Classroom Management

The three aspects of classroom management that I will address are overall classroom respect, stricter consequences, and staying on topic. First, classroom respect needs to be addressed in each of my classes. Students talk to each other with such disrespect and I usually just let it happen. It becomes a probably when some students take offense to something said and then I have to step in. I have tried to be as respectful as possible to the classes and I usually receive respect back. To fix this problem I will begin to call out any disrespect I hear between the students. I will try to implement the rules we had from the deliberation task we did last semester. Everyone must be respectful to each other and if there is a problem it must be addressed in a respectful way. Secondly, I need to start sticking by my consequences. I really hate dishing out punishment because I feel like a hypocrite a lot of the times. I will usually tell someone they are in trouble, and then just give them a stern talking to. I am learning that a stern talking to does not work for every student. Some students have learned they can take advantage of my kindness. From now on I will be implementing detention or referrals for students who can not be respectful and behave. Thirdly, I need to stay on task. Sometimes, especially on days where we are not doing much, a student will say something about a basketball game or an event that occurred in the school and I will let them talk about it or we will discuss it. Now, I love talking about current events and news, but sometimes it turns into a yelling match between students and gets out of control. This is when a lot of disrespect is shown between students. We only get off task in my late classes because there are a lot of characters in those classes. From now on I will not allow students to discuss things not going on inside the classroom. Obviously, I’m not going to take the fun out of the classroom, but I will try to manage the conversations a little better from now on. My action plan will be implemented at the start of next week.

Curriculum Action Plan

After reviewing the comments I received on my curriculum unit I came away with two things that I did wrong. Apparently, some of my literacy elements were not apparent in the lessons and my objectives were worded wrong. Other than those two mishaps I received a lot of positive feedback. There really is not a sophisticated action plan that can be implemented from the reviews I received (No offense). The only reconstruction I can do is to work on my literacy elements in the classroom. Or next time, address the literacy elements better throughout the lesson plans. Also, when I was creating the curriculum unit I was not familiar with the objective lingo. Since I have been in the classroom and working hand and hand with my mentor teacher I have learned better ways to word objectives. Since I now recognize my mistakes within the curriculum unit I will implement a fool proof action plan in my classroom. Honestly, I have already fixed the objective wording problem, now I just need to make sure I am using the literacy elements properly. This should not be a problem though, because my students do a lot of reading and critical thinking exercises. In other words, my action plan was made earlier this year and already implemented.

If I were going to join a professional organization I would join the National Council for History Education (NCHE). The organization focuses on the importance of history in the classroom and society. It is not just an organization for teachers, therefore the people who are members range from professors to historic community groups. This organization could open a range of opportunities for me and my students. With access to over hundreds of historians and their work, I will be able to open a historic window for my students to see through. Also, this organization is recognized nation wide as a creditable historic organization whose mission is to spread the importance of history education. If I were to join the organization this would be important because schools nation wide would appreciate my commitment to the education and preservation of history. Also, I will be awarded discounts to all historic landmarks and a monthly magazine that discusses the most recent historic news and discussions on historic topics of today. The benefits of joining this groups are endless. As a social studies teacher the organization could help provide me with resources I need in the classroom as well as historic experiences for my students. My next step will be finding my debit card and applying for membership online.