Description
The focus for this week's reflective journal in EDAT 6115 are the concepts of classroom management and the impact it has on the classroom environment. The discussion for this week has the topic of classroom management issues that I personally have had in my classroom during my teaching career, how did I deal with them and could those issues been handled in a better way. Classroom management and the learning environment are two of the most important things that teachers can add to their arsenal of tricks. These two attributes of education can make or break a teacher as well as make the education a student receives great or causes learning gaps which can cause a child to fall behind.
Analysis
Chapter 11
Slavin discusses that a learning environment encompasses any strategies that teachers use to "create a positive , productive, classroom and learning experience" (Slavin, pp.316, 2012). When a teacher has an effective classroom management plan the learning environment becomes more proactive toward student learning and therefore all of the class times is managed and used accordingly. Downtime within a classroom can be a crucial break in a child's educational plan and can lead to gaps in the child's learning pattern. Slavin argues that within a classroom period there is only about 60% of the time that is actually spent on learning (Slavin, 2012). The other 40% of the time within a class is spent, passing out materials, turning in papers, getting the children situated, answering questions; so many needed things but still time wasters. According to El Warfali, and Yusoff when teachers implement time management and organization into their classroom procedures it leads to higher achievement and better standard mastery (El Warfali and Yusoff, 2014). Prevention and implementation of behavior interventions are a great tool to help teachers bypass behavior problems that arise in the classroom. Most of the wasted time in classrooms is due to outbursts and behavioral issues that teachers must address. That takes away a great deal from instruction time. The use of non-verbal cues, praising good behavior, modeling the correct behavior, as well as repeated verbal reminders of the correct procedure and behavior, are all great ways to manage the classroom and create an effective classroom learning environment.
Classroom management is something that teacher education programs tend to skim over. They constantly tell you that you can manage a classroom until you are in one. Even veteran teachers still have difficulty with classroom management, and for a new teacher it can make or break them. Classroom management goes beyond the discipline and behavior checks for a classroom. According to a study done by Jones, Bailey, and Jacob when teachers have effective classroom management, it can benefit them in greater ways than just the behavior of their students. Successful classroom management can lead to the emotional stability and intelligence of students, build better student-teacher rapport and make the classroom learning environment the best it can be (Jones, Bailey, and Jacob, 2014). Slavin also contributes to that argument stating that classroom management provides “effective learning, time management and creates an inquiring and interest learning environment” (Slavin, pp.316, 2012). A teacher must maintain focus, keep students engaged, and manage transitions in order for the class time to be as effective as possible and for the most learning to happen (Slavin, 2012). Rules and procedures of a classroom can lead to discourse with students. They can cause confusion, be too strict or too vague or simply be too many. Rules and procedures are set into place to make class time and disruptions minimum to ensure maximum learning.
Throughout my teaching career, I have experienced many classroom management and learning environment issues. Students yelling over me, blatant disrespect for others or school property, vulgar language and student distractions to disrupt and waste class time have all shown their face in my classrooms. I have always prided myself on the rapport and relationship I do build with my students, but even that is sometimes not enough to quail a disruptive or destructive student. I will admit my first year teaching, not knowing how to handle a disruptive or disrespectful students, my instinct was to remove them from the learning environment. This was only a short-term fix, and then the child had missed the day's lesson. Now I do have a better understanding of how to handle situations better. Eye signals, standing next to the student, ignoring them then coming to them personally at their desk and if the behavior does not change or get worse then take the disciplinary action. My main goal is to keep the learning environment going and interesting, by improving my classroom management skills every year I will certainly be able to accomplish that.
Reflection
These concepts were definitely not new to me. Classroom management is something that as a new teacher I am still bettering myself at. I keep making adjustments and improving every year because every new year brings new challenges and new students. An effective classroom management plan can provide students with the optimal learning. I feel that these concepts can be used a great deal within a classroom because they are student success focus and make sure that students are learning to the best of their abilities. Within the context of my classroom, I can use these concepts to make the biggest impact on the my development of my students understanding of skills and concepts. Classroom management is an ongoing learning process. Teachers must have ways to keep time manages and the learning environment stable so that students do not get distracted and loose valuable content or skills. The positives of these implementation are the catering to the child and making sure that everyone has a chance to learn the way they learn best because when a teacher maximizes the learning time through effective classroom management and behavioral preventions, positive outcomes occur within the child. Negatives of an effective learning environment and classroom management are that it takes a lot of planning time, reworking and consistency to keep these behaviors at bay and making sure that all children get the chance to succeed.
Reference
Slavin, R. E. (2012). Chapter 11: Effective learning environments. Educational psychology: Theory and practice. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Jones, S. M., Bailey, R., & Jacob, R. (2014). Social-emotional learning is essential to classroom management. Phi Delta Kappan, 96(2), 19-24.
El Warfali, F. S., & Yusoff, N. N. (2014). Classroom Management: A Study on the Training Needs of Primary School Teachers. International Education Studies, 7(13), 1-5.
No comments:
Post a Comment