Class+Procedures+&+Practices

Effective Teaching []

Chelonda Seroyer: [] The Pink Slip

Douglas Brooks says that students want to know seven things on the first day of school, thus, effective teachers plan their first day of school accordingly. The seven things students want to know on the first day of school are
 * Seven Things Students Want to Know**
 * 1) **Am I in the right room?**
 * Teachers should be standing at the door, helping anyone who needs help. A sign should be on the door as well as the chalkboard of the classroom with the teacher's name and other welcoming and supporting information.
 * Check every schedule to be sure that the correct student is coming into your classroom. Otherwise, help the student to quickly get to the correct room.
 * You have two choices, open seating or assigned seating. When the students enter the classroom of an effective teacher, they all know where to stand, sit, or be. Thus, when you greet your students at the door on the first day of school, you might want to assign the seating for that day immediately. This can be done in many different ways and suggestions are made in the book, The First Days of School, or the video series, The Effective Teacher.
 * The hallmark of effective teachers is that they listen to their students. A sixth grade student in Las Vegas said, "I like having assigned seating on the first day of school. Sometimes you walk into a class where you barely know anyone. Having assigned seats may not put you close to your friends, but at least you won't feel like a loser because no one wants to sit next to you."
 * If you want to make a good impression, invite your students to take an assigned seat, much like a gracious host or hostess would invite you in to sit-and offer you something to drink.
 * Every student knows that he or she is to behave. They are just waiting for the discipline plan to be revealed so that they know the limits on the classroom.
 * Effective teachers have a hard copy of a discipline plan ready for explanation. Every student gets a copy, a copy should be sent home, a large copy needs to be posted on the classroom wall, and extra copies are made available as new students enter throughout the school year.
 * If you do not have a plan, you are planning to fail. Have a plan and work the plan. For help with a discipline plan, read chapters 18 and 19 in The First Days of School, access www.MarvinMarshall.com, or read Cooperative Discipline by Linda Albert.
 * Effective teachers manage their classrooms with procedures, whereas ineffective teachers discipline the students with threats and punishments. The key word to understand is "procedures." Procedures have to do with teaching students what to do in the classroom, such as what to do if the teacher wants the class's attention, what to do upon entering the classroom, and how to make entries in a journal.
 * Effective teachers spend the first two weeks of school teaching students how to be responsible for their behavior and their learning. Students want to succeed and they want to be taught how to do things, but they can only succeed if they are shown the procedure for how to do things.
 * Although it is perfectly understandable that students want to know about their grade, the effective teacher is much more concerned with getting the students to complete the assignments and passing the tests. Grades are the after-effect of the assignment and the test.
 * Effective teachers do not grade using the "curve." In an effective classroom, the students earn their own grade based on their mastery of the learning criteria. It would be best to wait until day 2 or 3 to explain this concept to your students or better yet, when you give them their first assignment.
 * 1) **Where am I supposed to sit?**
 * 2) **What are the rules in this classroom?**
 * 3) **What will I be doing this year?**
 * 4) **How will I be graded?**


 * 1) **Who is the teacher as a person?**
 * Many teachers take a small section of a bulletin board and create a "personality bulletin board," which contains a collage of personal items about the teacher, such as pictures and objects about the teacher's life, work, and family. If you are a K-1 teacher, you may find this more effectively done by placing objects about yourself in a bag and pulling the objects out one at a time and discussing each-a teacher's own show and tell.

The ineffective teacher is more concerned with doing "my thing" and can't wait to start with a fun activity so that he or she can be the student's friend or pal. The students are not looking for fun. They are looking for security, consistency, respect, dignity, and care and you can convey that message on the first day of school by conveying how well you are organized. Your classroom management skill will tell the students if the class will be exciting or boring, whether they will learn or fail, and if you will light or blow out their candle.
 * 1) **Will the teacher treat me as a human being?**
 * Everyone wants to be treated with respect, dignity, and love, whether that person is a teacher, administrator, or student. You have seven seconds to create that perception beginning with
 * how you treat yourself with respect, dignity, and love,
 * how you greet your students at the door,
 * how you dress,
 * what signs are posted in your classroom,
 * the message on the chalkboard,
 * the obviousness that you are organized and ready, and
 * that you are in control of the learning environment for the classroom.