Task 5

I read the article entitled Ten steps to Better Student Engagement and watched video entitled Classroom Management Tips for Teachers.



I liked the article very much. The main point of the article was that when you are on and your students are on you have more energy at the end of the day. I totally agree - thinking back on some bad days at school, I come home totally exhausted. It definately takes more energy to get through a bad day than a good one. On good days, I am a totally different person when I get home. The article also included a list of strategies to help maintain an atmosphere of good days. They are as follows: create and emotionally and intellectually safe environment, cultivate your engagement meter, create appropriate intermediate steps (for projects, for example), journal writing/blogging, create a culture of explanation instead of a culture of the right answer, etc. This list of strategies includes things that should naturally develop over time for teachers, like the engagement meter, and things that could be implemented to help a classroom run smoothly, like journal writing. I like the idea of journal writing. I can see how it would be beneficial for both students and teacher. The idea is that at the end of a lesson, students would write an entry about what that days lesson was about, what they understood, what they struggled with. The teacher would then have the oportunity to read them and make adjustments. I really like this idea, but I think it would be difficult to implement within the time I have for a class period. It would be better to use with block scheduling.



The vidoe also had some good suggestions. I especially like the middle school science teacher who greet each of his students at his door every day with a hand shake and a question. He asks each student a different question and doesn't let them enter the room until they answer it correctly. I love this idea, but fear that some of my students would never get to enter the room...



Thinking about my inquiry plan, I would like to focus on managing student behavoir. I think I can do this more effectively by finding ways to build a more personal relationship with each student. Both journal writing and playing the "walmart" greeter every day could help me accomplish this, if I can find a way for them to work in the limited time that I have....

Task 4

I have chosen Domain 2: The Classroom Environment to be my focus for the next section of this class. The components of this domain that I am most confortable with are organizing physical space, managing classroom procedures and establishing a culture for learning. I struggle most with managing student behaviors. I think they all directly effect creating an environment of respect and rapport. I think a positive respect/rapport environment exists in my classroom, but it could be better.

Component 2a: Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport is an umbrella for the other components of the domain, so I feel that it is the one that is most strongly tied to instruction.

Component 2d: Managing Student Behavior is the one I would like to focus on and improve within my classroom.

I have established procedures that allow my classroom to flow on a daily basis. For example, every day I check agendas and there is an OA (opening activity) to be done. This gets the students working immediately upon entering the room and cuts down on behavior problems at the beginning of class. I have also utilized some procedures from CHAMP's that give students clear bahvior expectations during various classroom activities. Having clear, posted class expectations goes a long way in classroom management.

I am always looking for new classroom management techniques/ideas. Does anyone have a management technique that you feel is particularly effective? Please share!

Task 2

1. What is the purpose of curriculum? Or should we ask, what should the purpose of curriculum be? Testing, testing, testing.... As teachers/schools, we are told that our goal is to do well on the test. How we are perceived by society is determined by this, our school's report card. The problem is, this report card is too limiting. This leads to another question, and I'm not even going to pretend to know the answer..... Should we be more concerned about the long term effects of what our students learn and how they are able to use what they learn and apply it to their lives or how much information they can regurgitate on a test at the end of the school year? The purpose of curriculum should be to prepare students for life. Do they need to learn science, math, social studies and english to be successful in life? Yes, but they need to learn about them in ways that are practical and relevent to them. Current curriculum is too focused on the short term, it needs to be shifted to include some long term goals.

2. There is a difference between curriculum and instructional design. As a teacher in the state of Kentucky, I am given the curriculum I am expected to teach within 1 school year. I have no control over this. I do, however, have control over how I design my instruction/lessons. This enables me to use different strategies from day to day and make changes when I feel necessary to help my students understand the curriculum and reach their full potential. I feel that teachers should have more input in curriculum. Too often, curriculum is influenced by individuals who are not in a classroom on a regular basis. There are too many variables and unknowns involved. What works 1 day won't necessarily work the next, a student who behaves 1 day may be extremely disruptive the next.

3. My curriculum, or more so my instructional design, is constantly evolving. I do have constants in my classroom, certain behvior expectatins, etc. But, I have to adjust and make changes and improvements sometimes from 1 class to the next. And, I am always trying out new strategies and ways to keep my students focused and engaged. I just started a new reward system, both individually and between classes, based on missing assignments. For some reason, 7th graders don't see the need to do their HW. Imagine that! Anyway, my point is that as teachers, we are on the hot seat at all times, so to speak. Our instructional strategies/designs must evolve in order to meet the needs of our students and teach them curriculum that has not evolved as quickly as the students who are learning it.