BubbleUp Classroom
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Presentations >
      • Empower17
      • Thesis ALIVE!
  • READ
    • What's the Scoop? >
      • Landmark Supreme Court Cases
    • Reading an Artifact
    • Reading an Image
    • Emoji Notes
    • Sketchnotes
    • Sharing Books with Kids
  • WRITE
    • Thesis & Essay Writing >
      • Thesis Writing Workshop
      • Fairy Tale Grab Bags
      • Essay Roadmap
      • Essay Outline Generator
      • Other Thesis Ideas
    • What's the Scoop? >
      • Landmark Supreme Court Cases
    • Poetry Beyond English Class
  • CREATE
    • Think, Build, Tweet
    • Sketchnotes
    • Ordinary Objects
    • Think Outside the Box
    • Poetry Beyond English Class
  • WORK WITH US
    • Testimonials

Repeat after me: Classroom Management is Not Compliance

6/11/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Last week, I found myself questioning my middle school classroom management practices. Let me set the scene for you. It was 8th period and school was going to be out for the summer in a week. So to say the kids are hyped up is an understatement. My Honors students were working on a PBL (project based learning) in the library (my school home away from home) that we had been chipping away at for weeks. The students were designing a museum exhibit -- complete with a summary of a historic event of their choice, photos, works cited, a paragraph connecting the event to a historic theme and an "about the historian" section with biographical information. Now were in the final push to create exhibits. Some students were frantically typing, others with gluing different items onto their tri-folds. Construction paper was strewn across the library. The librarians and I were fielding questions (Do you like this font? How do I print? Is my thesis statement okay? Do I need more pictures? Can you proofread this?), while at the same time unjamming printers and helping cut paper with the paper cutter.  It was chaos, but most of them were learning and in fact some of them were doing the best work and deep thinking that I had seen them do all year.  But that's where the key stumbling block comes in - most were deeply engaged -- but twenty percent were not. ​

These twenty percent were doing the work in fits and starts. They were more interested in socializing than surrendering completely to doing the work. They seemed unfazed by the looming deadline - and actually I knew that focused or not -- they would come through, completing it at home if they did not complete it in class. But they were loud, and every time I got them back on track another would be off track. It was like a giant game of whack-a-mole and to make matters worse I was in a fishtank. Teachers in their off period were coming in to make copies and I just knew that they were focused on the 20 percent (who wouldn't be -- eyes are attracted to moving, loud objects -- rather than the quiet kid deep in thought). I cringed inside at how the whole thing looked. Of course, I wanted every last one of them on task, but it wasn't happening. And I couldn't decide if it was my fault, if it was their fault, or if it even mattered? If I had them sitting quietly in the classroom, I would look like I was in control - I would be in control. Control feels comfortable; control can look very good to outsiders. But control isn't always how or where learning happens. I pondered these questions (talked with a few colleagues) and then after hours of mulling things over I walked away with some more clearly defined thoughts about classroom management.  
Different Settings, Different Expectations
I comforted myself with this thought after chatting with one of our administrators. If my students are taking a test they are quiet. If they are reading, they focus for the ten minutes that I ask them to focus before a discussion. My classroom isn't always chaotic. It was chaotic in this moment on this day because I loosened things up to allow them to work independently and collaboratively. Along those lines, different spaces, different expectations. When you give middle school students the thumbs up to talk and to spread out in a larger space, some chaos will ensue. So maybe classroom management is about knowing when things need to be quiet and calm and when it's okay for them to be loud and a frenzy activity. One isn't right and one isn't wrong - it has to be based on goals in that particular moment. 
Don't let Resistors Distract you from the Real Work
I loved being able to work one on one with students in this activity over multiple days. That said, when I was giving one student my attention I was reticent to break my focus with them to get kids who were off track back on track. In that moment, the work with that individual learner who was asking for guidance and help was more important to me than focusing on the handful of students who were resisting full engagement in the work. This is actually something I learned from working with the amazing and talented Cris Tovani. We watched her classes once on video and it was clear that while some students were off track in the background she refused to give up her focus on the kid she was working with. If letting some kids stray off track so that someone who really needs my focus is engaged in a teachable moment, I will make that trade. 
Silence the Critics (especially the ones in your own head)
I think as teachers (even seasoned teachers) we always fear being judged (okay, maybe it's just me). I know that I am a good, quality teacher.  I know that my students are lucky to have me guiding their journey. And yet, I still let voices get in my head about my teaching practice. I know that some teachers think my class is too fun. I know they say I am too easy, too relaxed, not rigorous enough (because I don't assign hours of homework or lengthy readings and projects outside of school and I let kids enjoy flexible seating). And you know what, I let those few thinkers cloud my view of my own teaching and then assign them to others who might observe me.  I have to acknowledge those made-up critical comments (the ones in my head) and then let them go because they don't serve me and they certainly don't serve my students. I know that every day my kids are learning, stretching. I know that teaching and learning isn't a perfect science, it's messy and if someone doesn't get that about learning then I am not sure their critiques are worth my time - especially if they are made up by me. That said, if anyone wants to ask, I am always willing to talk, to reflect, to question. But judgement (made up or real) leads to nowhere without dialogue.
100 Percent Engagement is Like Chasing a Unicorn 
There is a lot of talk of engagement -- it's the holy grail of teaching. Good teachers are always searching, striving for those moments when every student is engaged. And I think it happens sometimes, but its rare and it's fleeting (and maybe the kid you think is engaged is really day dreaming or worrying about the test in their next class). But I think we tend as teachers to measure ourselves by this goal of 100 percent. I am not sure it is realistic or fair.  I look around at faculty meetings and I don't see 100 percent engagement. I look at classes that are quiet and know in my heart that quiet and calm doesn't = engagement. And that's just me saying that I can chase the unicorn, I should, but when I don't find it that doesn't mean that I am not doing my job.  Sometimes 80 percent is a win. 
Classroom Management is the Wrong Word
Management sounds like we are running a business; that we are looking for efficiencies, that kids are cogs in a machine and that the teacher is the boss. I wish it was more readily called something else, like Classroom Conductor. I am the leader of my classroom's culture -- but everyone has a role to play.  It's almost like I am a conductor and  they are the orchestra. I need to put in place a lot of structures daily to make learning happen given a variety of variables:
  1. The group of learners
  2. The space
  3. The learning target and task to meet that target.
Sometimes a section of my orchestra might be out of tune or out of rhythm - maybe they aren't comfortable with the music we are playing. That's to be expected - especially 8th period a week before summer doing PBL. What matters is that I listen carefully and when I hear discord I adjust and change and work to make each of these musicians, my students successful. 
Update
I am happy to report that the next day went better. I changed a few things -- had a few one on one talks -- and I think just maybe we got to 90 percent engagement. But I am still chasing that unicorn. I'll let you know when I find her.
​

​-Corey

You might also like:

  • Why Whole Class Discipline has No Place in Your Classroom (October 24, 2017)
  • BubbleUp Take 5: Grading, Lunch, Compassionate Discipline, Tech and TED Talks (April 4, 2019)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Who We Are

    Picture
    Corey Thornblad
    Teacher 
    Picture
    Picture
    Gretchen Hazlin
    ​Librarian
    Picture

    Picture

    Join our list!



    Archives

    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016

    Categories

    All
    Activism
    Adminstrators
    Assessments
    Back To School
    Balance
    Best Practices
    Books
    Brain Breaks
    BreakoutEDU
    #bubbleupthx
    Cell Phones
    Civic Engagenemt
    Classroom Design
    Classroom Management
    Coding
    Collaboration
    Community
    CREATE
    Critical Thinking
    Curation
    Design Thinking
    Discipline
    Discussion
    Distance Learning
    Edcamp
    Equity
    Field Trips
    Flexible Seating
    Flipped Classroom
    Genrefication
    Gifted
    Gifts
    Google
    Grading
    Gratitude
    Growth Mindset
    History
    Homework
    How-to
    Images
    Inquiry
    Interview
    Joy
    Kindness
    Leadership
    Librarians
    Library
    Literacy
    Makerspace
    Math
    Mental Health
    Middle School
    Mindfulness
    Movement
    New Librarians
    New Teachers
    Orientation
    Parenting
    Pbl
    Physical Space
    Pln
    Podcasts
    Poetry
    Primary Sources
    Problem Solving
    Professional Development
    Project Based Learning
    Questioning
    READ
    Reflection
    Relationships
    Research
    Rubrics
    Simulation
    Sketchnotes
    Social Emotional Health
    Social Emotional Learning
    Social Studies
    Stations
    Student Centered Learning
    Student-centered Learning
    Study Skills
    Summer
    Take10
    Take5
    Teacher Appreciation Week
    Technology
    Teens
    Testing
    Twitter
    WRITE

    RSS Feed


Proudly powered by Weebly
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Presentations >
      • Empower17
      • Thesis ALIVE!
  • READ
    • What's the Scoop? >
      • Landmark Supreme Court Cases
    • Reading an Artifact
    • Reading an Image
    • Emoji Notes
    • Sketchnotes
    • Sharing Books with Kids
  • WRITE
    • Thesis & Essay Writing >
      • Thesis Writing Workshop
      • Fairy Tale Grab Bags
      • Essay Roadmap
      • Essay Outline Generator
      • Other Thesis Ideas
    • What's the Scoop? >
      • Landmark Supreme Court Cases
    • Poetry Beyond English Class
  • CREATE
    • Think, Build, Tweet
    • Sketchnotes
    • Ordinary Objects
    • Think Outside the Box
    • Poetry Beyond English Class
  • WORK WITH US
    • Testimonials