Common methods for management I’ve observed for the start of the day is with articles related to the content for the day. The social studies teachers at West Valley will sometimes open with an article on the board to engage the students with the material for the day. Tying the material to current events injects the idea that the topic is relevant and that it is something students should be paying attention to. This is something I have seen before in my observations for EDSC 110 as well, which means that this could be a fairly common strategy for teachers in general. Once the material is introduced teachers can quickly move on to the lesson for the day, one teacher I’ve observed will generally move about the classroom and keep lecturing while keeping an eye on every corner of the room. I think the students behave better when they feel like the teacher is watching closely. Lastly I see teachers usually wait to hand back homework until after class, I don’t know if this is better or more distracting for students. I also often see teachers wait until the end of class for questions, I assume so they can stay on topic during the lesson.
Transitions teachers use depends on whats going on in class that day. If it is a work day the teacher generally wants to avoid students from finishing work early and having nothing to do. At WVHS I have seen teachers offer students a chance to start the next homework assignment, or have an extra credit assignment ready for students to pick up. This ensures that the students are occupied the whole class. Another thing I’ve seen teachers do is at the end of class, around three minutes before the bell, offer students the chance to clean up so that when the bell rings the students are ready to go, that way the they can get out before other students start arriving. Other teachers I’ve observed ensure they are using their class time right up to the bell. I’ve seen some teachers make sure students who say they are done with the in-class assignment have actually completed it. Generally check their work and give advice on how to improve their grade. This is another good way a teacher can be sure to keep the classroom on task until the end and improve performance in the classroom.
Personally my favorite method for transition is the introduction of material through related material. Like I mentioned before, using an article to spark interest. I will hopefully be a history teacher and I think that using an aide to make the subject seem more relevant to students is very important. Making sure they understand the connection between content is an important aspect of being an educator. I want to avoid the “when will we ever use this in real life” mindset in my future classroom. I think bringing things closer to home can really help prevent that.
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