Tips from my New Teachers!
Posted in VVMS
Today I had the pleasure of meeting with our new teachers for our monthly meeting. We have 8 new to our building teachers this year and they are awesome! Our topic today was classroom management and student engagement. We previewed the following resources:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/233131718183922491/
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/new-teacher-classroom-management
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LWOHVzY9m8
Then they created a list of tips that they want to commit to application and/or share that they already utilize:
- I like the idea that class starts the minute the teacher walks in the door rather than when the kids are ready to be quiet. I want to incorporate more of this routine in my classroom by having warm up questions at the start of class. This will give the kids a chance to be ready for class and gives me a chance to assess them daily as well as complete tasks such as attendance
- I like Kjersten’s “my favorite mistake” idea. I’ve been using examples of students’ writing to demonstrate things they have done well that I’m looking for.
- I begin class everyday with a journal so students know the routine.
- I started keeping a timer on the smart board for all sorts of activities. For the warm-up and activities like that the kids are way more on task when they see the countdown right in front of them. Also, I make the timer clap and cheer when it goes off so it’s a positive “yay you finished” feeling rather than an alarm making students feel like “uh-oh! I didn’t finish, I’m slow.” Keep it positive! 🙂
- I liked the idea that the lesson begins as soon as students enter the door and having an entrance activity is a good way to make sure this happens. This way students are engaged right away and the teacher has a chance to take care of any administrative tasks such as attendance.
- I really like the idea of having routines set up. This is really helpful for students, I need to work more on the idea that the lesson starts right when the walk in. I also need to work on setting a time limit for what they need to do.
- Rituals and routines are key, consistency is also important and cultural competency helps with establishing relationships – which in my opinion is most important.
- Engagement: using index cards to call on students, but instead of calling their name use a fun fact
- Management using positive rewards: I do a “secret student” every day (taken from Ron Clark). I choose the student before class begins and they can get a reward at the end of class if they meet the criteria. If a student does not meet the criteria, their name is not announced (no negative attention).
- I like the concept of making the classroom an orderly and safe place for students. I try to make sure every student gets a chance to share his/her opinion and then receives positive feedback for sharing with us.