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Please follow my progress as I learn new teaching skills, especially in regards to teaching with technology.

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March 28, 2011
I read an interesting article on "What's the Secret to Effective Classroom Management", by Maurice Elias on edublog.org I was referred to the article after reading a tweet off my tweetdeck. Before I tell you about my response to the thought-provoking article, I must mention that until a few days ago I could never have written the first statement. This journey upon which I've set myself has been an interesting one. We know the many connotations that can be read into "interesting", right? Today, though, I enjoyed a short trip down a sidewalk, window-shopping others' comments about effective classroom management. I've been out of the lead spot in the classroom for almost twelve years now, but I'm looking to step back into the shop. I need to brush up my shopkeeping skills. Elias's article discusses how the secret to effective management is simple - a relationship of trust between the student and teacher. The relationship encourages self-management, respect and student engagement in the learning process. I found myself nodding my head as I read his statement. The best classroom sessions I ever had were when I worked with the students to learn about an individually selected topic. I was the facilitator of the knowledge search, not dictating their direction. The hardest days ever were lecture days, when I tried to push notes on a topic at them, or sent them off to read generalized knowledge out of the textbook that they could not apply to their own interests. Boring! It's our job to engage them in the learning - make it relevant - and be a director. I valued those days I could offer them choices out of my "shop" rather than force them to buy merchandise they did not even like, or for which they couldn't see the need. Another respondent commented about the "buzzards in the back" who are more socially than educationally engaged. Elias had some good advice in response, I thought. He said in his own classroom, he would conference after class, individually or in pairs, to help the students goal-set their expectations for the classroom. He talked about encouraging them to value themselves and their abilities in the class, and hoping they could see this class as a possible "oasis in the desert" if they have found the learning environment so difficult. I can picture this strategy in action, and found from personal experience one-on-one can be affective and make change, at least for a little while. It does need consistent reinforcement, however, to be truly effective, because the outside influences are stronger than the 60-90 minute sessions we spend with our students, daily or every-other. I also liked the idea of high-fives for right answers. Let's bring as much fun into the classroom as possible, right? Which brings me to the next comment I appreciated, on positive reinforcement. I admit, I was not as successful with this as I wish, simply because the irritating behavior is easier to recognize than the positive. One thing I did in my classrooms, though, was try to make a positive phone call home for every negative one I needed to make. If I needed to call John or Jane's parents for failing grades or bad behavior, I called Sarah and Steve's for excelling and being excellent in class. Doing both was the only way I could force myself to make those depressing calls. We have to reward ourselves with remembering the successes along with the...well...failures...ours or theirs.

http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010/assessment-measure-what-matters