This
week students had Iowa Assessments for half the day on Tuesday (periods 1-3)
and half the day on Wednesday (periods 5-7). My CT took the day off on Tuesday
to recover because she had been sick all weekend and we had a substitute
teacher. The substitute teacher was nice, but was unable to get full attention
from the students. This resulted in complete chaos. Students were talking to
each other, and because they were talking to each other they had no idea what
to do so they would end up asking the same questions over and over again. I waited
to see if the sub would change his approach, or at least get everyone to be
quiet until he finished instruction. He attempted to quiet them down but many
continued to talk to each other in whispers.
After a couple of minutes of watching this chaos I decided to step in. (
I had been hesitant at first because I was not given instruction to give out
the Iowa Assessment) I used our classroom attention getter ( I “Red Robin”
students “Yummmm”) Once I had their attention I was able to clear up some of
the confusion, as well as make instruction clear. I made expectations clear and
went around the classroom to make sure that students had completed the forms
correctly as did the sub. It felt great to have the students listen to me and
follow my instructions.
However,
following the assessment students proceeded to their 4th-7th
period classes. Having to teach after the assessments was a bit tough. It took
a lot of effort to keep them focused on what we were doing. I had to stop
multiple times because they would begin to have side conversations any moment
they got a chance to. If a paused to wait for them to take something out or
finish writing they would start talking. If I asked a question they would start
whispering as I had someone answer the question. The last time I stopped I had
to give them a lecture on being respectful and covered expectations one more
time. This was the first time that I’ve had to stop teaching to address a
problem. Ultimately –after the expectations were reiterated—they remained on
task. My fifth period class came in and
I had a similar side talking problem with them as well. This time I didn’t wait
until I was interrupted time and time again to address all the side
conversations going on and was able to put a stop to it much earlier in the
class period. By the time my 6th period class came in I didn’t give
them the benefit of the doubt and before starting I went over expectations and
made it clear that having side conversations was disrespectful and made it very
difficult for me to teach and was distracting to their peers. By doing this at
the beginning of class I was able to avoid stopping continuously throughout the
lesson. It was also interesting to see how the students policed peers around
them who would go of task. In all, I’ve had another great week! I can’t believe
that we only have two more weeks left.
Great job at stepping up to help the sub! Now that I am lead teaching my teacher is gone from the room for most of the day. She checks in at the beginning and end of each class but she has decided to stay out of the room. With her gone the kids are testing me more. I thought about how to handle this and I like your idea of just addressing right away and them moving on! Good luck next week!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to believe that we only have 2 weeks left at this placement. This is great that you were able to step in and help the sub gain control of the class. Also, isn't it amazing how little adjustments to classroom management can make a huge difference? It was great that you were able to adjust your strategy and the students responded so well to it. Good luck next week!
ReplyDeleteI think teaching on days that kids have assessments is so difficult. Some kids can continue to learn at their normal pace, but some kids are just wiped out from all the testing, and I definitely feel their pain! I also had to give my students a talk about being respectful (with a short piece about interrupting as well). I never thought I would ever be the teacher to have to "punish" in a sense, but it was something I truly feel had to be done to have the students understand how serious it was. Hope your next week goes well!
ReplyDeleteGetting kids of any age to focus during testing is really hard. Stopping and addressing the problem sounds like it was the right thing to do. Setting the expectations right away is something I've been working on too. I can't believe how fast this is going! I hope you have a great last couple of weeks!
ReplyDeleteIt really must have been chaos if they had a sub and an Iowa Assessment! Not only should you be proud of yourself for stepping in, but also with the fact that your students respect you! Setting expectations is really important and sometimes students just need that random refresher! Seems like you figured that out as the day continued. Good job, and good luck next this week!
ReplyDelete