1.) Describe effective management strategies you observed for opening a lesson, applied during a lesson, and for lesson closure.
Opening: Review. My mentor teacher always asks questions the students know (or should, because she just went over this yesterday).
During: The lectures are constructed in a uniform way, no matter what the subject she is teaching. She has a title slide with a visual picture of what she is going to be talking about. Then she has a slide with three main facts about the subject. Then she shows the geographic location of the subject on a world map. Supplemental slides relate to the subject directly. Then a movie slide, then a peek at what’s happening next. It is easy to follow along, and students seem to know what is coming up before it arrives.
Closure: Students know that they must not pack up before the bell, and they all must be seated before they are excused. I wish I could have observed the first week of school to see how she established this expectation of students. I started observing near the end of first quarter, so I’m sure I showed up after lots of practice 😉
2.) Name 3 common transitions you observed and how did the teacher handle those.
a. Start of class began with a bellringer every day. Students get to work on it before the bell even rings. A bellringer is a short question the students must write down and answer. Takes about 5-10 minutes at the start of class.
b. After lecture notes are complete, a supplemental video follows. Students were already aware of what was needed by their teacher: 3 learned facts to share with a partner afterwards.
c. Class was on a pretty tight schedule, there was really no time for students to ask for a bathroom break. I haven’t seen one student go to the bathroom since I’ve observed her. No real interruptions. She has classroom management down!
3.) Describe a strategy that you observed and may apply to your classroom.
My mentor teacher starts class at the door as soon as the bell rings. She checks in with students as they enter her class, and I believe she’s monitoring how their day is going. I notice that she is foreseeing classroom issues before her class even starts. I definitely will apply this to my own classroom practice!
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