Weeks 15 & 16: Parent Communication

The final few weeks of Management are all about communicating well with the parents and caregivers of the children that we teach.  For your final project, you must show me your ability to initiate and maintain positive partnerships with theses people.  If you lost your rubric, you can download another one here.

In this week's class, everyone had a chance to see some examples of positive parent-teacher communication.  By popular request, here are the sheets from the learning centers and the form that I use for making Happygrams!  I can't believe we only have two more weeks left of Management!  See you in class!

Week 14: Homefun!

In week 14, we begin our unit on working with families.  Korean families are very involved in the education of their children, so it is very important that we establish good partnerships with them from the beginning.  In the class about homework, we learn a little more about how making children's school life a part of their home life can help to bridge the gap between parents and teachers by keeping mom and dad informed about what's happening in the classroom.  Always remember that the more informed parents and families feel about what happens in your classroom, the better they feel about you as a teacher for their child.  Here is this week's handout!

Another thing that will come up this week is your final project.  It's a good project with many practical elements.  After I collect your interview papers in week 15, I'll give out a rubric for the final project.  For right now, I'll say that you need to have a homework policy letter as part of the project.  Every week until finals, I will tell you another thing that you can put in your final project.  Just work at your own pace and I will collect all of it on week 18.  If you do a little every week, it should be easy!  Working on it all at once may not be all that difficult either.  To get you started, here are the sample policy letter and the policy letter writing guide that I handed out in class.

Weeks 11-13: Interview Papers and Other Stuff...

Now that we've finished off the unit on models of discipline, it's time to get started on your interviews.  The link to the required documents for the interview paper are to the right of this post.  The week after next (week 14), everyone needs to bring in their interview notes to share with friends.  It's just fine if the interview notes are in Korean, I will not be reading them very closely.  The actual interview papers will be handed in on week 15.

Here are all the class handouts for the models of discipline and the handouts for logical consequences.

Week 10: Models of Discipline

Time has flown by so fast!  I can’ believe that we are already working on the models of discipline units!  Handling problematic student behavior is not a simple process.  Because of the vast number of possibilities in regards to cultural and individual differences, there is not a single techniques that fits all situations.  Teachers need to be thoughtful and creative in how they deal with every unique student and every unique situation.  This is the reason why I teach models of discipline in our class.  We will take some time to apply these various models to different students so that when you teach, you can assess the situation and creatively apply these models with your actual students.

Personal influence

Everyone has a teacher in their life who was special.  Some lucky people have more than one teacher like this.  When we think of what made that teacher special, part of it is usually that this person was more than just a teacher.  He or she was also a little bit like a friend.  The personal influence model is the foundation on which all other aspects of classroom management rely.  If your students don’t feel a strong connection with you, it’s hard for you to use any of the other models that we will teach.  So get close with your kids! Listen to them.  Share a bit of yourself with them and show them that you love and care about them.  

Self-awareness

Sometimes we have students who display problematic behaviors, but they aren’t exactly aware of the behavior and/or its affect on other students.  The self awareness model is all about helping children realize these behaviors can be problematic and the impact of these behaviors on others.  Some key points with this model are to stay positive and be sure that when you’re discussing these behaviors with the child, your language focuses on the behavior and not on the child.  We will discuss these points more deeply in future classes.

This week, I will introduce you to some very special children.  I also noticed a lot of people take pictures of the handouts, so here are the files if you would like to print your own!

One more thing, don't forget to THINK about who you will interview.  See you in class!

Week 9: Rewarding Good Behavior

This week's class was about showing our students how much we appreciate them, but also about helping them to appreciate themselves.  When we use reward systems, it's important to first be sure that we actually need a reward system.  If you don't need it, don't do it!  However, if your students need a little "push" to help motivate them in class, rewarding the behaviors you want to see could help.

This was a very quick and simple lesson, but is meant as a bit of a rest before we move into some of the more challenging things ahead.  For next week's class, I would like everyone to watch the video below.  It's about a special teacher from Japan who has mastered the art of building community and closeness with his students.  It's the first part in a series of five.  Watch this one for sure, but watch the others if you have time.

Week 8: Cooperative Learning

EFFECTIVE TEACHING PRACTICES

The lesson on cooperative learning is the second lesson about managing classrooms through effective teaching practices. If our classes are well designing and thoughtfully prepared, our students will be engaged enough in class to make management easier for us.

THE ELEMENTS

Not all group work is cooperative learning. For a group activity to truly be a cooperative learning activity, there are five necessary elements that must be present. We learned about these in class by using a jigsaw structure! I was very impressed by the artwork that you all designed to express the meanings of these elements. Just for a review, here are the five elements of cooperative learning:

Positive Interdependence: 

Everybody works together and supports each other. In order for one of us to succeed, we must all succeed.

Individual Accountability:

Each person in the group has a responsibility. It shouldn’t be possible for one students to “coast” through the project or activity.

Face to Face Interaction:

Students work together and discuss in real time. 

Social Skills:

Students develop important interpersonal skills such as cooperation, negotiation, sharing and teamwork, among others.

Group Processing: 

While working and after the job is done, participants reflect on

their group work.


I couldn't find the file for the in-class materials on my computer, so here are some older materials that may even be more useful outside of class.

And just for fun...

Next Week's Agenda:  Positive Reinforcement

Week 7: Chuseok!!!

Once every five or six years, the Chuseok holiday gives Korea the gift of a whole week off of work or school.  In a gesture to recognize this special year of the holiday, YL-TESOL has decided to move all classes into the following week. This means that there will be no classes held for the week of Chuseok.  Have a nice time with your families and come back next refreshed and ready to finish off the second half of the semester!

Week 6: Learning Centers

A wild week

I understand that this week has been pretty hectic for all the YL-TESOL trainees.  That makes this a perfect week for a little treat in Management class!  

The lesson on learning centers is the first in our unit on managing the classroom through effective teaching practices.  It involves setting up self contained stations that students can use for educational activities.  If this sounds familiar, it’s because all of your instructors use this technique from time to time.

How it can be done

Throughout the semester you may see some different examples of a learning centers approach.  In Literacy class, you may have a room full of resources.  In Management class, we had a cart full of activities.  What they both had in common was that they were thematic.  Whenever you use learning centers in your classroom, it’s a good idea that the centers are somehow related in some way.  Our centers in Management were related to a book.  The Literacy centers were related to phonics. 

Another thing that we did in Management was relate them to multiple intelligences.  The theory of multiple intelligences is something that everyone will get a deeper understanding of later in the semester, but this week we all got a short introduction.  One of the main ideas to remember is that the intelligences are all related, so we don’t need to make a learning center for each intelligence.  One center can target as many as four or five intelligences!

Finally, remember that children like having fun while they are learning and they like the feeling that they have choices about how they learn.  Incorporate that into your lessons and your students will be so engaged with their lessons, that managing your classroom will be a  breeze! 

Here are the instructions from the centers that you all experienced this week!

Your Homework

   Although there is an assignment on your syllabus, I've decided to cancel this assignment in order to help you enjoy your Chuseok more!  Have a nice holiday!

For after the holiday: Cooperative Learning

Week 5: Routines and Helpers

Making Expectations Clear

The lesson on routines always seems like such a simple concept, but I believe it is based on one of the key concepts of having a well-managed classroom: if students know what behavior you expect of them, they will behave in that way.

Routines can come in the form of a special hand signal, a magic word, a bell(like in my classes), or a poster on the wall, among other things.  Any way that you use them, the are an important part of every teachers toolbox for keeping problematic behaviors down and saving time.

Making it clear

15 years ago, I got a speeding ticket while I was driving to a ski resort in Idaho.  Why was I speeding?  Is it because I’m a rebel and I hate the rules? No.  Is it because I wanted to make the police angry? No again.  Is it because I have “the need for speed” and I love moving fast? Maybe, but not this time.  I was actually speeding because I didn’t see any speed limit signs and I felt like I was going the right speed for the road.  Everyone has had a similar experience where they were doing the wrong thing simply because they didn’t know the way they were expected to do it.

This concept also applies to our classrooms.  For the same reason that rules make general expectations clear, sometimes we need to help our students with specific things in our classrooms.  Routine posters like the one pictured can tell students exactly how we expect them to do certain things.  As we discussed and practiced in class, these poster have 5 or fewer steps with pictures to add context.  They are also written in 100% positive language.

“Autopilot”

So now we just have to make posters, put them on the wall and students will all behave like little angels, right? Well, not exactly. If we want our students to follow routines, we have to practice.  Make it a game!  If they don’t follow a routine very well one time, tell them to go back to what they were doing and try again.  If you can, use a stopwatch and see if you can make their times better as they practice.

Part of this week’s homework is to make a routine poster for your classroom. If possible, make one that you could actually use someday.  Here are some good ideas for posters:

• What to do when you finish early
• Getting ready for lunch
• Show and Tell
• Ending the day
• Handing in homework
• Using the library

Encouraging Responsibility and Community

The next part of our lesson this week was about classroom helpers.  This is another idea that usually needs to be adapted differently to different groups of students.  When teachers give jobs to students, depending on their age and how much time they spend with them, they can give everyone jobs or just have one student job that students take turns doing.  

Any way that it’s done, when I’ve seen teachers use this idea it builds and large amount of community in the classroom.  In addition, it also makes students feel closer to the teacher when they feel that they are really helping him or her out, resulting in a stronger personal influence with students.  And of course, it’s also really great to have someone to help you out with some of the small tasks around the classroom.

In addition to your routine poster, you will also need to create one helper badge for sharing time next week.  You can make them by hand or on a computer, but remember to make them YL-friendly and put the expectations for the job on the back of the badge.  If I see a couple that I like, we might use them in our classes at YL-TESOL!

Next week's agenda:  Learning Centers

Week 4: Classroom Rules

In this week's lesson, we had a great time learning about rules, why we have rules, and how we should make them.  Rules are important in the young learner classroom because like routines, they give clear expectations for behavior.  Rules also help us establish a classroom culture for children that is separate from their home culture.  It is also helpful for students to become accustomed to following rules in preparation for living with the rules of society. 

   I also hope that everyone had a good time making rules as a class.  With the method that we used in class, students work together and make rules for themselves.  If students make the rules, they develop a sense of ownership and closeness to the rules as well as a better understanding of the meanings of their rules and why each rule is necessary.  When students feel that they own the rules, they are more likely to follow them.  In addition, making rules together is an effective way to build classroom community. It also prepares students to be active participants in a democratic society.

For your homework this week, everyone needs to think of a community-building way to make a rules poster.  Just take the idea of classroom community and think of how you could make a poster together with the young learners that you teach or see yourself teaching later.  In our class this week, we used handprints to give everyone a chance to put their mark on the poster.  How would you do it with your students?  Draw it up on an A4 size piece of paper and share it next week! Be sure to write up a short description of how your poster includes students in the rule making process and builds community in your classroom.

Next week:  Routines and Helpers

Week 3: The Learning Environment

Good class displays can be used to meet instructional needs and build classroom community

In the beginning of our proactive management module, it’s important for us to consider the overall environment that we prepare for our children.  This week we looked at what we need to consider to make our students comfortable in their classrooms.  For the next two weeks, we will be looking at other things that we can use to fill our classrooms and manage our students proactively.

For the second half of this week’s class, we took a look at the four major considerations teachers need to think about when they are putting a classroom together.  Everyone did an excellent job brainstorming in their groups about what are the building blocks of an effective learning environment.  One thing I always love about this activity is that there are always new ideas that I have never heard before.

A "quiet space" is great for when kids need 

to manage emotions.

 The concepts that we talked about in class may not fit everyone’s teaching situation the same.  So, for homework this week everyone needs to bring their own version of a classroom to share with friends.  Think about your individual teaching situation.  Do you have a classroom of your own?  Do you share with several teachers?  If you could have all the money in the world to design your own classroom, how would you do it?  You can use the paper that was handed out in class to cut, paste and draw your classroom or draw it by hand or on a computer.  Just show me that you put some effort into it and be ready to explain your ideas to the class.  Do your best to think of some fun and original stuff! 

If you need them, here is the furniture sheet from class, a fancy classroom design tool and another more simple version for you to use.

Here's next week's agenda: Class Rules

Week 2: Helping Each Other Write and Listen

This week's management class lays an important foundation for both good teaching and good living.  Being supportive and listening makes everyone's life easier!  Here’s a bit of what we covered this week:

Peer Editing

This week everyone brought a rough draft of their first paper of the semester.  We went through the important steps of the peer review process: Compliments, suggestions and corrections.  I was very pleased to see that people were very eager to share their work with their friends and give and receive valuable feedback.

Peer editing is a valuable skill for all of us to learn and practice.  As post graduate students, all YL trainees should be trying to become more independent in developing their English writing skills.  In addition, peer editing is a useful skill that we can pass on to our students in the future!

Although not all of your professors provide time in class for peer editing, remember that it is a part of the writing process that you can use with all of your future assignments.  If possible, try meeting with classmates outside of class to take a look at each other’s papers.  Get lunch or a cup of coffee; it can be fun!  Keep your peer review checklist handy for when you get together and remember to follow the important steps.

Active Listening

The second half of this week’s class was like a quick workshop on active listening.  It was fun giving everyone a taste of the concept.  I’m glad that everyone now has a basic understanding of what active listening is.  This is not the last time you will hear about it this semester.  We will be revisiting it in future lessons.  Now that we all have a basic understanding of it, it will be easier to know what we are talking about when I refer to it later on.

Active listening is an important skill for us all to know when dealing with students and the parents of our students.  It’s also an important skill for us to pass on to our students so that they can grow into good and effective people.  The first two exercises that we did in class were methods that can be used for helping children understand and use active listening skills.

The first thing that we practiced was blind walking.  Through this activity, we learned that listening is important and that not all communication is verbal.  In active listening, we need to do our best to listen 100% and only use nonverbal communication to show that you are listening.

In the next activity, we practiced being “bad listeners”.   We were very mean to one of our classmates, but they each got a piece of candy when it was over.  What we learned from this activity was that being a bad listener can be hurtful to our friends, but can also deprive us of important information.  After that, we all got a little bit of practice with a partner.  

If anyone wants more information on active listening or wants more practice, feel free to come by my office and visit!

Next week's agenda: The Learning Environment

Week 1: My Favorite Teacher, Ever.

We like to say that the classroom management course is the “heart” of the YL program.  In this course, we learn about some of the most important things that teachers of young learners need in order to help young learners grow into exceptional and effective people.  In the first half of this course, we will explore methods of managing our classes by means of thorough preparation as well as effective teaching practices.  The other half of the course will focus on behavior management and creating and nurturing positive partnerships with the parents and caregivers of our students.  Overall, it’s a well-rounded and extremely practical course.  There should be something for every teaching situation our trainees may find themselves in.

Remember that for your homework this week, you need to bring a rough draft of your one page paper about your favorite teacher ever.  The paper needs to be typed and in English. I will not collect it, but you will need to share it.  Go ahead and bring the picture from class too! Here's the assignment description if you need it.

You also need to read the Academic Honesty Policy, sign the bottom and bring it to me next week.  Let me know if you have any questions about it.  

Finally here are some documents for you to print off for next week:

Active Listening and Peer Review

I don't give many reading assignments in this course.  Instead, I expect everyone to check this website and prepare their documents for the next week.  If you have an iPad, Galaxy Tab or another tablet-type gadget, feel free to just load it up and save some paper!

Welcome to Classroom Management!

Hello new YL trainees!  In the first week of classes, it's always a lot of fun seeing new faces and getting to know the special people that I'll be spending the next five months with.  In this course, we will be learning a lot of simple and practical management concepts that can be applied to several parts of your lives.  We'll also be having a lot of fun and sharing a lot of things with each other.  Here are a few important things you should know about the course:

• We have homework every week until midterm (but it's easy homework).
• Everyone needs to print their own weekly agendas off this website before class and read it (but that's really your only reading assignment).
• This course's grade counts as part of the Approaches grade, 15% of it

 I'm sure I said all of this on the first day of class, but sometimes it's hard for us to remember everything we hear in the first week.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to a great semester getting to know all of you!

Mr. Croner