Not In My Classroom!

A Teacher's Guide to Effective Classroom Management

Frederick C Wootan, Catherine H. Mulligan

• Publisher: Polka Dot Press
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781440516825
• Topic: Bildung
• Subtopic: Klassenführung

It's been a whole week made up of "one of those days." Your students are not listening. They are not doing their homework. And you can't even get them to sit still. Time to throw in the towel? No—it's time to batten down the hatches. Author Frederick C. Wootan is a teacher who brings business management into the classroom. His solutions to your problems help you get your class back under control. From seating strategies to disciplinary tactics, this user-friendly teaching guide covers it all, including tips on: -Building a support network
-Communicating and enforcing rules
-Issuing a mission statement
-Identifying and dealing with problem students
-Managing the paperwork
-Modernizing your classBy following the guidance provided in Not in My Classroom, you can train your students to treat your classroom less like a playground and more like a workplace. A fresh take on classroom management, this practical book helps you put students in their seats, pencils in their hands, and a smile on your face.

CHAPTER 1

Classroom Management—
Not an Oxymoron

You walk around your classroom with a pen in hand and a pad in your shirt or blouse pocket. You talk to your class, stopping when necessary to listen while a student expresses his or her ideas. Meanwhile, other students turn toward you, anticipating your response, while others look at the questioning student, some with pens at the ready, and some already writing. Still others make muffled noises, carefully ruffling through papers, searching for something; something you know pertains to the discussion. Another student clicks away on one of the classroom computer’s keyboards, while another looks over that student’s shoulder whispering, suggesting a research site. All have textbooks opened on their desks along with small notebooks, and electronic voting pads.

The Smart Board on the front wall of the room shows examples of the material you are covering that day. Red, blue, and green marks on the board underline certain key words and mathematical symbols, clarifying your points. The whiteboard on another wall displays a schedule of events and assignments. Students’ papers reflecting excellent grades are posted around the room.

The “hum” of active, participatory, and exciting learning in action permeates the space—a place you’re proud to call “my classroom. ”

Sounds great in theory, doesn’t it? Yet in practice, creating such a well-run, smooth-functioning learning environment requires classroom management skills far beyond those taught in education courses. In truth, many teachers find their classroom experience to be more like this:

The teacher lectures from behind a podium. He’s dressed in professorial brown, complete with a narrow woolen tie. The monotonous sound of his voice fills the room. He looks as bored as he sounds. Some students stare blankly, slumping in their seats; others sleep outright. The smart ones look longingly out the window, wishing the rain would stop and they could leave. The troublemakers hang out in the back arguing over nothing and tormenting their fellow students. Nobody learns anything—except how to call for security when one of the troublemakers goes too far.

The Attempt to Establish Order

If you find yourself struggling to establish order so that you can actually teach, you are not alone. Every year in countless classrooms across America, teachers struggle to run their classrooms productively, effectively, and efficiently. More and more become frustrated by their inability to do so— and leave the profession.

Poor classroom management is at the root of the teaching profession’s high burnout rate:

The number of teachers leaving the profession exceeds the number of teachers who enter by 23 percent.

Turnover is 32 percent higher than in non-teaching professions.

Approximately one-third of America’s teachers leave teaching sometime during their first three years.

Almost one-half leave during the first five years.

The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future attributes these results to classroom management issues, such as poor administrative support, lack of teacher influence, classroom intrusions, and inadequate time.

It doesn’t have to be this way. You can manage your classroom. You can motivate your students and change their lives for the better. You can give up baby-sitting your students, and start teaching them. All you need to do is master the principles of good classroom management, principles that can be applied in any classroom, no matter who your students, or where your school. You can do what you were meant to do—teach.

The Key Classroom Management Concepts

You thought that managing your classroom meant you simply kept order, got through your day’s lesson, and had no interruptions from your demanding principal. You did this hoping that some of your students actually learned something they could use later on in their lives. This justified your exhaustion at the end of the day. Well, there’s a lot more to it than that. In this book you’ll not only learn how to achieve a great learning environment in your classroom, but will experience the personal satisfaction of a successful professional.

When you master the art of good classroom management, you’ll create an atmosphere of mutual respect and an enthusiasm for learning that allows you to teach more than you ever dreamed possible. Your students will teach you in the process. You’ll be a better teacher—and a better person.

In this book the key concepts of classroom management are laid out step by step. A great deal of the book focuses on planning and preparation, because a good teacher is a prepared teacher. You’ll learn how to do the following:

Create Long-Term and Short-Term Plans

Good planning identifies your specific goals based on your knowledge of the school’s goals, its facilities and services, the objective of your courses, and the potentials of your students as determined by a review of their portfolios.

Do Your Reconnaissance

Before the school year begins, you must visit your classroom to organize it—and to organize yourself. You want to try to reduce or eliminate (okay, at least reduce) interruptions to your teaching process, beginning on the first day of school. If you had this same classroom last year, take a hard look at the organization of the room in light of your new plan, and make the necessary changes in accordance with that plan.

Wow Them on Opening Day

You must lay the groundwork with your students for the year to come on that all-important first day. You want to make the best possible first impression by the clothes you wear, your welcoming speech, the rules you set down, and personal remarks you exchange. Everything you do on this critical first day communicates your seriousness, professionalism, enthusiasm, competence, and confidence—or lack thereof.

Establish Your Authority from the Get-Go

The basic precepts of good business management also apply to you. You cannot lead people who don’t want to be led; you cannot manage people who don’t recognize your authority; and you cannot impart knowledge to people who don’t respect you. Your students want to know you, and want you to know them as soon as possible. That presents a big order if you have, say, one hundred or more new kids each year. So how do you do it?

You will do it by enhancing your overall memorization skills. You will use some proven name-learning methods such as photographing students and studying available school yearbooks, questionnaires, seating charts, and so on, so that you can get to know your students and begin managing your classroom as soon as possible. Just seeing you making this effort to get to know them and make them aware of your rules builds respect within your students. Even something as simple as learning to pronounce and spell their names correctly is critical to gaining their respect.

Communicate the Rules

You’ll learn how to lay down and enforce standards of behavior for major offenses such as classroom intrusions caused by a student carrying a weapon, bullying, seating arrangement disturbances, levels of boyfriends’ and girlfriends’ “friendliness,” and rudeness.

Make Your Routine Their Routine

You’ll learn how best to familiarize your students with your rules and your methods of controlling the paper flow, grading papers, communicating with parents, having individual conferences with students and parents, and establishing yourself as the leader of the classroom.

Create a Community of Learners

Establishing order in the classroom is only half the battle. Once you’ve got them in their seats, you must set their minds on fire. This book will show you all the techniques, strategies, and tools you need to make learning fun and profitable for every student—including you. You’ll find innovative ways to motivate students to prevent boredom in the classroom, and to engage students with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), behavioral issues, and other problems.

Venture Outside the Classroom

Effective teachers maintain a sphere of influence far greater than their classrooms. There are myriad ways in which you can enrich the lives of your students outside the classroom. You can make your presence felt throughout the entire school and beyond by functioning as a club adviser. You also must venture out and continue your education, because a good teacher never stops learning. . . .

Build a Support Network

Your classroom is not an island—and you are not Tom Hanks. You must find ways to bond with other teachers, network with outside sources, learn effective speaking techniques, and gain an understanding of the national teaching environment to better understand your school and your role. You may also want to consider coaching one of the school sports teams, because sports fill a major role in overall student development.

Now It’s Your Turn

Good classroom management depends on your awareness and knowledge of these concepts. Master these, and you’ll run an exciting classroom in which students want to come and learn, and where you experience the happiness and fulfillment only gifted teachers enjoy. After all, it’s...