Routine is key for classroom management, especially for younger students. When children enter a classroom and they already know what to do, it eliminates all of the distractions that they could be drawn to. How do teachers ensure that their students understand the routine and that they can remember what their jobs are? An article by Linsin (2014) discussed how music cues both the start and end of a routine. You can choose a song with an appropriate length that fits the particular routine and practice it with your students. When you begin singing or playing the song, the children know that they need to clean up to prepare for the next activity. When the song is finished, they know that they should be done and ready for the next task. In my practicum classroom, I noticed that my sponsor teacher uses music to help the students remember to be very quiet when they walk down the hallway. As soon as she starts singing the song, the children are immediately attentive and they typically join in on the singing. Although they usually don't have very far to walk, they are all very quiet the entire way. Music has always played a very important part in my life. I rarely spoke in class, but when I was in music class, I was a different person. I was addicted to being able to express myself through music. I loved that I could connect with others without having to speak to them. Music provided me with a sense of calm when everything else was chaotic. In my future classroom, I want to be able to use music as a way to communicate with my students without necessarily having to tell them what to do next. I believe that children can sense when adults are overwhelmed, and that they will feed off of this feeling. I think the more I can incorporate music into my classroom, the more calm my students and I will be. References Linsin, M. (2014). How to use music to make routines more fun and effective. Smart Classroom Management. Retrieved from https://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2014/03/22/how-to-use-music-to-make-routines-more-fun-and-effective/
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Classroom management is something I always imagined would be a difficult task. Managing a small group of students is manageable, but when the number of students reaches the double digits, it becomes exponentially more difficult. I have the pleasure of working with an amazing sponsor teacher (Mrs. I) in a kindergarten/grade 1 classroom. Mrs. I consistently creates such a fun environment for all of her students. I noticed that she has several different attention getting strategies which challenge the students to think about what they need to do, rather than having only one attention getting strategy that becomes habitual to the students. It seems to be a bit of a competition between the students to see who is the quickest to remember what they need to do. Instead of using the strategy as an obligatory task, she presents it more as a game. I also observed how Mrs. I constantly rotates throughout the classroom to ensure that students are on task. While she does this, she determines which students have finished their work, and also when students are ready for a break. I think that if you can develop positive relationships with each student, there is a reciprocal relationship based on respect. Students will know when they need to be focusing on a task, and the teacher will allow students to have time to socialize and have fun with their classmates. One of my favourite things about working with Mrs. I is that she makes learning fun and interesting. On Wednesdays, we spend the entire day outside and change the lessons so that they can be taught outside. The students love it and they are eager to learn in a new environment. I think because Mrs. I is so flexible in her teaching strategies, she does not have much of an issue with classroom management because she adapts to what she believes the students need on any given day. |
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