Classroom Management & Technology

From WikEd

Description

Technology continues to change the way that educators do their jobs. From mundane tasks to communication, computers and the Internet have made many parts of a teacher's job easier and more efficient. Attendance and grading programs along with email, allow educators to complete a variety of tasks in a shorter amount of time. Gone are the days of physically collecting attendance and spending hours over a calculator averaging grades then writing on stacks of report cards. With programs that many schools use today, at a moment's notice, a teacher can access a student's attendance record, report cards, discipline report, and parent/guardian information. There is also software available[1] that allows teachers to not only display the teacher's computer screen on the students' screens, but images of the students' screens can be shown on the teacher's for monitoring purposes. Technology has provided teachers with a tool that may very well revolutionize their profession.

Discipline and Group Management in Classrooms

Jacob Kounin has conducted research with several colleagues of kindergarten, elementary, secondary, and college classrooms. His most important findings have come from videotaping 15 first- and second-grade classrooms and 15 third- and fifth-grade classrooms. They were videotaped on half days for two months. Kounin followed with another study of 50 primary classrooms videotaped for a full day. For each classroom, he recorded the behavior of eight students chosen at random and one emotionally disturbed child. His concern was with finding teacher practices related to student work involvement and low student misbehavior. Kounin isolated the teacher practices and procedures of "with-it-ness", "over-lapping," "smoothness and momentum," and "group alerting" as parts of classroom-management success. (Wolfgang, 294)

Summation of Kounin’s important work on classroom management, a teacher can minimize misbehavior by:

   With –it-ness:
      * Keep constantly alert to sights and sounds around the classroom.
      * Arrange students to be within sight at all times
      * Scan the classroom whenever attending to an individual or small group of students.
      * At the first detection of misbehavior, use a brief acknowledgment to let the class know that you are aware of the misbehavior
         (i.e. “Felina, would you please get back to work?”

   Overlapping:
      * Attend to two events at the same time whenever necessary so as not to leave students waiting.
      * When instructing one group acknowledge difficulties that students outside the group may be having, but keep group instruction moving
       (i.e., “Marsha, keep explaining that logarithm out loud to us while I check on Petunia’s problem
        Now, Petunia, where do you need help – I see.  Martha, check your logarithm with the rest of the group; then all of you do exercise B.
        Petunia, you’re forgetting to invert the ratio…: Correct misbehavior but keep instruction moving i.e., “Tom, it’s your turn to read
       (teacher turns head to class in seats. ) There’s too much noise.  I can’t hear Tom read. Tom, sound that word out y syllables; for , tu, nate.
        Good. Sam, get back to your seat. If you need help come over here.  Sandra (who sits two seats form Tom in the reading group), 
        please pronounce the same word Tom just had...”

    Smoothness:
      * Preplan the lesson so that extraneous matters are taken care of beforehand (i.e., “now that today’s schedule and assignments are handed out,
        have we forgotten any other items?  If not, let’s give our full attention to Gothic design. Let’s look on page 13, the picture of the 
        Cathedral of Chartres.  No, Sally, I’ll pass back the homework at the end of the class. What do you notice about this cathedral that is
        different from Notre Dame? Bruce?”)
      * Once students are absorbed in their work, do not distract them.  Leave them alone to work and assist them individually.

    Momentum:
       * Keep the lesson moving briskly.
       * Do not over dwell on a minor or already understood part of the lesson.
       * Correct students quickly without nagging and return to the lesson.
       * Have students move from one activity to the next without having to wait for each other on each subpart of the transition 
         (i.e., avoid saying, “First everyone put your pencils away”).

    Group alerting:
       * Call on students at random.
       * Raise group interest by interspersing suspense between questions by saying, “This is a tough one coming up.” 
         “Can you figure this one out?” “You haven’t heard of this before.” “I want you all to think hard before responding.”
       * Have the entire group or class respond in unison.
       * Physically move around the room and ask students to show what they have done.
       * While asking one student to respond, look at other students.

Kounin found that with-it-ness, overlapping, smoothness, momentum, and group alerting were the teacher practices most highly related to management success. With-it-ness, overlapping and group alerting are focused teacher behaviors, verbal and non-verbal, in scanning and responding to students. Smoothness and momentum are focused on the organization of the lesson, presentation of instruction, and transitions between work activities. (Wolfgang, 297-98)

Application in classrooms

How can we streamline these "chores" to increase classroom management and efficiency for teachers?

Tablets/laptops for teachers will ease daily routines:

Attendance: Teachers can walk around the room taking attendance. No more dodging into the office to take attendance before the attendance person emails you a friendly reminder.

Lunch: Teachers can report what students want for lunch and what they want to eat

Grading: Teachers can enter grades directly into the computer instead of on paper first. The teacher has the mobility to walk around the room with laptop/tablet in hand and mark off grades.

Organization: Software like OneNote [2], GoBinder[3], Sticky notes[4], Journal, etc. can organize notes, classes, planners in one. Google Calendar is another example of organizational software. It is a free, easy to use application that allows for teachers to schedule assignments for multiple classes and share them with students. Students can also use Google Calendar[5] to create group project outlines which they can then share with their groups and with their teacher.

Online tests: Provide you with instant feedback and grades on test scores

Graphic Organizers: Create Graphic Organizers in Microsoft Word

Individual Student Information: Teachers can take anecdotal notes on individual students and keep them stored in a file for that student for easy access when needing to reference them for a conference. Also all personal information for that student should be stored there for teacher access from school or home.

Tablet computers also help teachers through proximity management. Given the ability to connect wirelessly, teachers are given the opportunity to walk around the classroom while using their tablet. If a student is talking, allowing the teacher to simply stand next to that student while still conducting class (example: taking notes on the tablet) sends the students the message "I see that you are talking; please be quiet" while not interrupting the class. Being able to walk around the room, also makes students to likely to stay engaged and focused on taking notes.

Class Management in the On-Line Classroom

The on-line classroom comes complete with its own challenges. A key classroom management role for the online facilitator is to maintain classroom synergy. In his article, Facilitating Every Student in an Online Course, Virgil Varvel cautions the online facilitator that “ whatever takes a lifetime to create can be destroyed in an instant” It, therefore, behooves the online teacher to be on the lookout for situations that can undermine the class atmosphere and then react quickly and effectively to rectify the situation. Varvel goes on to describe 10 types of disrupters and how to deal with them productively. These include:

The Know It All
The Mutineer
The Lagging Belligerent Student
The Attacking Belligerent Student
The Controller
The Staller
The Must-Have-An-A-Student
The Non-Participant
The Overlooked Student
The Concerned Or Anxious Student

To read Varvel’s entire article see: Facilitating Every Student in an Online Course

Diversity Considerations

As per The National Science Foundation's website "Getting Results for Community College Educators", "Community college students have a wide-ranging mix of personalities, backgrounds, interests, and abilities. Discovering their differences can be a joy; addressing them can be a challenge. As an instructor, your job is to ensure that all students are engaged in learning, regardless of their backgrounds."

Take the Test Your Student Savvy Q and see how prepared are you for the diversity of students you will see in your class?

Signed "life experiences", Testimonies, or Stories

After reading this article, I have gotten some great ideas to use in my classroom. My only setback is the fact that we do not have personal laptops for use throughout the school day. We do have a laptop computer cart, in which each teacher is assigned a laptop. However, during the school day, the laptops are primarily for student and classroom use. Our classroom computers are several years old and not the most reliable machines. Here are some ideas I am considering trying:

Taking anecdotal notes on my computer during reading and math conferences with students
Giving online tests so that I can get instant feedback and test scores from students
Using software to keep track of my lesson plans
Using the computer to keep track of my grading (although, I would think that you would still need to keep paper copies of grades, in the event of a computer crash)

I believe keeping all of these things on the computer would help me become more organized!

Brookelyn Schuppel

I love the idea of having a notebook computer in hand throughout the day! It would be a great time saver for me and I think that my anecdotal notes would be more organized if I could immediately open a 'folder' and insert comments directly. I would also:

Be able to track guided reading group materials
Chart individual progress toward specific instructional goals
Use an online grading system for immediate parental notification and
Track assignment/homework completion

I look forward to the day when this resource might be available!!!

Rhonda Zaborowski

Having a notebook computer to use in the classroom would be ideal! I have one desktop computer in my classroom and I do bring my own notebook computer to school almost every day to use with my students through SMART board activities. I like the idea of being able to carry the notebook around to different locations in the classroom to make notes, give tests, etc. I can see how some may have the opinion that new technology available for a classroom teacher may be difficult to keep up with. However, once these skills are acquired and the teacher is more accustomed to the routine, I think it will prove to make classroom life easier. I like these ideas:

Keeping track of your classroom library - checking in and out books
Keeping parents notified of grades online - I just recently started using Microsoft Excel for grading
lesson planning
Taking notes on behavior, grades, late assignments, etc.

Marcy Flessner

Things that work better than a laptop

I have a laptop in my room that is supposed to be used by all members of our math department. Fortunately for me, I am the only math teacher that has a desire to use these devices. Even though I am thankful for the technology I have available, I do not think I would want to carry it around with me in my classroom. I find it easy enough to give my kids some desk work to do at the beginning of class while I record attendance (in our schoolwide computer attendance program) and collect homework assignments or pass back papers.

There are other pieces of technology - besides a laptop - that I find more helpful to myself, my students and their parents.

Grading software - I am able to quickly print out each student's list of assignments, missing assignments, a break down of grades by type of assignment and weight, etc. This also helps when it comes to parent/teacher conferences. I am also able to post grades every week by student numbers so that my students are consistently aware of their progress.
TI SmartView software - I am able to visually show my students what buttons push and the result on the screen of the calculator. This eliminates the need for the old "point at the poster" approach.
Posting assingments on the Web - We have it set up on our school website so that teacher's can post their weekly assignments on the web. THis is as easy as typing out a list in Microsoft Word and saving it in a particular space on the web as an Html document. This is helpful for those teachers that have students for in school suspension time (No more getting a list of assignments from the teacher), Parents who are trying to stay on top of their child's school work, and students (especially those that have been absent and want to stay up to date with the class).

Marsha Foshee

The only concern I have with some of the issues discussed it the reliability of the school network to support some of the above technologies. For instance, my school district does its attendance, grading, and student records via an on-line program. While it's a wonderful feature to be able to enter grades from home, in the classroom, if the school network is down, then entering attendance, or being able to call up student records is impossible.

Classroom technology has given me the opportunity to administer homework, quizzes, and exams online. This eliminates paper copies and allows me to grade students' work and receive instant feedback. I can grade essays by hand or have the online programs grade multiple choice, matching, and true/false questions. With this technology I always have electronic copies of grades and can access scores from any semester for any student. This is truly beneficial with class sizes over 400 students.

I am a huge supporter of using technology in the classroom for several reasons. The first one being that it tryly does simplify the work load for a teacher. I can post assignments online, the students submit the answers online, and I can grade those assignments from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. It eliminates the need to run mulitiple copies and it cuts back on the amount of re-copying needing to be done as a result of students losing a worksheet. It ensures with greater statistics notes getting received and read by parents. The one downside I do see to using technology is that some of my students still do not have computers at home. However, with technology evolving as quickly as it is, the options are endless. For instance, I know that the Oakwood Public Library has Internet capabilities that anyone with a library card, which is free to get, can use for free. With all the limitless possibilities technology allows both students and teachers, I'm amazed that there are still some who are spending hours upon hours in front of the copy machine at work!

Kelly Ferdinand

Although I do have to agree that technology has helped me streamline the daily responsibilities I have as a teacher (i.e. attendance, grading, updates, reminders, etc.), I find that I have to constantly be ready for any changes that come with its use. For example, as a second year teacher, I have already had to learn two variations of the same program that both perform the same function. We have used a program entitled, "GradeLogic" the past couple of years and just as I have become accustomed to all of the tedious functions and constant malfunctions, the administration has decided to get rid of it. I have to admit that I did breathe a sigh of relief but a sigh of "here-we-go-again" quickly followed as I realized that I would have to learn a brand new program that is supposed to be far better than GradeLogic. I have faith that the new program we will begin to use this coming fall is indeed easier and friendlier to use, but I keep thinking about the next program that will be "better" and the next and thereafter. The continuous advancements in technology has become an inevitable force that even I (a young teacher who has grown up with the Internet and all its glory) can see has it's delightful moments as well as moments that can leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Now that I have already rambled like the English teacher that I am, I have one other concern that I want to express about using the Internet for homework, quizzes, exams, etc. online. I would absolutely love to incorporate more of these techniques into my everyday teaching, but with so many students who don't have a computer at home-let alone daily Internet access-this is virtually (forgive my pessimism) impossible for the time being. Has administering paperwork and tests/quizzes within classroom time become too "old-school" for the world today?

-H.Yeam

As a librarian, I work with technologies every time the students are in the classroom. I agree that all of these tools help "streamline" day-to-day activities, but I strongly advise teachers to be wary of relying completely on technologies in the classroom. I once conducted a workshop on Google Page Creator for teachers in my school, and I had planned on introducing the program and then allowing teachers work time to complete their web pages. However, the school network crashed just as I was about to let the teachers create their projects. This resulted in a lot of frustration for everyone involved, and we all had to wait while the network was restored. It was not a good experience for me, as a novice teacher, to be suddenly sidelined by a network outage, and it was not helpful for the teachers who were expecting to have a lot of time to complete their web pages and ask questions if they needed help.
A similar issue has arisen more than once during class sessions with students-I would demonstrate a database on the computer, and the page would refuse to load, or the network connection would be lost. Students get distracted easily and often see the down time as a time to goof around. When that happens, I direct students towards the books, and I remind them that books will never crash or suddenly stop working.

-A. Peso

While reading many of the testimonies and advice that was given, I couldn’t help but reflect on my own experiences in the classroom. Although I think technology is great way to keep the classroom organized, I feel as though often times as we advance we forget the little things that make the difference.

I believe that classroom management is vital to student learning. As a teacher I think that students rise or fall to the level of expectation. It is critical that teachers specify exactly what is required of students and to maintain a routine in the classroom in order to help students adjust quickly. Members of any community strive to exhibit the values that are defined, expressed, and reinforced within their society, their families, and among their friends. It is essential for students to recognize and maintain control of the social and environmental goals that guide everyday behavior. Furthermore, they must gain an understanding of themselves and individuals around them in order to make affective decisions that may shape their future. In layman’s terms, it doesn’t matter if you have all the best new toys, if you don’t have a relationship with your students then it won’t matter.

Classroom management requires strict dedication and a consistent level of disciplinary measures so that students understand the consequences (good or bad) of their actions. Teachers must elucidate the rules, procedures, and grading expectations that are required in their classroom. In order to avoid confusion and conflict, it is imperative for teachers to clearly specify and constantly emphasize behavioral and educational goals to students. The procedures for attendance, seat assignments, and the first few minutes of each class should be clear to students. The first few minutes are what will set the tone for the next 50. I have only been teaching 3 years, but I have come to learn that when I use a belleringer, whether it is a video, a quote, or a short activity, the students are much more engage than when I skip that part of the introduction.

The classroom environment should be conducive to learning. Students should be aware of their rights and needs as well as the rights and needs of others. Students should feel safe and comfortable in the classroom and should feel free to express themselves within the classroom limits. Students should be encouraged to try new experiences and to grow and develop as individuals and as a community. The teacher must know his/her students and must be able to recognize individual student needs. The classroom environment is crucial to classroom management and the environment that is established in the first few days of class will continue throughout the rest of the school year.

Classroom management demands a great deal from the teacher and the student. The teacher is responsible for explaining and clarifying all standards and expectations to the student. The student is accountable for understanding all the procedures, rules, and grading expectations that are set at the start of the school year. I believe that the fundamental strategies to affective classroom management are both teacher and student dedication, clear and concise explanations, and a consistent level of discipline and control. If all the standards and expectations, concerning physical, social, or cognitive principles, are clearly defined and regularly reinforced then both the student and the teacher will be able to cooperate and learn effectively. The goal of classroom management is to build an atmosphere that is conducive to learning and I believe that such an atmosphere can exist through dedication, consistency, relevenace, and most important, relationships.

Technology is a great way to take attendance, enter grades, and incorporate media devices in the classroom but it can never substitute or replace the relationships that we build with our students. We must take the time to get to know them and understand their individual abilities. Surely technology can be the avenue for such explorations (such as the use of eportfolios, web design activities, PowerPoint presentations and videos) but it cannot do all the wok for us.

“Computing machines perhaps can do the work of a dozen ordinary men, but there is no machine that can do the work of one extraordinary man.” -- E. B. White

-- Mary Rezk

As a younger faculty member in a digital native society, I find it hard to motivate digital immigrant faculty to use technology in the classroom. We will be debuting a more than $6 million school with SMARTBoards in each classroom along with SMART Tables in our two kindergarten classrooms. However, we have faculty that don't even know how to create a file folder on our server. To manage my classroom more efficiently using technology I use the following:

SMART Boards for attendance, lunch count, etc. in the morning
Our school uses STI Classroom for attendance records, grading, progress reports, acquiring student information
Each classroom has four student computers and one teacher computer for technology purposes
SMART Senteo handheld response system for quick quiz taking and assessment results
Setting up a Google e-mail account for each student to better collaborate on projects using Google Documents
I created a Moodle online classroom for a six week Research class I teach to eighth grade. I cut down on copying time by posting the word documents and useful resource links on the Moodle site and directed them when they had to access the site and print the documents before the next class.
Access to two computer labs with twenty-five computers in each lab for podcasting, digital video editing, creative writing, etc.
Posting weekly homework to the school website for student and parent access

I believe by incorporating these technology resources into my classroom I keep my digital natives engaged in learning, which keeps my classroom management effective. With the new school building, I will be able to assist our digital immigrant faculty into incorporating technology into the classroom and modeling effective classroom management to help reduce a teacher workload. However, technology can only be an assistant to effective classroom management. The first few weeks in a classroom are key to establishing the roles of teacher and student. This time can make or break a successful year. Letting students know your expectations of them is of the utmost importance.

--Lindsey Storm

One of the simplest management tools I have used in addressing the "chores" is attention to detail in the room layout. Establishing a simple room environment that students and teacher can easily maneuver can minimize the amount of time a student spends using a pencil sharpener. Speaking of, being a math teacher pencils were the only writing utensil I would allow. I purchased an electric sharpener and was surprised at what a difference something so simple can do in eliminating wasted time. I actually timed how long it should take to sharpen a brand new pencil which I would demonstrate to the students the first or second day of school. It the motor was on for longer than 3 seconds, the individual would get a quick reminder. The other advantage to addressing room layout is setting up the room for group work while allowing the teacher to easily position oneself to keep a watchful eye. Mark Reichert

I have so many ideas for using technology in my classroom. There are projects that I'd love to do with my kids that would involve working between home and school on the computer. Unfortunately, in my area, families without computer access outnumber those with computer access. I've had to modify what I do so that all children can participate. The public library has computers, but we have some children in the unincorporated areas who do not qualify for a library card and so cannot use the computers at the library. I envy people in areas where everyone is connected.--Karen Dannenhauer

In response to the above post, I acknowledge you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink. Never-the-less, I offer the following suggestions for encouraging resistant digital immigrant faculty to use technology in the classroom.

Be respectful, not dismissive. They have a wealth of experience and content knowledge that has taken years to develop. They may know something you’ll need help with sooner rather than later.
Try working with them 1:1. Be mindful that all of us are afraid of losing face. When you are used to being the expert, it is only natural that you try to avoid looking foolish in front of both your students and your colleagues.
Personalize your session. Learn what they do in class and start small. Find one small, simple activity that they can implement. For example, one teacher I work with now has all of her students word process their documents for easier marking. (She loves size 14 font) I created a “how to” document on changing the font size and double spacing for her and now she teaches her students (who mostly all know how to do this anyway). Another teacher has “fallen in love” with the document camera for peer editing. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Try collaborating with them. With their vast repertoire of activities and your technical knowledge you can make a great team.
Finally, remember students benefit from a wide range of teaching styles and lesson activities. If everyone on the team had the same skills and perspective it would be a waste. If a few teachers don’t use technology in their program it is not the end of the world.

-- Debbie Plested

The introduction of computers in the classroom to manage and organize is such a powerful tool! I remember when I left teaching about 10 years ago - still using the "Red Book" to do grades, attendance, etc. When I moved from KY and got back into teaching about six years ago - the grading and attendance online was just an unbelievable time saver and headache remover! I love technology and what the possibilities are for the future and the discoveries of what already exists that I don't know about for the present! Kevin Henrickson