Classroom Management

                In Central Falls High School, the front desk is manned extremely smoothly, which makes me think that school-wide management is something the staff focuses on. They knew right away who I was and what I was doing there, and got to getting me where I needed to go. While sitting in the main office, I noticed the slow trickle of students coming by the main office for one concern or another. The secretary, I muse, is an unsung hero of any high school—she juggles multiple tasks without so much as blinking an eye. To an onlooker like me, it seems overwhelming, but she seemed practiced at this, and gets students and parents where they need to be. It makes the school seem like a safer place to be, and I’m more relaxed by the time I’m headed off to be observation.

In this classroom, management is maintained in a classic manner—the teacher is the authoritative figure with absolute control. The procedure for entering the classroom was as straightforward as can be: after socializing in the hallways, students would enter on their own accord. A few dropped their cell phones into a basket by the attendance sheet (this, the teacher explains to me, will earn the students a reward if they do it for the duration of the semester).  Students found their seats fairly quickly, with some lingering by the desks of their friends to socialize a bit. The room is arranged in a classic format: five rows of desks all facing forward.

By the time the intercom crackles and the Pledge of Allegiance is read, however, all students have found their spot. When attendance is taken, students are attentive to their own—they noticed who was missing, even before the teacher did. The class is quieted as the teacher stepped up the white board with the Do Now. The control of the classroom is focused entirely in the teacher’s hands: it is he who has the focus of the entire room.

Students act genuinely interested in the Do Now (“This Day in History”), but the instant the actual lesson of the day comes in they switch off. It’s nearing break, so no one really wants to do any work, but that hardly excuses the students who immediately disengage—they put their heads down and go to sleep, or doodle in the margins of their notebook instead of buckling down with work. Strangely, the teacher doesn’t try to correct this, which seems to be a major flaw in his classroom management style. How can you effectively manage a classroom if you’re letting students get away with inappropriate behaviors? How the teacher did speak up to correct behavior, he did so loudly, bringing the attention of the other students’ off of their work and towards the troublemaker—again, not terribly effective at keeping students concentrated on their work.

                Classroom management is a huge factor in how students get work done, and in this classroom I think that since the classroom management was lacking in the actual lesson, student involvement was therefore lacking as well. The teacher didn’t attempt to correct slacking students, and he absolutely disengaged the misbehaving student (who took to sulking for the rest of the class instead of reading as he was supposed to). Classroom management is parallel to student learning: high classroom management and teacher attentiveness facilitates student learning, but if the teacher is slacking, so will the students. 

RITELL Conference Reflection

The 2014 theme of RITELL’s annual conference was “Culturally Responsive Curricula in STEM” which, admittedly, I thought was not going to be all that an exciting a topic for a history teacher. Cultural diversity was something I could apply to my classroom—after all, history is often accused of being a parade of dead Christian white men—but STEM fields are the areas of math and science, areas that I struggled with in high school and had no interest in revisiting. I thought I would be hopelessly out of my depth amid science and math experts.

Fortunately, that didn’t prove to be case. I attended two seminars—one on encouraging girls to go into STEM fields, and one on Extended Learning Opportunities in Central Falls High School. Of the two, I found the latter the most interesting, and the one I could potentially use in my time as a teacher. Extended Learning Opportunities allow students and teachers to come together to create an individual curriculum for the student based around their strengths. For example, if a student enjoyed gardening, they could join up with a teacher to create a school garden (as a group of students did). Others worked in robotics, safety, music, and theater. The ELO counts for a class credit, and allows the student to explore their interests in a school environment. Personally, I think this program is a fantastic idea, and I would like to see more school implement it—imagine, as a student, coming to school and working with an individual, trusted teacher on a project you designed and implemented. It helps students retain interest in school and makes that all-important “real life” connection that students are always asking about. Playing to the strengths of students is definitely something I want to take back into my classroom.

One thing I disliked about the presentation was a comment from the keynote speaker, Dr. Christopher Emdin. In his diatribe against traditional learning, he mentioned that those who failed at traditional learning—those who failed in high school classrooms and didn’t make it to college—were stronger than those who had. “We are the weaker ones!” He exclaimed, so loud that even I, sitting at the back of the crowd, could hear him clear. “We are weak because we fit into the system! Because we cannot break out of the mold!”

That’s not true, I found myself thinking, that’s not true. I didn’t make it through the educational system because I enjoyed it—there were plenty of times I considered just not doing an assignment, just failing a course I didn’t like, thinking “well what’s the worst that could happen?” if I failed. But I wouldn’t let myself. I couldn’t let myself. Anyone who says that those who succeed in school are weaker than those who fail is generalizing a whole group of people who succeeded for different reasons. Students who do well in the current system are not just a bunch of yes-men: they succeed for a variety of reasons, some personal, some external. It’s not right to dismiss a whole cavalcade of students as sheep any more than it is to dismiss a group of students as failures. As I said beforehand, I want to be able to play to the strengths of all my students—those who work well in a traditional environment, and those that do not. 

Observation #3: 10-Minute Quiz

1) What do you think the objective is?

Students will study the growing phenomenon of sectionalism in the United States prior to the Civil War, and analysis how regional differences in the North, South, and West escalated political tensions.

2) What level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is that?

#4: Analysis

3) How will you assess it in 10 minutes or less?

Since analysis involves higher-level thinking, I have to ask the students higher-level questions. For this sort of objective, I don’t want to use multiple choice, because I want to them to explain and justify their answers. As such, short essay questions must be poised:

1.      1. Who were the key figures in sectionalism in the North, South, and West? What did they want for each region, and why?

2.      2.  Discuss the role of slavery in the South vs. industrialism in the North. How did these two systems oppose each other? Did any parallels exist?

Jamestown Fell and Everyone Died (The End)

Aka Microteaching II
They say overconfidence is the disease of the expert, so unload all of your critiques here.

Observation Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan Template for SED 406 and 407 part 1 = planning
Teacher Candidate: Emily Fisher	Subject: US History 1	Grade(s): 9
Name of Lesson: Sectionalism in the US
Learning Objective(s), including Bloom's taxonomic level: (label A, B, C, *D) *optional After reading the section in their history book devoted to sectionalism, students will write a constructed response essay describing the developing sectionalism of the United States in the 1800s and how Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun became spokesmen for different areas of the United States.
Student Standards (GSE or/GLE or Common Core-in draft for math/science- list which): US History Era 4: Standard 2: How the industrial revolution, increasing immigration, the rapid expansion of slavery, and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led toward regional tensions
Teacher Standards (professional society and/or NETS  and RIPTS-list which): RIPTS: 2.3: Select appropriate instructional materials and resources (including technological resources) based on their comprehensiveness, accuracy, and usefulness for representing particular ideas and concepts in the discipline/content areas
Rationale: Why this lesson? How does it fit into the curriculum and context? Is this the introduction, conclusion, or somewhere in the middle of the unit of instruction? This lesson is a necessary precursor to the American Civil War, as it describes the mounting tensions between regions of the US, and how differing needs of a region led to differing ideals (The South vs. the North on import taxes, etc). This is more than likely an introduction to a new unit, as it’s a good period transition period of history between two major events (the War of 1812 and the Civil War).
Materials/Resources needed, including technology: Text books; pencils; lined paper
Accommodations and Modifications (special needs and learning styles)
What content resources support this knowledge base? (list at least 2)
How confident are you in this topic as you start this lesson?

(Boxes expand as you type)   Lesson Plan Template part 2 = action
Bell-ringer: How will you get students seated, and ready for academic work? (without your voice)
Anticipatory Set: How will you introduce the material, interest the students, show relevance of topic?
Phase (change as needed)/Time	Teacher action	Student action	Questions/Assessments
e.g. Intro/5 min.	Introduce the “Do Now”: “This Day in History”	Write down Do Now	“Any questions?”
Presentation or Open-ended/	Introduce section of the book they will be reading and pass out paper in order to write constructed response essay	Start reading and taking notes
Guided Practice or Convergent/	Pass out paper for final draft	Create final draft of the essay
Closing/	Collect papers	Hand in papers
HW/Application/	“Have a good Thanksgiving!”
Review and Reflection: How will you review for students who are still having trouble?
Extension: What will you offer to students who have mastered this?
*Closing: How will you review the material, and draw conclusions? (may be listed above)

	Lesson Plan Template pt. 3 = reflection
WHAT?	What went well?   Students listened and did their work on time. Most of them seemed to be able to handle doing work on their own, without guidance.
	What area of weakness needs addressing? The teacher let the book do the teaching—why didn’t he open with sectionalism and use the book as review?  Did he think he wouldn’t have enough time?
	Which objectives were met? What is the evidence? Students took notes and addressed the stances of Clay, Webster, and Calhoun in their essays, making note of each region’s differences and why.
	Which students did not meet objectives? Those that did not finish the essay on time
	Was time managed appropriately? Yes: the majority of the students had finished their essays by the end of class.
	Did any teacher mannerisms or actions detract from the lesson? Only once, when he had to tell a student to quit distracting others—naturally this led to the rest of the class looking up and around towards the troublemaker, the exact opposite of what the teacher wanted.
	*What were the strengths and weaknesses of classroom management? Called the student out in front of the whole class rather than quietly dissuading the student from talking. Also, when the student appeared disinterested and disengaged in the work, he didn’t try to intervene.
SO WHAT?	Was the lesson engaging? Not really—students read silently and got to writing right away. There wasn’t any class discussion.
	*What did I learn from my peer observation (address at least one aspect)   I actually learned what I would not do in the class. I don’t like the idea of using the textbook as the teacher—I would have preferred that the teacher introduce sectionalism himself. In addition, he stayed in one spot, by the desk, rather than moving around the classroom to check on how the students were doing/if they needed help.
NOW WHAT?	How will this experience influence your professional identity?  I want to be the type of teacher that the students will feel comfortable asking for help from, and who can offer help. My students should feel like I’m the one whose teaching them, and I’m the one controlling the energy of the classroom.
	How will it influence how you plan/teach/assess in the future? I want to emphasize class participate and debate over silent reading and writing, and I want to be able to know how to engage students so they don’t feel bored, or that they’re just doing busywork.

In the Classroom

Mr. LaPierre's classroom reminds me, somewhat, of the classrooms in Gaige Hall. It's stark and dimly-lit, with small windows allowing only a little sunlight in. The artificial light is harsh, but it keeps the classroom lit. As we walk in, Mr. LaPierre even quips about the rundown state of his classroom. 

He's done best to counteract the base state of the classroom, however: the wall is adorn with posters, most of them from the National Guard, and there are two giant maps--one of Rhode Island, one of the United States--taking up separate walls. There is a bookshelf full of class books next to a big red cabinet called "The Fridge". When asked, Mr. LaPierre explains that that's a supply closet, and when students do well on their work he'll hang it on the doors of "The Fridge". It's clever, but at the moment its blank, making me wonder how effective it is. One of the more eye-catching signs is hung above the American flag: "You have the right not to stand for the pledge, but remember those that lost the ability to stand fighting for that right". I don't know what to make of this sign: it feels like they're being guilted into standing for the pledge, which in turn makes the whole process less sincere. 

The furniture is arranged in standard classroom form: rows of desks facing the white board, a desk with a computer in one corner, and the teacher's desk at the back of the classroom. For the duration of the class Mr. LaPierre is at the front of the class, in front of the white board. He never uses it, however. The white board is left blank for both classes, and somehow it feels like something is missing--there's details being missed out on, little bits that high school kids might miss in a lecture format. In all, it feels like a room that takes time to adjust it--it's not immediately welcoming, but there's enough personalization to put a student at ease over time. 

Knowing the reputation surrounding Central Falls, I am pleasantly surprised by how welcoming the whole of the school was. It looks like a typical school--small lockers, narrow hallways--but everyone is so cheerful and welcoming that it seemed to broaden the school. I shake more than a few hands, put at ease by how thrilled they are to see a RIC student. In the art department, the walls was painted and decorated, making it more cheerful, and as I walked around the school I noticed how teachers personalized their classroom doors with quotes and signs. As we walk around, Mr. LaPierre explains that the math and science departments are part of the "new" school--newer, cleaner, better arranged, and you can tell the difference the minute you descend from the stairwell into the new school. Central Falls High did its best to show that it's like any other high school. It's enough to make me want to come back, perhaps for the long haul--"I could student teach here," I find myself thinking. "I'd like to student teach here."

The classrooms are of a typical size, but it's far more diverse than my own high school ever was. In the hallways and in the classroom I can hear multiple dialects being used, mostly by students: they are a mixture of ethnicity, the archetype of the inner-city kids. The teachers, however, are predominately white. I find myself wondering if any of the teachers are fluently bilingual--certainly the students are--and if I should brush up on my Spanish if I intend to teach here, or in a similar school. Mr. LaPierre explains that most of the students come from low socioeconomic backgrounds and a handful of his students alone have IEPs. In the middle of a lesson one student walks in late, having been escorted to class by his behavioral consultant. On the whole, however, there's nothing really separating this students from any other student body--they talk and joke and work like typical teenagers. 

The classroom activities are dominated by the teacher: he introduces the Do Now, the lesson, and maintains class discipline. The power of the classroom is concentrated on him: although the students asks questions and can create discussions, he's the one guiding them. The classroom activities for the day were solo, so its harder to gauge who had skills to match the school's expectations and who did not. However, there was a varying degree of participation among students: some put their heads down when they were supposed to be reading, or just procrastinated on their work. 

I suspect that being a student in this classroom is like being a student in any other classroom: you'll have good days and bad, days when the work is engaging and days when it simply needs to be done to move on. Mr. LaPierre does his best to be friendly and empathetic towards his students, so the classroom atmosphere stays level. On a school-wide perspective, however, being a student in Central Falls High School is probably difficult--there are a number of stigmas to face, both inside the community and out, resources are scarce, and there is an omnipresent pressure to succeed. It has to be stressful, and students are no doubt aware of the fact that it's not only their futures their actions decide--it's their teachers too. 

Next Time, Bring Cough Drops

Well. Microteaching could have gone a lot better. It could have gone a lot worse, too, so let's call the scales balanced. I think I may have pysched myself out a little too much, because once I was up in front of the class I seemed to be all right. But time (and my peers) will tell.
Also, next time, bring cough drops instead of a water bottle. You can't spill cough drops on you.

Four Qualities A Teacher Needs to Succeed

Although much of an education major’s college experience will be learning how to become an effective teacher, there are just some qualities that cannot be taught. There are qualities that are innate or otherwise learned through trial and error; qualities that make a teacher truly effective in the eyes of both their peers and their students. But while everyone agrees that there are certain qualities that make a teacher great, few people seem to have settled on a precise list of them. Should teachers be laid-back or on-task? Maintain a professional air or become friendly with your students? Adhere to the tried-and-true or try something unexpected? Lecture or be hands-on? The answers vary wildly, with most responses coming from people’s own experiences with their own teachers. As for my own personal beliefs, there are four qualities I believe a teacher needs to be successful: approachability, flexibility, passion and management skills.

Now, when I say approachability is an important quality for a teacher to have, I don’t mean approaching your teacher by the water cooler and starting sports talk. When a teacher is approachable, they make themselves available to their students, both in the classroom and after school, and students feel comfortable coming to them with problems or questions. Having confidence that your teacher will listen to what you have to say and help you to the best of their ability is a major factor in student success. I should know—I’ve been in that situation before.

In junior year of high school I was taking Physics I, and had resigned myself to loathing every minute of it. I’d never been particularly good with math or science, and the idea of a class that combined math with science was terrifying. My physics teacher never allowed me the chance to doubt myself. He made it clear to his students from day one that it was never an inconvenience to come to him with homework or test help. No matter how many times I showed up in his doorway after school or during study period, he never acted exasperated with my need to hear concepts again and again, and patiently guided me through equations until I could do them for myself. His approachability, in turn, drove me to succeed on my own: I wanted to show my physics teacher that his time and patience hadn't gone to waste. In the end I wound up with a B for the year, and signed up for Physics II without hesitation.

          

  It isn't approachability alone that makes a teacher great. After all, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. No matter how many times you explain a concept to a student, if they don’t understand it they’re only going to get frustrated. In such cases, you need to be flexible. A flexible teacher can adjust their lesson plan or style based on the atmosphere of the class or the needs of an individual student. Students come in all styles of learners, and what works best for ninety-nine students might fail on one. And one student shouldn't be left behind simply because their way of thinking is different.

           

Let’s go back to 11^th grade Physics I for a moment. I’ve always been a very visual learner—that is, if I can see something at work I can understand it. This comes into play with concepts as well: if I can see something happening in my mind’s eye I can better comprehending information. Part of the reason why math and science were always much more difficult for me was that I couldn’t always visual how a theory was supposed to work out, something that became very frustrating when it came to physics. My physics teacher, realizing my difficulty with theoretical concepts, would sketch out examples of physics at work to better help my understanding. Thus, a lesson on torque became “a guy stuck out on a scaffold”, and physics at sea became “Tugboat Willy”. A flexible teacher will know how to incorporate not just lectures and readings, but other resources such as online sites and guest speakers to reinforce what their students are learning, and to better help students understand the subject. To adapt to a specific student’s needs is the mark of a teacher who cares about both their subject and their student.

            

Passion is the third key quality of a teacher. Passion—loving what you teach and loving to teach—seems like such an obvious quality that it shouldn’t even belong on this list. But all-too-often I’ve seen teachers who are so burned out or so disinterested in the subject that they’re teaching that it becomes a detriment to their students. These are the teachers who have so little interest in being in school that their students soon adopt the same attitude, and performance as a whole suffers for it. If a teacher has no passion for math or history or art, how they supposed to awake a love of learning in their students? Passion is perhaps the most vital of a teacher’s innate qualities, because if they are teaching without passion they are robbing their students of a chance to learn to love a subject. I may be an education history major now, but if my AP History teacher hadn’t shown me what it was like to love history I might be on a very different path in my life. My physics teacher loved his subject and helped me learned to love it too.

           

Oftentimes the discussion of the qualities a teacher must possess revolves around their inner qualities, what they bring with them to the field. What’s less often discussed—but no less important—are the qualities teachers learn as they adapt in their classroom. One of these learned qualities is how to be a good manager. A teacher who lets their classroom run wild will never earn the respect of their students, as much as an overly-strict teacher will never earn their students love. All my favorite teachers could calm a rowdy class with a word, revealing just how much respect their students had for them. A teacher needs to know how to manage time and their students effectively, keeping discussions and work on task without coming off as overbearing. In addition, a teacher needs to learn not only how to manage their classroom, but how to work with parents and other teachers as well. A teacher with good management skills can handle controversy in and out of the classroom, a skill that is especially needed in diverse subjects like English and History. My 12^th grade English teacher often allowed her students to debate over topics like censorship and feminism because she knew how to mediate strong-willed teenagers. But she didn’t come into the profession knowing how to act as a mediator—this is a quality teachers have to foster through trial-and-error.

There is no right or wrong answer to what sort of qualities a teacher should have. A teacher has to be many things—informative, engaging, trustworthy, authoritative, focused—and to describe some qualities as better than others is a mistake, because teachers are just as diverse as their students in how they approach the classroom. Nevertheless there are certain aspects to any good teacher, qualities they possess that put them head-and-shoulders above the crowd: approachability, flexibility, passion and management skills. The mark of an excellent teacher isn’t just someone who possesses these qualities, but who uses them effectively to better their classroom environment and their students.