Classroom+Management

Think about a teacher you had in middle or high school that you feel was an effective teacher. What classroom management procedures did this teacher use that made the class flow easily and made the classroom environment conducive to learning? Be brief in your comments and include your name with your post.

My chemistry teacher had a great classroom and great classroom management skills. The class was set up for individual learning and group work stations in the back of the class. He treated us like grown ups and respected the students in return the students behaved well to keep that respect. The students that were not so respectful were given warnings- Jacqueline Kim

Mrs. Whithers, my 8th grade English teacher, was very good at keeping the class focused, on track and on topic. She never had to yell because we respected her and usually did what she asked the first time. She encouraged questions and had the class discuss the material instead of just listen to her talk about it. The class flowed because she did not allow wasted time and she had everything carefully planned (including a plan B). - Allyson Simonton

My Honors English teacher during my freshman year of high school did a great job managing the classroom and kept it flowing very well. The class would always start with a journal exercise, so that got the class quiet and attentive. That journal entry would always end up applying to the lesson in some way, so the discussion of the journal entry would smoothly transition into the lesson of the day, which kept the class on task and participating. The free flowing organization of the class allowed for students to participate regularly, and eliminated wasted time for transition. ---Jeff Prickett

My 10th grade English teacher would have the whole week and day's agenda posted on the board. When everyone came in they were to write down the information given. She had a very structured class and did not tolerate anyone disrupting that. When class started the class was to write a journal reflection on a specific reading assignment. Theses were collected along with credit for the days class after completing. -- Ryan Rybicki

I felt i had quite a few teachers who managed their class well. I suppose the best example would be of my Reading teacher in 7th grade. She kept the material interesting and at each individual's level of reading, so that each of her students would be appropriately engaged with their reading. She also facilitated group assignments and readings that were very effective in getting everyone to cooperate, and in an orderly manner. - Micah Booth

My 12th grade AP calculus class, in my memory, was the only class that went smoothly over the year. Everything was planned and organized so that all the materials that were to be covered that day were always covered. Everybody respected the teacher and hence there were few or no disruption to the class. --Sarah Yang--

My high school Band Director, again, comes to mind. He "laid" down the "law" clearly on day the first day of class. If anybody broke any of the rules he set forth, that student better "stand-by". For instance, he made it perfectly clear that when he was on the podium personal conversation will NOT be tolerated. We knew he meant "business," and we respected him. He also had great momentum. He did not let us lose track/sight of our goals. His management paid off by making his program very prestigious. -Xavier Diaz

My Government and Economics teacher was great at classroom management. She laid down all the rules the first day with her commanding speech and presence. She knew how to tame the class when we got wild and we all listened. She would have different group projects and learning tactics everyday and make Government fun! When it came to economics, she lead us through different discussions about real life. It was so interesting. We all respected her because she knew what she was talking about. -- Kim Tiongco

I must give kudos to my Trigonometry teacher Sally Jackie Ralphy, as we students use to call her. She knew how to discipline without students knowing they were being disciplined. She was very kind, while at the same time she laid down the rules. One strategy she had was to have us make the rules in the classroom. Once the rules were established fellow students held each other responsible for misbehavior or misconduct. She rewarded us when we did well with simple things like a movie day or treat day. -- Dana Detterich

In 8th grade, Mr. Slotsy had great tools for classroom management, SENTENCES! In jr. high when the kids can't keep quiet within a classroom or disobeyed the classroom rules, one would have to write 300 or 500 sentences that night for hw. He made class interesting and fun so obeying the rules was quite easy for most people. Not only was punishment an effective way of classroom management, but he also allowed the kids to challenge him to different types of games/challenges during class time, so this way the kids would not mind following his rules for the fact that he was an enjoyable teacher and got the respect he demanded from the students. Harold Sloat

Mr. Morgan, my high school world history teacher use to be in the military. He certainly knew how to manage and organize the classroom. He had rules and regulations that he laid out during the first day of class. The first week of class he would lock the door right when the bell rang. All stragerlers were usually locked outside in which they would encounter a proctor who would in turn give them saturday school. Let's just say my classmates and I were never late to class. While we were ruled mostly by fear I can't help but remember how good the class was.His classes were well stuctured and organized. He always wrote the agenda for the week as well as a detailed agenda for the day. He always made really good time and covered everything that needed to be covered. One important thing he taught us was accountability and no excuses. For example, everyday right after the bell rings we have to take out our homework. He then walks around with a stamp and for students who did not have their homework they have to sign this paper thtat he had that signified that they did not have their homework and they must complete it by the next class for 1/2 credit. If they do not comply there will be consequences. I never wanted to find out wihat the consequences were so I always made a point to do my homework on time. Although he was strict he always nailed it in our heads that he was only being strict for our own good and that the real world demands the same life skills. To this day I owe my puncuality and my accountability to him. -Phoithien Duong

Nancy Thompson, the upper level social studies teacher at my school, had an amazing grasp of classroom management. Stemming from a respect for the students which was reciprocated, Nancy was able to keep control of the classroom almost entirely off of respect. She earned this respect by being receptive to students questions, allowing for debate and dissent, and being fluid in her teaching style. We moved between lecture, debate, in class work, and anything else in a seamless transition. Even though the course was first thing in the morning you could rely on her to be peppy and energetic, something which 90% of us were not. - Ryan Boughter

My Honors English teacher Ms. Aulino would post on the blackboard what we would be discussing that day in class. She would go over it before we began and would make sure that we had all the information written down in the class calendars that she provided. At the end of class she would go over what was for homework and when it was due.---Kristina Goltz

When I think of a teacher that showed effective control of the class, I often remember my High School English teacher, Mr. Price. Mr. Price was a young teacher, fresh out of school. Since he was young, he easily built a rapport with the students. Although I think this was a big help, I was most impressed by how he handled discipline in class. He started off by making very clear at the beginning of the quarter what his expectations were. He made it a habit to praise ALL students when they gave positive contributions, and followed through with consequences when students fell short of what he expected of them behaviorally. I was especially impressed to see how the typical problem students behaved. Most of the time, they were good students in his class, and whenever they did get out of hand, they accepted the consequences of their actions, because they had been so clearly laid out before, and their infringement of the rules was undeniable. Their reaction tended to be more of an "aww maaaan" instead of "that's not fair" or "I didn't do anything!" - Alejandro Torres

My history and philosophy teacher Mr. McCoun ran a good class. He conducted his class similar to college classes. He assigned readings, had a midterm, a final, and one research paper. Some people did not like this since it meant you had to know your history to get a good grade. There was no busy work to pad your grade. Even though I had to work hard in his class, it made me study harder and prepare for college. I ended doing very well on the AP test in large part due to his class. I left his class not only knowing more about the subject, but also as a better student. A lot of people dropped him in favor of the "easier" teacher, which actually made the class better for those who stayed. - Danny Chiang

Freshman year, algebra. Mr. Greenman had a good balance of structure, which kept us on task, and engaging work, which frankly, is hard to do with algebra. I think everyone in the class understood the rules and the structure, but no one seemed to portray him as particularly strict or mean. It was just a well-managed class and this allowed us to get our work done in a supportive environment. -Lisa Gaetje

My senior British literature teacher was extremely organized and I must give her kudos! Everyday we began with SSR no matter what and we always were on track and completed everything in a timely manner. She was a very sweet teacher but stern at the same time. No one every wanted to get on her bad side so everyone stayed on task an obeyed the rules.***Stephanie Zamora

Without a doubt my high school Spanish teacher, Mrs. Reyes, was the most organized teacher I've ever had and her class was the most regimented. She would always let us know in advance what was to be expected and what material was to be covered. On the whiteboard there was always bullet points of what was going on in class for the day and we had specific times every week where we were required to work in our journals or other grammar assignments. She was creative in her methods giving us scenarios to act out in Spanish most every week and I felt there was never a minute of wasted time. (Christopher Duncan)

From my memory one of the best teachers who was able to keep our class in line and focused was my Freshman and Sophomore World Civ. teacher Mr. Murphy. He would often have roll call done before the bell rang for class and assignments were to be in hand and dropped in a box at the beginning of every class. He would begin the class session by jumping right into the course work he had planned for us, or having us read a section from the book and pass along the next section to another student. If we ever got to loud or off topic there was a bell in his room that he would ring once as a warning, twice as a sign that the assignment we would be working on would be harder just by a bit, and a third time meant we had to do twice the homework that was supposed to be assigned. We only once hit three bells in one school year and after that we all tried are hardest to stay on his good side. I had heard that years prior to mine he used to use an air horn to signal for attention but that got the ire of the nearby teachers so he had to stop. In any case he was fairly clever to keep his students from misbehaving or catching their attention. -Eric Ortega

Mr. Davis had high expectations and was very clear about the classroom conduct. We sat in folding chairs facing the front of the room. I remeber the students all paying attention. I believe when you treat the students with respect and you are teaching with great interest in your subject, that the students will respect you and give you their attention. He was interested in your ideas and contributions. He spoke clearly and effectively. -Kelly Norris

My history teacher had an effective way of managing the class. I always remember the classes going so smoothly, and I think a big part of that was because everyone respected him so much. The student-teacher relationship seemed to be on a different level in that class. He was clear about his expectations, and we all knew them and respected them. -Kelly Benner

This is the second carousel item to feature my geometry teacher Mr. Davis at Nogales High. I think he had been teaching for at least 15 years when I first met him. He had distilled his lectures and board notes down to an exact science so that students were engaged. I'm not sure if his burly exterior intimidated would-be distracters, because there were no distractors. You would not even think he had to lift a finger to manage the class. Something about him just made you listen, pay attention, and try your best. Actually, he did employ some effective techniques. He would walk up and down the rows of seats continuously, even when speaking, and he only turned his back to us briefly when pointing out something on the chalkboard (Pre-Whiteboard Days). We never had "down" time where we could create mischief (not that //I// ever would!). - Melodee deLeon

I had a history teacher in high school who I think managed our classroom very well. He was always sure to explain exactly how our classroom activities would be conducted before we started; that way, if a debate or discussion started to get out of hand, he was able to redirect the class back to the activity quickly and effectively. We had a week-long debate about immigration in his class, and things went smoothly and on-topic because of my teacher's ability to keep everyone on track. -Danielle Hughes