Getting the Act Together

One of the number one things I learned this year (and I've heard it's a common lesson for first-year teachers) is that I need a little work on Classroom Management.  Between the normal struggles and the extra stuff that was going on in my life, I was SO sick of being a teacher by the end of the year.  However, I've got three months to figure out how to make things go differently next year, and my goal for next year is to still like my job come May (that could be a very tall order!).

Classroom management was the place to start, so I researched a number of books and chose the one that seemed best: Discipline in the Secondary Classroom.  (The reviews for the current edition are lacking, but the older edition got a number of glowing reviews, so I assumed the third edition would also be good).  I am not disappointed.  I have to say, this book is completely changing my views of my classroom and making me re-think every little detail, while still providing flexibility for me to do things my way and customize them for my classroom.  It's an easy-to-follow, step-by-step how-to instructional manual for all things classroom management.  The worksheets on the DVD are an added bonus that I'm using along with my own documents that I've created according to the activities in the text and I'm going to have a solid Classroom Management binder to refer to throughout the year.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who teaches in a secondary classroom that would like to fine-tune their classroom management plan.  Right now, I'm working on the activities for the first half of the book, which involve nailing down exactly what my plan is and articulating them in a way that I can clearly visualize how every aspect of my classroom should function like a well-oiled machine using the STOIC model.  Below is a summary of this, including what I've done thorough Chapter 5 (I recommend reading chapters 1-5 and then working on your plan since things in later chapters will influence your plans related to earlier chapters - I find I'm jumping back and forth to fine-tune things a lot):

Section 1: Structure your classroom for success (S)
Chapter 1 - Vision: Understand key concepts about managing student behavior

• Documents I created: Guidelines for Success, Family Contact Plan, Self-Assessment Plan, Family Leter

Chapter 2 - Grading and Instruction: Design instruction and evaluation systems

• Documents I created: Clear Goals for Instruction, Feedback on Behavior - Monitoring Behavior, Feedback on behavior and effort - Grading/Assessing behavior, Plan for students to review their grades

Chapter 3 - Organization: Prepare routines and procedures

• Documents I created: Instruction and evaluation procedures, Schedule of daily activities, Expectations for independent work periods, How to get students' attention, Student materials, Beginning and ending class, Addressing absences, Procedures for assigning/monitoring/collecting student work, Physical space and classroom layout

Chapter 4 - Classroom Management Plan: Plan to encourage responsible behavior and to respond consistently to student behavior

• Documents I created: Guidelines for Success, Family Contact Plan, Self-Assessment Plan, Family Letter

Section 2: Teach Expectations (T)
Chapter 5 - Expectations: Plan to teach students how to be successful

• Documents I created: ACHIEVE acronym breakdown, Plan for students to get my attention and communicate that they need help, Preliminary lesson plans for teaching expectations, list of common activities and transitions, ACHIEVE activities worksheets (detailing expectations for each common activity), ACHIEVE transitions worksheet (detailing expectations for each common transition)

Chapter 6 - Preparation and Launch: Pull it all together for the first day

Section 3: Observe Student Behavior (O)
Chapter 7 - Monitor Student Behavior: Implement and adjust your classroom management plan

Section 4: Interact Positively (I)
Chapter 8 - Motivation: Enhance students' desire to succeed

Section 5: Correct Fluently
Chapter 9 - Proactive planning for chronic misbehavior