Chapter 13

For my classroom, I want to arrange the room so that students have no choice but to be put in the middle of things, hopefully engaging them in the lesson. I like the idea of no back of the room, because this is often a spot for students to talk or hide from the teacher. In many of my English classes, the desks were arranged in a circle for discussion. This set up won’t always work for all lessons, but I find that it is very effective when trying to get students to be involved in a discussion or even listen more accurately to what is going on around them. I also enjoy posters and words on the wall for students to read. Obviously we don’t want a distraction, but I believe it also shows students that the teacher cares about her classroom, and wants to create a fun environment and not just envelop kids in a typical classroom setting.

For the fifth period music class in my CSEL case study, I think some application of love and logic could be effective. For those passing notes and texting, it might be helpful to say “If everyone listens up and gets through the songs on time without distraction, we will probably have a few minutes to socialize at the end. If we don’t want to pay attention it will only take longer, and we’ll be left with no free time.” For the three boys roughhousing it will be effective to take them either aside as a group, or each one individually, and sit and talk to them in a private setting. If chastising them in front of the class hasn’t worked, this attention might. It shows them you care about their behavior and how disruptive it is regardless if they believe it is harmless, and also takes away the attention they receive when they do it. If they boys refuse to still obey you might threaten to have them taken out of this class for another period, which wouldn’t be something as fun as music, but work in the office or study hall where they will be separated from their friends.