Whats Your Procedure for That?
A Classroom Management Guide from Morning Meeting to Dismissal
Patrice Cannon
Copyright 2020 by Teachers Make the Difference
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Table of Contents
For teachers everywhere who dared to go toward the challenge of making a difference in the lives of children.
Introduction
I know what you are thinking
How hard could it be? I mean, really: how difficult could it be to manage a classroom? They are just children. They are just kids. So, why all the fuss? What is with all the classroom management talk? Sit here. Sit there. Raise your hand. Get in line. Walk in the hall. Go to lunch. Go to the bathroom. Now, let us move to centers.
Kids can do all this without a problem BUT let me ask you a question: What will you do when transitions do not flow so efficiently?
Keep reading.
Of course students can do all that! They can do it all. The goal, therefore, is to get dozens of kids to accomplish a task all at once and without incident, while taking ownership of their own accountability and behavior. Nevertheless, how do we get multiple little humans to transition in the classroom, outside of the classroom, to the bathroom, to lunch, out to recess, engaged in teaching, and back to the restroom ALL WHILE SAVING THE TOILET PAPER!
Well
Every day, educators all over the world manage to move little humans throughout the school building by using established routines and procedures. Classroom management is the foundation on which everything in your class is built. Every transition, restroom break, and lesson which is delivered, will only be as effective as your established procedures. If you can think of it, there should be a procedure for it!
When students come from backgrounds that lacks structure, it is vital for the teacher to have a classroom that is high in structure.
Patrice Cannon
Getting to Know You and Your Students Personalities Through Their True Colors
So there I was, in a classroom with 25 little people looking to me for guidance and instruction. Teaching was not my first choice and consequently I had no education background. I had neither student taught nor substituted prior to stepping foot into the classroom. Therefore, I started teaching on an alternative certification and had no clue about teaching. The day I signed my contract happened to be Meet the Teacher night. Considering that my new classroom was previously a storage room, I rushed from human resources after signing my contract so that I could fix up my classroom. I was hired to teach at a school that had been low performing for several years, had high discipline issues, and was a more challenging school in the district.
As much as I wanted to be confident, I was nervous, scared, and confused all at the same time. The next morning, students began walking into the classroom, wearing their backpacks, and had their school supplies in hand. Eventually I told them to put their backpacks on the back of their chairs and place their school supplies over on a table. Afterwards, I would decide what to do next.
What I did not expect was for some students to go in and out of their backpacks all day. Neither did I have a plan for the student telling me his parents requested that he not share school supplies; nor did I plan for what could happen if I needed the table which was now full of school supplies. I did not plan for backpacks not staying on chairs all day, or for the fight which ensued after one student stepped on another students backpack that was on the floor.
So, there I am: a floor full of backpacks, a table full of supplies, and a student crying. And, I just remembered the student who had asked to go to the restroom earlier had not returned! I was so busy putting out fires in my classroom each day that I had not noticed the teachers looking through the window, laughing and taking bets about how long I would last. Still, each day I would contain the fire, then crashed on the couch from pure exhaustion at night. I spent more time redirecting, threatening, and disciplining students instead of teaching - mainly due to my lack of classroom procedures.
In my first year of teaching, I learned when students do not have procedures or routines, they will create their own. Effective classroom management keeps students safe in the classroom and allows the teacher to maximize instruction time. Procedures also maintain structure and organization. It is not impossible to establish effective procedures and routines; that was just my first year experience. Teaching students the classroom procedures and routines, is one of the first lessons you will teach!
Before we meet our children, we must first meet ourselves. Who you are will travel into any room, any career, any relationship, and any classroom! Being aware of who you are empowers you with the knowledge of how to respond to others. It makes it easier to settle conflicts, while having the insight to be able to relate to others. We reject what we do not understand; but tend to accept and become more settled when we do understand. Knowing and understanding ourselves will affect how we see and understand others. As educators, we want to be careful not to seek to change our students in order to fit our personality comfort. Instead, we should value who they are while empowering them on their level. We can only do this after we have first discovered and accepted ourselves.
We all have a unique and different personality. There are several personality tests from which we can choose, all of which outline our personalitys behaviors and characteristics. Nonetheless, I have chosen to explore the True Colors Personality Test with you. This particular personality test attempts to identify various personality styles, labeling them with colors. This model of categorizing personalities is based on the work of Isabel Briggs-Myers, Katherine Briggs, and David Keirey. Don Lowry developed the True Colors System, which uses four distinct colors (orange, gold, green and blue) to designate personality types and behavioral styles.
Lowrys objective was to understand how personality styles can be used, thereby initiating better communication and understanding between people within a multitude of places. Moreover, he anticipated for it to lead to positive self-worth and self-esteem. The belief is that, with an increased understanding of ourselves and others, conflicts will decrease. You must first learn your personality color, so that you can understand personality colors of your students and/or colleagues. Only then will you have a better understanding of how you and they behave.
Everyone has some degree of each color, but one color is predominant. The following online quiz is designed to identify your spectrum. It can be found online at: https://truecolorsintl.com/personality-assessment/ . Follow the directions carefully, transferring your scores to the next section in this book. If you have two colors which have the same score, pick a color you think more accurately describes you, or choose a color to which you are drawn.
