Classroom Management

I am reflecting upon the classrooms on this website:
http://www.netc.org/classrooms@work/index.html

I teach third grade, so I was focusing on the classroom of Jane Krauss. To keep students working well in groups she has every student keep a Daily Effort Diary. They record how well they participated and group accomplishments. I really like this idea because it keeps them accountable and makes them aware of their own actions. In my room we have a lot of discussions of accountability and good character, but nothing quite so tangible. I also put a lot of thought into groupings of my students. Sometimes they are mixed groups and sometimes ability groups. I always take behavior issues students have into account when I place them in groups as well. I think having a good combination of students in a group sets it up to be successful. Students do need to eventually learn how to work well with all their peers, but I am still scaffolding that skill.

In Ms. Krauss’ classroom she divides her class in half and schedules computer time simultaneously with classroom work time. This way, only half the number of students will be working in each room. She also has computer software that alerts her if students get off task while researching. Halfway through the period her students switch. She always allows them time to switch and get settled and figure out what they are doing. This is a very efficient use of time and space on her part. She wouldn’t have room otherwise to get her entire class in the computer lab at once. The only time my students get to use the computer lab is when they are in technology special every Tuesday. When we need to do research we use iPads in our mainstream classroom. Because of iPad availability we usually do this research in small groups.

Some disadvantages in this school include tables instead of desks so students do not have their supplies with them at their work space. Another is that the computer lab is small and only has 9 computers and it is several rooms away. The teacher is unable to monitor both sets of students. The advantages include that having smaller spaces means forcing the class to split, and therefore be less distractions for students and easier to manage.  Because our school was just built we have a lot of building advantages. We have two full computer labs in addition to our classroom iPads. 

	What strategies does this teacher use to keep students organized and managing their group work?	How are computers and non-computer activities scheduled in this classroom?  How do students rotate or move from activity to activity?	What are the advantages and disadvantages of the workspace arrangements in this classroom and school?	In what ways do these teachers optimize available technology, time, and space?	In what ways do these strategies offer learning that is interactive and productive?
Animal Research Report	-Checklists of all required steps in the project -Research folders -Color coding -Differentiation for ability level	-Daily 90 minute literacy centers -Time in the computer lab -Printing websites for research	-Must schedule computer lab time around standardized testing + Gives the students an opportunity to use printed resources	-Literacy centers to see as many students in small group setting as possible -Having students print internet articles when the lab is not available	-Students can find info immediately      -Lesson in value of technology               -The product is easy to view and easy to preserve
Travel USA	-Daily effort diary to self monitor behavior -Group jobs like paper clip person	-Simultaneous scheduling of classroom work and computer lab work with a switch in the middle	-Small student lab with not enough computer for a whole class + Allows for centers and smaller groups	-Splitting the class in half -Scheduling blocks of time to work	-Teaches using the Internet with a specific purpose
It’s a Wild Ride	-Step by step directions -Red books of tasks -Group progress reports	-Everyone starts in their assigned room and moves according to what they are working on	-Confusing continually changing schedules -Technology in many different places + Lots of tech resources	-Daily schedules posted for students to see -Utilizing lots of different technology resources	-Technology helps the students explore new concepts on their own
Global Challenge	-Small groups -Rotation through activities -Graphic organizers	-Classroom contains both work space and computer space -Project split into three phases -Rotate through different work environments	-Cannot monitor both sides of the room at once + Have computers in the room + Students don’t get as distracted because of divider wall	-Great use of space, divided in two work areas -Divide project into three phases -Rotate through centers	-Build trust with technology in the classroom -Work on life skills like working in groups
My classroom	-Keep centers short -Explicit written directions for each center -Discussions of good character and responsibility	-Rotate through centers every 15 minutes when my timer goes off -Bring iPads into the classroom, half the students on iPads and half not. Then switch -Technology specific time incorporated into content areas when needed	-Never enough technology for every student + Don’t have to share facilities with other classes	-Schedules posted -Centers for teacher to work with small groups daily -Borrows technology from other teachers when needed	-Centers puts responsibility on the students to be accountable for their own learning -Can accomplish many small tasks in one class period

Internet Safety for Students

My Top Internet Safety Issues

1. It is far too easy for students to access inappropriate content, whether intentionally or accidently.
2. The Internet is like a playground without adult supervision, and therefore a breeding ground for cyber bullying.
3. There are so many ways for online predators to gain access to children and their personal information.
4. Sharing personal information is a huge factor in many other Internet safety issues, but it seems important enough to get it’s own category. Once you put something on the Internet it stays floating out there forever, even if you take it down.
5. Ways for people to connect online include email, IM, chatrooms, and social network sites. These are not well monitored for children and many of them are not designed for children.
6. When students share pictures and videos online they don’t realize that they are giving everyone in the world a window into their lives.
7. BYOD- Bring your own device- Many schools are starting this in order to get technology into the hands of more students. However, if the technology belongs to the student we have no control over the content on the device.
8. Cell phones/ iPads/ Wi-Fi enabled devices- Students have so much technology right in their pockets and many of the other Internet safety issues apply to these hand held devices even more so because they are so portable.
9. I feel as though online gaming isn’t quite as big as it once was because there are so many other avenues of communicating online. But then again, many tv console video games now connect to the internet, so it isn’t just computer games anymore.
10. One click on a link can get your computer horrible viruses.

   

  Social technologies can be very helpful to students. It gives a way for students to communicate with each other and with the teacher to enhance their learning. It reduces paper use with online quizzes and assignments. It could also be harmful to students if they get involved with people outside of school that may or may not be safe. I think we need to use social technologies so that we can teach students how to be safe online. Social technologies are also super helpful for teachers. Sites like Pinterest allows teachers to share their ideas with teachers all over the country.

   

     Teachers being friends with parents and students on social networking sites is a very bad idea. I may not post anything inappropriate on my Facebook account, but I have no control over what other people post on my Facebook. I need to keep my work like and my home life separate. If I had older students I might create a separate teacher Facebook account.

    In my district the web filter blocks a lot of things online. Anything with keywords that might be inappropriate will automatically be blocked. Many social networking sites such as Facebook, Tumblr, and Goodreads are blocked. I think that more blocked is much safer than less. Usually when we are doing research my students come across several sites that are blocked, some for good reason, some not for good reason, but we just go find another website to use. It is not a big deal.

    There is nothing set up specifically in my school to deal with teachers when their students access inappropriate content online. I do not think this should be the teacher’s responsibility necessarily. The teacher should be aware of what their students are doing at all times, especially if they are working on the Internet. The teacher should also make a point to discuss appropriate Internet behavior and train students on how to safely use the Internet. If all these systems have been put into place and a student chooses to break the rules and intentionally view inappropriate content I think that student should be held accountable for their actions.

    If inappropriate content is accidentally accessed I do not think there needs to be a protocol in place. It is very dependent on the situation, what was viewed, how inappropriate it was, how many students were involved. Disciplinary action should be taken and a loss of technology recourses should be in place. Otherwise I would discuss the situation with my principal.

           

To prevent inappropriate content from being accessed the district should make sure that firewalls and anti-viruses and web filters are in place. That will help a great deal. Schools should promote a positive climate of good character. Teachers should instruct students on correct internet behavior and do a lot of modeling.

I am usually fairly successful in searching for information on the Internet. I understand that there are different ways to go about searching for information and each has a specific purpose. I teach my students any tricks I can think of to help them when searching online. My students are in third grade, so I think that when looking for one small piece of information Wikipedia is an appropriate and easily accessible resource. I also use this a teachable moment that if something looks funny on Wikipedia we should check the fact somewhere else since Wikipedia can be edited by anybody. When we are writing research papers, we do not use Wikipedia and we use other sources online. I also just discovered that there is a way to adjust my Google results by reading level so that my students only come across things that they can easily read. That is a very good researching trick. 

Teacher Technology Requirements

I know that incorporating technology into my instruction is vitally important for my students. However, the technology requirements don’t mean a lot to me for many reasons. Unfortunately, technology is not anywhere near the top of the list of priorities for our school districts. Technology might be part of our performance based teacher standards, but principals in general are much more concerned with our students’ growth, and don’t care as much how they got there or if technology was involved. Also, there are so many different technology standards out there. There are 21^st Century skills, NETS for Students, NETS for teachers, teacher performance standards, and state technology standards. Plus a cornucopia of other resources designed to help us implement technology such as Marzano’s Instructional strategies, multiple intelligences, and Big 6 research strategies. No teacher in her right mind would want to use all of them.

I feel like I sound very cynical about this but I just try to be realistic. I am a young and relatively new teacher that is constantly working and researching to learn more and become a better teacher with technology. There are not many of us. For teachers who have been teaching many years, they might not even know that there are technology requirements upon them. It is going to be a rough transition for them to change the way they have been doing things for years. School districts need to step up to really help us implement good technology in our classrooms.

            I think that adding a Knowledge of Technology standard to our performance based teacher standards is a good step in the right direction. Very soon, it isn’t going to be optional for teachers to use technology. But right now, I do not think it is doing much good. Technology just isn’t a priority. Getting student scores up is.

            I am not saying that I am the perfect proto-type of implementing technology in the classroom. But the important part is that I work very hard and I try new things constantly. I am one of the most tech savvy teachers in my school. I lead the school technology team. Others come watch me teach and ask me questions about their technology. I have 4 iPads in my room that I use every single day, but not for every lesson. I have a document camera and projector that I do use in every lesson. I make sure that I am not just including technology to say I did, but that the technology is really meaningful and aids in my students understanding of the concepts I am teaching. 

    Upon reflection of the Colorado Performance Based Standards for Teachers in technology, I think that my somewhat cynical point of view is still true to a certain degree. The standards are very vague and broad, allowing for different interpretations. Being broad right now is good, because it allows many different levels of technology implementation. Apply technology to the delivery of standards-based instruction could mean anything from every student having their own device, to using one iPad once a month. But I think this is not driving us in a technology-focused direction. I have also changed my thinking in that I cannot compare everyone to myself, and my level of technology implementation. Every teacher is at a different level and every teacher has different strengths and weaknesses in their teaching. I think technology is a strength of mine, but maybe my writing instruction is a weakness. I could learn from those veteran teachers some skills and ideas about how to better teach my students. I could even throw in some technology to out my own spin on it. As long as teachers are making an effort and trying to use technology we are moving in the right direction.