Classroom Management in Dublin

            Ms. Cowman shared that the biggest challenge she faces when teaching is keeping her students on task, maintaining their attention, and attending to the variety of behavioral needs within her classroom. Despite this, I have seen her implement a number of effective classroom management strategies, many of which I have also seen used in American schools.  At the beginning of the year, the students brainstormed class rules together and voted on the five best ones to develop their “Classroom Charter.” I have seen this strategy of allowing the students to set their own rules in my previous pre-practicum at a school that emphasized the responsive classroom approach. Ms. Cowman also seats her students in four groups to promote teamwork, and she rewards a group with a point if they are remaining on task, demonstrating cooperation, following directions, or are on their best behavior. Each student can also earn individual points and receive a prize once they accumulate 20 points. Ms. Cowman has found that rewarding the good instead of taking away for the bad has been effective in making students aware of the expectations, and I have also seen this positive reinforcement in American classrooms. Ms. Cowman’s disciplinary approach seems different than that of several of the European schools I have read about on this blog. If a student is being disruptive, she gives him or her three warnings before writing a note home to parents in their diaries. Furthermore, if a problem arises in her classroom, she takes the student to her desk or outside her classroom to have a private discussion rather than addressing the issue in front of the entire class and humiliating the student. Whenever the students begin to get off task, Ms. Cowman says, “Hands up top” and the students put their hands on their heads and reply, “That means stop,” which is effective for getting the students’ attention and getting them refocused. Overall, Ms. Cowman seems to have a more laidback approach than some teachers, but although her students sometimes get rowdy, it is clear that her students respect her and aim to meet her expectations. In contrast to American schools, children at St. Andrew’s are given more independence and responsibility for their learning, and therefore the expectations for students to remain on task and complete all of their assignments are particularly high. It has been interesting observing Ms. Cowman strike a balance between actively keeping the students on task and allowing them to recognize what is expected of them at any given time.

Classroom Management in Cork

When I first arrived at Scoil Mhuire, I was surprised at how little classroom management my CT seemed to use. The thirteen girls in the class seemed to behave perfectly with little more than an occasional, “let’s stay focused,” necessary. As the semester progressed, however, I began to notice the slight purposeful ways in which my CT implemented classroom management strategies. From seating arrangements to the way in which she addresses students, my CT has clearly thought about how to help her class run so smoothly.

Every Monday morning, the students in my CT’s class line up in the back of the room and are called on randomly to choose seats for themselves and their new partner for the week. This constant seat switching made it very difficult for me to learn the girls’ names, but it definitely has advantages for the class dynamic. Since they have all had opportunities to work with one another, the students know each others’ strengths and weaknesses and work as a cohesive unit. Additionally, by changing the seating arrangements each week, my CT has managed to encourage friendships between all the students, avoiding the cliques I have seen develop in other classes, particularly among girls of their age.  While this strategy would be difficult to implement in a larger class and with students with more specific learning needs, it greatly enhances the environment in my CTs class.

Another slight way in which my CT manages the classroom is in the way she interacts with students throughout the day. There seems to be a great deal of trust and respect reciprocated between teacher and students, allowing the students independence while the teacher maintains authority. My CT is quite lighthearted with students, often joking around with them and having chats with them about their lives. This gives the classroom a relaxed feel. In classrooms with a strict routine in which most of the teaching is structured around books, I have usually found the relationship between students and teacher to be more tense than in other classrooms. Thus, I think my CT’s lightheartedness as well as the respect she shows students is crucial. By showing students that she believes in them and cares about them, my CT develops a strong relationship with her students. This means that when she does offer advice on how to improve their work or when they do occasionally get off task and she refocuses them, they listen to her.

In past practicums when I have reflected on classroom management I have often thought about distinct strategies that teachers use to get students’ attention, manage their behavior, and enhance learning. However, in a class with only thirteen students with no behavioral issues, these strategies are not as necessary. Instead, it is the small purposeful decisions that my CT makes each day that make her an excellent teacher and allow the students to thrive in her classroom. I think it is crucial to understand the importance of these small strategies as, even in larger and more demanding classrooms, these slight techniques provide the basis for good classroom management.

Promoting Equity and Social Justice in Bath

I just finished up my student teaching experience at St. Andrew's Primary School this past Tuesday, and it was so bittersweet. While I was excited to have finished up my 10-week placement and not have to wake up early on Tuesdays anymore, it was immensely sad to say goodbye to my CT, the kids, and the rest of the staff. They were all sad to see me go and said really sweet things about my contributions during my time at the school. I will always treasure my experience at the school with kids who touched my heart and made my Tuesdays the best day of the week.

Being given the experience to teach abroad taught me a lot about myself as a teacher, how my experiences compare to student teachers at other American and British universities, as well as my newfound willingness to step outside of my comfort zone and try something new. Not only has it altered my teaching pedagogy, but it has allowed me to see my job as a mechanism for promoting equity and social justice. My school in particular was extremely diverse; about half of my class was ELLs, about 60% of the class has social and/or emotional problems, and a few have severe learning disabilities. Therefore, promoting equity within the classroom and making sure that every child got an appropriate learning experience regardless of their disability became an important issue within my classroom. Even in the crafting of my lessons I found myself needing to implement huge differentiations in worksheets, instructions, and activities. I also needed to pay particular attention to how I gave instructions, who the kids worked with, as well as what kind of support each kid was receiving throughout the lesson. It was hard work, and I have never had to think about equity that deeply before, but it definitely helped to benefit my teaching. It allowed me to learn a lot about how to not only construct lessons, but how to deliver them in a way that allows every student to learn appropriately and perform to the best of their abilities.

Additionally, throughout my placement, the need to promote social justice was present as well as amongst both students and teachers. All of the teachers in my school were extremely experienced and I found them to be some of the best teachers that I have ever seen. However, promoting social justice within the school was an issue that they had to face everyday since many of the students did not get along or had issues that impacted their learning and the learning of others. This resulted in teachers not only trying to promote equality amongst the learning of their students, but also forced them to focus on the level of equality between students, socially. Many of the girls in particular would fight constantly either because they did not get align or because of competition between them that pinned them against each other. It created chaos on a daily basis, and I constantly found myself getting crying girls from the bathroom or breaking up fights. I have learned from my placement not only how to instill equality in my lessons, but how to inspire an equal love for everyone throughout the school. My CT did a great job of bringing up social justice issues with her students so that they learned the importance of it at a young age. This also helped them to get along better and create unity within the classroom, which is a method that I will definitely be taking with me to my own classroom eventually.

How the French Manage

Classroom management in general is something that has always interested me because of how difficult it can be and how many different strategies there are that work differently for different students. Keeping this in mind, I was super excited and intrigued to see how teachers in another country would manage their classrooms and how it would differ from anything I’ve seen in my other pre-practicums.

The situation that I am in right now in France is different from a traditional classroom setting so the management is therefore vastly different. As I explained in my last post, the first session I observe at my placement is a parent-child class. The basis of the class in itself creates a difficulty for management. Before even starting at my placement, my CT explained to me that one of the hardest things for her is finding the right balance of behavioral management in this class. She explained how she feels intrusive if she corrects the children’s behavior since the parents are present and interactive the entire time. Over the months I have been at my placement, she has held true to that statement. At times I can tell that she wishes she could intervene when a child is misbehaving but restrains herself. It would be an extremely difficult position, and I am not sure how I would handle it if I were in her shoes. Management becomes an entirely different ball game in a situation like this.

In the second session I observe the teacher does not use many classroom management techniques. I can tell that she struggles with what exactly to do to develop a standardized strategy especially because there is one child who dominates the class. The student is extremely advanced in English and races to beat the other children with almost any question, which then discourages the other students.

Similar to classrooms in the United States, you’ll find a range of students with different abilities. I do not know from experience, but I have heard that in French elementary schools teachers and rules tend to be rather strict. I have noticed during our arts and crafts time with the older students that they do not dare make something that looks different from the model the teacher provides. Down to the color they try to keep it exactly the same. I wonder if this could be a reflection of the strictness and how the teachers manage their classrooms.

Independence/Responsibility amongst Viennese Students

     After observing and teaching for many weeks in a Viennese elementary school, I have noticed that students are granted more responsibility in the classroom as well as outside of school. My students are only in first grade, but yet they are expected to complete all homework assignments and bring in library books without any reminders. If students forget things, like sneakers for gym class or money for a field trip, teachers normally won't let them participate. If students don't complete their homework, they have to tell their parents that they didn't do it and finish it for the next day. In American schools, I frequently hear teachers reiterating due dates and assigned tasks. Students I have worked with have forgotten homework on multiple occasions and are given stern reminders, but they normally are not excluded from the day's activities. 
   My teacher will also leave the students alone for some time in the classroom to complete certain tasks. Legally I don't think this is allowed in most U.S. schools, however, in Vienna the children are expected to continue working and remain in their seats. Of course there are instances where students get up and start chit chatting with peers and not engaging in the assigned worksheet, exercise, etc.  However, generally, I get the impression that Viennese children are accustomed to working on their own without their teacher's constant guidance and support. They understand that it is their responsibility to complete their work and that there will be consequence if they do not. 
     Another example I notice daily is that very young children will ride the public transport system on their own. This is not something I see frequently in the United States. It seems like children are just naturally instilled with more independence and responsibility than in the States. It may also have something to do with Austria's very low crime rate. Parents aren't scared of sending their children on the subway because they know it is safe. After school when students are going home, the teacher will freely let them out of the classroom. There isn't a teacher in charge of pick up who makes sure that each child gets picked up by the right parent or gets in the right car. Initially this was strange to me because in the States teachers must be very aware of where each of their students are going after school. However, in Vienna it's in the hands of the kids to know where they are going and where they are supposed to be.