Thank you Letter Writing Lesson &
University Supervisor's Observation
Room Arrangement &
Classroom Arrangement Rationale
Classroom Rules
Math Lesson Observation

Classroom management skills are the area that I had the most difficulty finding and picking artifacts to display.  Its hard to show just how I effectively build rapport with my students, organize materials, demonstrate use of routines and procedures, demonstrate use of time, maintain a safe learning environment, and respond appropriately to inappropriate behavior.  That being said, I will attempt to show just how I used classroom management knowledge and skills to guide my classroom instruction.

In order to build positive rapport in the classroom, I model caring, active listening, and fairness.  During lessons, I encourage participation and support students who need extra time or assistance when responding in front of the whole group.  One lesson that I taught that dealt with exhibiting professional demeanor and providing support for the classroom was my writing lesson focused on Thank You Letters for Williamsburg Floral and Gifts.  This lesson really helped me provide a reason for writing and model caring about others.  According to my supervisor’s observation, I easily engaged my students in planning their letter, writing a draft, and recopying the letter onto nice paper.  All of this was an amazing feat the day before Spring Break, and I attribute that to the mutual respect that exists in the classroom.

Another way in which I demonstrate classroom management skills involves my organization.  Each week, I organize the activities, books, and resources that I will be using during the week by putting them into daily filing trays by my desk.  By using the trays regularly I have all of the materials ready to go when they are needed, and I know just where to look for them.  Another way I organize for instruction is with the layout of the classroom.  Although my cooperating teacher’s layout of the classroom was very effective, we worked together to design a new layout that ensured none of the students had their back to the front of the room.  In my Classroom Management course, I analyzed the layout of my classroom and the art classroom, and found that the purpose of the classroom impacts how it is arranged for instruction.

In order to ensure that students transition to new centers efficiently during math and science activities, I used a hand clap to signal the students.  Before the students began their lessons, I learned to tell them how they would rotate and what their signal would be.  One particular lesson I taught that effectively used the signal was my probability lesson.

Beyond transitioning effectively, I also want to ensure that I am using time for instruction efficiently.  One thing that I designed to engage and enhance learning during the few spare moments before the afternoon bell was a poster on the class heights.  During a measurement math center, all of the students were measured.  Later, I cut out boy and girl dye cuts and created a poster of the class heights.  While student are lining up to go home, I can ask them questions about which height is the most common in the class, which student is the tallest, how many students are between two heights, etc.  It is an amazing teaching tool that gets students interested and reinforces what they already know about graphs.

One way in which our class maintains a safe learning environment involves early planning.  At the beginning of the year my cooperating teacher and the class worked to create classroom rules.  After creating the rules, the entire class signed them as a contract that they would uphold.  Additionally, the class rules are posted in the room, so that new students and visitors can easily see what the expectations are in our classroom.

Finally, students know their consequences. When students behave, return work folders on time, follow the rules, and stay on task, they know that they may receive rewards. Students are given stickers for their nametag on the door or a pick from the candy jar as positive reinforcement for their good behavior or actions. Students who are not acting appropriately, are disrupting the class, or are breaking the classroom rules know that they will have to move their nametag to yellow or red on the stoplight on door of the classroom. At the end of the day, the colors are marked in every student’s agenda and parents are supposed to initial the agenda nightly.