18. From The First 60 Days of Teaching by Robert L. DeBruyn
19. Breaux, A., & Whitaker, T. (2006). Seven Simple Secrets. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education. DeBruyn, R. L. (2001). The First 60 Days of Teaching. Manhattan, KS: The Master Teacher, Inc. Fisher, J., Hoover, G., & McLeod, J. (2003). The Key Elements of Classroom Management. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Rutherford, P. (2002). Why Didnât I Learn This in College? Alexandria, VA: Just ASK Publications. Smith, R. (2004). Conscious Classroom Management. San Rafael, CA: Conscious Teaching Publications.
Welcome to this SuperSub workshop on Classroom Management. My name is Angela Moore, and I am a resource teacher in the Human Resources Department for Jefferson County Public Schools. Throughout todayâs workshop, I will refer to best practice in an effort to model for you what effective teachers do when they teach. Effective teachers manage their classroom in a variety of invisible ways. My goal today is to make the invisible a little more visible for you. I will need your attention throughout todayâs workshop and the technique I will be using will be to raise my hand. When you see my hand raised, please look at me, raise your hand, and remain quiet.
Take a moment to reflect on the topic of classroom management. Locate the graphic organizer on your table called âClassroom Management KWL Chart.â Complete the first column called âWhat I Knowâ by writing in what you alrelady feel you know about classroom management. Letâs share our thoughts on classroom management. Please raise your hand to share. (Take ideas from participants and use document camera to model how to complete chart.) Now, reflect on what you WANT to know about classroom management, and jot those ideas down in the second column. Find your partner by looking inside your table tent for your âhalfâ of the partnership and then find the person with the other half. Share your WANT column with that person. (Come back together as a whole group and then jot down some of their ideas using the document camera.)
Effective teachers always begin with the end in mind. Starting a lesson with a learning goal will help students understand the purpose of the learning. (Read goal on slide.)
Effective teachers also let students know what they will be doing throughout class. Posting and reviewing an agenda is a great way to initiate a lesson. (Review agenda for workshop by reading slide.)
Substitute teaching can be very demanding, yet rewarding. The key to success is being prepared, the old Boy Scout motto. Letâs review some Tips for Success that I have condensed from the JCPS Certified Substitute Teacherâs Handbook . First , arrive early so you feel more prepared to meet the expectations of the school. You are required to arrive at your assigned school fifteen minutes prior to school start time and you must stay fifteen minutes after dismissal. Secondly, dress for success. Professional appearance has a positive influence on both students and other adults. Set yourself up for a successful day by dressing professionally. Next, follow the classroom teacherâs lesson plan as provided. Finally, you are expected to engage students in meaningful instruction and initiate the lesson as soon as class begins.
Please look for a moment at page 17 from the JCPS Substitute Teacherâs Handbook . Review each section. KEY POINTS FROM THIS SECTION: Greet students at the door. This establishes your positive command of the classroom and provides an opportunity for students to meet you. Provide good instruction and get student engaged as soon as class begins. Be active and engaged in teaching throughout the class.
I would like to draw your attention to another section of this page from the Handbook. These are great tips for managing your classroom. Refer to these reminders and the handbook itself as a great resource for substitute teaching. Locate the white envelope on your table. Distribute the sentence strips to volunteer readers at the table. These participants will begin to pratice their commanding, yet positive, teacher voice. (Go around the room and read aloud the reminders â discuss as reminders are read.)
Classroom management cannot be readily observed (read quote on slide). Rick Smith wrote in Conscious Classroom Management that classroom management is essentially a combination of two main things: who we are (how we hold ourselves internally and how we come across) and what we do (specific strategies for designing and maintaining a positive classroom environment, connecting with students, and taking care of business). Letâs review the ways that I have managed my âclassroomâ today. I arrived early so I could be prepared for class. All of the materials were on your table which allowed me to spend my time on instruction, not on passing out objects. I greeted you at the door. You, the student, were engaged in an activity as soon as you entered the room (name cards). I established my expectations early (learning goal) and engaged you in instruction immediately (opening activity â KWL chart). I used inner authority; a commanding, positive, and enthusiastic appearance and attitude.
At your table, you will find signs in plastic sleeves. Distribute one sign per person at the table until you run out of signs. Would the person who has the sign that reads Foundation come to the front? Now, I would like to ask the persons with âAssume the Best,â âInner Authority,â âAsk for Help,â and âGot Stress?â to come forward. These are the foundations of invisible classroom management. FOUNDATIONS: Assume the Best: We are here to teach appropriate behavior along with content. Students want to learn content. Students want to learn behavior. When students test us, they want us to pass the test. Inner Authority: a relaxed, natural state that permeates everything we do. Ask for Help: Ask a neighbor teacher. Appoint a student as the classroom helper. It helps to find a student likely to act out and give them a responsibility. Got Stress?: Take care of yourself and then you can take care of students. Thank you â the Foundation group may have a seat. PREVENTION: Would the person who has the sign that reads Prevention come to the front? Now, I would like to ask the persons with âHolding our Ground,â Positive Connections,â âTeaching Procedures,â âConsistency,â âGetting Ready,â and âLesson Design.â These are the prevention components of invisible classroom management. Holding our Ground is about learning to be firm and positive. We will go through some examples in a moment. Making Positive Connections with students will lead to effective classroom management. We will go over those later in the presentation. Teaching Procedures is more for the classroom teacher, but you can incorporate some of your own procedures. Iâll give you some examples in a little while. Be consistent. Hold your ground. Getting ready returns us to the idea of being prepared. Absolutely critical to successful teaching. Lesson design is for the classroom teacher, but there are ways you can be prepared for almost any circumstance.
Take a moment to visualize the best teacher you have seen in action. It may be one of your own teachers or a teacher you have seen in a movie, or a teacher you have seen in your substitute teaching experiences. Find the brainstorming cloud on the other side of your KWL chart, and jot down some of the characteristics that would describe this person as a teacher. Iâll give you an example. I think my students would say âorganizedâ as a characteristic that defines me as a teacher. Take a minute to work quietly on this task. Now, I would like you to work with your table. Locate your tableâs paper doll teacher. Discuss your brainstorming characteristics and write some of these on your paper doll. Be prepared to share with the whole group.
Share paper doll characteristics with whole group. Review the list on the left of the slide. Now that we have come up with some characteristics, I would like to share some that you may not have considered. Reveal and discuss characteristics on the right side of slide.
If you will remember, the PREVENTION component of classroom management contained âMaking Positive Connections.â I would like you to locate the positive and negative assumptions T-Chart on your paper (above the brainstorming cloud) and jot down some positive assumptions we can make of students as well as some negative assumptions. Letâs do the first one together. Model using document camera. Give participants a minute or so to write down some ideas, then share the ideas on the slide. Letâs remember to focus on the positive assumptions.
It is critical to your success to make positive connections with students. Read the slide tips.
Read instructions on slide. Allow two minutes for activity, then limit the teacherâs vocabulary (last bullet).
End activity by raising hand. Read through slide.
Here is your to-do list the next time you are assigned to a classroom. Read through list and discuss items.
Many substitutes worry about what to do if there is not a lesson plan. Here are some suggestions. Read left side of slide. You may also need to be prepared with a bag of tricks or filler activities for when there isnât a lesson plan or you have extra time (most common). Read right side of slide and discuss.
Read this quote.
These are books that I consulted as I created todayâs workshop.
You have been introduced to many resources today. Letâs review the resources we have introduced to you today. CLICK ON LINKS TO RESOURCES AND REVIEW AS TIME PERMITS.