BASIC FIRST TWO DAY OBSERVATIONS CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Observe your cooperating teacher at work and find answers regarding the following
kinds of basic questions. Ask questions of faculty if necessary. Report what you learn
under the following (possible) headings

1. What procedures are used for student entry to the room at the beginning of
lessons?
Students come in and immediately get to work in all classes. If Mrs. McGee wants to
show the students something she asks for their attention and directs them to to the
projection screen. Students have a very open seating chart and sit where they want. There
are generally more spaces than there are students.
2. What happens to late students?
Mrs. McGee allows for up to a minute of tardiness in order to accommodate
students who have a long way to walk from one side of the school to the other.
These students have a 3 minute walking period.
3. What procedures are used for students who wish to leave the room?
(a) for bathrooms
Students come up to Mrs. McGee and ask to use the restroom. As long as she is not
about to present on something or make a key announcement, she generally lets
students go.
(b) for lockers
Students come up to Mrs. McGee and ask to go to their locker, often for a particular
item. Same as the bathroom, as long as she is not about to present on something or
make a key announcement, she generally lets students go. She says in 4th, 5th, and
6th period students often ask to go get their computers because for each of these
classes the students have lunch and they like to try to leave as much stuff in their
lockers before coming to her class as possible so as to not bring it to lunch/have to go
to their lockers before lunch. She said she just lets them go get their computers when
they ask regardless because she is picking her battles.
(c) for library research (if applicable)
Students most often use computers for the class or their individual chrome books for
research. There is a project where the students walk around the school to take pictures
so they can they use them in photoshop and alter their surroundings. While the library
is not required, it was a space used, but not so much for research.
(d) for first aid or sick room
Students just ask to go to the nurse and she has a short conversation with them about
what is going on as well as shows concern for the students well being.

4. Observe carefully the start of lessons. How does the teacher start the lesson?
(a) strategies for behavior modification
Theresa says her main strategy is sarcasm and not taking things too seriously. This
seems to work best for her and her students to maintain a positive relationship and
classroom vibe. She says students respond best to this practice over serious
discussion/reprimanding
(b) settling students and gaining attention
She starts to speak, takes note of students who are or aren’t paying attention and asks
them for “eyes up here”, repeats until all eyes are on her, asks all students to close
laptops all the way before she continues. If she is talking and another student starts
talking she may stop and say “excuse me if I am talking you are not”, shhhing noises
or calling out an individual or group of students.
(c) reducing noise
If chatting gets too noisy she asks students to bring it down a notch. She also reminds
the students that even though they maybe done, others aren’t and she doesn’t want
them to have homework. Some times she will move students around, stating they are
not in trouble she just doesn’t want them to have homework and she wants to make
sure they have their homework down.
(d) eliminating undesirable student behavior
She addresses it directly. If something continues, she’ll pull students out into the
hallway and discuss it with them on a one on one basis.
5. How do students leave the room?
(a) exit on the bell?
Students are asked to clean up a few minutes before the bell and once everyone has
picked up, pushed in their chairs and are waiting by standing behind their chairs, they
are dismissed to line up by table. Once the bell rings, students leave the class.
(b) dismissed as a group?
See above.
(c) line-up etc?
See a.
6. What are the sanctions available to teachers for students who are disobedient or
disruptive?
(a) first offense?
She will will talk to them one on one, usually in a light hearted/joking manner, using
humor to defuse situations. Depending on what is occurring, she will hand out a
“check and reflect” slip where she addresses the problem and states what the student
was doing and how it is not appropriate. The student is then required to fill it out
about what they did wrong and how to fix it and then turn it back in.
(b) second offence?
She will take them out to the hall to discuss one on one and handle it more strictly
than the first time around
(c) subsequent offences?
Depending on the occurrence, she will have one more step between a and b where it is
another general warning, or maybe moves students to a different part of the room
stating it is for them to get work done so they do not have homework. If it is more
serious, there will be an intervention incorporating people in the office. If this is with
their phones, they will be taken away

7. Is there an observable difference in the procedure used for junior classes and
senior classes?
Instead of junior/senior I will discuss 6th grade versus 7th/8th. Overall, beyond
requiring a few more reminders of procedures, students are generally held to similar
standards of conduct and procedure. All students who don’t complete a project within
the aligned class time of an assignment are responsible for finishing the remainder
(same with artist statements) at home for homework or to come in to work on it
outside of class time.
8. Solicit information of a school-wide nature concerning:
(a) behavior management and how it is administered outside the classroom.

The handbook covers all this in a very succinct manner including lines of
contact within the school (i.e., Individuals and classrooms: teacher >
principal > superintendent > board of education
(b) groups/committees within the school who formulate behavior management
strategies.
There are multiple groups/committees that meet within the school. Teachers
from each ‘department’ (art, home ec., tec, and gym are a “department”)
meet multiple times throughout the week to discuss different students who have
behavioral, developmental and other needs. The social workers for each grade level sit
in on these meetings. In addition to this, there is another social worker who oversees
more behavioral conduct who enjoys coming in to the art room to observe students,
how well they work independently, how often they get off task, how long they stay off
task for if not corrected (she intentionally asked Mrs. McGee to let the student go off
task in order to monitor his behavior).

9. What publications are available in the school?

(a) policy?
(b) student and parent information?
(c) staff directives and procedures?

There is a school wide handbook that is available online through google classroom. In this
component of google classroom is the following:

First Week Schedule

Admin & District Contacts
AM Announcements Form
Building Request Form (request to reserve a space in the school)
Calendars & Schedules: AB Calendar, Bell Schedule, District Calendar
Check & Reflect Slips (part of their discipline system)
Check Request (Reimbursements/Advance Request/Payment)
Clubs & Extracurriculars
College Credit Form
Do Not Photo
Emergency Drills & Crisis Procedures
Food Allergy Management Plan Paperwork
Friday Forecast (General upcoming events and meetings)
Grading Schedule
Maps of HMS
Online Resources
Phone List & Instructions
Staff Policies
PTO
Spartan of the Month
Staff Lists
Student Handbook
Staff Meeting Dates
Additional Content:

Teachers are currently working with no contract and it is being negotiated as we go. There is a
lot of issues because there are changes possible to the schedule that will force foreign
language to become an elective which will then eliminate the possibility for students to select
other options such as art because there are a lot of parents that will make their students choose
the foreign language for future academic success. The concern is this will lead to a fall in
numbers as well as art becoming a catch all for students who don’t really want to be there.
This would be a huge shift because numbers are very high to the point where not everyone
can even get in to art and are a wide variety of students. Part of the reason for this is there is a
push for an extension in minutes for math.

Any issue that is connecting even minimally to a political tie cannot be addressed in the
school. The parent influence and involvement within the school is intense. For example, an
excellent math teacher was fired due to a mistake in a video students were using to help with
their homework. She caught it right away, apologized to the students the next day and
corrected it, but was fired regardless because of parents.