March 7, 2023

Observations

Today my mentor teacher introduced me to a program called “Classroom Screens.” She uses it to control the volume of the class. It makes a beep sound when students are working too loudly. She explained how it could be nice to use an external device to control volume rather than nagging and wasting your voice.

I noticed that when she calls out misbehaviour, sometimes the called students did not actually disobey in the way she claimed they did. I did not really like this but I don’t know how it can be avoided when you don’t know who is speaking up.

The teacher advised me that transition seasons can be challenging for misbehaviour. Spring break and Christmas are two strong examples of those times. She emphasized the value of closure because it can be difficult for students to be at home for so long. It is a disruption of their schedule and they may have a difficult home life. She says she sometimes sends postcards over Christmas to help with this. She also set up the days before spring break with more fun, treats, games, stickers, talking time, and activities. She calls these techniques “bridging.”

She also gave me the advice today that when there are a lot of behavioural issues, you usually need a new desk plan.

 

Reflections

I got to use Classroom Screens for one of my lessons and it was quite helpful. Students knew to quiet down on their own when they heard the noise. I’m grateful for this tool and plan to use it in my future classroom. This matches the “behaviourism” philosophy of education I learned about in my philosophy Ed class because it is a shaping of the environment in order to shape behaviour. This also works with the teacher’s idea to arrange new seating plans when students get rowdy. Putting students in seats where they are likely to thrive can make them behave better than only ordering them to be quiet and expecting them to obey. I can use this technique by putting students near peers who will help them focus rather than get distracted or argue. Also, students can be placed based on personalities. For example, students with behavioural disorders might be placed near the front of the classroom where there are fewer visual and audio distractions, higher accountability by being near the teacher, and more engaged in the content by being kind of “a part of the action.” I can also lay out a class based on the dynamic I want. For example, if I want more collaboration and community, students’ desks might be facing each other in groups of four. And opposing that, if I want quiet individual work time, I might have all the desks separate from one another, facing the front.

I like her ideas about bridging and I want to apply them. They seem considerate and meet the students’ needs instead of pushing them to work quietly when it is so difficult and their minds are elsewhere.