Learning From Effective Teachers

Four times a week I go into the 7th Grade classroom and I watch the teacher. While she is not the best teacher because of her traditional style, she is incredibly organized, and I have learned several important lessons from her.

1. Everything is filed. Worksheets, extra practice material, homework assignments, graded papers, everything is in a file and well organized. Whenever a student needs something they already know exactly where it is. I have found this to be effective because then the teacher does not have to get things for the students, but they can get what they need for themselves.
2. She has classroom procedures. The class is normally fairly organized especially in the beginning because every student knows to do the same thing every morning when they get to class. They have to look on the board and follow direction. These directions of getting their folder, calculator, a piece of paper, and getting started on two problems on the board hardly ever change. Having the students working when the class starts is due to the fact that she is organized and helps the students know what to expect.
3. Students are organized. The teacher requires that students pick up after themselves. She makes sure that they have the room clean and organized before they can leave. This teaches students to be more organized and be careful with their stuff. Forcing the students to keep the room clean helps her to be more organized, and teaches them a valuable lesson.

These organizational methods are ones that I hope to put into place in my classroom as well. Being organized and having the students be organized help the teacher focus more on teaching the students, and not get distracted by other problems.

Not only did I look at her organizational skills, but I observed how she managed the class, and disciplined them. While this seemed like a struggle because the topics she taught were not interesting, she was able to keep the class under control most of the time. While I didn't agree with her methods of sarcasm, long speeches, and arguing with students she does have several interesting ideas on classroom management that I can reflect on.

1. Using seating as ways to prevent disruptions. The teacher will move students when they are being disrupted. This seems to be something that students hate and never want to do. She uses this as a way to get them to pay attention. When a student is talking with people around them instead of paying attention she will ask if they want to change seats. This question often will prevent disruptions because the student does not want to change seats. This seems to be a fairly effective method to quiet students when the teacher needs to lecture.
   
2. The teacher calls on disruptive students to answer questions. This is an interesting idea and I am not positive whether it is a good one or not. It is good because it gets the disruptive student to focus on the class again. It could prove to be unwise however, because it gives the disruptive student extra attention, which could be the reason that they are disruptive in the first place. I am still unsure whether this strategy actually works in preventing problems, or whether it helps stimulate them.
3. Telling students to leave the room. Normally after a rather loud outbreak or intolerable action, at least in the teachers mind, they are told to leave the room until they are ready to come in again and learn. Again, in my mind this is a debatable strategy. Because it allows students to calm down and be along for a second it can be helpful in bringing order back to the class. On the other hand however, it can serve to anger the student further, or prevent them from learning that days lesson.
   

This particular teacher's methods of discipline work in the fact that they keep the students in line, and the class under control. It is my feeling that better methods could be used that both maintain order, and help the students learn. One of the teachers who came and visited class and two ideas that I liked. One is very simple. It is to walk over to the disruptive student and continue teaching. That helps quiet the student, and it keeps the flow of class moving. Another good idea that this teacher gave was to rely on your relationship with students to get them to stay on task. When you can say things like, "Do this for me," I think classroom management becomes easier. Talking with students about problems or issues that they have with your class is also a good idea. By talking with students one on one outside of class I think relationships can be developed, and the teacher and student can grow to understand each other better. These tips are things that I want to use to help maintain good relationships with my students, as well as keep the class under control so that they can learn more easily.

Interviewing students around me was an activity that in order to learn more about effective teachers. Many of them had similar responses.

• Flexible to students needs
• Good communicator and explainer of assignments, gives clear expectations
• Doesn't talk down to students
• Uses their personality (humor, stories) to help teach.
  
• Has conversations with the students rather than lectures.
• Cares about the students outside of a classroom
• Doesn't teach out of a book or expect students to learn strictly from a book
• Gives fair tests and assignments

While most of these answers are very familiar to me and are things I want to implement in my classroom, several suggestions were ideas that I had not thought of quite as often. Having conversations with students to help them learn is an excellent idea. Along with not talking down to students, a teacher must be able to facilitate conversation and ask good questions to keep the conversation going, and keep everyone involved. Conversation also implies class control because they are less structured. To be able to have a good conversation where learning can occur, the class must be paying attention and be discussing an idea that is relevant to them. It seems like class management is a must so that a beneficial conversation can occur.
Another idea that I got from a peer on my hall was using stories and humor to teach. Because my subject area is math I wonder how I can use stories and humor to help students learn. I realized that personality is indeed the key. If I can create an atmosphere where learning is fun and I am telling stories that relate to them, students will become more interested and involved. Even if I cannot come up with many stories that fit the topic, having a personality where humor is used in the classroom and encouraged, can create a more interesting class. Along with this, I do not want to be a teacher who is constantly serious and focused on a specific topic or goal that the students must learn. Allowing humor can help conversations flow, keep students interested, and therefore encourage learning. These two specific ideas stood out to me and are ones that I must be thinking about as I plan my math lessons. I need to think about how I can relate to the students and ask penetrating questions to get the conversation started for every lesson that I teach.