Second Year Retrospective (Part 2)

The year began and I got to meet my babies. While I am not yet a parent, I think of teaching as a similar experiences in some ways. You don't really know who your students are going to be or what they are going to be like. But you have to try your best to accept them for who they are, love them, and help them to grow.

I was very lucky this year in that most of my students were actually quite likeable. And I was doubly lucky in that I had small classes, so I got to spend a lot more time getting to know my students.

On A days (7th grade), periods 1 and 3 had only 6 students each. 4th period had about 10. On B Days (8th grade), period 5 had about 8 students, period 6 had 8 as well, and period 8 had about 12 students. Yes, I know, these are rediculously small classes and I probably will not have classes of this size again.

It was an incredible opportunity as a second year teacher. This gave me a lot more energy to spend on other matters besides classroom management. To be honest classroom management was not too difficult this year. I learned my first year that it is best to clamp down on any negative behavior early on. And when it started, I did clamp down relatively effectively. By explaining in stern language (I've developed a much more stern way of talking when I want it) what was not appropriate and by calling home incessantly to inform parents (again with stern language) that their child's behavior was completely unnacceptable. While I did have to do this with my small classes, I did not have as many students in my classes that were prone to disrupt the class (as I did my first year). Hence, I did not expend nearly as much energy disciplining students.

I had some positive behavior intervention systems in place and ready to go. I started out with one whole class incentive strategy. Each period had it's own "word poster," which was just a bubble word hung on the front wall. Whenever the class was on task, I would fill in part of the word, and once it was complete, the class earned a class party. I only went through it once though, because I realized that it was not necessary. I am of the opinion that it is best for students to self-motivate as much as possible. For the most part, my students did the work on their own.

I only had one class (my fourth period 7th graders) that gave me any trouble this year. There were a few problem students in the class - two in particular. And they definitely through a bit of a wrench into things. I was able to clamp down on them, but to be honest, I could have expended more energy in getting them locked down. You really have to be vigilant. However, I found that for most of the year, my fourth period class often got more done than my other 7th grade classes. I think this is partly because I was harder on them. Still, when I have problem students like the two I had in that class in the future, I hope to work more on getting them under control and keeping them that way (with different intervention strategies).

But the rest of my classes were truly a dream. They were enthusiastic about learning and they produced excellent work. I really got to develop some excellent lessons and strategies for keeping my students engaged. I hope to use these lesson strategies and further implement my classroom management strategies for next year when I am likely to have larger classes. It feels great to have another year of lesson planning behind me, which I think will make next year that much easier.