Teachers are Scientists!

Science has been a recurring theme for me today.  This morning I spent time trying the rock cycle experiment (modeling the cycle with bits of crayons) that my science methods group and I are planning for our 3^rd grade science buddies, this afternoon I spent doing my own experiment for our science methods assignment, and I just read a few chapters of A Sustainable Start in which John Spencer compared his teaching to a science experiment.

 Several take-aways:

• Teachers should put themselves in the shoes of their students more often. 

• In trying out our 3^rd grade experiment, I was able to identify aspects of the procedure that needed to be modified to suit our students and the timeframe of our lesson.  I was also able to feel where our students might be tempted off task or where they might want to stop and linger to notice and reflect.
• In doing my own experiment, I felt a student’s frustration of things not going as planned, taking longer than I expected and having to repeat procedures that went awry.  On the other hand, even though my hypothesis was proven incorrect, I was able to practice what I have been preaching, which is that in science there are no wrong answers, just new discoveries!  This shift in attitude about science is critical for our students to adopt. 

• Science is fun!  It was a nice change of pace from reading textbooks and planning lessons to be on my feet and actively involved in a hands-on task.  It was fun to wait with anticipation to see if the crayon experiment would work as described and if my predictions for my own experiment would be right or not. 

• Teaching itself is a science.  As Spencer says, “It’s the science of inquiry and observation, of testing new ideas and paying careful attention to the way we interact . . . it’s data, yet it’s creative” (pp. 87, 89).  As student teachers, we are not in the position to stray too far from the curriculum given to us, but I am finding I can be very creative within its constraints, molding it and expanding it to fit the needs of my students and my own style of teaching.  Experimenting, hypothesizing, collecting data and reflecting on how to improve lessons for my students and for myself.

Promoting Self-Management?

This week I am still thinking a lot about the “classroom management” issue.  I had more experience in this department than I anticipated this week when my CT was sick on Tuesday and a sub could not be found, and then on Friday she took a release day and, although this time there was a sub available, my CT and I had already planned out the day and I was left in charge with the sub as support.  Luckily, the sub was a retired teacher who gave me some great feedback and tips throughout the day!  I tried to keep the positive mindset of being their leader, rather than the negative one of being their manager.

Tuesday (the day I was left unexpectedly on my own) was a little rocky in terms of class behavior, but as I commented below on my last post, I ended up calling a class meeting on the carpet in the afternoon and that settled things down quite a bit.  The next morning during our morning routine, the first time I had to pause to wait for their attention I was heartened to hear several students forcefully say to their peers “Guys, shut up, we promised!”  They were referring to our discussion on the carpet the previous day and their own proposal that they would collectively agree to work on following class protocol for respecting the speaker (be it me or a classmate).  

I think part of the issue is that I am new to this classroom (it is not where I had my September Experience) and I am still learning their routines and systems.  What really made an impression on my this week was that it is not so much a matter of threatening or imposing discipline on students (the negative viewpoint), but instead a matter of providing (or reminding them of) the structure they need to succeed.  Teachers need not feel they have to “manage” their students’ behavior if they (the teachers) provide systems within which students can manage their own behavior.

I am reminded of a system my daughter’s 5^th grade teacher had for awarding “Self Manager Certificates” to students who demonstrated certain self-managing behaviors.  Once they had earned the certificate, they were given extra responsibilities and freedoms in the classroom.  The certificate was revoked if the student broke any of the agreed-upon classroom standards of behavior.  I found this form on the internet (from Harry Wong, author of The First Days of School, a book for first-year teachers that has been recommended to me by several veteran teachers) that is probably similar to the one my daughter’s teacher used.  It is an idea I’d like to think more about for use in my own future classrooms.  Any thoughts?

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Management vs. Leadership: The Importance of Having a Positive Mindset

As a teacher-in-training, “classroom management” is a term that gets thrown around a lot (striking fear in the hearts of many).   We are carefully observed in our student teaching to make sure we have it and we hear that it is a guaranteed job interview topic.  Until being prompted by a professor to read two seasoned teachers’ opinions on this topic this week (John Spencer’s book A Sustainable Start and Jenny Orr’s blog, Elementary, My Dear, or Far From It), I had been sinking deeper and deeper into trepidation mode as the question “Will I be able control them?” began haunting my lesson planning, planting seeds of self-doubt and worry where none had been before. 

I see now that I have been slipping into the pitfall of a negative mindset.  The idea of managing students seems to connote that they are prone to misbehavior.  It assumes the worst and therefore makes me feel as if I am going into battle against a room of unruly students.  Simply changing the term “classroom management” to “classroom leadership,” as Spencer does in his book, reframes the situation altogether.  Leadership has positive connotations of students with potential.  My job becomes guiding them instead of controlling them and my outlook is suddenly brighter.  It allows me to view my students through a lens of high expectations rather than low.   We become a learning community that trusts one another, rather than a toxic environment of “me versus them.”  Instead of approaching my work from a position of fear, I can approach it from a position of anticipation.   As Jenny Orr so wisely states: “Show people that you have faith in them, be they students or employees, and the majority of the time they will live up to that faith.”