Discipline

 

(Press pause if you would like to read a slide or keep it up longer! It runs pretty fast)

For another class assignment, we needed to ask Ms. M how she defines her rules and procedures in her classroom. I uploaded a power point of what she shows her classes at the beginning of the year. Her rules are not just stated at the beginning of the year, because she has had many students since kindergarten. The students know what is expected of them, the rewards for good behavior and the consequences for misbehavior.

In the classroom setting, students sit by others that they wish to sit by. If that is not working, Ms. M will move them accordingly. As of right now, many of the seating arrangements are working very well, and she doesn't seem to have many problems with where students sit.

At the beginning of every class period there is a "police officer" that changes every class.  The names are crossed off of the class list in order to remember who was the police officer at what time. The police officer gets to sit in a computer chair instead of the regular chairs, and picks helpers to hand out and clean up materials. At the end of each hour, the police officer calls students to line up one by one. Ms. M noted how great it is to have organization and order because a free for all does not work. (We learned that the hard way on our first day with the sixth graders!) Ms. M also believes that having her lessons and classes planned out allows everything to go smoother, and when she is not scrambling to find something then the students are more confident in the project as well. 

One of Ms. M's most consistent procedures is counting to three. It is so easy to get the students attention when they know that if she reaches three and it has not quieted down, then they will get a verbal warning, which means the whole class has a strike "1". Her consequences are not just for counting to three, they apply to everything. 

As a class her consequences are:

1.     Verbal Warning-

2.     Lose radio, return to assigned seats

3.     Heads down- silent working

4.     Lose recess

As an individual the consequences are:

1.     Verbal Warning-

2.     Move seating

3.     Lose Police officer privilege

4.     Recess in/ phone call to parent

5.     Sent to office/phone call to parent

 I haven't seen any of the consequences in action except for last week when Ms. W was moving students in order for them to behave. I think the consequences are a great idea because when a student knows what will happen if they misbehave, they often choose to stay away from the consequences.

Ms. M's classroom is very neat and tidy, with a lot of expressive work on the walls. The students are not allowed to touch other student's artwork because they should know how much time is spent on making them beautiful. I think this is a great idea to help save the student's work from being destroyed while it is being displayed. Even early on, students know that art should be respected.

The daily procedures in the room are as follows:

• Seating Chart-student determined as long as it’s working.  Must remain in assigned seats while directions are being given, then allowed to move.  In the event of a substitute, students will remain in assigned seats unless told otherwise.

• Moving around the room is discouraged unless necessary.  NO RUNNING EVER.

• Getting class attention:  1-2-3

• Assignments

• Name/ class name on back of art work

• Finished Box/Class box

• When you’re done early (free drawing, teacher jobs, read book)

• Clean up countdown-need to be done by zero!

• Clean up procedures-clean up your own mess! 

• Sinks- left for equipment cleaning- right for hands.

• Police officer Duties and privileges

 (call to line up, chose radio station,  special day- potter’s wheel, hand out supplies, clean equipment (or chose others), sit in rolling chair, help solve disputes, help supervise cleanup)

• Line up- one class next to large bulletin board, other along cupboards (last class of the day puts up chairs)

I definitely enjoy the way Ms. M runs her classroom. The students seem to respect and understand what goes on in the art room. I will definitely steal her idea of "police officer". It took me until this pre-teaching observation to remember that when I was in elementary school we had a "star child" in my classrooms growing up. It was always fun to be a leader for a day. Like Ms. W also noted, it is important to set guidelines, expectations, rules and consequences right away and stick to them. As I student teach, I think I will use some of these ideas in my classroom as well as working with what my teacher already has set. Repetition is key. The students in Ms. M's room really respond to the repetitive nature of her classroom as well as where the supplies go and how the room functions as a whole. After my student teaching experience, I think that I will have a lot more understanding of what truly works for me. Until then, I will try to use what truly works for the teachers I work with.