{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"74171680","dateCreated":"1434236748","smartDate":"Jun 13, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"Barona4","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Barona4","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/kevinbarona.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/74171680"},"dateDigested":1532253727,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Classroom Management MT questions and answers","description":"Kevin Barona
\nKindergarten \u2013 Jamie Newberry
\n1. How did your MT address the students as they arrived? What is your plan when greeting students?
\n-My mentor teacher goes to the cafeteria to bring the students to class. When the bell rings at 8:00 a.m. my MT goes to cafeteria to help them eat their breakfast in a timely manner. If students arrive later, my MT is already in the classroom tending to the students that are already in the classroom. She sometimes says \u201cGood morning (Name)\u201d but only if they aren\u2019t doing what they\u2019re supposed to do when they arrive to class. For this reason I am not able to view an example of greeting students as they arrive. What I plan to do is stand halfway in and halfway out of the door waiting for students to arrive. I will greet each student saying \u201cGood morning\u201d or \u201cHow are you this morning.\u201d I will do this until every student has arrived. I will have a daily journal or assignment for the students. Students that arrive early will get an early jump on that assignment.
\n2. How did the MT encourage the students' behavior toward one another? How will you?
\n-One thing I noticed Ms. Newberry do is give positive feedback if a student would do something for their classmate. For example, if this student let another student borrow their marker she would let them know that\u2019s a good way to do things. Also, she encouraged talking while they worked letting children interact with one another. Another thing I noticed was she made sure to tell students before working on an activity sheet of expectations of how to treat your peers. For example she would say, \u201cIf (name) doesn\u2019t have the color they want to use on their own paper, wait until someone is done using it and then ask them politely if you can borrow it.\u201d I think I will pretty much do the same! Encourage interactions with peers and group work. I will also make sure to let students know how they should act with one another and also giving positive feedback when I see correct interaction.
\n How did the MT communicate her expectations to the students? How do you plan to make students aware of your expectations?
\nJust as I stated above, that was one of her methods. Given that it\u2019s the end of the year, most of the students already know my MT\u2019s expectations so not many methods were used. She has a clip up\/down method set up in her classroom. Each day they start on green which stands for expected behavior. When students exceed expectations Ms. Newberry tells them to go clip up. (Blue is next and Purple is the top) When a student behaves incorrectly more than once or severely she tells them to clip down. (Orange is next, and red is the bottom) Red is a parent contact. From what I can remember purple is some type of reward, just not sure what it is. Other than this she uses repeated instruction and constant repeating of behavior expectations.
\n3. How did the MT have the classroom arranged to facilitate learning for the students? What is your plan for creating a classroom that encourages learning - a space that physically sets students up to be successful?
\n-Her classroom is filled with physical materials for the children to learn. This emphasizes the use of hands-on learning because children learn best by doing. There are many books around the classroom as well for students to attempt reading during certain times throughout the day. There are words and numbers all over the walls, so if a student doesn\u2019t know where seventeen is located in the number pattern, they know where to find out. There are five computers to also provide productive learning that\u2019s fun during certain times throughout the day. And everything is simply organized in the same spot every day for students, providing more learning time. I honestly believe I will use all of the same methods for my classroom as Ms. Newberry has. Organization and keeping everything in the same spot every day is something I will focus on for sure.
\n4. How did the MT take care of paperwork and administrative responsibilities (taking the roll, allowing for bathroom breaks, etc)? How did her management plan help you to think about tasks that do not fall within the description of "teaching"?
\nMs. Newberry usually was very silent about taking care of roll. I believe she did it online when students did an individual worksheet in the morning. I\u2019m sure she has an online software set up that she simply checks by students names if they\u2019re absent because she isn\u2019t behind her computer for very long. Also, during \u201cquiet time\u201d which is after lunch when the students watch about 30 minutes of a cartoon show, Ms. Newberry does paperwork then as well. She also has a teacher\u2019s table that she works at too, that she has to repeatedly tell her students to stay away from. Students are allowed to get up and go to the bathroom at any given moment since there\u2019s one in the classroom. This gave me an example to be quick and discrete with things that need to be done that do not fall under the description of teaching. Also, to try and do it when students are doing activities that don\u2019t need much \u201cteacher control.\u201d
\n5. How did the MT encourage her students to follow the management plan that she has place? When you develop your discipline plan, how much will her modeling affect your plan? Give a description of your discipline plan.
\n-Just as I mentioned about the clip up\/down system was a way to encourage the students to follow the management plan and simply all instructions for that matter. Her modeling was great for me to do the same in my classroom. She showed me how important it is in developing a discipline plan as well as doing administrative responsibilities during time that students are individually working.
\n6. How did the MT communicate with parents during the school year? How effective was she and, based on her comments, what is your plan to establish\/manage parental communication?
\n-When students would misbehave she would grab her phone and start texting. I\u2019m guessing she was sending a text to the parent of the child. This showed me that she had students\u2019 parent\u2019s contacts on her phone for easy and fast contact. I plan on sending an e-mail or take-home sheet with the students providing my e-mail contact and giving the option for the parents to give me theirs as well. I will provide the option of teacher-parent conferences and simple communication on how their child is doing throughout the year.
\n7. How did the MT manage papers and other materials for the students? Is her system one that you could use? How would you revise it to suit your current management style?
\n-She either had students stack their worksheets in the middle of their table or have the students give the worksheet to her. I agree with stacking the worksheets in the middle for the teacher to get later. Students tend to run into each other when they directly hand the paper to the teacher. Students at this age love to be the quickest person done, so they will run to the teacher not making it very safe for each other. I think I will have my students raise their hand when they\u2019re done with their worksheets, so I can be the only one walking around the class.
\n8. Why are good mentor teachers crucial to our profession and how long to you feel that one needs to teach before placed in the position of mentoring?
\n-Good mentor teachers are crucial because rookie teachers need to learn all they can to be able survive their first couple of years of teaching. Rookie teachers need to at least be given ideas to know where to start, because if not, the students who are taught by an unprepared teacher will suffer a bunch. I believe a teacher who has taught for at least 5-10 years can be a great mentor teacher. Although, I don\u2019t necessarily believe that time is a measure of it at all but the experiences definitely add up. A teacher that has experienced the most makes for a great mentor teacher.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]}],"more":false},"comments":[]},"http":{"code":200,"status":"OK"},"redirectUrl":null,"javascript":null,"notices":{"warning":[],"error":[],"info":[],"success":[]}}