Valley Springs School DistrictValley Springs School District

The Key Elements of Classroom Management

1.Setting Up the Classroom1.Setting Up the Classroom

• We never educate directly, but indirectly by means of the environment. -John Dewey

1944

Setting Up the ClassroomSetting Up the Classroom

• Taking Inventory– What furniture and equipment do you have and what do

you need?• Arranging Student Seating

– Accommodate the type of instruction and activities you use most often.

– Encourage movement and flexibility.– Consider needs of your students.– Provide a maximum amount of personal space for each

student.

Setting Up the ClassroomSetting Up the Classroom• Placing Your Desk

– Placing your desk in the back of the classroom promotes a student centered environment.

– Placing your desk in the front of the classroom promotes a teacher-directed environment.

– Placing your desk in the center of the student seating arrangement promotes a teacher-facilitated environment.

– Placing your desk off to the side of the classroom sends a message that your desk is your personal workspace.

Setting Up the ClassroomSetting Up the Classroom

• Visual Displays– Provide information about school and classroom

routines.– Supports concepts and skills that you are presently

teaching.– Bulletin Boards-student work

• Traffic Patterns– Moving around the classroom– Entering and leaving the classroom

2. Managing Instructional Time2. Managing Instructional Time

• Until we can manage TIME, we can not manage anything else.

Peter F. Drucker 1954

Managing Instructional TimeManaging Instructional Time

• Four types of school-day time– Allocated time-The time for teacher instruction and

student learning.– Instructional time-The time teachers are actively

teaching.– Engaged time-The time students are involved in a task.– Academic learning time-The time teachers can that

students learned the content or mastered the skill.

Managing Instructional TimeManaging Instructional Time

• Scheduling– Looping allows teachers to teach topics in greater depth

and to better meet the needs of individual students.– Vertical teams –one team of teachers teach multiple

grades in a neighborhood– Carnegie Unit-teach in hour blocks, for many students

this does not serve their learning.– Bock schedule-part of the schedule is organized in

larger blocks to allow flexibility for a diversity of instructional activities.

Managing Instructional TimeManaging Instructional Time

• Pacing the Year’s Curriculum– Study your frameworks– Identify power standards– Mark dates of special events– Schedule the major parts of your curriculum in time

periods that allow for uninterrupted time.– Identify areas of the curriculum that students can learn

in stations or independent work.

Managing Instructional TimeManaging Instructional Time

• Effective Use of Blocks of Time Within the Daily Schedule– Consider the attention span of your students.– The average attention span of an audience is 18

minutes-and that is for adults.– To estimate the number of minutes of a child’s

attention span, add two to child’s age.– Wirhin a time period include a mix of listening,

movement, hands-on experiences, and individual , parnter, or group work.

Managing Instructional TimeManaging Instructional Time• Be Organized

– Establish a procedure for organizing and distributing materials.

– Use a system for collecting completed student work.– Preplan your groups and the location for each group.– Schedule time for students at the computer and in learning

centers.– Monitor time spent on instructional strategies.– Students need time to practice, rehearse, apply, and

connect new learning and relate it to their everyday lives.

ConclusionConclusion

• Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.

-Diogenes