Standards 4 & 5: Organizes Space, Time, and Interaction
Establishing classroom procedures and management is crucial for the flow, organization, and expectations of the classroom.
Behavior Code and Class Rules need to be established on the very first day of school so both teacher and student expectations can be fulfilled. A Behavior Book is used to establish proper conduct and behavior throughout the day. The students are very familiar with the proper behavior in class and they recognize when I stand by the Book and warn them that their behavior is lacking. Every student can get up to five marks every quarter before a parent phone call is necessary. I also have side discussions and give warnings to students when they are approaching the five marks area.
In today's society, technology is not only strongly encouraged in the classroom, but also expected. Background information is also very important for students to understand the next unit. Webquests are a great way to engage students in a technology lesson. Before reading the screenplay Glory Road, we did an engaging partner activity through the Glory Road Power Point where students completed six different activities to prepare for reading the screenplay. I discovered that this technology activity was very beneficial for a number of reasons. Students were able to complete six different activities with their partner as they enjoyed using technology and learning about the history that was directly related to the screenplay we were about to read. Kids always say that learning history is boring, so I, as an educator, know that making history fun, exciting, and relevant.
As previously stated, my 7th graders really struggled with writing essays of any length and substance. Using previous student examples has been really helpful in showing them what not to do. I used an Elmo to diagram an Example Unexpected Event using the Unexpected Event Rubric. Upon beginning this memoir unit, we started writing unexpected events and used an online grading system. Students submit their own essays online and immediately receive a score out of six points. Students seem very eager to type on computers during class, see their scores, and challenge themselves to improve those scores.