{"id":870,"date":"2018-04-10T10:33:27","date_gmt":"2018-04-10T14:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/edt431-531\/?p=870"},"modified":"2018-04-10T10:33:27","modified_gmt":"2018-04-10T14:33:27","slug":"classroom-survival-kit-managing-the-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/2018\/04\/classroom-survival-kit-managing-the-chaos\/","title":{"rendered":"Classroom Survival Kit: Managing the Chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ah, classroom management.\u00a0 The dreaded topic of teachers, new and old alike.\u00a0 As future teachers, we’re constantly stressing over how we should manage our classroom–should we be tough right from the start to demand respect, or focus more on building relationships?\u00a0 Will we get walked all over if we do that?\u00a0 How can we keep our students in line?<\/p>\n

Clearly, I don’t have an answer.\u00a0 I am also a future teacher.\u00a0 I also have these questions.\u00a0 But from what I’ve seen, read, and observed, here are a few things that I think I might use in my classroom for effective managing.\u00a0 Welcome to the Classroom Survival Kit!<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0Engagement\"Image<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The number one thing to keeping students out of trouble?\u00a0 Keep them busy.\u00a0 Not busy with busy work, but busy focusing on something they want to do, working proactively, eliminating boredom.\u00a0 Bored students cause trouble–engaged students cultivate stress-less classrooms.\u00a0 Invest time in keeping your students’ attention and giving them opportunities to stay involved in their learning process.<\/p>\n

    2.\u00a0Classroom Safety<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Yes, lab safety is important.\u00a0 And yes, we need to make sure we’re managing our lab safety and keeping students from getting hurt in the lab.\u00a0 But classroom safety goes beyond just physical things–students need to feel safe to be themselves in the classroom, without fear of getting teased by their peers (or even worse, by their teachers).\u00a0 I’ve witnessed teachers who enjoy making “snap-backs” at their students, laughing as another student from across the room yells “ROASTED!!!” at the student who was just made fun of by the adult in the room.\u00a0 The reality is, that doesn’t cultivate a classroom where students feel comfortable–rather, it encourages students to look down on their peers and gives them an excuse to essentially bully each other.\u00a0 Keeping labs safe is critical, but so is the emotional safety of your classroom, so make sure to keep that in mind when you’re teaching.<\/p>\n

    3.\u00a0Tone of Voice\/Body Language<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

    Communication comes through verbal and nonverbal language.\u00a0 If you stand up front sounding bored and yawning every 3 seconds, your students are going to lose interest.\u00a0 They won’t want to be there if you don’t want to be there, and as stated above, less interest = more disruptions.\u00a0 Not everyone’s body language has to be the same, but stand up front with confidence–you are qualified to be a teacher, and you can demand respect.\u00a0 Meet your students where they’re at, be kind and develop relationships with them, but don’t let students walk on you just for the sake of being the teacher they like.\u00a0 Don’t go the other end either–the teacher who is constantly screaming and losing their temper because students are acting up.\u00a0 Confidence is key here–again, expect respect and don’t let yourself get too flustered in front of the students.<\/p>\n

    4.\u00a0Collaboration<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Students want to talk to their friends, it’s inevitable.\u00a0 So let them.\u00a0 Give them opportunities to collaborate and work together on projects, but not busywork projects–things they have to actually engage with, actually strive to understand.\u00a0 Make their goals reachable but not easy, and allow them to get frustrated together.\u00a0 Individual learning is great, but if students have opportunities to work with their friends on assignments, they’re less likely to cause disruptions by trying to chat with their friends when you’re teaching.<\/p>\n

    5.\u00a0Consistency and Fairness<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

    Consistency. Is. Key.<\/p>\n

    Be consistent with your expectations, consistent with your behavior towards your students, and consistent in how you address problems when they come up.\u00a0 You’re teaching young adults, and they are capable of behaving as such, but you have to be consistent.\u00a0 For example, students in one of my placement classrooms knew that they had to have their phones put away at the beginning of class.\u00a0 They would walk in, put their phones in a cubby, and sit down, and after they finished their work they were allowed to go get their phones.\u00a0 Because of this expectation, the teacher I was working with had minimal problems with phone use in her classroom.\u00a0 She didn’t take away their phones forever–just for the duration of the class where they would have been a distraction.\u00a0 Being consistent and fair with your expectations keeps students accountable and less likely to break the rules.<\/p>\n

    All of these ideas for classroom management in the science classroom are things I have either seen or read about, and I plan on implementing them in my classroom in the future.\u00a0 Most of the ideas were taken from the following website, which has 10 classroom management tips for life science classrooms:\u00a0http:\/\/www.ngsslifescience.com\/classroom_management_strategies.html<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Until next time, teachers!<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    -Naomi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Ah, classroom management.\u00a0 The dreaded topic of teachers, new and old alike.\u00a0 As future teachers, we’re constantly stressing over how we should manage our classroom–should […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2138,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-misc"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":871,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870\/revisions\/871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}