As described on the home page,this purpose is to discuss two things: Classroom procedures that you have found that work-that keep students busy and interacted. And the second one is to discuss activities/teaching styles that you have found that keep students attentive and wanting to learn. Along with that, what are the procedures that you use for students who misbehave. If you are not a teacher, use things that you would do or things that worked when you were a student. Also if you have tried things they have not worked, please also post that as an example of things that you know do not work.
This is my second year teaching, and I feel like I have learned so much from my first year. My first semester teaching was awful, to say the least. Though I knew my content well and was familiar with classroom rules and procedures, my first semester tried me. However, after reading some of Harry Wong's work as well as some other works, I formed a classroom management program that has worked for me. Now, I teach high schoolers, but the system I use seems somewhat elementary. I have a "Strike Out" policy. The students have three chances as individuals to misbehave in my class. On the third strike, however, the student receives after-school detention. If that does not work, we go to parent phone call/ conference and then office referral. The class can also strike out as a group. This results in the removal of a privilege or a punishment activity. I make sure I tell the students when they have a strike, so they know where they are and how many chances they have remaining. It works better than even I would have thought. (dburns)
Another useful classroom procedure that is helpful to me every day is getting the students' attention. While this may seem like an obvious procedure, it is one that I had to work on. The thing is, my first semester I tried many different ways to get students' attention. One day I would try the "talk over them" approach. All that does is leave you hoarse at the end of the day. Then I tried the "talk under them" approach, in hopes that if I just talked in a quiet voice, eventually they would listen to see what I was saying. There was no such luck. So my students were confused about this "simple" procedure, and I was too. So what I do now when I need their attention is say "Class" and count to three. It seems so simple, but it works so well. I teach high-schoolers, and believe it or not, this works. Now, that is not to say there are not students who do not stop talking when I try to get their attention. I just use the "Strike" system with individuals who do not follow the procedure. I am also careful to explain to the students on the first or second day of class that I use this system not as a power-seeking tool, but as a courtesy to them. After all, I show them respect by giving them a few seconds to finish up their conversation or activity before I begin addressing them. I tell them this is a practical way for both teacher and students to communicate more effectively. (dburns)
I am not yet a teacher, but I worked as an aide last summer and one suggestion my mentor had was to write the kids names on one side of a popsicle stick and randomly select one when you want to call on a student. That way they never know who's going to be called (you could even call the same kid multiple times because the names get added back to the pool) and they need to pay attention at all times and it prevents the teacher from subconsciously calling on the same students over and over. It seemed to be a good idea, especially helpful in avoiding the round-robin oral reading exercise when kids know when it will be their turn and zone out until they have to read. (E. Carter) Posted Saturday, 10:54 pm
re: Keep Kids Focused
I have used the popsicle stick before and believe me it holds their attention. Also have use what I call bizz whizz points (each are worth 2 points). After reading, dicussion, handout, overhead,etc, the class do a review. I call on any student and ask questions about the lesson of the day and if they answer correctly they get a bizz whizz. The points gained in this Q&A format can be used on anything (test, quiz, homework). The students love it, because they are allowed to use as many as they want. I once had a student use 7 ,which added up to 14 points, on a test. He had a ball game and did not have time to study. His grade because of the bizz whizz ended up as a 82. Remember students gain points by discussing and knowing the material. (R. Carmichael) Posted Sunday, 8:05 am
This summer I worked with two teachers who had very different teaching styles and it showed in their individual classrooms. One guy just basically winged it: he didn't have lesson plans, didn't have activities to do in case students finished early, didn't have activities that engaged the students. He pretty much lectured and gave tests the whole time. The kids were never on task and never participating. The other teacher was super organized. He'd present a lesson and give the students so much time to attempt the work before he would offer help or advise, if someone finished early he already had a fill activity for them to do or recruited them to help other students. The kids loved his class and really tried hard to learn and get praised by the teacher. I think that one of the keys to keep students focused and on-task is to over plan and always have something for them to do. Down time is bad. (E. Carter)
Down time is definitely bad! Students need structure...and a little motivation. One fun instructional strategy that you can use is KABOOM. Take a Pringles can and cover it with paper and glue the word KABOOM on it. Then print out, laminate, and cut out a list of sentences or facts related to whatever unit/topic/skill you are covering. (I use it with teaching Active/Passive Voice, verbs, parallelism, etc. You can also do true and false or multiple choice questions.) Then insert about five strips of the same size that say KABOOM. Split the class into two teams and have each student pull out one of the strips and give an answer. If the answer is correct, give the team a point. If the student pulls a KABOOM, he/she loses a turn. The students love it and it makes for a great review. (dburns)
One of the things I noticed while observing other teachers is that you never know what they will see as a good reinforcer. Some students just need a little praise, others can't be bribed by stickers or smiley faces and for one teacher all he did was say "BOOM" and give the kid's paper a check mark when they got a question right... and the kids were lining up for their "BOOMs". It could be along the same lines of the KABOOM game mentioned earlier. (E. Carter)
I love the Kaboon game, think I just got another great idea. You guys keep writing down these great ideas, I'm sure I can use all of them:)
(rcarmichael)
As described on the home page,this purpose is to discuss two things: Classroom procedures that you have found that work-that keep students busy and interacted. And the second one is to discuss activities/teaching styles that you have found that keep students attentive and wanting to learn. Along with that, what are the procedures that you use for students who misbehave. If you are not a teacher, use things that you would do or things that worked when you were a student. Also if you have tried things they have not worked, please also post that as an example of things that you know do not work.
This is my second year teaching, and I feel like I have learned so much from my first year. My first semester teaching was awful, to say the least. Though I knew my content well and was familiar with classroom rules and procedures, my first semester tried me. However, after reading some of Harry Wong's work as well as some other works, I formed a classroom management program that has worked for me. Now, I teach high schoolers, but the system I use seems somewhat elementary. I have a "Strike Out" policy. The students have three chances as individuals to misbehave in my class. On the third strike, however, the student receives after-school detention. If that does not work, we go to parent phone call/ conference and then office referral. The class can also strike out as a group. This results in the removal of a privilege or a punishment activity. I make sure I tell the students when they have a strike, so they know where they are and how many chances they have remaining. It works better than even I would have thought. (dburns)
Another useful classroom procedure that is helpful to me every day is getting the students' attention. While this may seem like an obvious procedure, it is one that I had to work on. The thing is, my first semester I tried many different ways to get students' attention. One day I would try the "talk over them" approach. All that does is leave you hoarse at the end of the day. Then I tried the "talk under them" approach, in hopes that if I just talked in a quiet voice, eventually they would listen to see what I was saying. There was no such luck. So my students were confused about this "simple" procedure, and I was too. So what I do now when I need their attention is say "Class" and count to three. It seems so simple, but it works so well. I teach high-schoolers, and believe it or not, this works. Now, that is not to say there are not students who do not stop talking when I try to get their attention. I just use the "Strike" system with individuals who do not follow the procedure. I am also careful to explain to the students on the first or second day of class that I use this system not as a power-seeking tool, but as a courtesy to them. After all, I show them respect by giving them a few seconds to finish up their conversation or activity before I begin addressing them. I tell them this is a practical way for both teacher and students to communicate more effectively. (dburns)
I am not yet a teacher, but I worked as an aide last summer and one suggestion my mentor had was to write the kids names on one side of a popsicle stick and randomly select one when you want to call on a student. That way they never know who's going to be called (you could even call the same kid multiple times because the names get added back to the pool) and they need to pay attention at all times and it prevents the teacher from subconsciously calling on the same students over and over. It seemed to be a good idea, especially helpful in avoiding the round-robin oral reading exercise when kids know when it will be their turn and zone out until they have to read.
(E. Carter) Posted Saturday, 10:54 pm
re: Keep Kids Focused
I have used the popsicle stick before and believe me it holds their attention. Also have use what I call bizz whizz points (each are worth 2 points). After reading, dicussion, handout, overhead,etc, the class do a review. I call on any student and ask questions about the lesson of the day and if they answer correctly they get a bizz whizz. The points gained in this Q&A format can be used on anything (test, quiz, homework). The students love it, because they are allowed to use as many as they want. I once had a student use 7 ,which added up to 14 points, on a test. He had a ball game and did not have time to study. His grade because of the bizz whizz ended up as a 82. Remember students gain points by discussing and knowing the material.
(R. Carmichael) Posted Sunday, 8:05 am
This summer I worked with two teachers who had very different teaching styles and it showed in their individual classrooms. One guy just basically winged it: he didn't have lesson plans, didn't have activities to do in case students finished early, didn't have activities that engaged the students. He pretty much lectured and gave tests the whole time. The kids were never on task and never participating. The other teacher was super organized. He'd present a lesson and give the students so much time to attempt the work before he would offer help or advise, if someone finished early he already had a fill activity for them to do or recruited them to help other students. The kids loved his class and really tried hard to learn and get praised by the teacher. I think that one of the keys to keep students focused and on-task is to over plan and always have something for them to do. Down time is bad. (E. Carter)
Down time is definitely bad! Students need structure...and a little motivation. One fun instructional strategy that you can use is KABOOM. Take a Pringles can and cover it with paper and glue the word KABOOM on it. Then print out, laminate, and cut out a list of sentences or facts related to whatever unit/topic/skill you are covering. (I use it with teaching Active/Passive Voice, verbs, parallelism, etc. You can also do true and false or multiple choice questions.) Then insert about five strips of the same size that say KABOOM. Split the class into two teams and have each student pull out one of the strips and give an answer. If the answer is correct, give the team a point. If the student pulls a KABOOM, he/she loses a turn. The students love it and it makes for a great review. (dburns)
One of the things I noticed while observing other teachers is that you never know what they will see as a good reinforcer. Some students just need a little praise, others can't be bribed by stickers or smiley faces and for one teacher all he did was say "BOOM" and give the kid's paper a check mark when they got a question right... and the kids were lining up for their "BOOMs". It could be along the same lines of the KABOOM game mentioned earlier. (E. Carter)
I love the Kaboon game, think I just got another great idea. You guys keep writing down these great ideas, I'm sure I can use all of them:)
(rcarmichael)