In a story entitled “Teaching as a rewarding second career” in the Waynseboro (VA, US) News Virginian, Bob Stuart describes the experience of Chris Eldredge, an electrical engineer who changed careers and became a middle school math teacher. Mr. Stuart reports that Mr. Eldredge came to appreciate the importance of learning classroom management skills.
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Pat and I have a quiet tug-o-war between management and teaching. Although both of us recognize the importance of having both classroom management and instructional skills, she contends that the management skills are required. Pollyanna-ishly, I maintain that if one’s instructional management is strong, one will not need behavior management competence.
Too be sure, my view is idealist. That’s reinforced (ahem) by an article entitled “Schools Beef Up Classroom-Management Training” from by Vaishali Honawar of Education Week. Ms. Honowar provides the following lead:
Faced with concerns that too many teachers are entering the profession unprepared to manage classrooms, some colleges of education have in recent years increased their focus on training aspiring educators to handle disruptive students.
New teachers, even if skilled in academic subjects and pedagogy, often find themselves grossly unprepared to deal with student misbehavior. Discipline issues are one of the primary reasons given for teacher attrition. In fact, a 2003 study by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a Washington-based advocacy group, found that more than 25 percent of teachers who left the profession cited student discipline.
Given that I teach a behavior management class for my school’s teacher education program, I should be encouraged. I’ll still promote the idea that the first behavior management bulwark is powerful instruction, but I know I’ll have to teach them how to deal with problems, too. Here’s hoping I the evidence-based procedures I pitch to them will register…and stick.
Link to Ms. Honowar’s article.
Sphere: Related ContentI came across an entry in a middle school teacher’s blog that provides a good illustration of how to manage a classroom learning environment. Ellen Berg, who has taught mostly English and communication arts (but, also shop and pre-calculus) at Turner Middle in a racially isolated part of St. Louis (MO, US) where most of her students receive free or reduced-price meals, tells the story of how she revised her classroom management system.
Similarly, last Monday was a new beginning for my students and me in our classroom. After hearing Harry Wong at the NMSA convention, I knew that I had neglected spending enough time setting up the routines and procedures in my classroom. As a result, I was frequently short-tempered and impatient with my students, and they responded accordingly. This was especially true with my “difficult” after-lunch class. Behaviors were becoming increasingly negative with every consequence I threw at them. It wasn’t working.
The problems that I identified in my classroom were:
1. The level of noise during group work.
2. My difficulty getting the whole class’s attention during group work.
3. Social behaviors when they sat at desk tables instead of straight rows.
4. Students out of their seats at inappropriate times.
5. Lack of focus during mini-lessons.
6. Demonstrating readiness to get on task.These problems are common ones for teachers everywhere. Some accept it as a natural result of teaching middle school children. I, however, refused to believe that these problems couldn’t be solved.
Ms. Berg goes on to explain her solutions. Mostly, they are simple, commonsense procedures, but they fit quite well with my perspective on classroom management. Read the post to see how Ms. Berg skillfully identified specific goals, demonstrated and explained to her students how to behave appropriately, provided extensive practice for them, and calmly reinforced the students’ adherence to the classroom procedures.
I plan to use her post as an illustration in my teacher education course on classroom management. It has authenticity and clarity that I think make it compelling.
Link to Ms. Berg’s entry.
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