Connecting with Students in an overcrowded classroom

Even though your class is overcrowded it doesn’t mean your students should feel disconnected. Granted with 30+ students it will be challenging to connect with each student, however, it is worth the effort! In you classroom try your best to be approachable, my daughter currently has a teacher who is not approachable. Even though my child is a good student she refuses to ask the teacher for any help when she is confused; simply because she says she is not nice, she would rather struggle to understand on her own.  This should not be!  As a mom and future teacher I urge you to do your best to connect with your students. Here are a few things you could do to connect with your students…

·         Recognize your students for the individual they are, if you take the time to observe you are sure to see something unique about each one

·        DO NOT sit at your desk all day move around and interact with them, even during lecture walk around as you teach your lesson. When you walk around it makes the classroom more personal. You won’t seem so distant from your students.

·        Be available to student either before or after class to listen to their questions, comments, or complaints. They have good ideas if we are willing to listen.

·        Learn as many of their names as possible, yes it may seem impossible but you should learn as many as you can

·        Many of the schools have some sort of microphone for the classroom utilize it, this way every student from the first to the back row can hear you; without having to yell at them all day.

·        Do your best to include student’s personal experiences into the assignments, this way they feel included and the work has meaning for them. For example if you’re working on graphs base it on things they enjoy take a survey as a class to come up with your data.  

These simple steps can truly make a difference in your classroom; they can help make an overcrowded classroom a little bit smaller. I hope these tips will help you. If you have any tips please leave them in the comments I would love to hear them! Until next week readers!

Grading in an Over Crowded Classroom

                 Let’s be honest grading papers is probably every teacher’s least favorite chore, and over-sized classrooms escalates the problem. However it is an un-avoidable issue that must be faced. Here are a few things you can do that will help make grading easier.

               Utilize the Internet!

·         Make a class website that you can use to pose answers to exams afterwards.

·         To review for the exams you could answer questions briefly if you create a group discussion board.  

                Utilize your students!

·         Have students grade each other’s papers, you could come up with a numbering system so that the names are not on the test.  

·         Of course they can only grade the multiple choice answers, but when you consider the number of students you have that is a lot of time saved.

                Why should you grade test in timely fashion in the first place?

·         Tests help students to know where they need improvement.

·         It can help to motivate students to do better, especially when students can see their growth.

·         Staying on top of your grading helps you out as well, when it comes time to turn in grades you are ahead of the game. THIS IS KEY ESPECIALLY FOR OVER-SIZED CLASSROOMS.

These are two example of what you could do to make the process easier; if you have any tips please leave them in the comment section I would love to hear your advice, the more the better. Until next week readers!

Behavioral Management with Overcrowded Classrooms

You walk into your class and you find Jamie in corner yelling at Mark. Victor is getting ready to fist fight with Angel and Erica can’t seem to sit down. All this is happening before 8’ clock in morning! This is of course an example however it is a real reality for many teachers who have over-sized classes. What is a teacher supposed to do???

To begin you must have your rules set and displayed for your classroom. We previously discussed this so it should be covered. Many schools are trying new methods of dealing with misbehavior. Instead of punishing the students they are giving students the opportunity to logic out their behavior.

For instance in my daughters school they have what they call MIR’s for students who misbehave. Minor Incident Reports are given to students to feel out. They have to describe what happened, the effect it has on themselves and their classmate; and come up with a plan to correct it. On the bottom there are set consequences for the students to read. The first MIR is simply a warning, and the fifth is an automatic move to intervention class. The student will stay for 1-3 days depending on the severity and the number of times they have been in the intervention class.

This might be something you want to try with your class. This way you are giving your students the opportunity to reflect over what they are doing. You are outnumbered in your class, so stick to your rules and be firm. DO NOT allow your students to see you feel overwhelmed…you may feel it, but never show it. Be confident in your classroom and let them know it is their community, but you are the president.

For more information check out this great website…

http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/education-update/sept96/vol38/num06/Managing-Today's-Classroom.aspx 

Thanks for reading, until next week readers!

Solutions Part Two

Welcome back readers, last week we talked about two possible solutions for over crowded classrooms. To review here they are again…

1.   Organization

2.   Seating charts

I realized that I just gave you solutions and sent you on your way without any help. I apologize here is a link to a website with 100 organization tips.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/100-classroom-organizing-tricks 

 I also found a website that has pictures as well as pros and cons to different seating arrangements, check it out.

http://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/free-resources/organization/classroom-seating-arrangements 

           After you have your seating arranged, and your class organized, what should you do next? Routine, routine, routine!

                                       

When teachers have a reliable routine in the class it gives students security. When a student feels secure and knows what will be happening in their class, they are able to focus and get work done. Routine is also great for you as a teacher, because you will have more time for meaningful instruction.  Each class will vary with routines so find out what works best for yours.

                                         

          Now that you are organized, have a seating chart, and have a routine down, you should focus on rules. Rules are usually set by the school but you should also have your own for the classroom. Allow your students to help create them. If you teach on a block schedule; have each class make their individual rules. This gives the student ownership and they are more likely to follow them. Remember regardless of the size your class is a community so treat it as such. I hope these tips are helpful, until next week readers!