CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Broader Concepts Seating Charts: These are flexible, give it attention and consideration at the first moment you start to feel a loss of control. Room Arrangements: The way tables, desks, teacher desk, front/back of the room is oriented will have a big effect on students behavior. Consider your type of classroom (content-wise) and adjust seating arrangements respectively. Will there be more group discussion? More group work? Or is individual work emphasized more? Discipline: Having a consistent hierarchy of discipline is most important. You, as well as the students, should know what happens when someone acts out. The consistency is essential. Favorite students should not have more leeway. Policies: Rules that apply to cell phones, talking, cheating, late work, bathroom/water breaks should be universally understood by the teacher and students. Daily agenda: We can more easily manage keeping students on task if there is either a consistent agenda of the day (which can create monotony or comfort worth experimenting) or there are constant modality changes in the day and week. Either is advantageous to the classroom. Particular Ideas We keep a notebook with each classs seating chart on a separate page. The names are on sticky notes which allows easy movement of the kids if necessary. Our room arrangement is respective to the 1 to 1 laptops the students have now. The teachers desk is in the back so she can see the screens. My mentor also keeps the lights dimmed in the classroom. The kids are supposedly calmer with this tactic. For an English Classroom, I would prefer tables in groups. Students have Accountability Papers if caught off task on a laptop and a consequence of sitting in the hall when acting out. I would like to know of a better punishment that making a student leave class or do a writing assignment, however. Cell phones should not be seen in class. Students must ask if they are ever to use an iPod. Students have emergency passes for bathroom/water breaks. Cheating is an automatic zero. I have modality changes. Consistency provides comfort, but we sometimes confuse comfort with happiness. Middle School students love to be imaginative. I moderately change up the schedule each day.