Classroom Management (Video Reflection)
I really enjoyed
this video overall. It was like a short documentary of what a nightmare and a
blessing the first year of teaching really is all about. I relate to both of
these young teachers in ways that only newbie teachers would be able to
understand: not really knowing how the heck to balance life in school and out
of school, lack of sleep, and of course, dealing with insubordination and wise
cracks from students.
When I was
watching this video, my first thought when I saw the man, Alex, introducing himself
as the cool younger teacher was that I have been here before, and I have pulled
off this routine before, but it all blew up in my face midyear. The same
happened to him because being the cool young teacher is awesome by all means,
but it also makes the lines for behavior difficult to draw. I had the same
issues with the chattering students and not wanting to raise my voice, and I
think the difference is that I had to realize that I am not their friend. I am
their teacher, and I am in charge, and at times, the students need to be
reminded of that. After that first year, I figured out ways to avoid raising my
voice and using non verbal cues like pausing the lesson to wait silently or
raising my hand to signal that I am holding out until my entire class is ready.
I did not have a mentor teacher, but I did have a friend that worked at the
school with me, and he was of great help with these techniques. I think I would
inform Alex that while it is great to be well liked, it is more important to
remember your role. It is okay to be the teacher and to make the rules. That is
why we do what we do.
At the points and
times where the woman, Saray, was on screen and dealing with students that had
repeated for possibly the third time, I have to say I was impressed with her
constant vigilance to get them involved. As she had previously mentioned, other
teachers weren’t exactly giving these kids the time of day or the attention to
succeed, and she wanted to remind them that she was different. She wanted them
to do well and kick science behind! I thought that her attitude was inspiring,
and it was one of the main reasons that behavior in her class was slightly
better than behavior in Alex’s class. True, she did have some chatter, but she
use hard glances and pauses to get her points across. Her non verbal cues were
on target, and I think that the kids really responded to them. Her classroom
management put off a vibe that she was serious about them learning, and yes, it
was going to fun, but as students, work would be required and could not be
ignored.
I responded to
both of these young teachers, and I ultimately felt like I would hope they
could improve on their skills in the following year. From what I learned in
three years, that first year in the classroom is all about surviving and making
a solid relationship with the students. Staying afloat is the hardest part with
all the work that new teachers are drowned by, and I know that I still feel
that way. I would say that their behavior management skills were fairly decent
considering they hadn’t ever done this before, but obviously, there are some
changes that need to be made. Non verbal cues and proximity are two techniques
from my repertoire (previously stolen from other teachers) and from our module
for this unit. I think that both these techniques are easy to use, and both say
a lot without having to use any words at all.
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