In EDU 276, I studied classroom management.

The course stressed the importance of

maintaining a well-run, consistent, safe classroom, in order to ensure optimal opportunity for learning
to take place. I was already able to have developed numerous management strategies through other
courses during the STEP program. I attained these techniques mainly through teacher modeling, and
presenting lessons of my own to my peers as a class. In this course, we learned a very effective strategy
that was subsequently required to be used in our student teaching placement. Our professor has
developed a strategy that he calls bubbling. This is an effective engagement and questioning strategy.
The teacher asks a higher level Blooms question to a random student in the class. This would occur after
all other lesson components, as a closure. The student will answer. Then, the teacher asks another
student to repeat what the other student just said in their own words, and to add to it with their
thoughts. This continues through as many students as time and discussion range allows. This was just
one example of the type of work and learning we did in this course which furthered my understanding
of effective management practices.
As one of our major assignments, we were tasked with identifying two videos online of lessons
being delivered. One video should represent what we and our partner thought of as ineffective
management, and the other should reflect effective management strategies. Together with my partner,
we spent time finding videos online, observing the lessons, and discussing the level of effectiveness of
the teacher, until we felt we had what was necessary. We then presented our two videos to our class
and professor. The presentation was begun by addressing the importance of effective classroom
management. We spoke to the class about why it is crucial to have consistent rules, procedures, and
consequences with students before delving into our examples.
After watching the first video, Whole Brain Teaching: 3
rd
Grade: Classroom Management, we
first engaged our students. We asked each of our peers to reflect with a partner about what they had
seen in the video. After bringing the class back together, we utilized the bubbling strategy to survey
thoughts in the room about the effectiveness of the teachers management. Each student needed to
rephrase the previous persons thoughts, and then add their own impressions to them. The discussion
covered both positive and negative aspects of the video. After skimming our students for thoughts, my
partner and I summarized what we had found in the example, and what we had concluded. Although
whole brain teaching is not a method I personally use, this video had many positive aspects to it. The
teacher had rules that were clearly understood by the students. Throughout the lessons presented, I
observed her use several effective learning and engagement strategies. She allowed wait time, used
personal white boards, used choral and individual response, and used kinesthetic learning. Through the
energy of her students, I could tell they felt safe and confident in their classroom. She held small reading
group to help struggling students. In addition, she communicated expectations very well, giving time
updates, using signals for responses, and letting her class know what kind of behavior she was looking
for, and she gave immediate feedback to her students. Overall we determined this to be our example of
strong classroom management, based on these aspects.
We then watched the second example, Elementary Math Classroom Observation. Again, we
followed the same procedures after observing, and after class discussion, we presented our opinion of
the practices we had seen. We had determined that this was our example of weak management skills.
Toward the beginning of the observation, the teacher asked a remembering level question, and
only 1 student raised her hand. The student then answered, and the teacher inquired to the class if that
student is the only one who knew the answer. Many students had the knowledge, as they immediately
shouted out to show that they also knew. I would have preferred that she asked the class to turn to their
peers and tell them the answer, as it would have allowed the engagement and success of the majority of
students. As she continued, she asked the class to do mental math to total some of the coins they were
adding. She gave some wait time, but only a few students had raised their hands by the time she called
on one. Rather than letting the class put in their opinion again, she immediately told the student he was
right. Only then did she go to the board to show the math. Again, many more students could have been
engaged. She plans to have students use whiteboards in their activity, so they should have been able to
use them to show work in this example too. In this warm-up for the lesson, only one student is given the
opportunity to show their knowledge at a time.
Throughout the lesson, there were several times when students were disengaged, although
there were no disruptions to the instruction. Students often had nothing to do, or were not sure of what
to do next. She allows students to call out answers, even after telling the class they may be called on
next, to get them to be engaged. Students know they will not likely be called on because calling out
answers is allowed. At the end, as she has the class count with her, several students are observed to not
be participating, and when she asks if students got the same total, one student responds, and she takes
that as an answer for the whole group.
Based on our observations and knowledge of engagement strategies, this lesson needed many
changes in order to more effectively engage students in their learning. This was a valuable opportunity,
as I was able to identify opportunities to develop stronger management through what I found lacking.
This assignment played an important role in the development of my own management
strategies, showing me many examples of what management looks like in a classroom. Beyond the many
examples my partner and I considered, we experienced the presentations of others in our class. I saw
around 20 additional videos to help compare the good with the bad. Having our attention focused solely
on management aspects, and not lesson content, etc., provided an opportunity to not only reflect on
what we had already experienced in our internships, but also to think about our own management
strengths and weaknesses, and to mold them more effectively for future teaching experiences. As it
would not be possible to load 20 plus adults into a classroom for an observation, this was a very
effective method of observing classrooms, without affecting the learning environment. The opportunity
helped me to grow in what I expected of myself and students in order to conduct meaningful learning.