CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION

Classroom management refers to the actions and strategies teachers use to solve the problem of order in classrooms. This also means room arrangement, discipline, the creation of routines and a plan to teach students how their learning environment is organized. Effective teachers must create an overall environment conductive to learning. For example, beginning educators tend to leap into the content the first week of school meanwhile experienced teachers first works on creating a positive classroom climate.

The first class I taught to junior high students was the best class I have ever taught. I was relaxed; I didn’t feel nervous at all. This helped me enjoy what I was doing. Well, I know that preparing fun activities avoids chaos in my class. I dislike disorder, but I like discipline in my class. I know that the more engaging the class is, the less time students have to misbehave. In the aspect of classroom management, I know I am doing well since I got students attention and directed to the topic which was classroom commands. However, teacher Mike told me to use more pair or group activities, which is my homework for next class. At the end of the class, I passed them a sheet of paper they had to complete to see what they had learned about classroom commands. Their learning outcomes were good. They met my expectations somehow because I expected them to finish faster than they did. In order to better my classroom management skills, I will always reflect before teaching the class, while teaching the class, and after teaching. Besides, I am always going to take into account teacher’s Mike observation of my class. I like the fact that he always gives me feedback or constructive observations.

My Classroom Observation at a Junior High School Level

My class observation took place at Centro Escolar Alejandro de Humboldt, which is a public institution located here in Ahuachapán. Teacher Mike is the English teacher in charge of teaching English to seventh, eighth and ninth grades in the afternoon. Conveniently with my schedule, I observed two of his classes with seventh grade. The first thing I notice when entering in the classroom is the typical arrangement of desks. After he introduced me to the class, he gave me the opportunity to talk to the students, but he told me to do it in English and so I did. During my speech, I quickly realized that they did not understand. Right there I saw the challenge I was facing. The class began at 1:15pm, and it was hot. Students had been playing soccer before, but they were anxious to begin the class. Teacher Mike first wrote the date on the board. Taking advantage of the numbers in the date, teacher Mike teaches the students the ordinal numbers. Then, he began teaching about personal items. He asked students to lend him some items. After showing to them the item, they repeated the word and he wrote a sentence on the board for each item they studied. He somehow tried to use the real objects to help students learn the words. I noticed that students were willing to participate. And they did, the teacher who is a very experienced teacher knows they need to practice in order to learn. At the end, I really enjoy the teacher’s class. I got to help him and help some students.

Chapter Two: The Teacher as a Person

The chapter 2 of the book “Qualities of Effective Teachers”, which is called “The Teacher as a Person,” states six characteristics of effective teachers as persons. They are  the Role of Caring, the Role of Fairness and Respect, Social Interactions with Students, Promotion of Enthusiasm and Motivation for Learning, Attitude toward the Teaching Profession and the Role of Reflective Practice. I know they all are very important, so it is very hard to choose only two out of them. But here they are.

1-     The role of caring for the students is very important. When a teacher cares for his or her students, it is very noticeable for everyone, especially for the students. A caring teacher can bring the best out of each student. Caring for the students involves not only knowing the students but also listening to them, being gentle with them, understanding them, encouraging them and over all loving them.

Effective teachers are must listen to the students. Not only do they have to listen about what happens in the class, but also they must always have the chance to listen to problems of theirs student’s life.

The students are smart, and they can feel when the teacher understands their problems. Understanding the students demonstrates genuine concern and empathy toward students. Teachers must be careful. They must be conscious that they can talk about their life too, but with self-disclosure.

Effective, caring teachers know students both formally and informally. Teachers can use every opportunity to keep communication lines open with students at school and in the community. Effective teachers care for the students first as persons and second as a student.

1-     Promotion of Enthusiasm and Motivation for Learning

This is a very important part of effective teaching. Teacher Edgar has emphasized this in class many times. The reason of this is that the teacher’s enthusiasm for teaching, learning and for the subject matter motivates students by encouraging them to be responsible for their own learning. An effective teacher recognizes that students vary in their motivation levels. An effective teacher knows how to support intrinsically motivated students and seeks ways to provide extrinsic motivation to students who need it. Therefore, I will always try to be very enthusiastic when teaching my class. I know if I don’t, the student may feel bored and I won’t be able to make them complete tasks. Losing control of the class is what I fear when I teach, but I know now that if I create rapport with the students, they will be more likely willing to learn.