Reading Response- Week 11 (Management)
- cannfitzgerald
- Nov 6, 2015
- 3 min read
Chapter 8 in Principles of Classroom Management by James Levin and James F. Nolan gives advice on how to use nonverbal interventions to influence students to behave appropriately. Surface behaviors are inevitable and normal developmental behaviors of children, such as “verbal interruptions, off-task behavior, and disruptive physical movements” (Levin & Nolan, 2014, p. 203). In order to help these common behavior problems, teachers can use proactive intervention skills, such as, “changing the pace of classroom activities, removing seductive objects, interest boosting of a student who shows signs of off-task behavior, redirecting the behavior of off-task students, nonpunitive time-outs, encouraging the appropriate behavior of other students, and providing cues for expected behaviors” (Levin & Nolan, 2014, p. 206-207).
I find myself using these proactive intervention skills after watching my CT model them for me with our fifth graders. My CT has allowed me to teach all day now, and it is extremely important for me to use this proactive skills to manage behaviors before they become a problem. For example, when we transition to a new subject and a few students are off task, I encourage the appropriate behaviors of other students by saying, “____ is ready for language arts with her ELA notebook open and ready, thank you!” Students will then look over at that student and try to resemble their behavior in order to receive the same praise. Even in fifth grade, students are still teacher pleasers! In order to provide cues for expected behaviors, we have hand signals to show students what we expect. During transitions, I will hold up my index and middle finger to make a peace sign, and the students understand that I need “peace and quiet” during this time. Other students can also hold up this peace sign and other students will know the behavior that is expected.
In chapter 8 of Elementary Classroom Management by Carol Simon Weinstein and Molly E. Romano, the authors explain how to make the most of classroom time. There is a total of 1,170 hours of total time in the classroom each year, but after calculating the amount of time out of the classroom and other disruptions, there is only a very limited amount of productive time in the classroom (Weinstein & Romano, 2015). In order to increase hours for learning, teachers need to maintain activity flow, minimize transition time, hold students accountable, and manage pullouts as effectively as possible.
I do this in many ways in my classroom, but a couple of the strategies are establishing routines and communicating assignments clearly. Specific students have designated jobs that include passing out papers and collecting papers, so this is an established routine and saves me time from walking around the class during every lesson to distribute or collect papers. We also communicate assignments and homework very clearly to our students. Right when we finish math, I circle the problems they will do for homework on the ELMO for everyone to see and I ask them to write this in their agenda at that time. Communicating the homework and expectations will ensure that the majority of students will come back to class the next day prepared with their completed work, which will essentially save time for learning for the next day.
Levin, J., & Nolan, J. (2013). Principles of Classroom Management: A Professional Decision-Making Model. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Weinstein, C., & Romano, M. (2014). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons From Research and Practice. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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