Blog 5

Effective management strategies:
Opening a lesson:

• Teacher did a good job getting students focused almost immediately after the bell rang.
• Every single lesson Teacher instructs begins with a genuine, warm greeting. For example, “Good morning, pumpkin heads.”
• Reviewing previous day’s lesson.

During a lesson:

• Lighthearted and jokes throughout.
• ENTHUSIASM about material.
• Pauses for discussion (while reading aloud).

Lesson closure:

• Again, a genuine farewell to send them out and on with their day.
• A lot of repetition and review of what they’d done during the lesson and what was homework and what was on tap for the next day/lesson.

Transitions:

• Before moving on after a discussion, there were several checks for understanding. For example, “Do we understand?” “You guys, that was a really good point. Do we understand it?”
• Reminding students of what had been previously discussed (in days/lessons past).
• Jokes to refocus after interruptions or side-tracks.

Strategy to apply in my classroom:

• I very much enjoyed the lighthearted nature of the lesson, the jokes, the laughs, the smiles. Teacher did a great job maintaining order and focus while showing great enthusiasm about the material. While this may not be a strategy-strategy, really, it is definitely something I am going to consciously try to incorporate into my own classroom regularly.