Monday, February 27, 2012
Classroom management
Following on our discussions on the 22 february regarding the case study on the challenges faced by a new lecturer, I would like to pose the following to you. Reflect on an incident in the past that involved managing your class or dealing with a difficult student. How did you behave in that situation? Would you do things differently if you were faced with that situation now?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Some questions I jotted down in Wednesdays' class:
ReplyDelete1. Do you still have to recap with a class before doing a formative assessment, or is the assessment the recap?
2. Does a lesson plan only cover 1 lesson eg 2 periods and if you need a longer time to finish a section/module do you have several almost "sub-plans"
3. Is it OK to make the development of a learning contract mutual i.e lecturer and students gives input into design? (joseline)
RE:CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
ReplyDeleteI had an incident where a student would insist on disrupting class to remind me of how much time had left. Her intentions were perhaps to not stay in class over time but her approach was very disrespectful - as she interrupted me often, mid-sentence, to remind me that I had 5 minutes left. She also insisted on talking while I was speaking and often made objections to the manner in which I would pose questions to the class.
I was a new lecturer at the time and found her confident disruptions very unnerving at first, and then later very annoying.
My initial response was to acknowledge her and then try to make changes to the briefs, or shorten my classes, etc.
However I found that this still didn't put an end to her - then evidently - purposeful disruptions.
I decided to give her permission to leave class whenever she noted the time, but I made sure I only handed out the class assignments at the end of my class. I also made a public announcement to the class that gave them the choice to leave at anytime they felt they wanted to.
I explained to the class that as much as it was painful to be bored, t was also very painful for me to teach bored people - and so I completely understood if they wanted to leave. However I could not explain the brief (given out at the end of class) at any other time than at the end of class.
Most of the class remained. Including the troublesome student.
I would also keep quiet if anyone spoke in class while I was speaking, and when they were done I would ask their permission to talk.
I'm not sure if I would have done things differently now - but perhaps I could ask what it was specifically that made her feel like she needed to remind me of the time, and perhaps also ask for suggestions on how to improve my posed questions to the class.
Generally antagonistic students still make me feel very unnerved - I guess I have just become better at keeping a poker face in class. (Michelle)