Pedagogue Blog

By now, just about every American parent has seen the reports that American schools rank well below schools in countries such as China and Japan. Or maybe they’ve heard President Obama declare a “dropout crisis.”

The abundance of news reports and discouraging case studies has created panic among education stakeholders, who want to know why American school systems are failing. Many Americans believe that only a small percentage of leaders understand the complexities of the school system, and that those who do understand use their knowledge to justify the mediocre performance of our teachers and students.

It’s not hard to see why this is the typical opinion. Maybe it’s because:

1. The American school system is the best-financed system in the world, but is one of the lowest performing in the developed world.

2. The American school system as a whole has an appalling performance record. For children living in urban environments, the story is even more alarming. Students from low socioeconomic backgrounds are often educated in dilapidated schools where the too many educators lack the credentials and skills necessary to perform their duties adequately.

3. High student-to-teacher ratios are found in most urban schools, and these schools often lack the resources to deal with the diverse challenges they face, including unruly student behavior.

Education has been called the great equalizer, but for students living in poverty-stricken urban areas it is little more than a babysitting service and a place to get a hot meal.

4. No Child Left Behind was a giant mess. Many people question whether the No Child Left Behind Act has contributed to achieving academic success. Although NCLB was well intentioned, it has not lived up to the hopes of government or schools. In the eyes of some, NCLB has actually contributed to subpar academics becoming even worse. If American educators and school personnel do not make a concerted effort to develop effective measures to hold schools accountable for the education of all of our children, then the education crisis will continue.

There is an exception to every rule: some urban school systems are providing a quality education. Unfortunately, however, only a small number of school systems meet the state and federal government student performance requirements.

5. For underperforming urban school systems, a lot of the “plans for change” are full of hot air. At least, they often seem to be.

The problem usually lies with the inability to sustain existing reform efforts and initiatives. Mayors and school superintendents in these areas often concoct grandiose reform plans that are merely political devices meant to woo voters into believing they genuinely care about educational reform.

It is sad and sobering to realize that often, politicians create school reform to gain popularity and votes. It is discouraging to realize that our children’s futures might be used as a political device to win elections.

6. Finally, people are too busy trying to play the blame game. Politicians are not the only people at fault for the shoddy education American children are receiving, but no one will take responsibility for subpar educational environments. If administrators were asked who was at fault, they might point to a lack of parental involvement and too few quality teachers.

If teachers were asked who was at fault they might also cite a lack of parental involvement and ineffective administration.

If parents were asked who was at fault they might blame teachers and school administrators.

Society in general seems to conclude that the lack of quality teachers, effective administration, and parental involvement are all factors contributing to educational failure.

Whatever the reason, Americans have become the laughing stock of the free world when it comes to K-12 education. The solution, of course, is for the country to unite and work together to carry the responsibility of enriching and continuing America’s future via educational excellence without playing the “blame game.” But, realistically, where does that begin?

Please leave your thoughts in the comments section.

The rate of obesity among children is skyrocketing—and this is something to worry about. After all, as you might expect, obese children are at a higher risk for diseases such as diabetes, arthritis and heart disease.

But there are some other things that you might not know about childhood obesity and its implications.

1. For example, did you know that…by the age of four, one out of every five children is obese? Yes, a full twenty percent of children are obese by the time they are four years old.

2. Obese children also tend to have low self-esteem, poor grades, and are less likely to attend college (particularly girls).

3. Children from low-income families and those of Hispanic, African American and Native American heritage are at a higher risk of falling prey to obesity.

4. Poor diet and lack of exercise are the two main culprits. Simply put, sedentary behaviors are on the rise. The average American youth watches 1,500 hours of television per year and they go to school an average of 900 hours per year – the math right there should tell you something about where our kids are learning the most, and how it is being absorbed.

During the 1500 hours of television watching, experts tell us that children are mostly eating high calorie snacks. Additionally, American society is riddled with fast food, refined foods and processed foods that calorie laden. Is it any surprise that so many children in this country struggle with their weight?

5. Television and other activities at home are not the only factors to blame, though. Our K-12 schools are also playing a role in the rise in obesity and unhealthy lifestyles among kids. To start with, many schools lack physical education programs, with a mere 4 percent of elementary schools, 8 percent of middle schools, and 2 percent of high schools offering daily physical education.

6. Perhaps the oddest point when it comes to the rising rate of obesity is this: American culture teaches children that thin is better, and that you simply cannot be too thin. Rising rates of anorexia and bulimia among young women and men are the result of poor messages about body image that children frequently hear. These eating disorders generally begin between the ages of 11 and 13, particularly for girls. In fact, nearly half of all girls from grade 1 to grade 3 want to be thinner. The top wish for girls ages 11 to 17 is to lose weight.

Obviously, messages American children receive from the media and society in general need to change. Young girls learn that to be attractive and to be a success, you must be thin. Boys receive similar messages and learn that thin and muscular is the preferred body type. As a result, boys as young as 10 years old are bulking up at the gym and many young men are taking steroids to build muscle, at great detriment to their overall health.

So on one hand, children learn that they need to remain thin to be attractive and successful. But on the other hand, they do not have the resources to establish healthy eating habits on any level – and schools are really no help.

For schools to really get behind a healthy approach to body image, diet and exercise, an atmosphere that promotes acceptance of self and the importance of overall health should be established. Classroom and learning materials should portray different body types and images. Ensuring students know a thin body isn’t necessarily a healthy body and that healthy bodies come in all shapes and sizes is also important. It is not enough to simply tell them though; students need to be equipped with healthy lifestyle tools to make the right choices when they are on their own.

What do you think we as Americans do to better address both the obesity and unhealthy body image issues that run rampant among K-12 students? Please leave a comment in the comment section below—I would appreciate hearing your thoughts.

No matter what model is used in managing a classroom, no matter what kind of curriculum structure is implemented, one of the biggest factors in student success is how engaged they are in the learning process. Put simply: student motivation equals student excellence.

However, one of the pitfalls in motivating students is that teachers become too fixated on curriculum. Teachers are afraid that when students fall behind the set curriculum, it will be reflected on external examinations. Encourage your students to be energetic and to find learning experiences interesting, satisfying, and sometimes challenging. Your goal as the teacher is to prepare students for their later lives, to educate and guide them for further learning and fulfillment.

Most of us have been in a class we found boring, and our mind either wandered, or we started dozing off. Most of us can probably also think of a situation when the whole class, teachers, and curriculum came together to create a perfect harmony, when students couldn’t wait to learn and teachers couldn’t wait to teach. These situations usually lead to interactive, real learning.

The challenge for teachers to make the classroom learning interesting and fit the curriculum has always existed. Education philosopher John Dewey was a pioneer in this topic. Dewey promoted the idea that school learning should relate to skills and knowledge that will be useful for life outside of school, advocating that students would have a better learning experience by relating the two different worlds, which in turn motivates further learning.

Dewey believed that a classroom of passive students, with the teacher simply feeding the knowledge, was ineffective, and that a mutual effort was necessary for an optimal learning experience. Dewey suggested that the prevention of classroom misbehavior, and the encouragement of student participation, had to have a link between a student’s classroom learning and current interests and experiences. This suggestion does not mean that Dewey disregarded school curriculum in support of individual learning. His suggestions and examples are summed up here:

• Students should help teachers select specific reading assignments after they get a clear idea about the goals of the class.
• Students should be able to decide on and work on topics that are of personal interest.
• Teachers should be open about learning from students while bringing their own experience and interests to the class.
• Students should gain in-depth knowledge by participating in the world away from the classroom.

As you can see, such classrooms will have plenty of flexibility. Although teachers should have plans to meet the goal for the whole class, there should be enough flexibility to facilitate individual students’ goals. This approach will facilitate student willingness to learn effectively. Students do not merely memorize, but gain the advantage of understanding and take the learned skills with them for the rest of their lives.

When it comes to effectively managing the classroom environment, no one model has pulled ahead as the way to do it. Disciple, desist, reality – and now, Kounin and Jones are all potentially valid approaches. Our past articles have talked about the categorical approaches, but what about the two with names? How do they stack up against each other?

The Kounin Model

Research by Jacob Kounin, who was inspired by William Glasser, found that the difference between teachers is not how they deal with misconduct, but how they prevent it in the first place. His conclusion listed four factors that underlie classroom management success.

First is “with-it-ness,” which refers to the teacher’s alertness and awareness of the classroom at all times. Teachers should let students know that they have the full view of the classroom, and as soon as the teacher spots misbehavior, the teacher indicates visually (with facial expression) to the student that he or she has seen the misbehavior. This is usually enough to stop the behavior without the rest of the class being aware. Although such a look is enough in many cases, some cases will require more action than that, with the teacher addressing the situation with everyone who was involved in the misconduct.

The second factor is “overlapping,” which really is just another word for “multitasking.” When the teacher has divided the class into working groups to look at different topics and activities, this allows teachers to have easy access to every student, provide specific help if needed, and, at the same time, keep an eye on the other students. The “overlapping” of activities in the classroom allows efficiency, and the teacher controls all these activities.

Third is “group focus,” which means getting every student involved and concentrating on the classroom activity. One way of achieving group focus is to attribute a portion of students’ grades to participation. Teachers can ask students questions that are open for anyone to answer. Students will thus all be concentrating and thinking about the question, eager to respond in order to get a good grade. Another method that is often used is randomly selecting students to answer questions. Because they don’t know who will be selected next, and to avoid embarrassment, students’ focus is on their teacher.

The fourth and last factor is “movement management,” which includes momentum and smoothness. Teachers have to ensure that students are continually working and are not sidetracked or distracted. Students can raise their hands if they have questions, and this ensures the smooth flow of the class without interruptions. If the class is held often, another way could be for students to write down questions and/or concerns about the class materials on pieces of paper and turn them in at the end of the session. In the next class, materials can be reviewed, with assistance from the questions previously written down by students. Teachers may also prepare more challenging questions.

The Jones Model

In a 1979 study, Frederick Jones found that nearly 50% of teaching time was wasted due to children’s misbehavior, of which approximately 80% was spent talking in class. Jones suggested that teachers could work on not losing the valuable time by implementing the following techniques: set limits, effective body language, incentive systems, and resourceful help.

Setting limits will help students know what to do in every situation, from small matters like pencil sharpening to big matters like being sick. By setting limits, teachers allow students to find their own ways of dealing with situations without major disruptions to other students. An incentive system concentrates on taking away benefits from students when they misbehave. Efficient help is important because students start to misbehave when they start to fall behind. Jones found that teachers use an average of 4 minutes to discipline students when they misbehave. That, he says, can be reduced significantly (F. Jones, 1979). One of the ways to do this is getting others who are more settled to help the students who are struggling.

None of these methods will work in all cases, so teachers should always have back-up plans such as isolation from class. To learn about other potential approaches you can use, check out our other two articles about models for classroom management.

This article discusses another classroom management approach: reality therapy. While there’s no single method for managing a classroom effectively, because different situations require different approaches, the root of the problem should be the key factor in deciding which approach should be used. Read on to learn about reality therapy and to decide whether or not the approach is for you.

Developed by psychiatrist William Glasser in the 1960s, reality therapy is used to guide students in becoming responsible individuals who are able to satisfy their own needs for the benefit of themselves and others. Despite its maturity, this approach has stood the test of time and is still in use today. This approach was developed with the idea that students know their own needs and wants and will make changes to get closer to where they want to be. Teachers are supposed to help students with making the right choices, while avoiding the wrong choices. Rational students should make the final decision themselves. If students opt for the wrong choice and misbehave, teachers and students work together to first evaluate the misconducts. They should then devise an applicable plan for students to make amends.

As trust and responsibility are given to students, students should work on their own to correct their misbehaviors. If students fail and break the trust, engaging in misbehaviors, teachers should remove them from the class until the students are committed to trying again to earn back the trust. This approach notes that the different styles of parenting should not be the acceptable reasons for misbehaving. When misbehavior occurs, ask what the students are doing instead of asking the students for reasons, because students should be trusted to analyze their own misbehavior and seek plans to correct their bad behaviors.

In the reality therapy model, holding classroom meetings and discussions are necessities. Students are encouraged to set the class rules and consequences. Once students agree, the rules will be adhered to at a higher level. When you hold these meetings, ensure that students understand that the meetings are held for everyone’s benefit because rules and consequences might require adjustments. As trust and responsibility are the essential components of the self-discipline approach, teachers and students should be able to communicate without barriers.

The reality therapy approach to self-discipline implies that people who can’t adhere to the rules are the cause of receiving the consequences. When students are not prepared as expected, students are the cause for their receiving consequences. Given that this approach respects everyone, and encourages students to be responsible individuals, if unsatisfactory action takes place, anyone and everyone should express their opinions and dissatisfaction accordingly. Possible solutions should be decided by open discussions.

Have you seen the reality therapy approach before? How did it go? What model works in one classroom may not be as effective with a different set of students. Think about the flow of your classroom and the needs of the children in it, and then decide what model would most effectively manage your classroom. If the model here doesn’t sound appealing, check out our two other articles on approaches to classroom management.

This article introduces different classroom management approaches, with the self-discipline and the desist approach at opposite ends. There’s no single method for managing a classroom effectively, because different situations require different approaches. The root of the problem should be the key factor in deciding which approach should be used.

The Self-Discipline Approach

This approach is based on the belief that students are responsible individuals who can assess and correct their own misbehavior, and that teachers and students have trusting relationships built on respect. With its self-governing style, the self-discipline approach has four models, which are discussed next.

Inner Discipline

Developed by Barbara Coloroso, inner discipline takes a longer route in correcting student misbehavior. As the name indicates, the goal here is to help students develop inner discipline. When students have self-discipline, they will have control and responsibility for their own actions. Whether or not it’s a choice with a positive outcome, unless there is a threat to the student or others, teachers should let students make their own choices.

Using inner discipline, when students misbehave, teachers should ask what students and teachers could do together to change. Students and teachers cooperate to build a community where they share the power. An underlying premise of this approach is that students do not have lasting discipline when quick solutions such as reward systems are used.

According to Coloroso, there are three types of teachers: “brick-wall,” “jellyfish,” and “backbone.” As the names suggest, “brick-wall” teachers are strict, demanding students to follow the rules without questioning and there are no exceptions. “Jellyfish” teachers enforce the rules like the way a jellyfish moves. The rules are not clear, and teachers often change the rewards and punishments, so students cannot expect consistency from these teachers. Last, “backbone” teachers give strong support, but from behind.

Assertive Discipline

Although assertive discipline is based on the fact that teachers have the power to ask and require specific actions from students, this approach still has students’ best interests in mind. Canter found that teachers who use this discipline are not authoritarian, because they are forceful yet calm in enforcing the rules and limits. This discipline allows teachers to present clear rules. It gives students the clear idea that misbehaviors have consequences and that, if they want positive consequences instead of negative ones, they can make choices that will lead to positive consequences.
The Desist Approach

This approach is often used due to its easy implementation. Unlike the self-discipline, where students are responsible, the desist approach makes teachers the responsible party. This approach can be viewed as a power system, because teachers have the power, and they set the specific rules to give students discipline and correct student behaviors. The approach focuses on assertive discipline and behavior modification, as outlined next.

Behavior Modification

This approach centers around four types of punishment/reinforcement:
1. Positive reinforcement: Giving extra credit for a question answered with much thought

2. Positive punishment: A meeting with the principal

3. Negative reinforcement: Removal from list of students who have 
to answer questions

4. Negative punishment: Decrease in free time

In behavior modification, positive reinforcement is the most effective, while punishments are comparatively ineffective. It goes without saying that teachers are expected to encourage good student behavior instead of criticizing misbehavior.

Have you tried out any of these models? How did they go? What model works in one classroom may not be as effective with a different set of students. Think about the flow of your classroom and the needs of the children in it, and then decide what model would most effectively manage your classroom. If the models here don’t sound appealing, check out our two other articles on approaches to classroom management.

Take-home packets are a must for students at the start of each school year. This packet helps you communicate the objectives of the class for the year to students and their parents. It also helps you communicate important information concerning rules and consequences, the school calendar, special events, and any new activities or changes that have been made over the summer months. If you keep parents informed from the beginning, you have made the first step in building strong parent-teacher relationships. Make sure that you include the following in the take-home packet:

 Welcome message to parents
 
School rules
 Supply list
 Emergency and approval forms to be signed by parents
 Transport rules and bus route

Additionally, you may want to accomplish the following activities during the first week of the new academic year:

 Prepare class rolls and records.
 Create nametags for each child.
 Get to know the schedule for each student, including gym, art, library and lunch schedules.
 Create a folder that can be used by a substitute teacher in case you are unable to make it to the school; this should include the daily schedule and seating chart.
 Create a file for each student that contains information about the child and correspondence from parents.
 Develop tentative lesson plans for the next week, and place them in a folder.

Completing the items on this checklist will help you feel more comfortable, organized, and in control when the horde of excited students appear at your door on the first day of school. Also, by starting the year off with a bang, you are setting the tone for the rest of the school year. In- stead of dealing with classroom management issues, organizational issues, and disgruntled parents, you’ll be able to enjoy a relatively stress-free first few days.

Managing behavior in the classroom is one of the factors that new teachers find the most frustrating. Although misbehavior is easy to identify, finding the solution to effectively deal with it by finding the causes may be more difficult. Get to the root cause of problem behavior as soon as possible, because the misbehavior will continue and may get worse, if not dealt with effectively. Teachers should look closely into students’ behaviors to find the influential factors that are shaping their behavioral patterns.

Although differences in the behavior of students are linked to age, many physical and psychological factors can have an influence at different stages of their school career. Children can’t make adult-like choices in behavior but are often trying to communicate a need or desire. It’s important to be able to determine whether their behavior is under their control in order to determine whether you can assist in addressing a need or desire.

It would probably be unwise to determine that misbehavior is the result of a physical or psychological problem in a child who commits a single act of undesirable behavior, but it would be as unwise not to consider these factors in a repeat offender. Sometimes students will simply be acting on the desire to break any rules that have been imposed on them. Some students, however, are subject to various medical conditions or are exposed to environments that have severe effects on their ability to function normally. Enlisting the assistance of a school nurse or school counselor is crucial in ensuring that these students also receive the same standards of education as their peers.

A commonly encountered disorder is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Children who are diagnosed with this disorder will commonly have a reduced ability to control their impulses and suffer bouts of hyperactivity, which are disruptive to both themselves and their peers. Less common are autistic spectrum disorders. Children with autism spectrum disorders have difficulty with social interaction and perform compulsive, repetitive behaviors that may equally be perceived as disruptive to themselves and their peers.

Children also have mental health problems that are more commonly encountered in adults and that may present during later childhood years. For example, children with oppositional defiant disorder have severe difficulties in interacting with other people due to their excessive and sometimes unprovoked aggression. These students will often be a source of extreme frustration to teachers but may also be so aggressive that they cause physical harm to teachers, and teachers may be simply afraid of them. Other mental health conditions include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorders, all of which are much more difficult to diagnose in children than in adults. It’s imperative that you consult with your school counselor or a similar mental health professional in order to determine if your students are suffering from any of these disorders.

Behavior changes may also result from the intake of substances that may be narcotic or simply unfamiliar to the body. Students who are taking medication for any condition, including antibiotics or antiepileptic medication, may show changes in behavior. The use of prescription medication will be more easily disclosed to a teacher than the taking of narcotic or illegal substances. You should maintain a certain degree of suspicion with regard to children whose behavior changes drastically during the course of a school day. Keep written notes regarding their behavior, and report any recurrent patterns to a higher authority.

Medical conditions such as viral infections and meningitis may also cause changes in a student’s behavior. Some medical conditions are so subtle that children may not even realize that they are sick because of the lack of obvious symptoms. In many cases, however, they may be feeling quite pronounced symptoms, which have either not been addressed by their parents or caretakers, or they are ignoring these symptoms out of fear.

While longer-term psychological issues can be difficult to rout out, changes resulting from medical conditions have the advantage of being easier to detect, because they are more likely to occur suddenly, giving a clue as to their cause. With experience, you’ll learn to identify different behavioral problems effectively.

Effective teachers look for every available opportunity to increase student learning. The classroom environment is a teaching resource that should not be ignored. Students and teachers spend the majority of their day in school classrooms, and it’s your responsibility to foster an environment and atmosphere that enhance learning. Developing a classroom environment conducive to learning is a process that entails staging the physical space, getting the students to cooperate, creating a communal environment, and finally maintaining a positive classroom climate and culture.

Physical Space

To create a classroom environment conducive to learning, you must first focus on the physical space. Use every possible area of the room to create an atmosphere that encourages participation and learning. The physical space includes the layout and arrangement of the desks or tables, the placement of computers and equipment, and items on the bulletin boards and walls.

In modern classrooms the tables and desks are usually not fixed, allowing for various seating arrangements. Take time to draw up a seating plan based on how you expect to conduct your lessons. If you’ll give a lot of instruction, it’s ideal to have any students who have difficulties closer to you so that they have greater access to the lesson. If you’ll require your students to take part in collaborative activities, you can arrange the classroom so that you have maximum visibility of all groups, which may then be clustered around the classroom as appropriate. You may be required to make individual seating changes based on disruptive behavior, keeping students who are more likely to be disruptive closer to you and rewarding them by allowing them to move if they learn to conduct themselves more appropriately. You could also allow students to be clustered around focus areas for activities, moving back to a more traditional seating arrangement when they have completed the activity. Always try to accommodate the physical size of students by procuring an adequately sized desk for them.

Next, consider the furniture and equipment you must fit into your classroom. Where are the electrical outlets? Which pieces of equipment may need to be plugged into them? Where is the chalkboard or projector screen? Will students need a clear view of them? Where should you place your desk to allow maximum observation and encourage good behavior? Finally, students with special needs often require extra attention. For instance, a student with visual impairment or behavior problems may need to be placed in the action zone, the area in the front and the middle of the class.

After arranging the room with the optimal furniture placement, you must assume responsibility for the organization of the entire classroom. Where will the students keep their supplies? What resources will you need daily access to? Supplies, bins, shelves, and cabinets should be carefully organized and easily accessible. The wall space and interest centers will suit a well-organized and efficient classroom and will optimize students’ learning potential. Find creative ways for students to explore and learn in their environment, and set up learning centers throughout the class. Learning centers are creatively staged learning areas that allow students to participate in activities related to the curriculum. Teachers will prepare an activity at each center. Activities are typically hands-on and are fun for the students. Learning centers may include a computer center, a science center, a reading corner, or an interactive bulletin board.

Another dimension of the physical classroom is the wall space. Wall space should be pleasing to the eye, with special attention to student morale and learning. One way of accomplishing this is an organized display of student work. Displaying student work not only boosts morale but also fosters ownership of the classroom.

Bulletin boards make the room look neat and attractive and are a source of learning by highlighting key facts or by allowing student interaction. Interactive bulletin boards are bulletin boards that allow students to participate in an activity that reinforces the class’s objectives. Bulletin boards can also be electronic, which can easily be set up for any subject area. These may be used differently from traditional “on-the-wall” bulletin boards, but allow multiple students to access any problems you post on the board and discuss or propose answers among themselves before you intervene with the correct answer. Establish ground rules to ensure the use of bulletin boards is effective.

Getting Students to Cooperate

One of the most challenging aspects of maintaining a neat and organized environment that is conducive to learning is getting the students to cooperate. To begin, you should clearly define the rules and routines for transitions between activities and classes. Practice the transitions with the class, and correct undesirable behaviors. Decrease the amount of unstructured time by having materials prepared and readily available.

After you’ve established the ground rules, you’re responsible for making appropriate demands, giving clear signals, and being consistent. You’ll also learn to anticipate problems and correct them as a means of preventing disorder. You must have a plan for every minute of the day and have a goal of keeping students busy.

Creating a Communal Atmosphere

A communal atmosphere is a feeling established by instilling a sense of community among the students. Another way to express this is creating a learning community. After establishing the rules, routines, and transitions, your next objective will be to transition the classroom into a communal atmosphere, focusing on relationships and taking a personal interest in each contributor to the community.

Your care, as the teacher, extends to every aspect of the learning environment, including curriculum, instruction, assessment, and society. If students are aware that you care, they will be more willing to make an effort to please you. As a teacher, you need to lead your students by example. Displaying a caring attitude toward each student will encourage them to treat each other with the same attitude. Dealing with conflict in a caring and understanding manner will have the same effect. You need to encourage all learners to treat each other with respect and care, because this promotes a positive learning environment and can improve collaboration among students.

Classroom Climate and Culture

After establishing a classroom community, the final step in creating a positive atmosphere conducive to learning is to develop a positive classroom climate and culture. A classroom’s climate and culture are the atmosphere and quality of life in a classroom. Your role as teacher is that of the primary contributor to the climate and culture. Your interaction with the students, disciplinary measures, mannerisms, support, encouragement, cooperation, and focus on individual students all contribute to an atmosphere conducive to learning.

Although they are complex and multifaceted, classrooms with a climate and culture conducive to learning share similar characteristics. The teacher is caring and supportive. The lessons are well organized, progress smoothly, and are free from interruptions. The content is challenging without being frustrating, and activities are relevant and interest students. Open, warm relationships among students are encouraged, and cooperation and respect are expected. Stress and anxiety levels are low, and there is limited conflict.

Have a plan for each area of concern. How can you maximize potential and circumvent obstacles in each? What resources do you need to obtain? Write down a list of ways you will optimize each area of concern in order to boost your classroom’s learning potential.

What do you need to know in order to be in charge of helping other people know things? What kind of information and wisdom does a teacher need to posses? In this blog, I will discuss all of the things you need to be knowledgeable about in order to be an effective teacher. In order to be an effective teacher, you’ll need to be:

Knowledgeable About the Subject

Teachers need to be sufficiently knowledgeable about their subjects. You should to be able to analyze all the elements of a subject, to challenge its theories and fundamentals, and have a detailed awareness of all its implications, social biases, and possible uses. Education experts have often argued that all elementary teachers should have a proven, broad, and detailed knowledge of all the subjects they will be expected to teach, and that high school teachers should be experts in their field; they need a university-level specialization or a college major in the subject they teach.

Knowledgeable About the Curriculum

Teachers must have a clear idea of how to teach their subject in the most effective manner. A teacher might be an expert in physics, for example, and convey positive energy during instruction, but if he or she starts teaching concepts relating to quantum physics before students have a good notion of what an atom is, students will inevitably be lost, bored, or will quickly lose confidence in their own abilities. By the time a teacher has reached an expert level in his or her field of study, he or she may well have forgotten the exact learning steps taken to get there, so the subject curriculum will play a crucial guiding role. The curriculum outlines the structure and the layers of learning, which are developed along a defined course of time. Teachers must know exactly what they will be asking their students to study and when, as well as which previous layer of knowledge is being built on.

Knowledgeable About Pedagogical Content

Teachers should be knowledgeable about the methods that they can and will use for conveying their knowledge; they should possess knowledge of pedagogical content. Pedagogical content knowledge might be viewed as a profound understanding, interpretation, and adaptation of the curriculum. It refers to the way teachers organize the topics, issues, and learning points, and choose the clearest analogies and metaphors to leave an impact on their students. Pedagogical content knowledge enables teachers to bridge the holes in the students’ knowledge to transmit their point clearly and profoundly and to foresee misunderstandings and problems that may arise. The teacher must know how to address these issues with clarity and confidence and to make the right choices in his or her methods, according to the group’s interests, situations, and backgrounds.

You might, for example, use the analogy of a microscopic city to explain the functions and happenings within a cell, where the nucleus is described as the city mayor or the decision maker, and the cell membrane as the city wall, which acts as a border and allows some things to leave, and others to enter. This analogy facilitates learning because it creates a conceptual image in the minds of the students, catalyzing comprehension and retention of the lesson.

Knowledgeable About Theory vs. Practice

As a teacher, you must take responsibility for your own development. Try new ideas, be imaginative, talk to other teachers, and to stay up to date with the latest theories and research regarding education and effecting teaching. If your students seem to be making little progress, you must swiftly adapt your method, change your teaching theory, and seek new ways to transmit your message. Continuous professional development should be seen as a personal investment in your teaching career, enabling you to remain up to date with the latest teaching practices. Technology can offer you new and innovative ways with which to make classroom management easier, but it’s up to you to ensure that you remain up to date with rapidly changing devices and systems.

In many different aspects of our lives, a large gap seems to exist between the theory and the practice of the activity. Just as experienced drivers will tell learners that “you don’t start learning how to drive until you’ve passed your test,” many experienced teachers have a similar attitude toward the theories of teaching they studied in college, and the reality of standing in front of a class and actually teaching. This is one of the reasons that courses now require greater time spent performing fieldwork, with increased focus on engaging in the real classroom atmosphere early in a teaching student’s educational career. You will undoubtedly need practical solutions to problems, and these are often learned more quickly and effectively through experience. Teachers should have a deep passion and respect for the progress of their own profession, as much for themselves and the students as for the profession.

Here, we discuss what a good teacher needs to know. Check out my previous blog, “Attributes of an Effective Teacher, Part 1: What You Need To Be” to see how your personality matches up to the characteristics displayed by competent, confident educators.

Are you called to be a teacher? Taking some time to look over the important qualities that  a teacher should possess and thinking about how much you exemplify those qualities can help you figure out whether or not teaching is for you. In this blog, I will discuss the attributes that you must possess in order to be an effective teacher. Without further ado, here they are:

Enthusiastic

Enthusiasm is arguably the single most important attribute. Teachers must be enthusiastic about what they are teaching. If you appear bored to the students, that boredom will ripple through the classroom. When researching his book Making the Most of College, Richard Light interviewed large numbers of college students, asking them questions regarding their education, their inspirations, and their drive to study and continue learning. Light reported that, regardless of their social or cultural background, race, or discipline, the most common aspiration among students was that the class they were taking would help them progress: it would stretch them and change them in some way. As a teacher, your challenge is to inspire students and help them achieve these aspirations.

Positive Attitude

It’s very important for teachers to be optimistic and to foster a positive attitude within themselves and their students. The French philosopher Voltaire said, “the most courageous decision one makes each day is the decision to be in a good mood.” Our educational system does not need teachers who are always looking at the glass as being half empty.

What it needs is role models with positive attitudes, who view obstacles as opportunities, not harbingers of doom and despair. To display a positive attitude, listen to what you say to others and to your tone of voice. You should be displaying care, concern, and respect. And when the going gets tough, people with positive attitudes rise to the occasion and work on solving the problem, not making it worse with pessimism.

A Good Group Leader

As a teacher, you’re expected to be in control of the group, showing total confidence in your position. Good group management skills are crucial to successful learning in a classroom, which is full of social networks, peer pressure, competition, emotional complications, and varying degrees of confidence. Children and teenagers need the freedom to make their own decisions, to follow their own interests and paths, and to develop their own personalities, but they also need limits. Good group management allows space for all of these elements, creating a safe, stable, and stimulating environment. Teachers should be aware of the disciplinary standards of their school and apply them fairly and consistently.

Ethical

Teachers should be wholeheartedly committed to their codes of ethics. The school may provide a code of ethics, but it’s important for you to develop your own personal code of ethics and to hold yourself accountable for adhering to your chosen standards. You should be able to reflect this commitment in your day-to-day teaching. Ethical educators are expected to treat every student with the same respect, commitment, and engagement, embracing the opportunity to be practical models of virtue, to actively engage in the growth and learning of each individual student, and to be unlimited by external factors such as class and race.

Passionate

The teacher’s role is to use their passion for their subject, their belief in the system, and their commitment as tools for their main purpose, which is to transmit their knowledge, to educate, and to play an active role in the learning process for all their students. Teachers should be passionate about being more than just a cog in a well-oiled machine; they should be driven to taking responsibility for their own development to ensure that their students may progress in the most effective way.

Here, we discuss what a good teacher needs to be. Check out my next blog, “Attributes of an Effective Teacher, Part 2: What You Need To Know” to see how your knowledge base measures up.

If you’re new to teaching, getting a good grasp on all the ins and outs of school environment and how to navigate it effectively can be difficult. Here, we’ve answered five of the top questions new educators need to know the answers to, when it comes to stepping through the classroom door:

1. What should I know about the school environment?

The school environment includes the structure, schedule, space, curriculum, coursework, and the approach to socialization. School environments are highly variable.

Most schools cluster grades into preschool, elementary, middle, and high school. The early childhood environment is holistic and focuses on providing students with skills such as following directions and sharing. The elementary environment moves from learning the basics of math and reading to applying the lessons learned. The middle school environment involves more electives. In high school, students begin to narrow down career choices.

2. What types of curricula exist in schools?

Curricula range widely from school to school. It is important to be aware of your school’s curriculum. Subject-centered curricula, the most common in American schools, focus on a single area, such as World War II. All students study the same thing. Student-centered curricula allow more freedom for students to explore learning. States have differing amounts of oversight regarding curricula. However, all have established standards or benchmarks that students are expected to reach.

3. What are the attributes of an effective teacher?

Effective teachers generally have some or all of the following attributes: they are enthusiastic; have a positive attitude; are knowledgeable about the subject, curriculum, and pedagogical content; are good group leaders; and are ethical and passionate. Furthermore, teachers should take responsibility for their professional development and should stay up to date with the latest theories and methods.

4. How can I create a classroom environment that is conducive to learning?

To create an optimal classroom environment, it’s important to first focus on the physical space. Ensure that desks are placed so all students can see the teacher. Put students with behavior problems or disabilities in the “action zone” (front and center). Create learning centers around the classroom. Next, establish clear ground rules, and be consistent in enforcing them. Have a plan for every moment of the day, so there’s no time for students to create problems. Demonstrate that you care for the students, and focus on creating a positive classroom atmosphere.

5. How should I approach classroom management?

It’s important to first diagnose the causes of misbehavior. Home environments influence students’ behavior in school. Teachers should be sensitive to the home environments students are coming from. The classroom environment can also affect student behavior. Ensure that the room has good air circulation, that the temperature is ideal, and that desks and chairs fit the students. A mismatch between student ability and the material being taught can also affect behavior.

Poor teaching habits can also lead to misbehavior. Treat all students with respect. Never raise your voice or speak in a disparaging manner. Leave your personal problems at home.

Physical and psychological factors such as ADHD or substance abuse can also affect student behavior, and teachers should make an effort to be aware of these.
There are various approaches to classroom management. These include various approaches to promoting self-discipline, which focus on helping students control and modify their own behavior, and the desist approach, in which teachers use various tools, such as positive and negative reinforcement, to promote good behavior.
To motivate students, it’s important to increase student participation, allow and encourage students to work on topics that they’re interested in, and create a flexible environment in the classroom.

Hopefully your initial qualms have been quelled know that you have the information vitals at hand, but if you’re still keening to know more, check out our other articles on education and effectively managing the classroom environment.