Classroom Management for Dummies

The biggest thing that teachers struggle with is classroom management. As an aspiring teacher I want my classroom to be exciting and the environment to be safe. Students with orderly classrooms and fewer disruption learn more. In the organized classrooms teacher have planned and talked about the rules of the classroom since day one. As a teacher you have to lay out these rules in the beginning so the students know what to expect. A way to do this is modeling and practicing, this will get the students into a routine. Anita goes into detail about what makes a good teacher. The first aspect is teachers care about their students, exercise authority, and make learning interesting by being creative. Students that feel like they belong in school are least likely to drop out and more motivated. It is important that teachers put their students before anyone. Anita did an excellent job of explaining how to manage your classroom and techniques that some teachers might use.

The video gives some examples of how to manage your classroom. In the beginning of this video you can get a clear sense of what classroom management really is. I recommend watching this video because it will show you ways to excel in classroom management.

Good Ol' Procrastination

Anita first starts off explaining what procrastination is. A good way to explain this word is looking at this blog. I only had three more blogs to do for Anita's podcast, but I waited the last minute to do them. According to Anita's research procrastination is "extremely prevalent." A high statics for college students was 80-95% of students procrastinate their work. That is a lot of students pushing their work aside. The work that is done the night before is usually poor quality, more errors, less original, and borrowed from other people. Even though Anita makes it seem that procrastination is bad, she highlights what good comes from it. If you gather material for your essay beforehand and have a background knowledge of what your doing. Anita then asked a question, why do people procrastinate? The obvious answer is either the task is too challenging or the dead line is later on in the semester. I have a problem with putting things to the side. In the middle of the semester when a professor hands out an essay that is due at the end. I won't look at it until it's the week of. That is a habit that I and many people suffer from. We are consumed with other work that needs to be handed in before that one specific task. A good way to avoid procrastination is taking little bites from the assignment. Each day do a little bit and eventually the work will get done. The other aspect that I liked was setting goals for yourself. Every time you reach these goals you reward yourself. This podcast was very helpful and I think every college student should listen to this podcast. It doesn't matter how many times  listen to this podcast, procrastination will still be my biggest weakness.

Oh Tests!

This podcast starts off with some soothing music that makes an entrance into Anita. Her main focus on this podcast is talking about test taking skills and how to succeed in test. The first thing she mention is how anxiety makes the students panic and no learn the material. I can relate to this podcast because I suffer from test anxiety. During high school, I would start panicking and my body would start to shake. Having this anxiety did not help me do well on tests and learn the material. Anita talks about good ways to fight this anxiety. One way that she tells us, is to have a good strategy for studying. Anita then goes through a step by step for before, during, and after the test. The strategies that she supplied us with would help any student that has anxiety. I really liked how she explained what to do during the test. The student has to make sure to focus on one question at a time. She also states if you feel nervous breathe and take a break for a second. This podcast was very insightful for me and my test taking. All the key strategies that she explained I will used during every test.

Final

The final project that I constructed shows all the information that I learned in this amazing course. In this project I showed my ideal classroom and what type of philosophy I would be using. The two different websites I used were Google Docs and Present me. This was my first time using Present me and it was easy to work with. The only problem that I faced using Present me was adding a video along with my speech. It would not allow me to post my slides from Goggle Docs which made it difficult for my class to follow along. Overall this presentation tied up everything I learned in this class into one PowerPoint. The other aspect that I really liked was adding my presentation on Live Binders. This allows other people to access my work and read about my ideal classroom. There are two links below that have the PowerPoint and the audio. I hope you enjoy :)

My Ideal Classroom

Presentation

Cognition

For the create-evaluate-relate I decided to make a mind map to convey my ideas. The first picture shows how I use metacognition and explain how I use it everyday. There are a few examples that I posted on this map.

 

 

For the evaluate part I also created another mind map. Instead, this time I used the map to show the different steps of how to clean a dish. I know this seems pretty basic, but in your head you are always thinking about what comes next after you are done with each step.

 

 

 

The last part it asked us to visit a website that helped think cognitively and explored different ideas. Exploratorium is a museum of experience. The thing that interests me about this website is, you don't have to specifically visit this museum to know what's inside. It has different links that you can click on to find out more information. Looking through the different sites, the one that caught my attention was the Tactile Dome. The name its self sounds pretty cool. According to the website this dome is designed for you to be in complete darkness. You never know if you are going to slide, turn, bump, etc. This dome is created to develop your senses (mostly touch). Overall this site gives a lot of information on the museum and you can see how it helps people cognitively.

 



 

 



Behaviorism

The PowerPoint that I created gives you many ways to use the behaviorism theory in a classroom. I hope these three ways help you become more aware of this theory. Within this PowerPoint I focused on two theorists. Towards the end you can see that there is a video that goes into depth with one of the theorists. I hope you enjoy this Behaviorism  PowerPoint.

Tests

Personality Test
This website makes you click on a picture that you think is more attractive. From that picture it gives you an analysis of what you might be. I ended up picking the introspective sensitive reflective. Below it briefly describes that that means.

Introspective sensitive reflective

 

 

You come to grips more frequently and thoroughly with yourself and your environment than do most people. You detest superficiality; you'd rather be alone than have to suffer through small talk. But your relationships with your friends are very strong, which gives you the inner tranquility and harmony that you require. You do not mind being alone for extended periods of time; you rarely become bored.

 

 

Color Quiz

Like the test above the color test is to determine what your personality is like. I personally enjoyed taking this test because it was like a matching game. My overall results were:

 

Your Existing Situation "Very emotional and artistic, enjoys being surrounded by beauty and art. Looking for a partner who always has an eye for beauty and who enjoys close, loving relationships."

 

Your Stress Sources "Has high standards and wants to make friends with those who have equally high standards; however, she has been unsuccessful in building these types of relationships. she is feeling under appreciated and her self-esteem is damaged because of it. she is uncomfortable with the situation and wishes to escape, but refuses to make compromises or lower her standards. Puts off resolving her problems because she afraid of the conflicts it may cause. In order to feel secure, she needs to feel appreciated by others so they will do what she asks of them and respect her opinions"

 

Your Restrained Characteristics "Tries to participate and involve herself in things going on around him; however, avoids conflict and arguments to reduce stress and tension." "Seeking to broaden her horizons and believes her hopes and dreams are realistic. Worries she may not be able to do the things she wants and needs to escape to a peaceful, quiet environment in order to restore her confidence." "Believes her hopes and dreams are realistic and sticks to them stubbornly, even though circumstances are forcing her to compromise. Very precise in the qualities she seeks in a partner." Although she is able to find contentment through sexual activity, she feels hopeless to change her problems and difficulties and continues to make the best of what she has." "Believes her hopes and dreams are realistic and sticks to them stubbornly, even though circumstances are forcing her to compromise. Very precise in the qualities she seeks in a partner."

 

Your Desired Objective "Longs for a loving, caring, and supportive relationship, and fanaticizes of living in perfect harmony with others. Has a strong desire for tenderness and affection and enjoys things which are artistically pleasing to the eye."

 

Your Actual Problem "Impressed by unique and one of a kind things, and by people with exceptional personalities. Tries to takes the characteristics she likes in other people and apply it to herself as well as coming across as a unique individual."

 

Your Actual Problem #2 "Feeling tension and stress brought on by situations which are out of her control, leaves her feeling helpless, anxious, and in adequate. she tries to escape into a fantasy world where things go her way and her desires are easier to reach."

 

I decided to do two IQ tests because it's better to have two different takes on something. Through these two tests they were spot on with my personality. I know sometimes these tests can mean nothing, but I can relate to the different results. These tests can be used in a classroom to help students discover who they really are. They are also easy enough to take because you don't need any prior knowledge.