Classroom Environment
Lots of thought and consideration goes into planning what will be a successful classroom environment. My primary goal is to develop a safe, positive environment that students feel comfortable learning within.
A sneak peek of my classroom!Click on the picture to the left to access various parts of my student teaching classroom. There were many things used that I plan to continue using in my future classroom and some things I would change. Take a second to peruse the page and see for yourself!
Observation and Comparison of Two TeachersThis observation paper compares two different teaching styles and how they were effective and hindering in their presentation of the material. Classroom management is viewed both through the eyes of a future educator observing the class and through the eyes of a student in the course.
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Observations of Classroom Management
Below are observations of the classroom management used in three different classrooms. These observations focus around the teacher and their method of teaching in the first file and on a particular student in two of the classrooms in the second file.
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Conversations with Students
One of my students in my first hour is someone teachers classify as the "class clown." He is outgoing, happy, and always ready to make people laugh. His personality is contagious and the students who sit around him feed off his actions like leeches. At times his enthusiasm can be just what I need as a teacher, but more often than not he is a disruption that negatively impacts the way class runs. Today was one of those days. He was off task and bugging the girl to his right. During this time, my Cooperating Teacher approached me to tell me that he has not been completing his homework assignments lately. She indicated that his lack of focus and carelessness meant he must not care about school. I decided to talk to him in person and see what was going on.
I pulled him aside right before the allotted time for homework and asked him about the homework situation. I mentioned that he was missing about 50% of his assignments and that it was really impacting his grade. I made sure to clarify that he was one of our smartest students so I knew he had the potential to turn them in, but could not figure out why he didn't. I asked him if there was anything else we could do to help him remember about the homework, or if there was a strategy he had in mind that could help solve this problem. When I turned the conversation over to him to speak his eyes began to well up with tears and I began to feel terrible that I had made him upset. I did not think I had said anything offensive, but clearly it had upset him. He looked at me for a second before saying that he was really sorry about the homework and that his grandmother had just had a stroke last week and it had been really hard on him and his family. He went on to say that just yesterday she had passed away. It all began to click into place. Of course he did not have his work done, he was busy preparing himself for the worse and now morning her loss.
I told him that I was very sorry to hear about the death and then related his situation to my own life by talking about my grandmother who had passed away two years ago. I explained how upset it had made me at that time and that death was never an easy thing. I let him know that I was there if he needed to talk about it or needed anything. He thanked me and went on to talk a little more about the death. It was very clear that he had not had the chance to talk about it with many people yet, but really wanted to. I was so glad I was able to be that listening ear for him. After giving him some time I brought the conversation back to school work and mentioned again that the homework, as unfortunate as it was, did need to get done. I asked how he wanted to go about completing it. He shrugged and stated that he wasn't sure, but just had a tough time remembering what homework he had. I suggested that he write it down in his agenda book each day. I went on to ask if he knew what homework he was missing. He shook his head no, so I went and looked it all up in the grade book, wrote it on a sticky note and walked back over to his desk. I asked him if he had any of the worksheets listed. He responded that he probably did at home, but was not sure where they were. I found copies of them, paper clipped them together, and stuck the sticky note on the top.
I walked back over to where he was sitting, noticing that he had turned off his "class clown" role and was hard at work on the assignment. I gave the packet of work to him and encouraged him by telling him that the worksheets would not take too long since he was a smart student. I reminded him about the tutoring we offer before school and suggested that he stop in each morning to make sure he had the homework for that day complete. He said he would. Before he left that day, he walked up to me and told me some more details about his grandma and her death. As he remembered her and continued to share memories he smiled and his eyes lit up. It was clear that she had been a very important person in his life. Later that day, he stopped into the classroom and asked for a lunch pass so he could work on his missing assignments. I was so happy to see that he genuinely cared about his grades and did want to succeed. He thanked us on his way out of the room.
I feel that these little conversations really have an impact on students. Talks about things such as this will last much longer than the area equation for a triangle. These are talks students will never forget. As a teacher, I work to capitalize on moments such as these when I can personally connect with students and show them that I do care about them. Too often we get wrapped up in the curriculum and forget that the people we are teaching are still kids, kids with feelings. As a teacher I hope to be someone they feel comfortable coming to when they need to talk, providing support and understanding when they need it most.
I pulled him aside right before the allotted time for homework and asked him about the homework situation. I mentioned that he was missing about 50% of his assignments and that it was really impacting his grade. I made sure to clarify that he was one of our smartest students so I knew he had the potential to turn them in, but could not figure out why he didn't. I asked him if there was anything else we could do to help him remember about the homework, or if there was a strategy he had in mind that could help solve this problem. When I turned the conversation over to him to speak his eyes began to well up with tears and I began to feel terrible that I had made him upset. I did not think I had said anything offensive, but clearly it had upset him. He looked at me for a second before saying that he was really sorry about the homework and that his grandmother had just had a stroke last week and it had been really hard on him and his family. He went on to say that just yesterday she had passed away. It all began to click into place. Of course he did not have his work done, he was busy preparing himself for the worse and now morning her loss.
I told him that I was very sorry to hear about the death and then related his situation to my own life by talking about my grandmother who had passed away two years ago. I explained how upset it had made me at that time and that death was never an easy thing. I let him know that I was there if he needed to talk about it or needed anything. He thanked me and went on to talk a little more about the death. It was very clear that he had not had the chance to talk about it with many people yet, but really wanted to. I was so glad I was able to be that listening ear for him. After giving him some time I brought the conversation back to school work and mentioned again that the homework, as unfortunate as it was, did need to get done. I asked how he wanted to go about completing it. He shrugged and stated that he wasn't sure, but just had a tough time remembering what homework he had. I suggested that he write it down in his agenda book each day. I went on to ask if he knew what homework he was missing. He shook his head no, so I went and looked it all up in the grade book, wrote it on a sticky note and walked back over to his desk. I asked him if he had any of the worksheets listed. He responded that he probably did at home, but was not sure where they were. I found copies of them, paper clipped them together, and stuck the sticky note on the top.
I walked back over to where he was sitting, noticing that he had turned off his "class clown" role and was hard at work on the assignment. I gave the packet of work to him and encouraged him by telling him that the worksheets would not take too long since he was a smart student. I reminded him about the tutoring we offer before school and suggested that he stop in each morning to make sure he had the homework for that day complete. He said he would. Before he left that day, he walked up to me and told me some more details about his grandma and her death. As he remembered her and continued to share memories he smiled and his eyes lit up. It was clear that she had been a very important person in his life. Later that day, he stopped into the classroom and asked for a lunch pass so he could work on his missing assignments. I was so happy to see that he genuinely cared about his grades and did want to succeed. He thanked us on his way out of the room.
I feel that these little conversations really have an impact on students. Talks about things such as this will last much longer than the area equation for a triangle. These are talks students will never forget. As a teacher, I work to capitalize on moments such as these when I can personally connect with students and show them that I do care about them. Too often we get wrapped up in the curriculum and forget that the people we are teaching are still kids, kids with feelings. As a teacher I hope to be someone they feel comfortable coming to when they need to talk, providing support and understanding when they need it most.