A.T.’s classroom management

One of my earliest observations was how respectful, encouraging, supportive and friendly the students in both my A.T.’s classes were with each other. I have many memories of in-fighting and jealousy from my time in school, and these students were on an entirely different level with regards to simple civil discourse and companionship. I can only accredit this to a positive role-model at the head of the classroom.

There were some class rules surrounding transitions from class to class that were regularly observed, and DPA was often used not as a negotiation tool, but a privilege that the students responded positively with.

Behavioural issues were managed swiftly and firmly, expectations were always clear – and students responded well, by my observation. It’s clear his expectations were made clear from the start of the year, and that the students were responding positively to the structure and routine he’d organized.

A.T.’s lesson implementation

My A.T. was demonstrative in sharing how he would adapt a lesson or make some tweaks from one class to the next, and for my edification, was transparent about what changes he was making, which was beneficial.

The classroom was set up with the philosophy of The Thinking Classroom model: In a thinking classroom, students work daily with different groups of students in the class on vertical surfaces, such as chalkboards and whiteboards. According to Denise, these two concepts have revolutionized both the way she teaches and the way students in her class learn (link).

My T.A. was clear that this was only one of many philosophies, but enjoyed the benefits this model offered. I saw how it was great at bringing ideas into a consolidating conversation at the end of class, was able to bring students into collaborative and cooperative discussions about specifically math assignments/questions, and brought the entire class into the conversation by “having the students furthers from the board take the marker,” which drove inclusion and participation.

I like having all the whiteboards in use, too, for the purposes of having instructions listed verbally, but also offering diagrams for the purposes of diversified instruction. In some cases a diagram or connective line-charts aided in provided more clarified directions.

A.T.’ assessment & evaluation

My A.T.’s assessment and evaluations were discussed with me and he was supportive and clear about areas for improvement, and he was forthcoming and informative about next steps, expectations and room for growth.

Navigation / Table of Contents

Focus areas:

• Teacher Plan Book homepage (link)
• lesson planning (link)
• student observations (link)
• classroom and school context summaries (link)
• reflections for each lesson (link)
• weekly and overall reflections (link)
• reflections on the associate teacher’s classroom management, lesson implementation and assessment & evaluation (link)