Chapter 12- Managing the Classroom Flashcards
Classroom Management Issues: Class Size
- the number of students in a given classroom
- smaller class size is beneficial for children from low-SES backgrounds
- difficult to accurately describe the effect of class size on students outcomes
Classroom Management Issues: Pupil-teacher ratio
the number of students in a school divided by the number of certified teachers in the school
The complex classroom: what are the characteristics of classrooms that can be problematic if not planned for?
- classrooms are multidimensional
- activities happen simultaneously
- events happen quickly
- events are often unpredictable
- there is a little privacy
- classrooms have history
How to get off to the right start?
- during the first few days of school, students learn procedures, policies, and expectations that frame the whole year
- take time to outline rules and procedures explicitly, and get students’ cooperation following them
- show your students you care about their success
- be clear and consistent in establishing and enforcing rules, boundaries and consequences
What are the two main goals of effective classroom management?
- help students spend more time on learning and less time in non-goal directed activity
- only 40 percent of the school day can be described as “instructional time”
- instructional interruptions often include assemblies, announcements, fundraisers
- it is important to maximize instruction time - Prevent students from developing academic and emotional problems
- engage students in tasks that keep them absorbed, motivated and challenged
Teaching strategies for increasing academic learning time
- maintain flow between activities- complete one activity before starting another
- minimize transition time-misbehaviours occur twice as frequently during transitions- plan to prevent this establish transition routines
- hold students accountable- help students establish goals and plans, and monitor their progress
What are the three general strategies for creating a positive learning environment?
-authoritative
-authoritarian
-permissive
“With-it-ness” - a management strategy in which teachers show students that they are aware of what is happening,
How can we develop a positive relationship with students
teachers expressed positive attitudes and held high expectations for their students
- focus was on student needs; teachers coordinated instruction and integrated content
- students and teachers committed to core values
- efforts were made to motivate students, develop school-community relations, and create a climate of care
What is Eithic of care?
2-year study in 12 Canadian secondary schools
What are the four principles for establishing and maintaining rules and routines?
- rules should be reasonable and necessary
- rules should be clear and comprehensible
- rules should be consistent with instructional goals
- classroom rules should be consistent with school rules
How to encourage students to share and assume responsibility in the classroom
- solicit students’ input
- have students consider motives
- do not accept excuses
- provide adequate time
- allow students to generate solutions
Communication Speaking and Listening Skills
Create opportunity for students to improve speaking, organizational and thinking skills
What is Active Listening?
giving full attention to the speaker, focusing on both the intellectual and emotional content of the message
What are the barriers of effective communication?
- lacking clarity
- using stereotypes and generalizations
- jumping to conclusions
- using disconfirming responses
What is an “you” message?
a undesirable style in which speakers appear to judge people and place them in a defensive position.
What is an “I” message?
less provocative; reflect the speaker’s true feelings better than the judgemental “you” messages
Communication: what is non-verbal?
including– facial expressions and eye communication. New immigrants are predominantly nonverbal (kirova)
Communication: Touch
be cautious
Communication: Space
proxemics
Basic considerations when arranging a classroom
- consider the instructional activities and the resources you will need in your classroom
- focus on student safety and security
- organize and monitor access to required materials to promote efficiency
how should we deal with Problem behaviours?
classroom management should use prevention, rather than intervention, approaches
Prevention planning- teachers should:
- reflect on their assumptions about problem behaviours, why students misbehave, and what the goals of punishment are
- view misbehaviour on continuum
- with the help of students, develop a code of conduct
- invite community members with special skills to classroom
- recognize that some cases of misbehaviour can signal other difficulties in a student’s life e.g. mental health disorders
Interventions: For problems that are not too disruptive
- use nonverbal cues
- move closer to students
- keep activity
- redirect the behaviour
- give needed instruction
- directly and assertively tell students to stop
- provide students with choices
Interventions: For problems that disrupt other students’ work
- withhold a privilege or desired activity
- create a behavioural contract
- isolate or remove students
- impose a penalty
- impose a detention
Interventions: for problems that represent serous concerns
- consult with others
- know the law
- suspension and expulsion
- prepare for the students’ re-entry
- and then… work with parents/families, peer mediators and community mentors
Aggression and Bullying: In Canada
- aggressive and violent incidents have decreased by 2 percent over the past 5 years
- only 39percent of gr.8 and 58 percent of gr.12 students report feeling safe at school
- in a b.c study, half of the teachers reported experience with violence and 81 percent of teachers experienced violence as victims
Aggression and Bullying Prevention Programs: Primary Prevention
effect in early grades
- aimed at developing positive attitudes and social skills across the curriculum
- increases students’ empathy and caring
Aggression and Bullying Prevention Programs: Secondary Prevention
- aimed at increasing awareness about the warning signs of peer aggression and victimization
- popular program: peer mediation
Aggression and Bullying Prevention Programs: Tertiary Prevention
aimed at helping students identified as bullies or victims to change their respective roles
What are some teaching strategies for reducing bullying?
- Develop an identification system
- recognize signs of bullying
-identify who holds and who lacks power - Implement an anti-bulling program
-develop codes of conduct for the school and the classroom
3.provide alternatives activities
-offer a diverse selection of extracurricular activities
Tailor interventions to fit students’ temperament
What are some teaching strategies for conflict resolution?
- Create a supportive environment- do not focus on changing an individual’s behaviour, but rather on transforming the school environment.
- reduce in school factors - promote a sense of belonging for all - teach students how to resolve conflicts
- teach negotiation and mediation strategies
- provide instruction to as many students as possible
