Classroom Chaos
Currently, I am a Substitute Teacher trying to work and study my way into the wonderful world of being a credentialed teacher. For now, as I jump life hurdles, I continue to learn to teach and teach to learn.
-
-
No day of teaching is complete without a little nonsense. ;]
-
-
-
I am curious to know what are your rules and expectations (overall classroom management) regarding the use of cell phones (or iPods) in the classroom. I met one teacher who allows students to use their cell phones in class to “tweet” responses to a daily journal response and I also met a teacher who allows students to listen to music from their iPods or phones while writing.
With BOTH teachers, I also observed that students took advantage of this opportunity and do other activities like play games or send a text message to a peer when they should be writing or paying attention to the teacher’s lesson.
I often established the rule of no cell phones during class when I sub a class, but have caught students attempting to use their phones. A simple, “Please put that away” has worked for me, but I already established an expectation and a rule to not use it in my classroom. Problem is, I have let them use it! My rule is posted on my wall and now I am thinking of bring it down.
What are your classroom rules regarding the use of cell phones?
Does your school district have a policy?
How do you manage/respond to a student who attempts to use their cell phone in class?
As soon as I stepped onto campus I was told two things: (1) I don’t have to attend the all-day teacher meetings and (2) I will get paid to be here, so I signed my payroll sheet.
I was pretty much told that I was going to be paid for a day of preparing my class without attending the mandatory meetings. The meetings were more for new teachers to get to know current teachers, and well, I simply did not need to be there. So at 7:30AM I was given my classroom keys and headed to my class.
Good thing I was not in a hurry because I ran into another teacher who was excited to see me because she wanted me to long-term sub for her class in September. Sweet. She teaches English and I always love the lessons she leaves for me so I was honored to be asked to long-term sub for her. Excellent.
When I arrived at my classroom, I unfortunately sat in the classroom for a good six hours attempting to figure out what to teach before I met with the Department Chair. How could I create lessons if I do not know what area of math I will be teaching (found out it will be Algebra and Basic Math)? What textbooks will I be using seeing that the classroom does not have a set? And, I was told I will not have an Instructional Assistant, but I see a desk with pictures right in front of me? I could not do much preparation until I had my questions answered. Instead, I just walked around the classroom to see what resources I had to work with and see if the overhead projector, television, and VCR worked.
I finally met my Instructional Assistant and she is pretty adamant in her ways. She worked for the classroom teacher long enough to be used to how HE taught which is very different from the way I currently teach. By the looks of the classroom he left behind, he created his own worksheets by hand and used the xerox machine often. Uhm, not me. Come Monday I will have a discussion with her regarding my methods of teaching, which, as I later discovered was approved by the Department Chair when I presented him a few ideas of how I would teach this class. He pretty much gave the a-ok to teach as I would like, as he has heard about the activities I do from other teachers, so long as it relates to the subject matter.
Time to get creative with math.
I LOVE clipboards. I use it when I take attendance. I use it when I am assessing students. I use it to jot down notes while I walk around a class as the student watch a movie. AND, I definitely plan to use them as an opportunity to allow my future students/writers to sit in corner of classrooms and write. Clipboards are the functional desktops for anyone who wants to write something…anything.
And so, Clutter-Free Classroom did the classroom teacher a favor by compiling ideas of how to organize, display, and store clipboards in the classroom or around the office.
C’mon, Science teachers, don’t you think your classroom can use a little more…swag? Here’s a poster you may want to share in your classroom about Microbiology.
(via readingwritingteaching)
I want to know the person that thought. “THAT’S IT! IM TIRED OF PEOPLE STEALING MY STAPLER! ITS GOING ON THE WALL!”
Other thought is the stapler stapled tithe wall?
If you are a fan of charts and infographics, and you are a Language Arts teacher (or have an appreciation of Language Arts) then you would enjoy the anchor charts on the blog, A Literate Life.
It gives me great ideas for the classroom! (I’m jealous of the penmanship.)
4. Making the interesting, uninteresting.
Most standard grade-level subject matter is interesting, but your students don’t know that. In fact, many assume, based on their learning experiences in the past, that it’s boring. It’s your job to show them otherwise. It’s your job to give them a reason to care about what you’re teaching. So many teachers just talk at their students, forgetting the most critical element: selling it.
This was common when I was in HS…
I love this idea from Dandelionsdragonflies blog. She spray painted pizza pans and used them as a portable magnetic board.
Mrs. Dowlin never suspected that the class pet iguana was planning the takeover the whole time…
Sometimes a little humor makes a lesson just that more memorable.
Words, words, words! Imagination Soup created Word Collection Jars on their website. Collect words in jars to make parts-of-speech posters, inspire writing, or create collages. Ideas are endless! Makes for a great, colorful classroom decoration as well. All grades.
How do you make sure your students write their names?
Another idea is to have two turn-in piles: one labeled “papers with names” and another labeled “papers without names.” I’ve never had a student turn in a paper to the “papers without names” pile.
Flipping the classroom. The classroom environment makes a difference!
New Boy is a 2008 Oscar nominated short film from Ireland about a young boy who enrolls into a new school and adjusts to his new education environment given his traumatic past.
