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Classroom management certainly determines a teacher's sanity. It also sets the tone, deciding whether students learn anything at all.
(This article was written a year or two ago, but still may have valuable tips. My class and school makeup have changed a bit since then.)
I am putting the pieces together, trying to sort out what works and what doesn't. First, let me describe myself and my students. This is my second full year of teaching. I'm 48 and white. I teach in a school of culturally mixed students, less than 5% white.
I would estimate that perhaps 10% of my students are ADD or ADHD--hyperactive. Others have trouble with American culture and language. Since I live in a city, there is a thug element and glamorization of gangs. However, this is somewhat mitigated by the fact that we are a charter school and kids come to us by choice.
The realities of teaching include some student mindsets that must be hurdled. They are at odds with my desire to teach them. They include:
1. The supposition that teachers are the enemy.
2. Student desire to be notorious among their peers, which leads them (or a portion of them) to confront, aggravate, and demean each other, and to attempt to undermine teacher authority.
I believe that I have learned some ways to get around these attitudes. However, the tactics must be implemented every day. One cannot administer like a half-hearted parent who would rather be somewhere else. Our goal must truly be student learning. We cannot undertake teaching in the hope that we will gain emotional rewards from our students. However, ironically, once we have earned student respect, emotional rewards sometimes blossom. And once students get the connection between learning and their improved lives, it is easier to "sell" the idea of education to them. This sets us up--and our kids-- for success.
Within the classroom, I have minor consequences for disrespect. At the very beginning of the year, I set parameters. I make statements to clarify events that will happen in my room, and events that won't.
"Listen to your music? Use your phone? No. Never in my room."
"You are a guest in my room. If you can't follow my rules, just go down to the counselor and pick out another teacher. You can't behave that way in here."
"The choices you make in the next five minutes will determine our activities today."
I am always ready to give a pop quiz if behavior is unruly. I have grammar books ready to pull out if students can't listen to the day's lesson plans. This seems very effective. Few students wish to numb their minds with endless grammar work.
I have "in-room detention," especially for my 6th grade class. The rest of the day, I teach high schoolers. Sixth graders are still learning to control themselves. They need lots of chances to stop and rethink. However, my older spec ed students also need this.
Beyond consequences for bad behavior, the main thing is to keep the students challenged, learning, and working too hard to stop to hit their neighbor or to get smart with the teacher. In a multi-level classroom, this is a lesson plan nightmare. Some students struggle to copy plans from the board. Others are much higher on the Bloom's taxonomy scale, able to weigh and debate and synthesize. Then there are the students who can articulate but not pen their mental processes. All must be given a ladder up to their next level.
As lofty as our academic goals are, we must realize that learning only takes place when an atmosphere of learning prevails.
A visible lesson plan on the board is essential. A varied approach to student work helps, too. Believe it or not, having kids work on colored paper with colored markers wakes them up. Access to various books and materials helps, too, as many students come from quite a different literary background than middle class America. Another of my obstacles is that I only have 12 books each of several books, and my class sizes range from 15-25. More books have been ordered, but who knows when they will arrive?
One solution is that I haul tons of library books into my room, along with the daily news and any other printed material I can grab. The risk is that students like to write their names on things. I keep having to say, "this is my personal property. You may use it only if you respect it." It's even more risky letting them use library books, as I could end up paying for them. However, one of my idealistic goals this year is to make the students love books. So I'm willing to take that risk. At this time, nothing has been lost or stolen.
It really goes against my grain to make speeches and talk tough to the kids every day. However, the resulting safe atmosphere is worth it. Without rules, chaos prevails and anarchy looms. Perhaps the biggest aspect of my job is the self-talk and evaluation of the things I teach and how I see my students every day. I ask myself,
*Will this skill translate to my students' lives?
*Have students learned in my English class the skills needed to read and write in their other classes?
*Am I accepting shoddy work because it's easier than insisting on good work?
*Are all my students learning something every day, even if it's legible handwriting?
*Do students feel safe enough and sheltered enough to work? Have I implemented consequences for those who use my space as their private turf, ruining the concentration of others?
I really must tackle my 6h period Study Skills class. I tend to let my guard down there, as I have only 7 students. Yesterday, whenever I turned my attention to my gradebook, they pinched each other on the neck. One of the students has told me, "If you were my mother, you'd be pulling your hair out. I would drive you crazy." I have a notion that he should find a taste of what my own biological kids know. He can follow the rules of respect, or haul his backpack to another classroom. Hmmm, maybe several weeks of unmitigated grammar? That might be the solution.
A whole 'nother category of classroom discipline is dealing with dangerous and troubled students. I will address that in another article soon.
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