Standard 3.1 - Classroom Management & Collaborative Learning
Candidates model and facilitate effective classroom management and collaborative learning strategies to maximize teacher and student use of digital tools and resources. (PSC 3.1/ISTE 3a)
Artifact - 2nd Grade Georgia Studies
Reflection
Classroom management is for me one of the most difficult parts of lesson planning. I lack formal teacher training, including classroom management strategies, so it has been necessary for me to participate in workshops and learn best practices from my colleagues. As a media specialist, I have an extremely large classroom with lots of distractions that entice students. I have learned that even though I have classroom teacher support during every lesson in the library, the most important part of management is to be prepared so students have activities to engage them during the learning activity. For this reason I believe my 2nd Grade Georgia Studies lesson demonstrates my ability to model and facilitate effective classroom management strategies.
I believe effective classroom management relates directly with differentiation strategies. In any effective classroom, students and teacher should develop roles and responsibilities that require each member of the group to participate. Second grade students represent a significant challenge because they can be an extremely diverse group developmentally. This particular lesson required students to work on different parts of the project in learning centers. Students come to the media center with their cooperative groups, so members of each group already have identified responsibilities. I selected one student in each group to be the project manager to keep others on task. One learning center focused on use of the Promethean board with ScribbleMap loaded, so students could draw features on the big map. To complete this activity, students took turns holding the reference map of Georgia and guiding the student drawing on the map. Then a student would “tag” the map for a label, and another student would read or dictate what the label on the map should say. The project manager made sure everyone had a turn drawing, tagging, reading or typing. Before they started, I modeled how to draw on the map and tag labels, and facilitated their work throughout the activity, frequently saving the picture.
A similar strategy was employed for students creating original art for scanning or working on the presentation book. Class “materials managers” passed out pencils and art supplies, and students worked in groups at tables. We use a strategy of “ask 3 before me” so when students had questions about their task, or about using specific crayons or materials, they first ask 3 classmates for assistance. Before the class arrived, I set out books and magazines about the Georgia regions and plants and animals in case they wanted the extra support. The classroom teacher supervised this activity. While that activity was in progress, the group working on the presentation book used the computers closest to the rest of the class allowing easy supervision. The project manager made sure everyone had his computer log in and assisted classmates as needed. To prepare for this activity I had already created the book template, and downloaded copyright free pictures into folders labeled by region. I modeled how to open the template, insert a picture and type text, and facilitated as students worked on the presentation. Again, students employed “ask 3 before me” and helped each other with technical problems and spelling. The real focus of this collaborative learning activity in the media center was on the technology use, learning how to use different technology tools and work collaboratively; most content instruction for this unit was managed in the classroom, and the presentation allowed them to showcase their learning.
By completing this lesson I learned that classroom management must be intentional and differentiated by activity, ability, and interest as well as the age of the students. A center-based technology activity like this will function more smoothly with older students. Implementing this activity as initially conceived made management challenging. Although I plan to use this activity again this year, instead of trying to complete several activities during the same session, I will spread the project out over several weeks so that each week will focus on just one of the technology tasks. This will also ensure that every student has the opportunity to complete each task and contribute to the completed project.
This lesson activity will impact student learning in several ways. The classroom management strategies I employed, especially the level of planning and preparation, will make me a more effective teacher in the library, which will help students gain practice in different technology tools and skills so they can use technology more effectively in different classes. Developing and practicing consistent management practices will help students when working collaboratively with other students, within our school or on collaborative projects with other schools, and can be assessed by observing their effectiveness and success in completing group work. This will build skills and confidence in online collaboration and lead to continued success, in higher education and as adults.
Classroom management is for me one of the most difficult parts of lesson planning. I lack formal teacher training, including classroom management strategies, so it has been necessary for me to participate in workshops and learn best practices from my colleagues. As a media specialist, I have an extremely large classroom with lots of distractions that entice students. I have learned that even though I have classroom teacher support during every lesson in the library, the most important part of management is to be prepared so students have activities to engage them during the learning activity. For this reason I believe my 2nd Grade Georgia Studies lesson demonstrates my ability to model and facilitate effective classroom management strategies.
I believe effective classroom management relates directly with differentiation strategies. In any effective classroom, students and teacher should develop roles and responsibilities that require each member of the group to participate. Second grade students represent a significant challenge because they can be an extremely diverse group developmentally. This particular lesson required students to work on different parts of the project in learning centers. Students come to the media center with their cooperative groups, so members of each group already have identified responsibilities. I selected one student in each group to be the project manager to keep others on task. One learning center focused on use of the Promethean board with ScribbleMap loaded, so students could draw features on the big map. To complete this activity, students took turns holding the reference map of Georgia and guiding the student drawing on the map. Then a student would “tag” the map for a label, and another student would read or dictate what the label on the map should say. The project manager made sure everyone had a turn drawing, tagging, reading or typing. Before they started, I modeled how to draw on the map and tag labels, and facilitated their work throughout the activity, frequently saving the picture.
A similar strategy was employed for students creating original art for scanning or working on the presentation book. Class “materials managers” passed out pencils and art supplies, and students worked in groups at tables. We use a strategy of “ask 3 before me” so when students had questions about their task, or about using specific crayons or materials, they first ask 3 classmates for assistance. Before the class arrived, I set out books and magazines about the Georgia regions and plants and animals in case they wanted the extra support. The classroom teacher supervised this activity. While that activity was in progress, the group working on the presentation book used the computers closest to the rest of the class allowing easy supervision. The project manager made sure everyone had his computer log in and assisted classmates as needed. To prepare for this activity I had already created the book template, and downloaded copyright free pictures into folders labeled by region. I modeled how to open the template, insert a picture and type text, and facilitated as students worked on the presentation. Again, students employed “ask 3 before me” and helped each other with technical problems and spelling. The real focus of this collaborative learning activity in the media center was on the technology use, learning how to use different technology tools and work collaboratively; most content instruction for this unit was managed in the classroom, and the presentation allowed them to showcase their learning.
By completing this lesson I learned that classroom management must be intentional and differentiated by activity, ability, and interest as well as the age of the students. A center-based technology activity like this will function more smoothly with older students. Implementing this activity as initially conceived made management challenging. Although I plan to use this activity again this year, instead of trying to complete several activities during the same session, I will spread the project out over several weeks so that each week will focus on just one of the technology tasks. This will also ensure that every student has the opportunity to complete each task and contribute to the completed project.
This lesson activity will impact student learning in several ways. The classroom management strategies I employed, especially the level of planning and preparation, will make me a more effective teacher in the library, which will help students gain practice in different technology tools and skills so they can use technology more effectively in different classes. Developing and practicing consistent management practices will help students when working collaboratively with other students, within our school or on collaborative projects with other schools, and can be assessed by observing their effectiveness and success in completing group work. This will build skills and confidence in online collaboration and lead to continued success, in higher education and as adults.