Wednesday, May 22

            Today I chose to observe management.  Instead of sticking to my usual template, I focused on behavior management.  This decision was because I observed a different teacher.  On Friday, I also observed another teacher.  Both are fourth grade males.  The first, Mr. J, is talkative and friendly and is constantly cracking jokes.  The second, Mr. T, has a very calm presence.  He engages in conversation quietly and sincerely.  The two are completely different in how they engage with people, as well as how they manage their classroom.  I found both of their styles very effective, but again, entirely different.

            I walked into Mr. J’s class and sat down.  The first thing I noticed was that he had a ball that he threw to each student who answered.  It was dropped a few times.  The students giggled a bit, but for the most part just handed it to the right student and kept on track.  Throughout the lesson, Mr. J gave a lot of gentle reminders that were often said jokingly.  For example, one student was leaning over and bothering another student who was trying to answer a question.  Mr. J said, “You’re not helping her, sir.”  The student got back on track.  Even though he says these reminders with a light tone, even humorous at times, students often get refocused. 

            Mr. J introduced a question that is impossible to answer.  He had students find 4/17 as a percent without using their calculators.  He wrote it on the board and said that if anyone got it, they could go home in 30 minutes.  He added that he would drive them there himself, and that he’d buy them Subway on the way home, AND that he would take them to Valley Fair after school.  The students were all excited, and worked at the problem diligently.  He revealed that it was impossible, then let students use their calculators.  This time, he had a prize of a mustache eraser.  When a student got it right, Mr. J talked about the answer and said a small “good work”, but didn’t dwell on the fact that the student had ‘won’.  As I kept watching, he slipped the eraser to the student quietly while still explaining the question.  There were a few students who noticed and made comments, but for the most part it was very quietly handled.  The next question he let students use their calculator for again.  This one was 1/3 as a percent.  The reward was seven seconds of uninterrupted nap time during class.  “I will let you fall asleep and not do any work…for seven seconds.”  The students again got excited, and after the question was answered, he had the students who got it right put their heads down for seven precious seconds.  He used that time to put his projector away and get out some materials for the next set of directions. 

            After giving direction for the next activity, the students were getting a little rowdy and excited.  All Mr. J did was stare at the clock.  After a few seconds, he said, “You’re wasting our time.  That’s ten.”  I didn’t have a chance to ask him about this, but it seemed like he had a system where they have some sort of punishment or reward taken away for time wasted during class.  My best guess is time towards recess.

            Mr. J has a light attitude in front of his class.  He brings a lot of fun to the room, and the students seem to like it a lot.  He keeps things in check, though, with the small things he does.  For example, when the ball would be dropped and a few snickers would bubble up, he kept a straight face.  I loved that he used a seven second nap as a reward.  The students respond to him well.  I do think he’s had to be very consistent and deliberate in his classroom for the whole year for this to work.  It is a balance between being the fun silly teacher and the teacher you need to take seriously.  He does this very well, and his classroom was a joy to be in.

            The next teacher I observed was Mr. T.  He is the complete opposite.  I walked into the room just after he’d started teaching.  The lights were off and students were looking at a projector screen.  The first thing I noticed was how low key and relaxed it was in there.  His calm and even voice adds to the serenity of the room.  The way he most often redirects students is with non-verbals.  He walks around the room constantly as he’s talking, just making a slow path while he lectures.  As he does this, he takes a book out of a student’s hands and closes is, tips a student’s chair forward onto four legs, motions downward with a flat hand for a student to stop rustling, and much more.  It is barely noticeable to the other students.  It seems a very natural part of his actions.  When a student didn’t listen to what he motioned, he would stand by their chair until the other students were talking, sharing, or working.  Then he would usually kneel down and talk to the students.  One student near the end of the lesson was putting glue on her hand (then it dries and you can peel it off in a sheet).   He opened her desk to find her glue stick.  She protested and had a little attitude, and he sent her to the buddy room right away. 

            After the lesson was finished (it was short because of testing), I had a moment to talk to him.  I told him a little about what I’d observed and how I’m looking at different management styles.  He started talking about how he views behavior management versus how my teacher does.  He said he sees it as all about the relationship between the teacher and student.  I really like what I saw in his room.  He is so calm and collected, and never raised his voice.  His room was very relaxed, but students were still engaged and still driven to do well.  The way he talks to students and redirects them is respectful and meaningful. 

            Both teachers I observed have a lot of strengths in their management styles.  Their classes seemed well managed, but the way they established this was very different.  I like the fun that Mr. J brought to the room, especially with his seven minute nap idea and using a ball to answer.  I also loved Mr. T’s philosophy behind management, and its basis on personal relationship.  His room had an atmosphere I would love to someday achieve.  Both observations gave me a lot to think about in developing my style of behavior management, as well as elements I’d like to use in my future classroom.

Question of the Day: As the school year comes to a close, what difficulties begin to arise due to the time of year?

Mrs. L. said her biggest concern is time.  There's a finite number of weeks left, and that number is always on her mind.  With testing as an added time requirement, fitting everything in before school ends is a stressor for her.  In addition, behavior begins to get a little more difficult.  The students are so used to each other at this time of year that they know how to work well together, and also how to irritate each other.  They are antsy, and although rules of the classroom have been established, they forget procedures a lot.  On top of that, they know which procedures they can skip over, and which to stick to.  Trying to remind them of these gets to be difficult.