{"id":390,"date":"2018-10-24T20:42:06","date_gmt":"2018-10-25T03:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sarahsommer\/?post_type=twu-portfolio&p=390"},"modified":"2019-02-25T12:53:49","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T20:53:49","slug":"managing-spaces","status":"publish","type":"twu-portfolio","link":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sarahsommer\/portfolio\/managing-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Classroom management” is a phrase that makes many aspiring educators cringe. We all know it’s one of the greater challenges of the teaching profession, so what are a few strategies for creating a respectful and organized learning environment?<\/p>\n

Bring it in<\/h4>\n

Getting a noisy classroom to quiet down is a real skill, but it can be done very well. My sponsor teacher has two strategies to command the attention of the room.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. He counts down from five slowly, and when he reaches one all students should be silent and have their attention focused on him.<\/li>\n
  2. He calls out:\u00a0“Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?”\u00a0<\/em>to which the students respond immediately in unison,\u00a0“Spongebob Squarepants!”
    \n<\/em>Not only does this always make them smile, it is a friendly and engaging technique.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Move, move, move<\/h4>\n

    When I asked my mentor teacher how I could improve as a student teacher, he mentioned one thing: “Move around the classroom more.”<\/p>\n

    He went on to explain how powerful it can be to simply keep moving. “They get used to you being in one space. When students are being noisy while you are teaching, simply walk to stand next to them. Your presence alone is usually enough to quiet them down,” he said.<\/p>\n

    Materials have a home<\/h4>\n

    When students know where to find materials, they don’t need to ask the teacher every time they need something.<\/p>\n

    In my sponsor teacher’s classroom, students have no problem taking their own initiative to get their materials. There are folders tacked to the wall where students can get spare copies of worksheets. Extra pencils and pens can be found in a cup at the front of the room. Students who are restless know where to find fidget stools. Noise cancelling headphones for individual work times are found in a designated cupboard above the sink. Because students know where to find everything, a lot of wasted time and interruptions are avoided.<\/p>\n

    Caring makes a difference<\/h4>\n

    One of the greatest pieces of advice I received from an educator is:\u00a0Do not see your students has defined by their\u00a0behaviour. Remember that every action has a reason behind it.<\/i><\/p>\n

    Although it is easy to categorize students as “good” and “bad” because they behave a certain way, we need to see students for who they truly are: which is\u00a0so much more<\/em> than their behaviour. Often times, inappropriate actions have a plethora of possible reasons behind them, such as frustration, boredom, or insecurity (to name a few).<\/p>\n

    \n

    Although there are many other ways to manage a classroom well, these are the few I have observed and reflected on in the past few weeks.<\/p>\n

    What are some of your\u00a0favourite\u00a0classroom management strategies?<\/i><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Photo by Kelly Sikkema<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    “Classroom management” is a phrase that makes many aspiring educators cringe. We all know it’s one of the greater challenges of the teaching profession, so what are a few strategies for creating a respectful and organized learning environment? Bring it in Getting a noisy classroom to quiet down is a real skill, but it can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":925,"featured_media":397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","twu-portfolio-type":[129,134],"twu-portfolio-tag":[],"class_list":["post-390","twu-portfolio","type-twu-portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","twu-portfolio-type-creating-the-learning-environment","twu-portfolio-type-educ-302","portfolio-entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sarahsommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/twu-portfolio\/390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sarahsommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/twu-portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sarahsommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/twu-portfolio"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sarahsommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/925"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sarahsommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sarahsommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/twu-portfolio\/390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":401,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sarahsommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/twu-portfolio\/390\/revisions\/401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sarahsommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sarahsommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"twu-portfolio-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sarahsommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/twu-portfolio-type?post=390"},{"taxonomy":"twu-portfolio-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sarahsommer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/twu-portfolio-tag?post=390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}