Blog Post 7

Session 7:  Go to educationworld.com and read one article on some aspect of Classroom Management (type Classroom Management into the search box in the upper left hand corner).  Post a reflection to the Epsilen blog based on your practice as it relates to what you learn from the article.  How effectively is your well classroom management system working at this point in the year?  What are your struggles?  What are your successes?  Reflect with honest hearts and minds! 

The article that I read was Five Essentials for Basic Classroom Management. The article focuses on basic strategies like getting to know your student’s parents, you’ll never win if you go head to head with a student, good lesson planning, knowing your students, and finding your management style. I have attempted all of these with varying success. I have contacted several parents in regards to their student’s success and behavior. Most of the time the parents promise to speak to their children about their behavior and grades and things improve for a few days and then go back to their previous behavior. Good lesson planning focuses on planning bell to bell and engaging activities to keep the students busy. This is another way to say that busy hands are happy hands and that if students are busy enough they won’t have the time or energy to misbehave. I attempt to do this but I think I’ll do a much better job after I solidify my procedures in the next semester. Hammering home my procedures and being consistent next semester will hopefully help me find my voice and help me find my management style.  The last is that the teacher will never win if they go head on with a student. I had actually never thought of this but the article pointed out that while the teacher has everything to lose when getting into a power struggle with a student. The student usually has a reputation to maintain with the other students similar to what one normally think of occurring in prison. When certain students are challenged in front of their peers they will suffer any consequence and it may be better to not make a scene and keep any exchange private so as to avoid ruining their reputation with the other students.

My classroom management really does need a great deal of work but I have learned so many strategies this semester I hope it will improve. I am going to make sure that I set down the procedures clearly, model them, and have the students practice them and then be consistent for the rest of the year and hopefully it will solve most of my classroom management problems.