Field report #2 I have attached an example of what it should look like. But I need it with School Blue Haze Elementary 3rd grade Mrs. Weaver she has her tables set up in groups of 4 soft light they h

RUNNING HEAD: Classroom Management

Field Report # 1: Classroom Management

Name

College

The required field experience was conducted in Fort Worth Independent School District located in Fort Worth, Texas. The first block of classroom observations was conducted in Mr. Jackson’s classroom, 5th grade math and science at S.S Dillow Elementary School. Mr. Jackson team teaches with one other colleague and they rotate classes about midway through the day.

Physical Space

Mr. Jackson’s classroom is located in a portable classroom outside of the main school building. His classroom is decorated with student work and anchor charts. The anchor charts contain information on the problem solving process for math, how to convert mixed numbers to improper fractions and vice versa, the scientific method, states of matter and more specifically, the heating and cooling of molecules. Other than the anchor charts and student work, there are no discernable decorations. Tables and chairs make up the seating in the classroom and the tables are set up in the same pattern as the number five domino. A bulletin board on the west wall contains a classroom management system and the bulletin board near the door includes announcements such as the lunch menu and upcoming field trips.

Mr. Jackson does not have his own desk but has a multimedia cart with a laptop which is connected to the promethean board. There is a small caddy on the cart that contains Mr. Jackson’s supplies like dry erase board markers, paper clips and sticky notes. The students have access to two computers located at the back of the classroom which are set upon a narrow table near the science supply cabinet. Mr. Jackson’s class does not have windows so there is no natural light but he has furnished the class with several lamps and covered the fluorescent lighting with translucent curtains.

Discipline System

Mr. Jackson and his colleague implement a behavioral system that allows the students to be rewarded for meeting behavioral expectations and receive consequences for not meeting behavioral expectations. One of the charts displayed on the wall in the classroom contains ideas about classroom behavior which appears to have been created by the students and the teacher at the beginning of the school year. The chart paper includes a graphic organizer that is divided into columns that are titled “How Do We Want our Classroom to Feel?”, “What Kind of Behavior is Acceptable?”, “What Kind of Behavior is Unacceptable?”, “How Should Acceptable Behavior be Handled?” and “How Should Unacceptable Behavior be Handled?”. Each column contains sticky notes with thoughts about behavior written by the students. Next to the chart paper is a yellow poster board that states the class rules, rewards and consequences (which were generated from the ideas on the graphic organizer).

There are only five behavioral expectations listed on the poster which include the following: Be Kind; Be Helpful; Be a Positive Example; Be Understanding and Be Scholarly. The consequences for not meeting behavioral expectations are “Relax and Reflect” in the quiet space, mediation with the teacher, write a letter of apology, conference with parents and conference with principal. Each student has a planner that is signed by the teacher when the student fails to meet behavioral expectations. The team teachers use a yard stick painted with the colors pink, purple, green, orange and red to keep track of student behavior throughout the day. Each classroom has a student leader that is in charge of taking the yard stick with them from class to class. The yard stick is equipped with clothes pins that have student names written on them and each clothes pin is moved to the green section of the yard stick at the start of the school day. As the day progresses, the students’ clips either remain in the green section, move up for exceeding behavioral expectations or move down for not meeting behavioral expectations. For example, there was a student named Tori who was carrying a tub of markers to her table, the tub caught the edge of the table and she dropped the markers on the floor. Another student nearby scurried over to help Tori pick up the markers. Mr. Jackson praised the student for being helpful and kind, patted him on the back and moved his clip to pink.

Rewards for meeting or exceeding behavioral expectations are lunch in the classroom with teacher, shoes off during learning time, positive call home to parents, no homework pass, free time on Friday and treasure from the prize box. Mr. Jackson will also write a note in the planner if a student is exceeding behavioral expectations, which is a frequent event in the classroom. Mr. Jackson gives a ton of smiles and high fives to his students when they are working diligently or working well with others. Students have the opportunity to recover from unacceptable behavior by being allowed to move their clip up from orange or red. The student will receive a note in their planner at the time of the incident which describes their poor choice but if the student is able to adjust his or her behavior later in the day, Mr. Jackson will add to the initial note before dismissal.

Mr. Jackson uses an incentive program called “Brownie Points” to motivate the class, as a whole, to meet behavioral expectations when outside of the classroom. Mr. Jackson has a small cookie sheet adhered to the bulletin board and next to it he has a bag of brownie cutouts with a magnet attached to the back. When the students are walking quietly in the hallway, behaving well in the library or cafeteria or sitting quietly in the auditorium and they receive a compliment by faculty or staff, Mr. Jackson adds a brownie to the tray. When the tray is full of brownies Mr. Jackson rewards the students with a brownie party. The students had already received one brownie party and were working their way to a second party all before the end of the 2nd six weeks. Mr. Jackson explained that most classes typically earn one brownie party a semester but this class was particularly well behaved. He was pleased that his students were motivated to be great examples to the students in the other classrooms.

Routines and Procedures

Mr. Jackson has a routine and procedure in place for almost every action completed during the day. From the start of the school day the students know what to do. When the students enter the classroom, they hang their items on a hook on the wall and get out their math journal. Mr. Jackson displays a problem of the day on the board and the students work on solving the problem. If the students finish before the allotted time, they look to the “Early Finishers” section on the dry erase board for instructions on what to do next. Some students read a book and take an AR test, while others finish up work from the day before. The students know exactly where to go and what to do.

Mr. Jackson gently strokes a wind chime when it is time to begin the math lesson. All of the students quietly put away what they are working on, head back to their tables and open up their math journals. The math journals are set up a certain way so the students know exactly what page to start taking notes on. When Mr. Jackson displays the student expectation on the promethean board the students add it to their journal and include the general subject in the table of contents. For instance, the lesson was on writing numerals in word form, standard form and expanded form so the students wrote “number forms” in the table of contents. After the lesson was over the students worked on a worksheet for independent practice and when they completed the assignment, the turned it in to a tray that was labeled “Completed Math Assignments”. The students who finished the independent practice before the allotted time ended received instructions from the “Early Finishers” section on the dry erase board. Those students either quietly transitioned to a math puzzle that they had started at the beginning of the week or checked out an Ipad to work on one of two math programs downloaded on the Ipad.

Mr. Jackson sounded the chimes to let the students know it was time to transition to science and the students did so quietly. The students put away their math materials, retrieved their science journals and opened up to the next available page in the composition notebook. Mr. Jackson gave a lesson on states of matter and afterwards the students began a lab experiment. While the students were completing the lab there was a group of students that needed help so one of the group members took out a red solo cup from the supply tub on the table and positioned it on the edge of the table. This alerted Mr. Jackson that the group was unable to proceed without his help. When Mr. Jackson saw the cup he quickly made his way over to the students to render assistance.

Another unique classroom management technique was the use of sign language. Mr. Jackson has taught his students many signs such as yes, no, sit down, quiet, again, applause and bathroom. At one point during the day Mr. Jackson was working with a small group and a student who was not working with him held her arm up and displayed the ASL sign for bathroom. Mr. Jackson noticed the student, signed yes and the student got up and went to the door where a clip board was located. The student signed out on the clip board, took the bathroom pass and exited the classroom without disturbing any one.

Impressions

Mr. Jackson’s class runs efficiently and it is evident that he has dedicated a great deal of his time and effort to teach his students about classroom routines and procedures. Mr. Jackson implemented many strategies that allowed him to minimize disruptions during the lesson. During independent practice, Mr. Jackson was able to work with a small group without being interrupted. His students did not have to ask him what to do next, if they could go to the bathroom or where to turn in the work. I was impressed with the level of independence displayed by the students.

The biggest takeaway is to allow the students to participate in the creation of rules, rewards and consequences so they have ownership of their expected behavior. Although my ultimate goal in the classroom would be to have my students possess intrinsic motivation to succeed, extrinsic and tangible motivators are helpful in guiding their behavior. It is evident that in order to maximize instructional time, a well- planned classroom management plan must be in place.