Welcome to Week 9 now 10's posting on Promoting Social Acceptance and Managing Student Behavior [audio] and Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students [powerpoint]
Chapter 5 addresses the following questions on managing student behavior and promoting social acceptance. What exactly is classroom management? How many rules should be established and how does a teacher go about doing that? How does a teacher miminize classroom disruptions? How does a teacher manage the behavior of students from various backgrounds?
Classroom Management - Classroom management is providing an acceptably social environment for learning in the classroom that is beneficial to all students. It involves the teacher setting the structure in which learning can occur with minimal interruptions and behaviors that conteract that.
There is one book I recommend that all future teachers purchase before they launch their teaching career. You should get this book especially by the time you begin your clinical semester [student teaching semester]. The book Setting Limits in the Classroom by Robert J. MacKenzie provides practical information that can be put to use immediately. It gets beyond the traditional education jargon, providing scenarios [that have been experienced] that are played out in the classroom daily. One of the principles of classroom management that MacKenzie supports is that of continual teaching of the rules of management. He suggests that teachers not only begin the school year with an outlining of the classroom rules, but continue to re-visit those as we do with course content, treating the rules as if they were a part of the curriculum.
How many classroom rules should a teacher have? As the textbook (p 240) lists, three to five general rules along with consequences are the most effective. A teacher can minimize negative disruptions by making sure she (or he) follows through every single time with the consequences beginning with the first time an offense occurs. MacKenzie makes an interesting distinction between rules in theory and rules in practice, how that what a teacher says should also be what a teacher practices. It would be naive to think that students will do everything just as is required. Be prepared to enact any rule that is established, because it will be the job of some students to test those limits. Especially what you do in the first few days/weeks of school will set the tone for how well managed (or not) your classroom will be for the rest of the school year. Students expect and need structure from the teacher, regardless of what they may say.
Reference: Note the teacher interview with Ms. Nina Zaragoza on pages 235-236.
How do you deal behavior-wise with students with disabilities or from a variety of backgrounds, cultures? Very curtly, the answer here is much the same for how you deal with any student's behavior. Of course, if you have limited exposure to working with these types of students then first as the text recommends, the teacher should begin by asking him or herself reflective questions such as:
1. What behaviors bother me as a teacher?
2. Am I sure that all students who behave in these ways are treated in the same way?
3. To what extent have I reached out and demonstrated genuine caring and concern to all students in my class?
4. What steps am I taking to better engage all students in instruction and learning? p. 244
Reference: Positive feedback equals a positive classroom environment, see p. 237 - 240.
See: The Dark Side... ; Classroom Interactions and Achievement ; Increase Expectations ; Classroom Management ; Developing Social Competence for all Students
References:
Setting Limits in the Classroom by Robert J. MacKenzie
The First Days of School by Harry K and Rosemary T. Wong
Pragmatically Speaking - How to use this information in the classroom:
Establish a positive classroom environment - get to know all of your students by name; initiate an introductory assignment at the beginning of school that allows each student to introduce, share something about themselves [the teacher as well]; allow students to participate in the establishing of the rules.
Create a learning community - Focus on abilities, celebrate diversity; demonstrate respect for all students; provide opportunities for mixed-ability learning groups (see p. 246).
Have class meetings - make sure all students are respected; teach students to have concern for each other; concentrate on students' abilities; spend time teaching the behavioral skills you want students to exhibit in your classroom [see pp. 255-257].
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