To evaluate my classroom management would be difficult at this time. I am using some of the tactics that have been taught to us at Arc, but I don’t have a definitive answer that this is actually what is keeping behavior issues to a minimum. I keep asking the questions, Are these just good students? Is the heat beating the students into submission? Are the tactics actually working? Or is the academic trance of the cooperating teaching lasting into the times that I teach? (See first week for more info on this topic) I firmly believe that to determine if a classroom behavior tactic is working, one tactic must fail and a new tactic employed and corrects the behavior. When this occurs the tactic works. It is possible that some tactics are working, but you can never be 100% confident. It is also possible that some classroom behavioral tactic works for a while and then become ineffective. I believe that classroom behavior acts like a virus. Just when you think you have it conquered it mutates and a new tactic must be used.
On a scale of one to ten, I would give myself a two. Three times during the first week I encountered the absolutely amazing experience of a quiet classroom with 75% or more of the students on task. The first two times it came out of nowhere, the third time was mostly the result of one of my most challenging students being out of the classroom.
Any success I have had so far has resulted from trying to add structure to the classroom. I walked into a situation where there was fifteen minutes of instruction at the board followed by two hours of students working on worksheets. Discipline was mostly the result of direct intervention. The result was a cycle of relative calm usually followed by a disturbance then relative calm again. I don't believe there was much learning going on.
Dividing the time into a warm up followed by "prime time" has helped and I hope to add further structure next week by dividing the "prime time" into smaller segments. My strategy to use "Respect" as the unifying concept for classroom management has been slow to take. I have not given up on it yet but I do realize that I will need to use other strategies if I hope to get the classroom where it needs to be.
Personally, I have issues with the reward system encouraged by so many of our instructors. I worry about training students to think that all successes will be rewarded when ultimately I want them to perform because it is the right thing to do. However, I am going to have to reconsider my reservations because I need something to focus those who have trouble determing right from wrong.
I have learned that in an culture like the one at East Hartford High School, establishing a classroom environment conducive to learning requires requires a multi-faceted approach with lots of engagement. With that knowledge, I hope to see some improvement this coming week.
John and Bill, more good points. Thanks for sharing.
You guys actually have touched on topics covered in my behavior analysis class.
To determine a cause and effect, you need to consistent setting while trying various classroom management strategies or you can use a strategy in different settings. For example, engagement has worked in many different setting, as have Do Nows.
The immediate reward approach certainly can lead to expectation of constant rewards. Behavioral theory involves weaning the individual from these immediate reinforcers to longer term and more meaningful ones. The idea is to shape the behavior you want. Ideally a student transitions from getting a lollipop for doing his work to fulfillment from a sense of accomplishment. Maybe they get a lollipop occasionally and their reward is mostly positive feedback.
As I said in my first week post, my classroom management was pretty low during my first week. This has been due in part to not "owning" the classroom. My C.T. gives out bonus points for participation, but doesn't have a classroom management system that I can detect, and I have been blindly following along.
That being said, I need to move on and make my own system. On Friday (my first day to open a lesson), the kids would not stop talking, and I realized about 2 minutes in to the period that we had never discussed behavior or even that this would be my class at some point. After finally getting their attention, we talked about respect, what should happen when I am in the front of the class, and took two minutes to regroup and start over.
I didn't yell, and this calm approach seemed to work well. When we started back up, I had everyone's attention and class went on from there.
Beginning Monday, though, I am going to try and make the room my own.I will put my signs up and send home my parent notes. There will be clear guidelines of what will and will not be accepted. This way, I will not have to explain myself, and I can move forward with a system using positive reinforcement rather than the threats my C.T. has issued.
On Tuesday I observed my class being instructed by Jason (my cooperating teacher) and noted that they were very disruptive, with a lot of socializing. On Wednesday I took over after they finished taking a quiz and they were very talkative and very difficult to get on task. I could see it happening – one student would catch the eye of another sitting next to him/her, and they were immediately off on their own conversation. It was very clear to me that something would have to change, or else I was in for a long month.
Thursday was my first full day teaching, and I decided that I needed to turn things around for my class. The key decision to change things was to dive in with assigned seating and implementation of our techniques. As they came in the door, I showed them where to pick up the Do Now as they enter the class, and showed them the new assigned seating chart. With no small amount of muttering and a muffled expletive or two, they took their new seats. However, I was able then to move forward through my lesson plan. I praised when each student began to engage or re-engage in his or her tasks. I am trying to move around the classroom to monitor their progress, ask open-ended questions (I still have a long way to go here), and detect when to move on.
To my surprise, they responded very well to the assigned seating. They no longer are sitting next to their friends, there is much less socializing, and I am able to get them on task and bring the stragglers back on task when they begin to slip off track. I have been able to get them engaged fairly quickly in their Do Now, and was able to complete an objective each day on Thursday and Friday.
Am I all set? No way. Some of the students are very difficult to get on task for more than a few seconds at a time (one in particular is at risk in all his classes for this reason – and yes, Randy, I just received his mother’s contact info and will be reaching out to her early in the week to discuss what I can do to help!). I hope that a realignment of my examples to focus on the objectives will help to keep our momentum. Each day I will be teaching them how to study, how to engage, how to participate in my class.
I agree with Bill that expectations for these students are surprisingly low. I have noticed that a good ½ of my students have already surprised me with what they can achieve. The challenge is to help them be successful on a more regular basis by engaging them in the class. I am hopeful that our chunked sequence of initiation, clear transitions, brief and clear instruction, guided practice, practice, and pop quiz, combined with consistent use of open-ended questions and engaging activities will be sufficient to reach a number of the students.
Oh, I should note that I am happy to have gotten Jason as my observing teacher. He is very supportive, has given me free rein to teach as I see fit, and provides me with useful feedback that complements the helpful constructive feedback I get from Randy and Jaf. It is great getting his perspectives on what works. Jason’s practices are very similar in terms of instructional techniques (warm ups, chunking, boardwork for engagement), which helps by ensuring that I am not at odds with him when I do things “our” way. It just goes to show that there are many different personal teaching styles, but that there are common themes for techniques that are successful in engaging students in their education.
My class is well-behaved so far. I don’t know if this is because my C.T. really laid down the law the first week (I doubt it), or if these kids are just inherently good kids. I’ve only taught for two days, and having good kids hasn’t given me much opportunity to practice classroom management techniques. Also, I don’t feel ownership of the class yet.
The most challenging issue is the two sleepers in class. At this point, they are just barely passing the class. With the sleepiest one, several times I prodded him awake and encouraged him to work on the problems. This would work briefly, and then he would sleep again. On Friday whenever I needed papers to be passed out, I asked him to do it, hoping it would perk him up. He obliged. Both sleepers have asked to go to the nurse twice…I’m not sure what that’s about…perhaps just an avoidance/delaying tactic.
I’m going to try pairing the kids up for some classwork for two reasons. One, I’m hoping that having some interaction with another student will be enough stimulation to keep the sleepers awake. Two, I want to try collaborative teaching to help address the different knowledge levels in class. I also plan to call parents on Monday to ask what I can do to help.
On Wednesday, after I had observed for a day, my C.T. gave over the reins to the class. Since then I have truly felt that I have been able to take ownership of the class, and this has definitely helped me to manage the classroom. Amy expressed that she felt that the troubles she was having so far was a result of the system in her classroom being the C.T.'s and not her own. I think that Amy is right that making the room her own, as well as making the classroom system her own, will help her to manage the students better. I liked that she also mentioned remaining calm when dealing with the students, especially as she introduces her way of doing things to the students. I noticed that as I introduced new things, such as the Do Now after every break, I needed to be calm while "training" the students to this new system. I couldn't get angry if they didn't get right to work on the Do Now after a break because it was something they weren't used to. Instead, I rewarded those who did get to work right away (both with praise and lollipops), and simply reminded the others of what I expected.
Speaking of rewards, I have found this to be a great motivator. I was very against a reward system at first, thinking (like Bill) that students should do certain things simply because it was expected of them and would help them become successful. However, I have realized that not all teenagers are motivated to do things the way that all of us Arcies are and probably were in high school. If the feeling of success after getting most of the homework problems correct or receiving a good grade on a quiz is not enough to get them to put in the effort, perhaps other rewards are necessary. After all, our ultimate goal is to get these students to be successful and to learn.
I have been using the lollipops mostly as a reward when a student does work on the board (since I noticed during my observation day that the same 3 students were doing most of the work). Now I have almost all of the class willing to do a problem on the board at least once a day simply to earn a lollipop. And most of the time they do the problem correctly, even if they felt unsure. In just a few days I have already been able to see the confidence growing in some of my students.
Like Kathy, however, I have some "sleepers." One in particular is troubling me, as he doesn't write any of the example problems down and doesn't participate in the practice problems I assign. I think he is pretty bright, but I just can't get him to understand that he needs to practice the methods in order to understand them better. This is something I will try to address next week. Perhaps I will have to talk to the student outside of the classroom and ask him what I can do to engage him more. If anyone has any advice or insight, I welcome it!
I can relate to Kathy's and Amy's experiences. Friday was my first day teaching so the students don't see me as "the teacher" yet. My CT said she "laid down the law" so that was done prior to my arrival. However, she purposely left the room (twice) in order to see how the students reacted with me directly - and how I reacted. One student acted up immediately. I need to put this in context: These are well behaved students (on the whole) without discipline issues. I don't know if this is due to the personalities of the students, the impression Maryann had on them when she reviewed appropriate behavior, or the power of my "stinky stickers". The biggest issue I have are the two sleepers - one in particular who is in danger of failing - and impacting his eligibility to grad.; the other sleeper is so far advanced that he is, essentially, teaching himself upcoming mtl. The one student who "acted up" tried to draw the attention to himself with some comedic comment in order to test my response. I calmly asked him if he would be willing to help me out by working out the next problem at the board. He seemed to like the attention, and he also knew that I wasn't going to hand over control of the class to his next comedic moment (and he loved the sticker he earned, I'm incredulous that a sticker has any impact on this age group). This class is very quiet, and passive. Once they were paired up in an activity, the participation seemed to increase for the remainder of the day. For the at-risk-of-graduating sleeper, Maryann and the Admin. have contacted the parents, and are keeping a close eye on him - he is on crutches so I can't get him up and moving, and he doesn't seem impressed with my attempt to make the lessons meaningful to teenagers. I'm relying on "are you still with us, 'name'? when I see the head starting toward the desk. He sits in the back so I also kept asking if I my board writing was large enough for him to see. I am struggling with how to reach/engage him - anybody have suggestions? I did have some success with the frustrated student I mentioned in Methods the other day. Before first period I asked if she would move her seat in order to avoid the obstructed view of the overhead projector, I purposely asked her to sit next to the 'advanced' student up front. I was thrilled to see that she started asking the advanced student some of her questions, and they were collaborating for some time. I offered to show her how to use the calculator to facilitate graphing, this seemed to help.Her attitude greatly improved - I think she is more comfortable asking a classmate a question than admitting to the whole class that she is struggling, I hope this upward trend continues. This also gave the advanced student something to do instead of putting his bored head on the desk. I tried to use praise alot, thanking the volunteers, but I think that could lose its effectiveness pretty quickly. Proximity was effective, but I wonder if that, too, will lose its effectiveness in slowing down some of the chit-chat. The majority of the chit-chat (low level) stems from the ultra-advanced student, so I will give him some more complex problems to do, and will ask him to justify his answers in writing. (I would also love to seat more of the struggling students his way, but I don't know if that is abdicating my responsibility) I'm interested in finding out if the 'frustrated' student chooses on her own to remain next to the advanced student on Monday. BTW, Maryann loved the 'Do Now' and it seemed to get the day started off on the right track - I'll definitely continue with this strategy.
So far no Chainsaws in this class. My biggest potential challenge kids are a talker and an "opt-outer." I pulled the talker out at the beginning of the second class to let her know I didn't want the gabbiness to become a pattern. (Oddly enough, she's the one who felt the need to remind the class of the "Respect" policy!) I like her a lot -- she's full of energy, and she gives character to the class -- but I have to be on my toes to catch her before she gets disruptive. Yesterday she was really getting the material (not always the case), so she'd finish in-class tasks early and begin her intermittent war on silence. I liked Randy's suggestion to enlist her: get her to help other kids. Even though this could potentially backfire, my instinct is that this tactic could work like a charm. (Has anyone tried something like this?)
As for the "opt-outer," I really think it's all a confidence thing. She's the weakest in the class with the material, and I know she suspects as much. I hope this doesn't come back to bite me in any way (I don't think it will), but I gave her my home number in the hopes that she'll think of calling me for extra help (unlikely). The thing is, I can tell she *wants* it, even though she puts on this sigh-laden apathetic thing. I haven't had a lot of success with her yet, but bet your butt I'm going to keep an eye out for the first time she shows some understanding. If I can, I'll practically be in her lap with the dry-erase marker -- and with words that are fulsome and public. I really hope she doesn't just choose to give up early on.
Bill and Tom, I've got to say I was with you in the skeptics' camp on the whole tooth-rots-for-tots initiative. But so many experienced people, as well as fellow Arcies, seem to be swearing by this that I think I might be an idiot not to give it a try. When Dr. Perras first mentioned lollipops, I've got say my heart dropped a little bit. I'm a little naive, I know, but I thought, isn't this *beneath* high school kids? Don't all the Chainsaws in the class really have this latent intrinsic pride in their potential to succeed? But you're probably right, Tom, the goal is that the kids are engaged and learn, and it ain't cheap if it works.
One thing that seems evident so far from a classroom management perspective is that every day has the potential to be completely different. John, you paint such a great picture with your virus analogy. It does feel a little like once I start teaching a full day, I'll have to be this frantic, thousand-eyed containment force. One day's calamine lotion could be the next day's amputation. Amy, I think you're onto something: Composure will be key.
Karen, I loved your post -- especially the part about finding a reason to move a struggling student next to an advanced one. I am going to be ready with that one!
One thing I forgot to mention: On the second day I moved all the desks as close to the board -- and the center of the room -- as possible, so we're all pretty cozy. I don't really need all that space in the front of the room. I can't be sure, but it seemed to make a big difference. At least it helped keep the drool off Sleepy's (formerly-peripheral) desk.
What did everyone do with the furniture in the classrooms? My C.T. seemed to think that groups (Arc-style ) would be a disaster. Has anyone tried it?
My class at Conncap is set up for a differentiated educational environment because the students are at different educational levels, but are grouped by class. They are mostly juniors, but because of the academic level of some sophomores they were also put into the class. All the students had to apply and be accepted into the enrichment program. They are either doing Algebra II or Precalculus. The class is divided into two parts. The classroom is big enough to separate the two sections. My C.T. is handling those in Precalculus while I have the Algebra II. The students are relatively well behaved so the only classroom management problem so far has been talking during class. We had to separate two students. Some of the students also seem very sleepy at that time of the morning. One change I made was to have the chairs changed from rows to an arc. This forced the students to come up to the front. They had sat in chairs all around the room before that and you had to walk a mile to see all the students doing their work. They did not want to sit like that at first, but they accepted it when I told them they had too. When I gave them their mid-term test, however, I had them sit in the rows. They then went right back to their old seating pattern.
he loved the sticker he earned, I'm incredulous that a sticker has any impact on this age group
When Dr. Perras first mentioned lollipops, I've got say my heart dropped a little bit. I'm a little naive, I know, but I thought, isn't this *beneath* high school kids?
It is amazing when you think about this. It speaks to the situation these kids face on a regular basis - BORING, UNENGAGING classes in which they are passive learners. They are regularly presented lengthy expositions on symbol manipulation that simply involves rote memorization and is totally irrelevant to the world around them.
I know I'm wide eyed and on the edge of my seat with anticipation when I spend a full day listening to someone drone on about some esoteric subject.
After observing the first three periods on the first day, I have laid down my expectations, rules and routines for the students and also used name cards that each student made although by the end of the day I knew most of their names. At the moment it is a small class with 9 students but there are 3 students who challenge me daily and keep me on my toes. I have experimented with two different seating arrangements already with the cooperation of my master teacher and the latest version of reassigning seats and arranging the seats in a U-shape and in rows seemed to work better.
I see my biggest challenge in one particular student who probably have special needs and cannot focus his attention unless either me or my master teacher work one-on-one with this student. He clowns around and entertains the class preventing the rest of the students to learn. I will definitely try Randy’s suggestion to give him some sort of responsibility to occupy him by not allowing him time to misbehave.
The other student is a chatter-box, he is constantly talking and he even thinks out loud when everyone is quietly working on the assignments. I believe I need to remind him more often to the rules and expectations that he signed as well. I also think that proximity to this student will change his behavior but I don’t know how often I can be by his chair and also conduct a lesson, it is a conundrum.
I have to confess I used lollipops to engage and motivate students and with the exception of one student who does not eat sugar, most of them were fans of this technique. I will keep using it but I need to figure out and clearly define in what situation it makes the most sense to use candy. As I have mentioned it in my other blog post, I see the value of using a ball to question students but it is time consuming so I will resort to apply this technique toward the end of the period.
I share Evan’s opinion on each day being different than the previous one and I think that is what makes teaching exciting and adventurous. I really enjoyed John’s comparison of classroom behavior to a virus since it constantly changes and mutates so we as teachers also need to be able to adapt to the situation and implement different techniques and strategies for each time.
As I mentioned in my first week blog, the class is a relatively 'low maintenance' class. By this, I mean that the discipline problems have been to a minimum. The only discipline issues have been a few sleepyheads (though I have to agree with John - there were days when the classroom was very hot).
I have tossed the ball to keep the students engaged. I have to admit that I do not have this process perfected. I still do not have a full understanding of this procedure, which seems directly related to my interaction with the class.
The students are best engaged when I give assignments. During assignment times, I'm always wandering around the room making sure everyone is on track with their assignments. I complement on work well done, and critique on any issues that arise. At least from a grade perspective, this is paying off - there were no D's or F's on the first quiz.
I do not think I have perfected dealing with the sleepyheads. Usually when I come by a desk, I will tap a rhythm on the back of their chair, and the student will come around. Once s/he is awake, s/he gets back to the assignment.
Like Kathy, I do not feel I have ownership of the class either. Occasionally, I will make mistakes, but the students are there to catch me.
On my first day of student teaching I tried to talk over the kids a few times hoping that they would quiet down and pay attention. (Ha ha!) Now I wait for them to be quiet before I talk, which is working much better. I also realized early on, that I was struggling because I didn't know the students' names. We made name tags last week which helped. However, it didn't help enough. I realized that I could really use a seating chart too. I am going to make the seating chart tomorrow, while the students are taking their quiz. The more I think about it, my biggest classroom management issue is not taking the time I need to do things. The students are pretty good. We haven't had any major problems, just some talking. I need to focus on waiting for silence before I speak.
Several things are working. We start each class with a do now and the kids know the routine. They are also getting a homework grade (check, check plus, check minus) which is working too.
I felt very unsuccessful my first day (Thursday), although I had established some rapport with a handful of students the previous two days. All the techniques I had learned about in core and methods did little to prepare me. I categorized the challenges into the following areas: 1. Lack of motivation/engagement For any number of reasons, at least half of my students don't have any interest in what's going on. I've seen some clear-cut reasons: There has been no norm established for Do Nows (bell work), so the kids mill about restlessly until attendance is done and worksheets have been passed out. A lot of my students have the material down pat; they're done within a matter of minutes and end up either talking or putting their heads down and sleeping. Others don't put forth much effort and give up, because there has little to no accountability or ownership given to them. Most importantly, they don't see any point to trying. 2. Large knowledge gap As I mentioned above, some of my students are pretty skilled, at least for the material covered so far. Because they haven't been sufficiently challenged, they're bored. meanwhile, other kids are truly struggling with basic concepts (adding/subtracting/multiplying/dividing negative numbers, converting improper fractions to mixed numbers, etc.) and are falling behind already. I found that I have spent much of my time helping those kids and shuttling over to the "brainiacs" to keep their heads up. It makes differentiated instruction a harsh reality, not just a theory we've heard about in class. I'm working on ideas to improve this area: one is grouping advanced kids together and giving them more advanced independent/guided practice will hopefully give them more responsibility, ownership, and academic challenge and also free up some of my time to monitor progress of the kids who need more guidance. 3. 1% Behavior There are a couple of students who are downright confrontational and oppositional. One (I affectionately refer to as "Miss Chainsaw" in my head) disrupted the class on Tuesday to the point where my C.T. ejected her. Wednesday, she didn't show up, and the class was totally different! She came back to class on Thursday, and I noticed the power she had to utterly destroy the learning environment. I already blogged about my list of expectations and discussion about parental contact. I don't know if that will work, but I know it can't hurt. Friday, I changed her seat and ignored her temper tantrums, as long as they were quiet. It's hard to say something and walk away, but I'm doing it. What has helped me is working closely with my C.T. I asked him for ownership of the class and outlined a few of the ideas I wanted to try. He has been very helpful and supportive, for the most part. I feel that he is on my side, and that helps calm me down. (The first couple of times he left the classroom, I wanted to scream, "Don't leave me!", but I survived just fine.) Bottom line, I'm still learning--and it's at a pace that still overwhelms me. I keep saying to myself, "Make it about the kids".
I feel just as overwhelmed as most of our group. Although I have found some definite motivators (lollipops and raffle on Fridays)as I mentioned in my previous blog, these groups requires constant supervision to stay on task. As I circulate the room during cooperative learning activities I have to keep my head on a constant swivel when I stop to assist someone so as to urge the others to continue working. Any sort of conversation I start with a student or with my cooperating teacher seem to be an invitation for all to start gabbing. Given the sizes of my classes (16 and 8) I was lucky to have several options for seating arrangements. I chose a modified U which makes it easy for me to walk around and quickly assess progress. I have the students spread out when possible as it deters the talking, though I hope to try some partner activities to see if they would enjoy that. During game activities I am careful to pair the better students with those who struggle. I do not have any high achievers but I definitely have some students that grasp the material. I have the same fustration as everyone else with sleepers. At East Hartford we do have the option of holding a trip to the office over their heads. Repeated discipline problems as well as absences are grounds for immediate dismissal. My c.t. believes we have one student we may have to 'boot' but I am trying hard to reach him. I will say, most of those who are really giving me a hard time do respond to the threat of an office visit, and I have used it to control the class. In one week I have learned so much that it is hard to summarize. The importance of classroom management if we want ANY learning to go on is just crucial. One thing that did strike me is how being nice may bring one student around but seem to realy irritate or 'set off' another. I had one problem student who was constantly gabbing. I had an opportunity to speak privately with him and took the opportunity to comment on how incredible his lettering and artwork was on his folder and submitted work. I asked him if it was an interest of his and had he ever considerd graphic arts. The diference in the way this student treats me now is like night and day. He actually helps control the classroom environment as he was one of their 'leaders.' I hope it continues! It will certainly encourage me to look for each of my students gifts so I am able to give them some positive feedback and make them feel good about themselves. It made me feel great too to see how pleased he was when I spoke to him. As I start my second week - I'm hoping for more classroom successes...if I survive :)
I asked a student who has been a bit disruptive to take a walk down the hall today so I could talk to him find out whats up. he got visibly nervous and refused. Maybe I should have done more. But he actually behaved very well today so I am not sure where to go with it at this point. his partner in crime so to speak behaved very well for the most part too. I am assuming they know we are testing each other. One supporting teacher felt I should have my foot down more but I am not sure. But the other supporting teacher felt that they were behaving relatively well and if it isn't broke don't fix it just enjoy it as it might be short lived. I must say both supporting math teachers at Middletown are great. They both want all of us to improve, so we are quite lucky. The do nows and the walking around the room seem to be very helpful with class engagement. I am happy to say that the one girl who finally got engaged on my class Friday said to me as she left that I was doing a great job! I said back and so are you. I do tell you guys this is definitely a lot of work but those little moments are just so much more rewarding then I have felt for years at my engineering job. When the actually appreciate your efforts and know that you are there for them it doesn't get any better than that what can I say.
The only issues I have had are the sleepyhead syndrome, and the bored student. The sleepyhead syndrome happens during the first period. Things seem to take awhile to get going, which is largely a byproduct of how my coop teacher starts his day, and as I have not been given that slot to teach yet, I am curious to see if I can wake them up!
The other issue - the bored student, is something I have yet to solve. I am struggling with how to make the material more interesting, but I am time-restricted, so I can't get too far off topic to talk about the philosophical aspects of math. My coop teacher said that this is the problem with summer school - you just can't take the time you'd like to get into a topic that might stimulate their imagination, and you have to just get to the math. Thus, coming up with a great schema activator is really critical, and it will take some time to build up a library of cool activities.
I think this is the main take-away I got from my first week - that there are no shortcuts to time and experience to becoming an effective teacher who can manage the class. Even those who are gifted and can infer which activities will immediately grab their audience will need time to prepare a quality catalog of DoNow's and lesson plans. I have already been soliciting my colleagues for ideas, and will continue to (as well as using this forum) to gain velocity.
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ReplyDeleteTo evaluate my classroom management would be difficult at this time. I am using some of the tactics that have been taught to us at Arc, but I don’t have a definitive answer that this is actually what is keeping behavior issues to a minimum. I keep asking the questions, Are these just good students? Is the heat beating the students into submission? Are the tactics actually working? Or is the academic trance of the cooperating teaching lasting into the times that I teach? (See first week for more info on this topic) I firmly believe that to determine if a classroom behavior tactic is working, one tactic must fail and a new tactic employed and corrects the behavior. When this occurs the tactic works. It is possible that some tactics are working, but you can never be 100% confident. It is also possible that some classroom behavioral tactic works for a while and then become ineffective. I believe that classroom behavior acts like a virus. Just when you think you have it conquered it mutates and a new tactic must be used.
ReplyDeleteBest regards
John
On a scale of one to ten, I would give myself a two. Three times during the first week I encountered the absolutely amazing experience of a quiet classroom with 75% or more of the students on task. The first two times it came out of nowhere, the third time was mostly the result of one of my most challenging students being out of the classroom.
ReplyDeleteAny success I have had so far has resulted from trying to add structure to the classroom. I walked into a situation where there was fifteen minutes of instruction at the board followed by two hours of students working on worksheets. Discipline was mostly the result of direct intervention. The result was a cycle of relative calm usually followed by a disturbance then relative calm again. I don't believe there was much learning going on.
Dividing the time into a warm up followed by "prime time" has helped and I hope to add further structure next week by dividing the "prime time" into smaller segments. My strategy to use "Respect" as the unifying concept for classroom management has been slow to take. I have not given up on it yet but I do realize that I will need to use other strategies if I hope to get the classroom where it needs to be.
Personally, I have issues with the reward system encouraged by so many of our instructors. I worry about training students to think that all successes will be rewarded when ultimately I want them to perform because it is the right thing to do. However, I am going to have to reconsider my reservations because I need something to focus those who have trouble determing right from wrong.
I have learned that in an culture like the one at East Hartford High School, establishing a classroom environment conducive to learning requires requires a multi-faceted approach with lots of engagement. With that knowledge, I hope to see some improvement this coming week.
John and Bill, more good points. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou guys actually have touched on topics covered in my behavior analysis class.
To determine a cause and effect, you need to consistent setting while trying various classroom management strategies or you can use a strategy in different settings. For example, engagement has worked in many different setting, as have Do Nows.
The immediate reward approach certainly can lead to expectation of constant rewards. Behavioral theory involves weaning the individual from these immediate reinforcers to longer term and more meaningful ones. The idea is to shape the behavior you want. Ideally a student transitions from getting a lollipop for doing his work to fulfillment from a sense of accomplishment. Maybe they get a lollipop occasionally and their reward is mostly positive feedback.
As I said in my first week post, my classroom management was pretty low during my first week. This has been due in part to not "owning" the classroom. My C.T. gives out bonus points for participation, but doesn't have a classroom management system that I can detect, and I have been blindly following along.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I need to move on and make my own system. On Friday (my first day to open a lesson), the kids would not stop talking, and I realized about 2 minutes in to the period that we had never discussed behavior or even that this would be my class at some point. After finally getting their attention, we talked about respect, what should happen when I am in the front of the class, and took two minutes to regroup and start over.
I didn't yell, and this calm approach seemed to work well. When we started back up, I had everyone's attention and class went on from there.
Beginning Monday, though, I am going to try and make the room my own.I will put my signs up and send home my parent notes. There will be clear guidelines of what will and will not be accepted. This way, I will not have to explain myself, and I can move forward with a system using positive reinforcement rather than the threats my C.T. has issued.
Amy
On Tuesday I observed my class being instructed by Jason (my cooperating teacher) and noted that they were very disruptive, with a lot of socializing. On Wednesday I took over after they finished taking a quiz and they were very talkative and very difficult to get on task. I could see it happening – one student would catch the eye of another sitting next to him/her, and they were immediately off on their own conversation. It was very clear to me that something would have to change, or else I was in for a long month.
ReplyDeleteThursday was my first full day teaching, and I decided that I needed to turn things around for my class. The key decision to change things was to dive in with assigned seating and implementation of our techniques. As they came in the door, I showed them where to pick up the Do Now as they enter the class, and showed them the new assigned seating chart. With no small amount of muttering and a muffled expletive or two, they took their new seats. However, I was able then to move forward through my lesson plan. I praised when each student began to engage or re-engage in his or her tasks. I am trying to move around the classroom to monitor their progress, ask open-ended questions (I still have a long way to go here), and detect when to move on.
To my surprise, they responded very well to the assigned seating. They no longer are sitting next to their friends, there is much less socializing, and I am able to get them on task and bring the stragglers back on task when they begin to slip off track. I have been able to get them engaged fairly quickly in their Do Now, and was able to complete an objective each day on Thursday and Friday.
Am I all set? No way. Some of the students are very difficult to get on task for more than a few seconds at a time (one in particular is at risk in all his classes for this reason – and yes, Randy, I just received his mother’s contact info and will be reaching out to her early in the week to discuss what I can do to help!). I hope that a realignment of my examples to focus on the objectives will help to keep our momentum. Each day I will be teaching them how to study, how to engage, how to participate in my class.
I agree with Bill that expectations for these students are surprisingly low. I have noticed that a good ½ of my students have already surprised me with what they can achieve. The challenge is to help them be successful on a more regular basis by engaging them in the class. I am hopeful that our chunked sequence of initiation, clear transitions, brief and clear instruction, guided practice, practice, and pop quiz, combined with consistent use of open-ended questions and engaging activities will be sufficient to reach a number of the students.
Oh, I should note that I am happy to have gotten Jason as my observing teacher. He is very supportive, has given me free rein to teach as I see fit, and provides me with useful feedback that complements the helpful constructive feedback I get from Randy and Jaf. It is great getting his perspectives on what works. Jason’s practices are very similar in terms of instructional techniques (warm ups, chunking, boardwork for engagement), which helps by ensuring that I am not at odds with him when I do things “our” way. It just goes to show that there are many different personal teaching styles, but that there are common themes for techniques that are successful in engaging students in their education.
My class is well-behaved so far. I don’t know if this is because my C.T. really laid down the law the first week (I doubt it), or if these kids are just inherently good kids. I’ve only taught for two days, and having good kids hasn’t given me much opportunity to practice classroom management techniques. Also, I don’t feel ownership of the class yet.
ReplyDeleteThe most challenging issue is the two sleepers in class. At this point, they are just barely passing the class. With the sleepiest one, several times I prodded him awake and encouraged him to work on the problems. This would work briefly, and then he would sleep again. On Friday whenever I needed papers to be passed out, I asked him to do it, hoping it would perk him up. He obliged. Both sleepers have asked to go to the nurse twice…I’m not sure what that’s about…perhaps just an avoidance/delaying tactic.
I’m going to try pairing the kids up for some classwork for two reasons. One, I’m hoping that having some interaction with another student will be enough stimulation to keep the sleepers awake. Two, I want to try collaborative teaching to help address the different knowledge levels in class. I also plan to call parents on Monday to ask what I can do to help.
On Wednesday, after I had observed for a day, my C.T. gave over the reins to the class. Since then I have truly felt that I have been able to take ownership of the class, and this has definitely helped me to manage the classroom. Amy expressed that she felt that the troubles she was having so far was a result of the system in her classroom being the C.T.'s and not her own. I think that Amy is right that making the room her own, as well as making the classroom system her own, will help her to manage the students better. I liked that she also mentioned remaining calm when dealing with the students, especially as she introduces her way of doing things to the students. I noticed that as I introduced new things, such as the Do Now after every break, I needed to be calm while "training" the students to this new system. I couldn't get angry if they didn't get right to work on the Do Now after a break because it was something they weren't used to. Instead, I rewarded those who did get to work right away (both with praise and lollipops), and simply reminded the others of what I expected.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of rewards, I have found this to be a great motivator. I was very against a reward system at first, thinking (like Bill) that students should do certain things simply because it was expected of them and would help them become successful. However, I have realized that not all teenagers are motivated to do things the way that all of us Arcies are and probably were in high school. If the feeling of success after getting most of the homework problems correct or receiving a good grade on a quiz is not enough to get them to put in the effort, perhaps other rewards are necessary. After all, our ultimate goal is to get these students to be successful and to learn.
I have been using the lollipops mostly as a reward when a student does work on the board (since I noticed during my observation day that the same 3 students were doing most of the work). Now I have almost all of the class willing to do a problem on the board at least once a day simply to earn a lollipop. And most of the time they do the problem correctly, even if they felt unsure. In just a few days I have already been able to see the confidence growing in some of my students.
Like Kathy, however, I have some "sleepers." One in particular is troubling me, as he doesn't write any of the example problems down and doesn't participate in the practice problems I assign. I think he is pretty bright, but I just can't get him to understand that he needs to practice the methods in order to understand them better. This is something I will try to address next week. Perhaps I will have to talk to the student outside of the classroom and ask him what I can do to engage him more. If anyone has any advice or insight, I welcome it!
I can relate to Kathy's and Amy's experiences. Friday was my first day teaching so the students don't see me as "the teacher" yet. My CT said she "laid down the law" so that was done prior to my arrival. However, she purposely left the room (twice) in order to see how the students reacted with me directly - and how I reacted. One student acted up immediately. I need to put this in context: These are well behaved students (on the whole) without discipline issues. I don't know if this is due to the personalities of the students, the impression Maryann had on them when she reviewed appropriate behavior, or the power of my "stinky stickers". The biggest issue I have are the two sleepers - one in particular who is in danger of failing - and impacting his eligibility to grad.; the other sleeper is so far advanced that he is, essentially, teaching himself upcoming mtl. The one student who "acted up" tried to draw the attention to himself with some comedic comment in order to test my response. I calmly asked him if he would be willing to help me out by working out the next problem at the board. He seemed to like the attention, and he also knew that I wasn't going to hand over control of the class to his next comedic moment (and he loved the sticker he earned, I'm incredulous that a sticker has any impact on this age group). This class is very quiet, and passive. Once they were paired up in an activity, the participation seemed to increase for the remainder of the day. For the at-risk-of-graduating sleeper, Maryann and the Admin. have contacted the parents, and are keeping a close eye on him - he is on crutches so I can't get him up and moving, and he doesn't seem impressed with my attempt to make the lessons meaningful to teenagers. I'm relying on "are you still with us, 'name'? when I see the head starting toward the desk. He sits in the back so I also kept asking if I my board writing was large enough for him to see. I am struggling with how to reach/engage him - anybody have suggestions? I did have some success with the frustrated student I mentioned in Methods the other day. Before first period I asked if she would move her seat in order to avoid the obstructed view of the overhead projector, I purposely asked her to sit next to the 'advanced' student up front. I was thrilled to see that she started asking the advanced student some of her questions, and they were collaborating for some time. I offered to show her how to use the calculator to facilitate graphing, this seemed to help.Her attitude greatly improved - I think she is more comfortable asking a classmate a question than admitting to the whole class that she is struggling, I hope this upward trend continues. This also gave the advanced student something to do instead of putting his bored head on the desk. I tried to use praise alot, thanking the volunteers, but I think that could lose its effectiveness pretty quickly. Proximity was effective, but I wonder if that, too, will lose its effectiveness in slowing down some of the chit-chat. The majority of the chit-chat (low level) stems from the ultra-advanced student, so I will give him some more complex problems to do, and will ask him to justify his answers in writing. (I would also love to seat more of the struggling students his way, but I don't know if that is abdicating my responsibility) I'm interested in finding out if the 'frustrated' student chooses on her own to remain next to the advanced student on Monday. BTW, Maryann loved the 'Do Now' and it seemed to get the day started off on the right track - I'll definitely continue with this strategy.
ReplyDeleteSo far no Chainsaws in this class. My biggest potential challenge kids are a talker and an "opt-outer." I pulled the talker out at the beginning of the second class to let her know I didn't want the gabbiness to become a pattern. (Oddly enough, she's the one who felt the need to remind the class of the "Respect" policy!) I like her a lot -- she's full of energy, and she gives character to the class -- but I have to be on my toes to catch her before she gets disruptive. Yesterday she was really getting the material (not always the case), so she'd finish in-class tasks early and begin her intermittent war on silence. I liked Randy's suggestion to enlist her: get her to help other kids. Even though this could potentially backfire, my instinct is that this tactic could work like a charm. (Has anyone tried something like this?)
ReplyDeleteAs for the "opt-outer," I really think it's all a confidence thing. She's the weakest in the class with the material, and I know she suspects as much. I hope this doesn't come back to bite me in any way (I don't think it will), but I gave her my home number in the hopes that she'll think of calling me for extra help (unlikely). The thing is, I can tell she *wants* it, even though she puts on this sigh-laden apathetic thing. I haven't had a lot of success with her yet, but bet your butt I'm going to keep an eye out for the first time she shows some understanding. If I can, I'll practically be in her lap with the dry-erase marker -- and with words that are fulsome and public. I really hope she doesn't just choose to give up early on.
Bill and Tom, I've got to say I was with you in the skeptics' camp on the whole tooth-rots-for-tots initiative. But so many experienced people, as well as fellow Arcies, seem to be swearing by this that I think I might be an idiot not to give it a try. When Dr. Perras first mentioned lollipops, I've got say my heart dropped a little bit. I'm a little naive, I know, but I thought, isn't this *beneath* high school kids? Don't all the Chainsaws in the class really have this latent intrinsic pride in their potential to succeed? But you're probably right, Tom, the goal is that the kids are engaged and learn, and it ain't cheap if it works.
One thing that seems evident so far from a classroom management perspective is that every day has the potential to be completely different. John, you paint such a great picture with your virus analogy. It does feel a little like once I start teaching a full day, I'll have to be this frantic, thousand-eyed containment force. One day's calamine lotion could be the next day's amputation. Amy, I think you're onto something: Composure will be key.
Karen, I loved your post -- especially the part about finding a reason to move a struggling student next to an advanced one. I am going to be ready with that one!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I forgot to mention: On the second day I moved all the desks as close to the board -- and the center of the room -- as possible, so we're all pretty cozy. I don't really need all that space in the front of the room. I can't be sure, but it seemed to make a big difference. At least it helped keep the drool off Sleepy's (formerly-peripheral) desk.
What did everyone do with the furniture in the classrooms? My C.T. seemed to think that groups (Arc-style ) would be a disaster. Has anyone tried it?
My class at Conncap is set up for a differentiated educational environment because the students are at different educational levels, but are grouped by class. They are mostly juniors, but because of the academic level of some sophomores they were also put into the class. All the students had to apply and be accepted into the enrichment program. They are either doing Algebra II or Precalculus.
ReplyDeleteThe class is divided into two parts. The classroom is big enough to separate the two sections. My C.T. is handling those in Precalculus while I have the Algebra II. The students are relatively well behaved so the only classroom management problem so far has been talking during class. We had to separate two students. Some of the students also seem very sleepy at that time of the morning.
One change I made was to have the chairs changed from rows to an arc. This forced the students to come up to the front. They had sat in chairs all around the room before that and you had to walk a mile to see all the students doing their work. They did not want to sit like that at first, but they accepted it when I told them they had too. When I gave them their mid-term test, however, I had them sit in the rows. They then went right back to their old seating pattern.
he loved the sticker he earned, I'm incredulous that a sticker has any impact on this age group
ReplyDeleteWhen Dr. Perras first mentioned lollipops, I've got say my heart dropped a little bit. I'm a little naive, I know, but I thought, isn't this *beneath* high school kids?
It is amazing when you think about this. It speaks to the situation these kids face on a regular basis - BORING, UNENGAGING classes in which they are passive learners. They are regularly presented lengthy expositions on symbol manipulation that simply involves rote memorization and is totally irrelevant to the world around them.
I know I'm wide eyed and on the edge of my seat with anticipation when I spend a full day listening to someone drone on about some esoteric subject.
After observing the first three periods on the first day, I have laid down my expectations, rules and routines for the students and also used name cards that each student made although by the end of the day I knew most of their names. At the moment it is a small class with 9 students but there are 3 students who challenge me daily and keep me on my toes. I have experimented with two different seating arrangements already with the cooperation of my master teacher and the latest version of reassigning seats and arranging the seats in a U-shape and in rows seemed to work better.
ReplyDeleteI see my biggest challenge in one particular student who probably have special needs and cannot focus his attention unless either me or my master teacher work one-on-one with this student. He clowns around and entertains the class preventing the rest of the students to learn. I will definitely try Randy’s suggestion to give him some sort of responsibility to occupy him by not allowing him time to misbehave.
The other student is a chatter-box, he is constantly talking and he even thinks out loud when everyone is quietly working on the assignments. I believe I need to remind him more often to the rules and expectations that he signed as well. I also think that proximity to this student will change his behavior but I don’t know how often I can be by his chair and also conduct a lesson, it is a conundrum.
I have to confess I used lollipops to engage and motivate students and with the exception of one student who does not eat sugar, most of them were fans of this technique. I will keep using it but I need to figure out and clearly define in what situation it makes the most sense to use candy. As I have mentioned it in my other blog post, I see the value of using a ball to question students but it is time consuming so I will resort to apply this technique toward the end of the period.
I share Evan’s opinion on each day being different than the previous one and I think that is what makes teaching exciting and adventurous. I really enjoyed John’s comparison of classroom behavior to a virus since it constantly changes and mutates so we as teachers also need to be able to adapt to the situation and implement different techniques and strategies for each time.
As I mentioned in my first week blog, the class is a relatively 'low maintenance' class. By this, I mean that the discipline problems have been to a minimum. The only discipline issues have been a few sleepyheads (though I have to agree with John - there were days when the classroom was very hot).
ReplyDeleteI have tossed the ball to keep the students engaged. I have to admit that I do not have this process perfected. I still do not have a full understanding of this procedure, which seems directly related to my interaction with the class.
The students are best engaged when I give assignments. During assignment times, I'm always wandering around the room making sure everyone is on track with their assignments. I complement on work well done, and critique on any issues that arise. At least from a grade perspective, this is paying off - there were no D's or F's on the first quiz.
I do not think I have perfected dealing with the sleepyheads. Usually when I come by a desk, I will tap a rhythm on the back of their chair, and the student will come around. Once s/he is awake, s/he gets back to the assignment.
Like Kathy, I do not feel I have ownership of the class either. Occasionally, I will make mistakes, but the students are there to catch me.
On my first day of student teaching I tried to talk over the kids a few times hoping that they would quiet down and pay attention. (Ha ha!) Now I wait for them to be quiet before I talk, which is working much better. I also realized early on, that I was struggling because I didn't know the students' names. We made name tags last week which helped. However, it didn't help enough. I realized that I could really use a seating chart too. I am going to make the seating chart tomorrow, while the students are taking their quiz. The more I think about it, my biggest classroom management issue is not taking the time I need to do things. The students are pretty good. We haven't had any major problems, just some talking. I need to focus on waiting for silence before I speak.
ReplyDeleteSeveral things are working. We start each class with a do now and the kids know the routine. They are also getting a homework grade (check, check plus, check minus) which is working too.
Classroom Management, Part Duex
ReplyDeleteI felt very unsuccessful my first day (Thursday), although I had established some rapport with a handful of students the previous two days. All the techniques I had learned about in core and methods did little to prepare me. I categorized the challenges into the following areas:
1. Lack of motivation/engagement
For any number of reasons, at least half of my students don't have any interest in what's going on. I've seen some clear-cut reasons: There has been no norm established for Do Nows (bell work), so the kids mill about restlessly until attendance is done and worksheets have been passed out. A lot of my students have the material down pat; they're done within a matter of minutes and end up either talking or putting their heads down and sleeping. Others don't put forth much effort and give up, because there has little to no accountability or ownership given to them. Most importantly, they don't see any point to trying.
2. Large knowledge gap
As I mentioned above, some of my students are pretty skilled, at least for the material covered so far. Because they haven't been sufficiently challenged, they're bored. meanwhile, other kids are truly struggling with basic concepts (adding/subtracting/multiplying/dividing negative numbers, converting improper fractions to mixed numbers, etc.) and are falling behind already. I found that I have spent much of my time helping those kids and shuttling over to the "brainiacs" to keep their heads up. It makes differentiated instruction a harsh reality, not just a theory we've heard about in class. I'm working on ideas to improve this area: one is grouping advanced kids together and giving them more advanced independent/guided practice will hopefully give them more responsibility, ownership, and academic challenge and also free up some of my time to monitor progress of the kids who need more guidance.
3. 1% Behavior
There are a couple of students who are downright confrontational and oppositional. One (I affectionately refer to as "Miss Chainsaw" in my head) disrupted the class on Tuesday to the point where my C.T. ejected her. Wednesday, she didn't show up, and the class was totally different! She came back to class on Thursday, and I noticed the power she had to utterly destroy the learning environment. I already blogged about my list of expectations and discussion about parental contact. I don't know if that will work, but I know it can't hurt. Friday, I changed her seat and ignored her temper tantrums, as long as they were quiet. It's hard to say something and walk away, but I'm doing it.
What has helped me is working closely with my C.T. I asked him for ownership of the class and outlined a few of the ideas I wanted to try. He has been very helpful and supportive, for the most part. I feel that he is on my side, and that helps calm me down. (The first couple of times he left the classroom, I wanted to scream, "Don't leave me!", but I survived just fine.)
Bottom line, I'm still learning--and it's at a pace that still overwhelms me. I keep saying to myself, "Make it about the kids".
I feel just as overwhelmed as most of our group. Although I have found some definite motivators (lollipops and raffle on Fridays)as I mentioned in my previous blog, these groups requires constant supervision to stay on task. As I circulate the room during cooperative learning activities I have to keep my head on a constant swivel when I stop to assist someone so as to urge the others to continue working. Any sort of conversation I start with a student or with my cooperating teacher seem to be an invitation for all to start gabbing. Given the sizes of my classes (16 and 8) I was lucky to have several options for seating arrangements. I chose a modified U which makes it easy for me to walk around and quickly assess progress. I have the students spread out when possible as it deters the talking, though I hope to try some partner activities to see if they would enjoy that. During game activities I am careful to pair the better students with those who struggle. I do not have any high achievers but I definitely have some students that grasp the material. I have the same fustration as everyone else with sleepers. At East Hartford we do have the option of holding a trip to the office over their heads. Repeated discipline problems as well as absences are grounds for immediate dismissal. My c.t. believes we have one student we may have to 'boot' but I am trying hard to reach him. I will say, most of those who are really giving me a hard time do respond to the threat of an office visit, and I have used it to control the class.
ReplyDeleteIn one week I have learned so much that it is hard to summarize. The importance of classroom management if we want ANY learning to go on is just crucial. One thing that did strike me is how being nice may bring one student around but seem to realy irritate or 'set off' another. I had one problem student who was constantly gabbing. I had an opportunity to speak privately with him and took the opportunity to comment on how incredible his lettering and artwork was on his folder and submitted work. I asked him if it was an interest of his and had he ever considerd graphic arts. The diference in the way this student treats me now is like night and day. He actually helps control the classroom environment as he was one of their 'leaders.' I hope it continues! It will certainly encourage me to look for each of my students gifts so I am able to give them some positive feedback and make them feel good about themselves. It made me feel great too to see how pleased he was when I spoke to him.
As I start my second week - I'm hoping for more classroom successes...if I survive :)
I asked a student who has been a bit disruptive to take a walk down the hall today so I could talk to him find out whats up. he got visibly nervous and refused. Maybe I should have done more. But he actually behaved very well today so I am not sure where to go with it at this point. his partner in crime so to speak behaved very well for the most part too. I am assuming they know we are testing each other. One supporting teacher felt I should have my foot down more but I am not sure. But the other supporting teacher felt that they were behaving relatively well and if it isn't broke don't fix it just enjoy it as it might be short lived.
ReplyDeleteI must say both supporting math teachers at Middletown are great. They both want all of us to improve, so we are quite lucky.
The do nows and the walking around the room seem to be very helpful with class engagement.
I am happy to say that the one girl who finally got engaged on my class Friday said to me as she left that I was doing a great job! I said back and so are you.
I do tell you guys this is definitely a lot of work but those little moments are just so much more rewarding then I have felt for years at my engineering job. When the actually appreciate your efforts and know that you are there for them it doesn't get any better than that what can I say.
The only issues I have had are the sleepyhead syndrome, and the bored student. The sleepyhead syndrome happens during the first period. Things seem to take awhile to get going, which is largely a byproduct of how my coop teacher starts his day, and as I have not been given that slot to teach yet, I am curious to see if I can wake them up!
ReplyDeleteThe other issue - the bored student, is something I have yet to solve. I am struggling with how to make the material more interesting, but I am time-restricted, so I can't get too far off topic to talk about the philosophical aspects of math. My coop teacher said that this is the problem with summer school - you just can't take the time you'd like to get into a topic that might stimulate their imagination, and you have to just get to the math. Thus, coming up with a great schema activator is really critical, and it will take some time to build up a library of cool activities.
I think this is the main take-away I got from my first week - that there are no shortcuts to time and experience to becoming an effective teacher who can manage the class. Even those who are gifted and can infer which activities will immediately grab their audience will need time to prepare a quality catalog of DoNow's and lesson plans. I have already been soliciting my colleagues for ideas, and will continue to (as well as using this forum) to gain velocity.