Classroom Management Systems

                                  Classroom Management

 One of the concepts highly stressed at the University of Central Florida in the education department is the concept that as a teacher visits several schools and interviews with potential principals, it's important to turn the tables and find out what you want to know about the school.  An interview should go both ways, so prepare by having some questions for the interviewer.  One of the main considerations mentioned is to compare your own teaching philosophies to that of the school's philosophies.  To do that, you need to be knowledgeable about classroom management systems and what they should look like.  You need to define yourself by what you value in classroom conduct and how you feel you can help your students most.  You need to find your own personal style of teaching and begin to implement it.  There are several, but for now, let's consider two systems worth mentioning.  PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Support) and UDL (Universal Design for Learning) are two mainstream systems often discussed by educators in the Orlando area.  From my experience, most schools make it apparent what system they operate off of to the point where the majority of the students can in fact tell you what the system entails.

     PBIS is a school wide system for influencing positive behavior among the students.  From the principal to the teachers and all library and cafeteria staff, the system is expected to be adhered to and to be consistently represented throughout school property.  It is to be modeled and reinforced.  PBIS is a tiered system where there is a standard instructional method for all students called the universal level.  This part of the program, when properly upheld will influence, potentially, 85% of the student population to adhere to the expectations of the school.  This level includes teacher modeling, structured rules and routines, rewards and consequences associated with behavior, and even time in the day incorporating talks about behavior into the curriculum.  On tier II 10-15% of students benefit from small groups of students meeting together to discuss strategies on how to deal with situations such as anger management and self management (being off-task and disruptive) so that they will continue to strive for better behavior in the classroom.  At tier III only 5-7% of students will need services beyond small groups.  At tier III students begin to be considered for learning disabilities and undergo behavior monitoring by professionals to assess trends and try to pinpoint what is causing misbehavior as well as determine intervention strategies. All of this information and more can be found on the APA website.  Another resource that I found helpful as a quick overview of the Positive Behavior Support system is PBIS.org's 8 page guide  which covers all aspects of PBS at a glance and can be a quick reference for beginning teachers and interns.

     The UDL approach focuses less on behavior modification, but on classroom modification to fit every need.  It focuses on the principle that if we make arrangements to meet the need of someone with a disability or restriction, everyone benefits in ways not even intended by the original designer.  An example is how curbs that dip to allow access to the sidewalk by wheelchairs have now been utilized by people with baby carriages and people pushing or pulling any type of cart.  The same concept holds true for education.  The key concepts in the UDL model are equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space for approach and use.  In short, if you can consider each one of your students' special needs in preparation of a school activity then you can make it available and enjoyable for everyone and you can validate them all as individuals.  It is important to not simply utilize this approach, but to share it with your students as well.  Ensure that you have a classroom climate that celebrates diversity.  Emphasize the importance of communication between teacher and students.  Give students a choice in how they will learn the lesson and how they will show competency,  Give students feedback early, before an assignment is due to ensure that they understand exactly what is required of them.  Choose to provide captions with any video shown to the class.  By taking simple steps to give students freedom in their own education you are aiming to ensure that everyone gains knowledge equally.  For more information on the UDL method visit the University of Washington and their very thorough explanation including resources, videos, and programs that center around UDL.

     After reviewing the information given about these two unique classroom management systems, it is easy to say that both have positive qualities and both systems could be effective in a classroom setting.  That being said, they are very different.  They each work in different ways to meet different needs.  As I wrote my first draft of this post, I had convinced myself that there was virtually no way these two systems could work together because I felt that they focused on different issues and worked towards opposing goals, but then my instructor prompted me to look deeper, and sure enough, she was right.  It took me a while, but I found a very rare video of a school that has found away to include both systems in their school and shows how it's positively impacted all of their students.  The school is Maple Wood Elementary School in New Hampshire.  If you'd like to view it before finishing, here is a short, 13 minute video of Tasya's Story.
Enjoy.

Sunshine State Standards vs the Common Core Standards.

     Standards..... that magical word that is so encompassing of the whole of education in our modern era.  It's certainly a hot topic both where I am studying and where I am speaking to current teachers in the schools.  Everyone I've spoken to on any level has told me about the emphasis on teaching to the standards that has taken hold at every school in the county.  I can only speak for my area, but it's a big deal to the teachers I know.  They tell me their whole job hangs on how well they are able to teach to the standards and how well their class does overall on the standards tests.  As someone who has only been pursuing an education degree for around a year, it's honestly been a lot coming at me very quickly.  Simply through making mock lesson plans and experimenting with implementing standards have I begun to be familiar with all of the expectations.  Not only is it a lot to cover in the classroom, but it's a lot to prepare for daily, and the content is more concentrated than our previous standards used to be.  
     
     At the same point I understand the need to have national standards.  I am an example of how a lack of national standards held me back.  I started school in Connecticut and continued there for my first 4 years of school.  For the 5th grade my family moved to Florida and I was ahead for my age (by Florida standards) in all of my classes but was not advanced forward into the next grade and I was not placed in a gifted program.  As a result of the standards not being closely aligned I feel that I was not properly challenged again until the beginning of the 9th grade.  I feel that I lost years of my academic career because the standards were not aligned to promote me adequately.  

     As I started my own research online on how to adopt common core standards in my future classroom and how to evaluate resources for content I turned to a website called TeacherChannel.org and did a simple search for common core standards to see what was available.  After watching a few videos I came across a video on a program called the Equip Rubric that was developed for use by teachers to gauge how well a lesson or unit aligns with the common core standards.  This rubric can be used by individual teachers to review the content they will use in the classroom or there are lesson plans on a separate website that have been evaluated by a panel of professionals that have been judged exemplary and can be used freely in the classroom.  To see the video please visit Strengthening Lessons for the Common Core on TeacherChannel.org.  It only runs for 6 minutes and it is a good glimpse into what an effective teacher should look for in his or her lesson plans.   

     As I continued to investigate further into the Equip Rubric program I found the website Achieve.org which is affiliated with the Equip Rubric Program.  I was very impressed with their objective statement which was elegantly worded.  Their objective has two main points.  The first is to increase the supply of high quality lessons and units aligned to the CCSS that are available to elementary, middle, and high school teachers as soon as possible.  The second is to build the capacity of educators to evaluate and improve the quality of instructional materials for use in their classrooms and schools.  If you have a lesson plan or unit that you would like to submit for review by the panels, this is the place to do it.  There is a tab for submitting material as well as instructions and guidelines on this site as well.  This site also has training materials and grade level examples of what common core lesson plans should look like.  This website appears to be an excellent resource and is one that I plan on visiting again in the future.  If you would like to visit the website, click on this link to access all features of the program.  Achieve.org.

     To take my own understanding one step deeper I reviewed a lesson that I had attempted myself as a class project for my Classroom Management course.  I had chosen to focus on a second grade standard of teaching point of view in a storyline.  Both the lesson plan that I had used and the lesson plan that the panel had reviewed had both come from CPALMS.org which gave me confidence in the plan I had chosen right from the start.  As I read on I found that many of the elements that I had used, which I had developed while studying at the University of Central Florida, were also components of the exemplary lesson plan.  Use of the scale system as well as use of a graphic organizer and written prompt for a summative assessment were used in both lessons.  Emphasis on illustrations was present in both lessons.  An understanding of thoughts and feelings and how they influence actions were expected of students in both lesson plans.  By giving the lesson a little more time (3 hours total) and by incorporating more standards that the one standard I was going for, the lesson plan became exemplary.  It also had very many accommodations for EL/ESE students.  If you would like to take a look at the exemplary lesson, here is a link to that specific lesson, based on 3rd grade standards.  
3rd grade, point of view lesson plan aligned with standards

     As a bonus link for anyone interested, I found this website informative for those who are still beginning embracing common core standards,  It covers what the previous Florida standards were before our new Common Core set and the differences between the two grade level to grade level.  For a glimpse of the changes head to Excel In Ed

Differentiated Instruction.

Differentiated Instruction

     One of the best features of running a blog is being part of  a community and being able to join the conversation of what other bloggers are posting.  To begin research on differentiated instruction I wanted to bring in the thoughts of other bloggers who are better established and know more about the topic at hand than I.  John McCarthy is an Education Consultant and an Advocate for Student Voice in Learning.  Roughly one year ago he wrote a blog post about ways that teachers can easily plan for diverse learners.  He broke it down into 3 simple steps/concepts to implement into your lesson plan preparation.  The key is to connect content, process, and product uniquely for each learner.  Students each bring their own readiness (or level of knowledge), their own interests, and their own skills and abilities or 'learning profile'.  

     He says an easy way to differentiate content is to switch up the delivery of the content.  Read, watch, lecture, and organize information, utilizing the different learning styles to incorporate every learner.  

     Next, to differentiate process, it is as simple as scheduling in enough time for the students to each have a chance to discuss and evaluate what they have learned.  It is a good tool to help students discover what they understand or need further clarification on and it's an opportunity for teachers to do formative assessment and decide for themselves what their pupils know through observation.  He recommends a processing activity for every 30 minutes of direct instruction.  

     The third and final step is to differentiate product.  In other words, give the students several options on how to show what they have learned.  When the student has an option to choose and give preference to an assignment they will be more motivated and more confident to complete the assignment.  

     I found this article very helpful and easy to digest.  For someone just starting out and looking for a few simple tools to start out their classroom with, this guide is more practical than, say, reading a book on the topic or attending a workshop.  It's meant as a starting point to better differentiated instruction.  If you'd like to read the full article click on the link below.  

John McCarthy's Blog on Edutopia

     For more ideas on how to give your students more involvement and choice in classroom activities, follow the 5 steps that another educational blogger from Edutopia, Rebecca Alber, posted roughly a year ago on her own blog.  She openly suggests that you admit to your class every so often, "I don't know.", and move forward from that point with the whole class on board to spontaneous, unplanned learning.  In places where there's wiggle room, let the students choose the content and work learning goals into content as it arises.  Poll the classroom to show where interests and knowledge is already present to better formulate an educational strategy.  To read the whole article follow this link.

Rebecca Alber's Blog on Edutopia

     One quality video I found on a separate website is Carol Tomlinson's video on beginning differentiated instruction.  She also attempts to break down differentiated instruction so that new teachers do not feel so overwhelmed.  She encourages beginning teachers that the experience is a marathon, not a sprint and to slowly begin adapting and integrating the differentiated approach.  She suggests to start simply by observing and informally pre-assessing students to intentionally note what they might need from you as you proceed with the lesson.  As you become more comfortable with each new technique, build on what you've already accomplished and continue to advance each year.  Follow the link here,

Suggestions on how to begin differentiated instruction

     I will keep my eye out for any more resources and will edit this post as often as possible to offer more information.

Thankful for so many opportunities.

(Blows dust off of this blog!!) Way to go me! I get really excited about this project and then I drop it like a hot potato.  Not very professional.  Not entirely intentional though.  Although the pressure of what I had on my plate was starting to build, I made it through, but I got really busy between then and now and I couldn't afford the time to invest in new posts.  It's been 3 months since I've posted, but thankfully I have another school project involving blogs to spark some interest and renew my commitment to making some firm statements about my views on teaching and the level of education I am receiving before entering the workplace.  So much has happened since I last posted that I will use this post as an update before I get too project heavy.  First off, I made Deans List for Spring and ended up with a 3.71 entering GPA for my major.  I ended up with one B and that was for my Mathematics class and it was close to an A anyway.  My final project was a big success and it secured my A for my technology class. 

 Only two weeks after the end of the semester I went back into school for an intensive 6 week Summer course which was brutal (work wise) but my teacher was so nice and I can't wait to work with her again further on in my degree.  I ended up with an A for that class as well.  I'm just wrapping up with an optional Summer Research Academy program which will give me an extra credit (free!!) on my transcript and will look really good on a resume.  I also got help on producing both a professional and academic resume as well as putting together a timeline for when everything should fall into place, making the plan a little more manageable.  Now, as I said, I am taking yet another 6 week course and going to finish up the Summer with another crack at the General Knowledge test which is a requirement for graduation.  It sounds like a lot, but I'm pacing myself with work.  Public school is out so I have my part time retail position and that's it.  I'm still finding time to enjoy my summer, no worries.  On a side note, the month long assignment I had finished on a great note and I feel like it counts to my credit.  Some of my seniors were even really sad to say bye.  Two of them walked out the door the last day saying, 'We love you miss.'.  I ended up getting so attached too.  I will miss them as well.  It's going to be hard starting out teaching.  I will miss each and every one of my little ones as much as I will wish them the best.  

On a more neutral note, I will be getting more experience with service learning as well as actually being able to see myself on video tape teaching.  We're also very excited to pilot this new program called TeachLive which is a simulation that UCF created to help new teachers develop interpersonal skills with their students and help walk us through parent teacher conferences.  Another project I am attempting for school is my very first Literature Review which is a small compiling of related, and very current research material to give an overview of current knowledge of a small subject.  Ironically it is tied in with TeachLive and how researchers are  using it to study the affects of teacher hand and head gestures in the classroom and how to improve that communication within the virtual classroom.

As I said in the heading, I am so thankful for so many amazing opportunities.  This summer has been a gateway to making very good contacts and gaining knowledge that will truly help me in the future.  I am back now, and as I gain knowledge or get inspired I will post.