PART I
Classroom Practices Across the Curriculum
Classroom Management andCo-Teaching
Overview, Chapters 1â3
1. Christina M. Charles, a biology teacher in Deerfield, Wisconsin, shares guiding principles that put classroom management in perspective.
2. Michelle L. Smith, a special education teacher in Palestine, Illinois, encourages teachers to discover their own style of classroom management and offers some suggested guidance.
3. Fonda Akins, a special education teacher, and Cindy Armitage Dannaker, an English teacher, both in Springfield, Pennsylvania, present useful tips for co-teaching in an inclusion classroom.
1. Classroom Management: Ideas Iâve Picked Up Along the Way Christina M. Charles
Deerfield, Wisconsin
Recommended Level: Grades 9â12
Overall Objective: Teachers can understand their goals and purpose by reflecting on these 12 guiding principles.
When I started teaching, I was really concerned about having control of my classroom. I truly felt like I had none and that the students were walking all over meâand definitely not learning much. My ideas have evolved as I have gained experience. Now, in my third year, I have developed some guiding principles that I use to examine how things are going in my classroom, and I want to share these with you.
1. Understand your limitsâwhich student behaviors bother you and what you are OK with. People have different levels of tolerance. Be comfortable with yours and understand why you have those expectations. Keep reflecting on those expectations to see if they are helpful or need to be adjusted.
2. Be yourselfâbe human. Forget the âI am above youâ attitudeâstudents can see right through that. They donât want a person who they feel is going to judge them or make them feel inferior. They want a safe place to learn and grow.
3. Understand and believe that what you are doing is important. This one seems obvious, but in order for the students to believe in you, you have to believe in yourself. Sometimes this seems impossible, but going back to that belief will spare you from getting too down on yourself when things donât go as planned.
4. Make an honest effort to get to know the studentsâwho they are, what they are about, and what makes them tick. This will give you a context for working with them and help you to engage in meaningful interactions. It will help you to understand the reasons for their actions, especially when they do something that bothers you.
5. Understand and believe that every student has something to offer. Students appreciate this so much! What person doesnât want to feel like they can contribute somehow? Being able to find ways to bring everyone to the table is a talent that can be honed, and it works! If people feel great about what they have to offer, they are less likely to act out and more likely to take healthy learning risks.
6. Get to the bottom of behavioral situationsâgo beyond the symptoms. Very few people wake up and say to themselves, âI really want to get in trouble today. I want to make someoneâs day miserable.â Things happen, and there is usually some reason. Try to get to the bottom of the problem, instead of getting upset yourself. Donât make assumptions. Try to ask yourself, âWhy is this student acting this way?â Even ask them! A simple, âAre you OK?â goes a long way.
7. Put yourself in their shoesâthis is not about you or your curriculum. This is about their trying to make sense of their impending adulthood. Sometimes I get so caught up in what Iâm trying to accomplish as a teacher, I forget that this is mostly their journey. They have so many other day-to-day things going on. Teaching in a high school, I observe teenage drama all the time. Most often, the drama is much more important to them than their biology curriculum. So take it in stride, and remember when you were in high schoolâyou probably felt the same way!
8. Make your classroom a safe place to explore, grow, and learn. Learning is not easy. We all have to struggle a bit with new material at some point. The important thing for students to understand is that this is a part of the process; they have a hard time believing this! They have to feel safe to struggle, to be wrong, to ask every question they can think of, to be interested, to open their minds. I always tell them, âIf you already knew this stuff, Iâd be out of a job!â
9. Make students part of the decision-making process. At the beginning of the year, I like to establish guidelines with the students. Allowing them to give input helps them to realize that the classroom is theirs and that they have a stake in how it goes. Itâs also a good way to take issues to them if things are not going smoothly. I ask, âWhat happened? How could we have done things differently? What will we do next time?â Or when they complain about something, âWhat ideas do you have? How would you like this to proceed?â
10. Understand that control, in the conventional sense, is an illusionâthis is not a school for compliant robots, but for young people who are trying to figure out who they are. Humans belong to the species Homo sapiens. This translates, more or less, to wise man. Along with this wisdom comes free thought. And people who have the capacity to think for themselves will not be controlled easily. Think about itâwhat do you want for your students anyway? Do you want to teach them to sit down and shut up or to use their unique voices and talents to make the world a better place? Helping students hone critical thinking skills, as opposed to trying to suppress or control them, will help them to become better, more capable adults.
11. Try to treat every day like a new oneâstudents really appreciate a clean slate, and you will fare much better for it yourself. Donât hang on to the past. Itâs a waste of your energy, and students, like anyone else, can sense resentment or dislike. How would you feel if you made a mistake in the classroom and had to pay for it every day? Would you want to be there? Would you bother to try after a while? Try to think of what you would want from other people if you were the one under fire; then use that approach with students.
12. Try to put yourself in parentsâ shoes. If you were the parent of these students, what would you want for them? What would you see in them? What would you expect of the studentsâ teachers? This principle really helps me to do my best for the students and to hold on to my standards.
Finally, I want to note that these are guiding principles. Like everyone else, I have good and bad daysâwhen I forget these principles or, just like the students, wish I had done better! Making a conscious effort will go a long way toward things getting better. Also, I encourage you to question the entire premise of âclassroom management.â What does it mean to âmanageâ people? Can people be managed? Do your goals as a teacher involve students doing everything you ask or listening to everything you say? If so, maybe the conventional, behaviorist management approach is best for you. But if you want your students to enjoy and make the most of their learning (about school subjects, themselves, and others), then maybe controlling behavior just wonât cut it. Conscientiously observing these principles or developing your own set of guidelines could go a long way in developing respectful, courteous, lifelong learners.
As an additional note, many of my ideas have been greatly influenced by the fantastic Alfie Kohn. I encourage anyone who wants to learn more about student empowerment and community to read his books.
2. Teenagers and Rules and Learning ⌠Oh My! Michelle L. Smith
Palestine, Illinois
Recommended Level: Grades 9â12
Overall Objective: Teachers can discover their own style of classroom management and make it work, whether they are in a general or special education classroom.
The thought of standing in front of a group of hormone-crazed teenagers without reinforcements can strike fear in even the most confident recent college graduate. Four years of writing lesson plans, researching teaching methods, and participating in student teaching experiences can never fully prepare a new teacher for the challenges encountered upon entering a classroom of his or her own. Perhaps the most important aspect of facilitating a smooth-running learning environment is implementing successful classroom management. There are countless factors to consider when planning how a classroom will be managed.
How will my classroom be organized?
How should I set up the rules of the classroom?
What will my interactions with students be like?
Which reinforcements should I use?
I ask myself these questions and many more each time I meet a new group of students. As a special education teacher for the past six years, I have encountered...