” time where they get a few minutes to take a break from the activity. As stated, all this is a work in progress but something that is coming along nicely with time.