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