Here’s what we managed to wedge into today’s POT class:

Planning for EDUC 419, the Long Practicum

We touched on 2 items here:

• Submit the plan for your first unit to your SA between Thursday, 17 March and Monday, 22 March. This will allow your SA time to look at and give feedback on your planning before you start teaching.  As a guest in your SA’s classroom, it is a professional courtesy that you keep them well informed of all that you hope to do in their classroom.

• Pre-Practicum FA Conferences
  • We asked you to sign up for a 30-minute conference with your FA to talk about the following agenda items:
    • Your Classroom Management Plan (the EDUC 310 Inquiry Task for Term 2)
      • Please bring a WORDLE of your plan as a conversation starter.  To create your WORDLE, sImply input the writing in your plan into the “Create” page of the WORDLE website.
    • Expectations for the Practicum
    • Your Planning
    • Answer Your Questions About the Practicum

Here’s an Management Plan WORDLE from last year:

Here are the conference schedules.  Please check to see that the time listed is accurate.  If you do not have a time, please email Shep or I to get one:

• Cheryl’s Pre-419 Conference Schedule
• Lawrence’s Pre-419 Conference Schedule

Classroom Management: Working with Barrie Bennett’s Theory of Bumps

Connecting

I asked you to think back to your classroom experience…

“Recall a student who was beginning to stop you from teaching or stop others from learning.  Perhaps they were pencil tapping, talking to a classmate, or calling out.  How did you respond to that student?”

We took a few responses and wrote them on the board.  As it turns out, you were already using some of the techniques advocated by Bennett in Bump 1 – Preventing and Responding to Misbehaviour Through Low-Key Responses.

Processing

I used this PPT slidewshow to give you some background with Bump 1:

Bennett’s Clasrroom Management BUMP 1 Slideshow

Next, partnerships presented short role plays demonstrating NO and YES examples on how to use each of the 14 low-key techniques (In fact, we didn’t do “Student’s Name” because we were missing one pair of students from today’s lesson).  The role play was followed up with a quick blurb on how to use the technique effectively and artfully.

The responses fall into two categories and are as follows:

Responding Strategies

• Proximity
• Touch
• Student’s Name
• Gesture
• The Look
• The Pause
• Ignore
• Signal to Begin
• Deal With the Problem Not the Student

Matt sent me an example of The Look.  Watch this YouTube clip and determine if it’s a NO or a YES example:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNEmyHsqoVY[/youtube]

Here’s a musical example of The Look.  Please wield this one with extreme caution:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlVI7ZNiFlI[/youtube]

Preventive Techniques

• Transitions
• Rules
• Dealing With Allies
• Winning Over
• Pre-empting Call Outs

You can find all the low-key responses in this handout from Bennett’s book, Classroom Management: A Thinking & Caring Approach:

Bennett’s Bumps 1 & 2

Personalizing

To close, I asked you to consider the following question and took up a few responses:

“Which of the techniques we worked with today will you add to your repertoire on practicum?”

That’s a wrap.

– Lawrence