Today I observed for management strategies. I think my observations may be getting a little shorter because I'm helping out during lessons more instead of taking notes. During math, I noticed a lot of attention to materials management. The students were using cubes to get more experience with volume. Instead of giving students a bag of cubes, the teacher separated them all out beforehand so each pair of students had exactly 36. This helped save time, as students weren't counting out their 36 cubes a bunch of times. It also decreased extra cubes for the students to play with. The only issue with this was when a pair dropped or lost a cube. There were many directions surrounding the materials, such as "don't open the bag yet" "the bag should be in the middle of the table" "take turns stacking for volume". I also marked using cubes with partners in instructional strategies. This was a good way to vary from direct instruction, and the students were very engaged with the activity.
I also observed mostly for behavior management when another teacher came into the room for the reading lesson. Mr. C. has a totally different way of managing the students than Mrs. L. does. He has a much calmer attitude overall, all always brings that to the students. He uses the same procedures as the rest of the school, such as the take a break chair, show five, going to the buddy room, etc. He does this all very calmly though. For example, a student who is off task gets a reminder that is firm yet spoken slowly and calmly. He uses the tactic of stopping the class until everyone is on task. During the lesson, a student was very antsy on the floor. Mr. C. walked over in front of him and stopped the lesson, then said, "Do you need to take a break? I am only in here for fifteen minutes a
day. I would think you could manage to
behave for that long. Are you ready to
listen to your friend now? You’re being
disrespectful." This was all said calmly but in a serious tone. I thought it was very effective, especially for a student who is bouncing off the walls. He also was using the popcorn method for reading out loud. The students were just not able to do it, and were listening and not really following along. Instead of getting mad as Mrs. L. may have, he said, "You are all not following along and don't know where we are. Show me you're listening, but I will read because you aren't able to." While I would have liked to see him persevere with this, I liked how he handled himself in the situation. He was still very calm, and still needed student engagement because they were doing predictions, but didn't yell or get upset. This is a management strategy I have not seen used a lot in classrooms, and I think it's a nice change for the students, and a new tactic I am unfamiliar with that seems effective in a lot of ways.
I am not sure if this would work with me. I think Mrs. L.'s management is effective in a lot of ways, as is Mr. C.'s. It works for them because it goes with their personalities. I think I should try some of Mr. C.'s method to see if it works. I guess I am not yet sure what coincides with my personality best yet. This is very interesting to think about, and I think I might try observing someone else with a different personality, perhaps someone on the calmer side, or someone sillier to see what they do.
Tomorrow I will be: observing instructional strategies, working with the yellow reading group, case study work.
Question of the day: What was the most challenging for you at the beginning of your career?
Mrs. L. said that the biggest challenge for her was being in a totally new area. She had just moved to Texas, so she didn't really have contacts to help her start everything off. It took some time to develop relationships with her colleagues and with the area in general. It was an adjustment period, but as time went on she developed a lot of relationships that lasted for many years, and ended up continuing after she moved back to Minnesota. Another challenge was getting used to the curriculum. She was unfamiliar with the curriculum when she started, and ironing out the little quirks of it took time. As the year progressed this got better and easier, but year after year there were always improvements. Working through curriculum difficulties is still a challenge for her, and something that keeps improving as she gets more and more familiar with it each year.
It's interesting to think about the idea that our individual personalities as teachers might influence the management style that's most comfortable (and effective) for us. You might have a graduate thesis brewing. Have you ever taken a Meyers/Briggs personality inventory? If not, it's an assessment that describes strong personality traits--extrovert/introvert, etc. So, I'm wondering, based on your reflection, if you could look at a teacher's Meyers/Briggs type and match it to a management style that would be most effective. Have you ever read anything about classroom management "styles"? I don't think I have, but I bet that research/theory exists. Interesting . . . I hope you do have a chance to observe teachers with different styles than Jessica's and the literacy specialist. How would you describe Steve Abenth's style? Was he kind of "silly", to use your adjective?
ReplyDeleteAs for your question of the day, would you consider moving out of MN to find a teaching job? That circumstance certainly adds extra pressure to a new teacher, as evidenced in Jessica's reflection about starting her career in Texas. I was certified to teach in NY, but started teaching in Maine. It wasn't a huge learning curve, but the cultures were different in significant ways, to I had a lot to learn.