Today I had to sub for AP Chemistry class. I walked in and the student (who I have all had in physics, so there was a built previous relationship between be and each student). What I love is that the students walked in and it was Friday. They take a timed online quiz and finish their lab work. That is what my lesson plan said. That is what they did without ever asking what the plan was. Students were even a little early and waiting for the quiz to open, which it did five seconds after the bell rang.
We all love some tradition. The longer I have taught the more I think kids love it best of all. This class was just a reminder of how effective a tool this is in basic classroom management. I do not remember anyone in ED 301 telling me set up routines in your classroom and practice them. Students will like it.
Showing posts with label classroom management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label classroom management. Show all posts
Monday, March 02, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Observation 4: Classroom Management
I loved a lot of things about my last classroom observation but one of the best parts was a little laptop classroom management detail that was awesome. Laptops do create a management problem. Any tech person who tells you differently is selling snake oil. Any teach who says that they cannot make the change is selling themselves short. Tech people around the country have lost all credibility by telling teachers it will be easier. Maybe some day it will be, but it is always hard work to make a change. Valuable, but hard.
In the class I observed there ware two students who were not using their laptops to work on their Spanish. The teacher, who is very observant, ignored them all hour. I kept wondering what she was going to do. Then, one minute before the bell she went over to them and asked how many videos they had commented on. "Two" and "Three and a half" were their responses. She smiled at them and raised her voice so the whole class could hear, "the rest of these are homework." Several students replied that they were done or close to done.
I assume this was all done in a context. These students needed to be allowed to fail. If they have questions the teacher will answer them outside of class. Hopefully they learned a lesson and enjoyed their time in class as much as they would have at home. There was no way that they did not know they had not used their time wisely.
In the class I observed there ware two students who were not using their laptops to work on their Spanish. The teacher, who is very observant, ignored them all hour. I kept wondering what she was going to do. Then, one minute before the bell she went over to them and asked how many videos they had commented on. "Two" and "Three and a half" were their responses. She smiled at them and raised her voice so the whole class could hear, "the rest of these are homework." Several students replied that they were done or close to done.
I assume this was all done in a context. These students needed to be allowed to fail. If they have questions the teacher will answer them outside of class. Hopefully they learned a lesson and enjoyed their time in class as much as they would have at home. There was no way that they did not know they had not used their time wisely.
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