If I'm anything, I'm consistent.
The big theme of week two was – yet again – classroom management. But this week it was a different kind.
In week two, I taught a mini-unit on Literary Devices and Figurative Language. I thought I came up with some interesting lesson plans, activities and ways to illustrate the concepts (including deconstructing and finding literary devices in music lyrics). The students seemed excited to be able to listen to music and study lyrics in class… almost too excited. It was hard to settle everyone back down and get back on task.
As Serge pointed out when he visited my class: it’s amazing to get students excited about a lesson or activity – but you also have to be able to contain that excitement. He had some great advice for me, and what I’m realizing is that I have to anticipate these kinds of reactions and preface or give instructions about how I expect students to respond or behave. (Which I guess goes back to giving very specific details from my Week One post.)
Serge also had some great suggestions for handling all of those grade 7 boys who - well - act like grade 7 boys. There are so many of them! I teach two classes (with 34 students in each) and in one of the classes the boys almost out number the girls 2 to 1!
I’m lucky to be in a room that has access to SMARTBoard, so I’ve been incorporating the technology into my lessons. I do love the SMARTBoard. And the kids love using it. Whenever I have an activity that involves students coming up to the SMARTBoard, hands immediately go up. In one class, almost every student wants to come up to the board and it’s too hard to choose just one or two students because everyone else gets so disappointed. I’ve tried a couple of different ways to make it (choosing who gets to come up to the board) as random and fair as possible, including choosing names out of a basket. (The students also seem to think that this is an equitable way to do this.)
Until next week....
I love the idea of picking names from a basket. What a great way to be equitable. I also want to be fair in picking volunteers. I love when all the hands go up for certain tasks. I am still working on incorporating more than the 5-8 usual students who raise their hands to contribute to class discussion. Thanks for sharing...
ReplyDeleteDear Janice,
ReplyDeleteThough this is a long overdue response, I felt like I had to comment on the classroom management piece. I, too, had very large classes (33, 35, 36) - and one of them had 29 boys. Why is it that intermediate grades seem to be way overpopulated with boys in this generation?
As time went on, things got a little easier for me, and I was able to develop some more effective strategies than the few I was armed with when I walked into class on my first day. One of these was most certainly how to tailor activities so that even if the class got a little out of control, I had a way to get them back on task. These ranged from count-downs, to actually stoping and doing a 5 minute DPA at one point. If you have others to add... I would be happy to hear them!
All the best if I don't see you again before the holiday break !!
Emily