Classroom Management

Hi guys, my post is not much of a summary because you guys have all read so you guys clearly do not need me to bore you by repeating everything you’ve already heard-and will hear again next week. Instead, I offer two quotes and an anecdote related to the subject. If that sounds really very boring, go ahead and respond to any one of the four questions below related to the readings and skip the rest: 

1.       “Collete teaches high school English in Philadelphia and described what she believes about connecting with her students: ‘I really believe you have to make that social and emotional connection with kids in order to get inside their heads. You have to get to their heart before you get to their head. The fact that you care makes them see you differently’” (Brown 277).

Do you agree with Collete, or does her approach sound too idealistic? Should teachers have to build relationships with their students? Perhaps you believe class room management does not necessitate a social or emotional connection at all.

2.      Brown’s idea of effective class management is the following, “Effectively managing students generally involves the ability to develop a classroom social environment in which students agree to cooperate with teachers and fellow students in pursuit of academic growth” (268).

What is effective class management to you? In your opinion, what should a classroom with effective classroom management look like?

3.      In Weiner’s “Managing Your Class” article, she explains how she saw Sonya drop a penknife from her purse; however, she does not confiscate it or call security. Would you have done what Weiner did, or would you have informed somebody? Why or why not? Also, what would you have done about the male with the gun? (87-88). Do you think zero policy schools help or hurt student learning?

4.      What are your views on discipline and punishment? Moreover, do you feel suspensions are ineffective?

I found the Weiner's “Managing Your Classroom” article very interesting. The text was essentially a narrative on the author’s experience teaching in inner city high schools. Near the beginning, it states, “Using the concept of ‘classroom management’ helps you to shift your focus from incidents of misbehavior to an examination of everything that occurs in the classroom in order to support rather than undercut the behavior you want to elicit” (Weiner 81). For example, she talks about handing out materials after giving instructions instead of doing the reverse and expecting kids not to play with the materials. I agree with her that anticipating misbehavior and being proactive instead of reactive definitely helps maintain good class management; however, I still think we should expect some sort of respect for the rules from students without us having to ponder for hours over the effectiveness of every little action and/or choice we make in our classroom. We cannot absolve students of personal accountability. Some students do know right from wrong and will act out regardless of how well you set up your order of doing things. There is no one formula on how to manage a classroom because every classroom and every student is different. This is why we need to consider not one, but all of the classroom strategies that Brown lists in the “Urban Teachers Professed Classroom Management Strategies” article.

As Brown notes, classroom management is not only about establishing assertiveness and authority, establishing congruent communication processes, and/or demanding effort-it is also about a caring attitude. When we think of a teacher with good class management skills-too often we think about that strict teacher that has no sense of humor and never smiles (at least not before December). However, you do not have to be that teacher in order to have good class management skills-although if that’s what floats your boat then go for it, but just know that you can also be that teacher with a caring attitude and good class management skills. 

This caring attitude can be achieved through building relationships with the students. For example, I use to work as a fitness coach at an inner city Chicago Public School. I worked with middle school children who were just about my size. When I first began working with them they did not respect me or take me seriously. They knew I was new and they felt I had to earn my authority. In the article Brown explains how “[t]he first and primary characteristic described by most of these 13 teachers is the importance and value of providing individualized attention by developing a personal relationship with each student. Teachers take time out of each day to communicate individually with many students on nonacademic matters” (275). In other words, the kids at the school were not going to respect me unless I built individual relationships with them. After a few stressful days, I knew I somehow needed to build rapport with the students. I began trying to get to know my most “disruptive” student and it turned out he and I shared a common interest: a love for basketball (he was in the school basketball team). After he found out I liked and could "talk basketball," he and his friends began inviting me to their games. Soon I found myself attending their basketball games (off the clock of course so I was not compensated for this-but it paid off during the school day when they began actually listening to me-plus who doesn’t love watching a basketball game). Some of my other students would also be at the games watching and, after a while, they began saving me a seat. The students really appreciated this and I noticed a huge change in the way they saw me. Although it took a lot of time and effort on my part, I had finally earned their respect. 

I do not think good classroom management is something easy to achieve-it is something that takes time and experience. Furthermore, no one strategy is universal-what works with one class may not work with another-and this is where our artistry as teachers comes into play . As Brown writes, "managing student behavior while maintaining an appropriate learning environment is as much art as it is science." It is also important to note that some student misbehavior is the product of issues in the home environment; therefore, it is important not to give up on any child.

(On a quick side note, I had some issues with the Brown article overgeneralizing about students of different cultures at times-but I did enjoy reading the article).

-Best Regards,

Greta