Category: Free Inquiry

During my Wednesday visit we had a TOC that had recently graduated from my program and after talking a bit about my inquiry offered to answer a few questions regarding my topic from the perspective of a TOC as most new teachers will often start out with this position before being offered to work full time at a school.  This is what he had to say:

Was there anything you wish you had told your younger self in the beginning?
-Resist the urge to raise your voice.  While this is sometimes inevitable, students will often just speak louder and you will become exhausted.  A low, calm, firm voice is ideal.  That being said, sometimes you just need to wait.
-Building on the previous point, there have been a few times when a class has been so out of control that I’ve simply stood or sat at the front of the class and waited.  Don’t expend your energy getting angry.  Losing 5 or 10 minutes is not the end of the world.
-Don’t engage in power struggles.  While sometimes it is necessary to reason with students who disagree with you, if you actually begin to argue with them, you’ve already lost.  Know when to walk away.
-Don’t take things personally.  If you’re tired or it’s been a hard day, things kids say can get to you.  Take a step back and realize they’re not fully formed human beings and they’re not trying to hurt your feelings.  While we do take our jobs seriously, teaching is a job so you need to be able to compartmentalize what happens with students from your overall mood.
-Be flexible.  Unless a teacher explicitly tells you not to deviate from their plan, feel free to make changes to adapt to your own teaching style.  Or, if the kids are just too rowdy or hyper, take a break.  If you take 10 minutes of a 55 minute lesson to run around, the other 45 minutes will be much more productive.

What elements of classroom management have you implemented as a TOC working in classes you don’t already know?
-If there is a seating plan, hold the kids to it.  I’m pretty flexible when it comes to a lot of things but when it comes to seating plans, I don’t give an inch.  As soon as you let one student move, it’s a slippery slope.
-If you know there are a couple students who have behaviour problems, connect with them as much as possible.  Ask them about their personal lives, use them for demonstrations/ setup, joke with them, etc.
-To get a class’s attention/ bring them back after they’ve been chatting, I count down (at variable speeds) from 5.  This is something I saw Mark do and it’s worked really well for me.  It seems to give the kids time to settle while also holding them to the 5 second window.
-Only let one student leave the room at a time.  There’s more flexibility for this in middle school but I never let kids who are friends (or enemies for that matter) be out at the same time.
-If you do give a student a break because they’re anxious, hyper, etc., make sure you are both on the same page regarding when they should be back.  Otherwise you may not see them again!
-If you have to discipline/ warn a student, try not to do it in front of other students.  Kids are generally pretty reasonable when they don’t have an audience.
-Know when to walk away.  As a TTOC, realize it’s impossible for you to have the same type of report with students as their teacher does.  You may not be able to get a student to do their work or stop fooling around.  Don’t let yourself get upset.

What’s the hardest thing about being a new teacher?
-Not knowing kids’ names is tough.  Being able to say kids’ names is a massive help for classroom management.  If you can remember a few then it will really help but don’t feel bad if you can’t remember them all.
-Anxiety of the unknown.  I suffer from a lot of anxiety so this was especially hard for me.  I would stress so much about potentially arriving to no plan or a really difficult to understand plan.  To combat this, I always arrive (and still do) at least 30 minutes before the start of school.  I value the lack of stress over a bit of extra sleep.  Then if there are any issues with the plan, you have ample time to address it.  As a side note, I’ve never shown up and there’s been no plan.
-Have realistic expectations for yourself.  I’m pretty sure most people who become teachers are super high achievers and have high expectations for themselves.  But teaching is hard and you learn every day.  There is zero chance you’ll be an amazing teacher right out of the gate so don’t hold yourself to that standard.  No one else will.  As long as you are slowly improving you should be happy.

Miscellaneous advice:
-Find your comfort zone regarding what you, as a teacher, need to be strict on and what you can be flexible with.  This is different for everyone and it will take you time to figure out.
-I wish I had better news but, honestly, my practicums provided like 80% of what I needed to know and UVic made up the rest (and that might be being generous to the university).
-As a TTOC, try out different grades to get a feel for what you want.  If there is enough work, only accept call outs for ages you want (it’s a seller’s market right now).
-Find a few schools you like and meet everyone you can.  After a year and a half, I work almost every day at one of two schools and I feel super comfortable going to work every day.  And I’m always booked in advance and rarely get call outs.
-Be yourself.  Don’t try to change your personality too much when trying to adapt to a new situation.  Students know when you’re being fake.  I don’t teach grade 3 and under because I find myself having to act too different.
-One thing that continues to stress me out is the idea of not being prepared for an earthquake, lockdown, or any other sort of drill.  Keep a class list with updated current attendance on you or close by at all times.  Then, no matter what, you have everything you need in an emergency.

I read this article on new teachers and how classroom management is often one of the biggest challenges because it is a skill that takes practice and this is what I found:

One of the biggest challenges for first-year teachers is managing a classroom. The difference between the first time teachers and those with more experience is that teachers with more experience have built up an arsenal of expertise over time, these management skills are invisible to observers. This gives the impression that managing a full class is effortless when rather it is highly demanding. Classroom management takes a lot of trial and error in order to figure out what works for you and different types of kids. A majority of new teachers are challenged with developing skills in all subject areas, lesson planning, creating activities, developing ways to present instructions, assessing and grading students accurately, and managing a classroom all at the same time. Because they are just starting they have fewer strategies to call on, and they have a far less sophisticated understanding of the general teaching process; thus translating to spending time disproportionately and focusing too much on problems that relate to management instead of students’ learning. 

Scarlett, W. (Ed.) (2014). Beginning Teachers and Classroom Management. In The sage encyclopedia of classroom management (pp.85-88). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781483346243

I read this article that talked about how teachers can use the physical environment and routines to positively affect behavior and classroom management. This is what I found:

Classrooms are incredibly dynamic. It is where teachers and students engage in the learning and politics of the room and the power struggle between the two can dictate the manageability of the class. For instance, when placing students in rows, a particular power structure is implied. In contrast, a class divided into table groups can convey that your learning will be collaborative. As a teacher, you have the ability to shape these subtle changes to work in your favor while managing a class. By placing oneself in the middle of the classroom sitting face to face with students a teacher can interrupt the social quota. This invokes Vygotsky’s law of awareness when an aspect of the classroom is taken-for-granted (ex. who sits where) get disrupted, it becomes easily notices and therefore questioned. This allows for a different kind of learning to emerge within the dynamic. When shifting student and teacher position, a circle formation can be very favorable as it promotes large group discussion, as it upsets the traditional spatial power allowing more focus to be on the students rather than the teacher. By paying attention to your classroom dynamic, as a teacher, you can focus more time being on task while creating continuity in the classroom and move between activities smoothly. A sense of security is also easily maintained by creating a structured course of action for students to follow which is effective across cultures. Lesson plans should be built to have a smooth flow between, and contain simple routines to allow for momentum in their learning since they are aware of what to expect. A strong routine will allow students to be immersed in learning right away. For example by implementing brainteasers or daily puzzles into the beginning of class creates a positive motivator that students can expect that gets them into the learning mode, engaging them in learning. Moreover, research has suggested that starting class on time can provoke student achievement because it sets a sense of routine right away. 

Pinto, L. E. (2013). The Physical Environment and Routine. In From discipline to culturally responsive engagement: 45 classroom management strategies (pp. 61-77). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press doi: 10.4135/9781452285160

I read this article about how expectations and rules can be a useful tool for managing a classroom and this is what I found:

When properly utilized clear expectations and classroom guidelines can contribute to student motivation in class, as well as promoting respect. Student motivation is embedded in their beliefs about their personal capability to take charge increasing their self-efficacy. Expectations create cognitive engagement which can increase a student’s sense of belonging, thus motivating students to make higher goals increasing achievement. Hence, teachers who set high expectations for their students and create a sense of belief that their students can achieve, are then able to alter their classroom practices experiencing greater rates of student success and achievement. 

Furthermore, setting clear rules can be just as important and must reflect major issues when devised. Rules have a variety of purposes, such as relational or moral rules that handle fair and kind actions, structure rules that tackle procedures and preparedness, protecting rules which are guided towards ensuring students’ safety preventing harm. The research proposes that elementary students are able to comprehend and are sensitive to the purposes of rules. However, becoming overly focused on rules that ultimately has small importance in the class as a whole, the classroom will become a power struggle. Therefore, rules are significant, but alone, they are not adequate for effective classroom management. Moreover, Classrooms are stronger when the students are able to participate in actively setting meaningful rules. Overall a combination of clear rules and expectations can intrinsically motivate student success and respect in a classroom community. 

Pinto, L. E. (2013). Here’s the Deal: Laying Out Expectations and Rules. In From discipline to culturally responsive engagement: 45 classroom management strategies (pp. 78-87). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press doi: 10.4135/9781452285160

What elements of classroom management are the most challenging for new teachers?

Since I am wanting to create a log of what I have observed so far I wanted to write out a few highlights I have noticed so far that connect to classroom management.

• Expectations are everything!! setting clear expectations of what students need or should be doing is incredibly helpful for both the teacher and the student.
• If you set expectations for students odds are they will meet them. a teacher on our trip to a high school told me this and I thought it was very cleaver. she told me how over a number of years she noticed how well all students were able to “rise to the occasion” in terms of learning when expectations were set for them.
• Classroom management is all about “you and me” or in other words the relationship between students and teachers. Forming a genuinely caring relationship with your students where you actually know things about them and check in with them is really important. a two-minute conversation with a kid can mean a lot and it also allows a teacher to better relate to their students.
• Classroom management and overall respect is huge. I have seen who I thought was the best behaved and hardest working kids with one teacher turn to absolutely chaotic kids with a different teacher based on the respect and power dynamic change.

Reflecting on this, these are just a few points I believe that they are all very valuable. most of these observations were things that I hadn’t put too much thought into before. however, I feel like I have a better understanding of classroom expectations and the importance of respectful and caring relationships with students.