Portfolio Meeting #2
March 12, 2009 tg1138block
Describe:
On March 9th, 2009 the interns at AHS had the opportunity to meet with our portfolio support groups. At the meeting I reminded my group of my semester goal of classroom management, and I talked about my first artifact that would help me achieve my goal: the Harry Wong videos. My group was very receptive to this, and they all agreed that the Harry Wong videos helped them with classroom management skills as well.
Analyze:
During the block, Dr. B has shown us two Harry Wong videos that have dealt with classroom management. One of the most important things that I got from the videos was the concept of rules and procedures. Harry Wong stresses that it is important to only have three to five rules in the classroom because anymore than that nobody would be able to remember them. I found it interesting when he pointed out that you should write your rules in a positive manner. For example, a bad example of a rule would be: No talking while the teacher is talking. This rule could be enforced positively by re-writing it to read: Please raise your hand before you speak. I really like that he pointed this out because all during my educational career I cannot recall a teacher that did not have his or her rules written in a negative manner. This is definitely an idea that I am going to incorporate into my classroom. The next point that Harry Wong emphasized was the idea of procedures. He says that procedures never need to be punished; instead they need to be rehearsed. This is an interesting point because as a coach I am constantly rehearsing plays, drills, and skills with my athletes to help them improve and perform the way that I want them to. I had never thought about the idea of rehearsing procedures with my students until Harry Wong and even Dr. Bond introduced the idea. Some procedures that are really important to me as a classroom teacher are: how to signal students’ attention, turning in paper, and make-up work.
Reflect: My group had a couple of suggestions for me to help achieve my goal, and I also gained some insight from listening to them. They suggested that I look at the AHS library because the librarian had talked about them having some Harry Wong videos. I had told my group that I wanted to find some new videos by him because I find the short clips we watch in class to be extremely helpful to achieve my goal of effective classroom management.. My group didn’t really have any other insight for me which was a little unfortunate because I was hoping they would give me a fresh idea. I told them that I wanted to find videos on classroom management by other people as well because they might have an idea that Harry Wong does not express in his videos. After listening to other people in my group I got the name of some teachers that had effective classroom management as well as some of those that had poor classroom management. I wrote them down, and I definitely plan on going to observe them. I also would like to add our classroom management plan to the list of artifacts that will show my improvement in classroom management skills. There is no better way to show improvement than to put what I have learned to use in creating my classroom management skills. As I go around and observe classrooms, I can always add or alter my plan if I see something this is more effective than my original plan.
I am excited to see my improvement in effective classroom management skills unfold throughout the semester.
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1. jb50block&hellip | March 14, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Hi Tara. Excellent posting. I like the rich detail of your comments.
If you find some new videos, please let me know. I’m always looking for the latest ones; however, there isn’t a big demand for them. And I’m not aware of any new videos by Harry Wong. His information seems timeless. And I do agree with his idea of procedures.
Right outside the library computer lab, there is a shelf with lots of books for teachers. You might glance at the stack when you get a free moment. I know there is a good, practical book that you might like. It’s a white book…. (sorry, I can’t remember the title or author). I sometimes use the book as a supplement in the block.
Observing other teachers is also a good approach. Engage them in a conversation, if you get a chance. NB