Here we go again!
This week has been so much fun! I've finally started to nail down a few difficult aspects of class management and have thus enjoyed more time in class to complete those lesson plans I laboured over night after night.
My challenges have included getting every one's attention at the beginning of the class and being able to hold them in their seats at the end of class, even after dismissal time. I've learned more student names and now can address children individually when they are talking or distracting others.
If one particular class is consistently not listening, I let them know how they fare in comparison to other classes. 'Out of all 12 music classes, you are the only students who didn't get to hear all the music. Now it is your responsibility to listen to this music on your own time, instead of here, in class with my help.' If I sail through my lesson plan without any issues, I make sure to praise this class as a whole, telling them they listened better than any of the other 12 classes. They love this kind of praise!
As we generally do not have a seating plan, I freely move students to other desks when they are talking. They always comply and I find this technique highly successful. I had one occasion when a boy refused to move until my third request and even then he stood by his desk, playing with books in the nearby cupboard. In this particular incident, my AT took the boy into the hall for a quick word.
I make sure at the beginning of each rotary class to go over my wishes. I would like everyone to raise their hands if they can answer a question instead of shouting out the answer. I explain that this allows everyone the time to try to figure out the answer for themselves. While music is playing, listen carefully. If you are talking, other people will not be able to appreciate the videos and excerpts. Finally, while students are answering questions, please be courteous and listen attentively to their answers, as you would want them to listen to yours.
The toughest part is being consistent. Often times enthusiasm for a topic or video has the students shouting out opinions and comments. I try to make sure to only address the comments made by those who have raised their hands.
Lastly, my AT gave me the best advice. Before dismissing each class, tell you exactly what you thought of them. End the lesson with a quick evaluation and hopes for the future. This is a great closer and serves as a wonderful means to reflect on the lesson.
A full weekend of lesson planning ahead... woohooo!!
Until next Friday,
Catharine
Hi Catharine,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are getting in your groove. Those are great pieces of advice for the classroom management. And it does really make all the difference when you know all the students' names. I have it much easier in that regard because I'm with one class of 25 students all the time, except for French when we are joined by the rest of the grade 4's in the school (my core class is grade 4) - so I knew all of their names in the first week, and we're able to do weekly community circles. I'm sure your last week will be even better. Have a great time!
Maryem
Hi Catherine,
ReplyDeleteI think your AT's advice about ending the class with a quick evaluation is really important and helpful. I've been trying to do that although many of our classes end with students doing rehearsals for scene work so I don't always want to regather everyone in order to do a consolidation. That said I think that acknowledging where they are at and including the positives is an important counterbalance to all the management stuff during the class. I always praise their efforts in the class but often that praise is individual, as is much of the classroom management. Classroom management can also tend to be more negative ie. you are doing this wrong. So to end a class by acknowledging how they did and showing appreciation for any positive behaviours can provide incentive for them to actually keep behaving well. Because if we don't acknowledge progress and positives, we don't encourage them to stay on that path. I will definitely try and use this more in my final week.
Meghan
Hi Catherine,
ReplyDeleteI also appreciate the AT's recommendation to sum up what was learned in the class. I've tried to do that as well, but I found that one tricky thing is simply pacing the lesson and gauging when to end, in order to have time to do the closure. It's hard to do that when with one rotary class, we got to the end of what I had planned just in time, with another we had extra time at the end that I needed to quickly decide what to do with, and with a third class (same basic lesson plan each time) we ran out of time. Sometimes I got so engrossed in what we were doing that I lost track of time and the bell rang when we were in the middle of an activity, so no time (or not much) for any wrap-up. It's a challenge! Anyway, back to reflecting on your experience rather than mine, it sounds like you were being very thoughtful, positive, trying to be consistent, clearly articulating your expectations, and noticing how you were improving. Way to go!