Blog 24

My Paper :) 

Introduction:

            Many researchers have conducted a study about what makes an effective teacher.  The research is varied depending upon the author and what they observe. Most research shows what a teacher does in and out of the classroom to make them effective.  I will conduct a study, using the material from the text called Qualities of Effective Teachers by James H. Stronge, to prove that a specific second grade teacher in North New Jersey is an effective teacher.  I will show that he is an effective teacher by mentioning some facts using the headings: Classroom atmosphere, the teacher as a person, and hands on learning. After observing the teacher two times, according to the text, he is an effective teacher.  In the literature review, I will talk about Stronge’s notes on effective teachers relating to what I saw in my observations.  Watching the teacher made me realize what makes an effective teacher.  I want to summarize those points to come to a conclusion of what I learned through watching him teach. I will have three major points to this research: Read, Watch, and What I Learned.  All of these aspects make for an effective teacher.

Read- Literature Review:

The teacher as a person

“Much of the recent research on teacher effectiveness focuses on relating teacher behaviors to student achievement.” (Stronge, 13) Effective teachers have positive qualities like: caring, listening, knowing their students, fairness and respect, interacting with their students, and promoting enthusiasm and motivation for learning. Students respond positively to all these qualities an effective teacher has. “Teachers who create a supportive and warm classroom climate tend to be more effective with students.” (Stronge, 15) Students must feel comfortable in the classroom if they are willing to speak. Students who feel that their teacher is caring will be more than likely to open up and be open to learning new things.  “Effective, caring teachers know the students formally and informally” (Stronge, 15) Teachers who are effective connect with each student and treats them fairly. Effective teachers give all of the students in his / her classroom every opportunity to participate and succeed.   Teachers who are considered effective listen to what the students have to say rather than cutting them off if what they are talking about is off topic.   “Effective teachers also have a good sense of humor and are willing to share jokes” (Stronge, 17)  This makes the classroom atmosphere more relaxed and have the students be willing to let loose in your classroom. “Good teachers realize and deal with the fact that some students prefer to sit quietly on the sideline, but not stop involving them.” (Stronge, 18) These teachers realize that some students may not feel comfortable talking in group discussions, but feel more comfortable talking in smaller groups.  Effective teachers do not force their students to participate if they really don’t want to.  The teacher, as a person, I feel is a huge part of what makes a teacher effective.

Classroom management and organization skills

Strong states that “components of the organizational plan of a classroom include room arrangement, discipline, the creation of routines, and plan to teach the students how their learning environment is organized”. (26) The better the classroom is set up for the students / teacher’s needs, the better the classroom will run during instructional time.  “Doyle defined management as “the actions and strategies teachers use to solve the problem of order in the classrooms” rather than responses to disciplinary situations”.  (Stronge, 26)  An effective teacher has the whole day planned out so the students do not have time to act out or misbehave.  Effective teachers also have a daily routine and procedures. An effective teacher has his /  her room set up the best way it can be for optimal instruction.  This is what his classroom looks like (may not be to scale).

 

                                                                                                                                                                                     

 

The teacher also had a plan for his “first day” procedures.

“ Most effective teachers admit that rules, procedures, and routines take precedence over academic lessons during the first week of school… When materials are organized, it allows for smooth transitions between activities and increases the amount of time on academic tasks. Consequently, as students focus on academic engagement, the potential for behavior problems to occur is greatly reduced. (Stronge, 28)

Effective teachers as well as admit rules take some time, they also as plan their day and make sure to have the classroom organized.  Effective teachers usually have “color coded bins and they place commonly used materials such as scissors, staples, tape, hole punchers, and crayons in easily accessible places” so the students do not have to interrupt the lesson. (Stronge 28-29) Effective teachers handle discipline when it happens, if and when it does.

Implementing instruction

According to the text Qualities of Effective Teachers, “An effective teacher plans and prepares for the organization of the classroom with the same care and precision used to design a high quality lesson.” (Stronge, 23) Effective teachers “explain the material” that is learned in a specific lesson. (Stronge, 43)  Effective teachers also have the students participate in hands-on activities.  This helps the students remember the information better because they can visualize it. “Teachers also realize that no one instruction is better than another.” (Stronge, 45) Good teachers “encourage students to respond to questions and activities that require them to discover and assimilate their own understanding, rather than to simply memorize material.” (Stronge, 47)  Teachers who also “use positive reinforcement, praise students, and employ meaningful activities are more likely to actively engage students in learning.” (Stronge, 49) 

All these techniques, if used correctly, will make for a great classroom atmosphere. Being an effective teacher means watching and reading.  A good teacher relates what he / she reads and brings it into the classroom.

Watch- How watching a class reinforces student teacher learning:

Classroom atmosphere

The teacher sets up the classroom atmosphere at the beginning of the year.  The teacher, like I said in my literature review, spends a lot of time on “first day” procedures, more than one day.  An effective teacher will spend time on the procedures until all of the students understand. In the classroom, it looked to me that the “first day” procedures took some time to learn and understand, not just one day. 

The students, during the observations, looked to be comfortable talking in the classroom as well as being able to move around the classroom; within reason. The students seem comfortable expressing their opinion during class instruction.  The teacher made his classroom atmosphere very relaxed so the students can feel that they can speak freely without judgment from the others in the room.  The teacher will ask the students questions and the students are not afraid to be wrong in regards to answering the questions.  In the observations, if the students got the wrong answer, the teacher said “No, can another person help (insert student name)”. I feel that this is very beneficial for student learning.   A lot of the students told stories because they knew it was okay to.      

The students in the classroom, during the first observation, felt comfortable in the classroom to talk to other students while they were doing their work.  The students at T4 were talking about borrowing markers.  I felt that an effective teacher, like the one I observed, would not interrupt this interaction.  The students were able to more freely around the room while doing the assignment. The students learned while going over the classroom procedures that it was okay to move around the classroom when doing independent work or else that would not have did what they did.  The teacher makes the classroom atmosphere a very good learning environment for the students to learn in.

The teacher as a person

The teacher, as a person, is caring, a good listener, thoughtful, reliable, and has a sense of hunor.  The teacher interacts with every student in some way or another and makes sure that all are participating in the lesson. The teacher, from what I observed, understands that some of the students prefer to “sit on the sidelines” but the teacher still involves them in the activities.  The teacher also listens to all of the stories that the students tell him.

I observed that he likes to make comments to his students during instructional time, while they are doing their independent work, and when the students are packing up or having free time. I feel it keeps them engaged while they are doing their work and keeps them interacting with the teacher and other students in the classroom. In the first observation, the teacher sees many students over by T3 stud 3[1] and says “I don’t know why there is a mob over by T (students first initial), (all of the students by T laugh, even T)” This shows that he can make a funny comment about one of the students and he gets his point across.

The teacher cares for his students in way that will help them succeed.  The teacher wants the students to succeed and he gives them every opportunity to. While observing, I saw that a lot of the student reacted positively to his personality and they got work done while talking.  In the first observation, the students were working on a project at their desks.  The students did interact with each other as well as with the teacher(s) in the room. The teacher I feel lets this happen because if he is too strict, he will lose the students interests. But if he is too funny, none of the students will get anything done. I feel that his personality has just the right amount of funny and seriousness. The students seem comfortable expressing their opinion during class instruction.  The teacher also interacts with the students from what I saw during the two observations.  One in particular was this conversation. The teacher was going over the minute math answers.

Teacher: let’s see if I am good today, last week I was pretty good

T1 stud 3 and 4: (gives the teacher thumbs up when teacher got the row of addition problems correct.)

T1 stud 3: (teachers name) you got one wrong.

Teacher: Oh man, I was doing so well (then laughs).

T1 stud 3: (comes up and shows the teacher the right answer on his paper).

Teacher: Oh I guess I did get one wrong, there goes my streak.

The student who came up and told the teacher that they got one wrong was not afraid to tell the teacher that he got the answer wrong.  This also goes along with the topic of classroom atmosphere.  If the student did not feel safe calling out and telling the teacher that they got one wrong, he would not have said something.  The student felt safe in the room and was able to have the conversation with the teacher.  The teacher has a good relationship with each of his students and that’s why they feel comfortable sharing information with him.

            The teacher also treats every student fairly and gives all of them the same amount of respect.  The teacher, from what I saw, does not play favorites. He connects with the students and he makes them feel comfortable in the classroom.  He knows each student’s ability in the classroom and attends to their needs. T4 Stud 4 was having trouble with some of the vocabulary words in the second observation, so the teacher gave the student a word bank to go off of.   The teacher knew that some of the students may not need that sheet, but some may.  The teacher also gives every student a chance to speak and share their opinion in discussions.  He called on almost every student to talk, which goes along with the “no favoritism” topic.

Hands on learning

While observing the teacher interacting with the students, I saw that hands on learning were a big part of the lesson that the teacher instructed.  The second lesson I observed was about capacity and the teacher had two different size paper cylinders taped to a paper plate vertically.  The teacher had the students guess which one would hold more, 1 cup of noodles in the short and wide (green) or the tall and skinny (pink). The teacher walked around with the classroom with the one that held more to show the students. He went to each table and shows the students which one held more.  The students understood the visual because they could explain why the one could hold more because they could see a visual picture. The teacher had the students explain why they thought the one that held more, held more.  

The teacher also had the students, in the fraction lesson, use Hershey’s Chocolate Bars.  The students each got a chocolate bar and could use that to symbolize fractions.  This also helped the students visualize what they were learning. The teacher told the students to break up the bar into different parts.  The students really enjoyed this lesson, not just because they could eat the chocolate afterwards, but they could visualize the fractions using manipulatives.

What I learned:

            What I learned through observing can never be learned by reading a textbook.  The best learning experience is done through observing. I learned a lot about how to be an effective teacher through observing one. I read the book on Qualities of Effective Teachers, and learned to what to look for.  While observing, I learned that the most important parts to being an effective teacher are providing the students with a positive classroom atmosphere, having the students participate with hands on learning, and having the following qualities: caring, a good listener, thoughtful, reliable, responsible, not playing favorites, have a sense of humor, knowing their students, fairness and respect, interacting with their students, and promoting enthusiasm and motivation for learning. Any Suggestions?!?!?!?!?

Works Cited

Stronge, J. H. Qualities of Effective Teachers. 2. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and

            Curriculum Develop, 2007. Print.

DO I HAVE TO CREATE A WORKS CITED ENTRY SAYING WHERE I GOT MY OBSERVATION NOTES FROM?????

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[1] T3 stud 3= table 3- student 3.  This goes for all of the T_ Stud _.