Room Arrangement Assignment

Room I

Room II

Comparison based on the “Five Keys to Good Room Management” (page 2-3 of Classroom Management)

• Use a room arrangement consistent with your instructional goals and activities: Both rooms are strong setups for central presentations, yet Room I is better suited for group-based activities whereas Room II is better suited for class discussion and presentations that require a lot of room (i.e. a skit).

• Keep high-traffic areas free of congestion: In both rooms, high-traffic areas are mostly free. However, Room II may have a choke point between the teacher's desk and the top-right student desk.

• Be sure students are easily seen by the teacher: With Room I, all the students have their back to the teacher. However, with Room II, two-thirds of the students are facing the teacher. The teacher can monitor student activity well with either room, but Room II has a slight edge.

• Keep frequently used teaching materials and student supplies readily available: In both setups, the supplies are easy for students to access. However, Room II frees up the back of the room with the relocation of the teacher's desk, allowing students to have greater movement when getting materials and supplies.

• Be certain students can easily see instructional presentations and displays: In this case, both setups work well if the teacher is presenting from the podium or front of the room, or using the blackboard. However, Room II is superior for classroom discussion as it allows all students to see each other without twisting around or craning their necks and there is no “front” or “back” of the room, necessarily.

Chapter 10: "Going Beyond the Classroom"

The part of the chapter that jumped out at me was the suggestion to design projects that involve experts or outside personnel resources (page 177).

This is an excellent way to engage students and get them out of bookwork academic routine. Also, this can get students thinking about career options. Something like this that "shakes up" the routine of school can really help to motivate students and get them to truly think.

Chapter 9: "When Things Go Wrong"

The part of the chapter that stuck out for me, was the part where students gave suggestions and commentary for when a teacher lost control of the class. Some of the things addressed were not being afraid to apologize, not taking a bad day too hard, and not trying to judge success by whether or not students like you.

The part about students "liking" the teacher is a complicated topic. Do you have to create a positive relationship to learn, or does a positive relationship result from learning? I certainly am not going to lose sleep at night over whether I'm my students favorite teacher--as this is not the point of teaching. What I am wondering is to what degree does a teacher focus on this aspect of student-teacher relations.

Chapter 8: "Teaching Teenagers Who Are Still Learning English"

The key feature of this chapter seems to be that teachers should draw out from English-language-learners what they already know. According to the book on page 147, this ranges from knowing where the student is from to their outside-of-school interests and activities to their language proficiency and other languages known.

This is a good strategy to help "ELL" students learn. If you want to be able to relate material to them, to understand where they are coming from and the way they learn (specifically as an ELL student), you must teach to their strengths and characteristics.

Chapter 7: "Teaching Difficult Academic Material"

The aspects of the chapter jumped out at me as especially important. First, the students' suggestion to link the material to what they already know. Second, the idea of approaching the topic from different ways. These are found on pages 124 and 125.

This chapter is the student perspective on something that we teachers are constantly thinking about and trying to achieve: student understanding. Both of the ideas I mention above are fundamental factors in teaching for understanding. Students must be able to connect what they are learning to what they already know, and their own lives, if they are to be engaged. Second, trying different approaches will appeal to more student backgrounds and more learning styles. This is part of being a dynamic and responsive teacher.

Chapter 6: "Motivation and Boredom"

The part of the chapter that jumped out at me was where passionate teachers were considered to be a major factor in what motivates kids (page 103). The students interviewed said that when a teacher's passion for the subject shows, it has a positive effect on the class.

This is something that I like to hear, especially since it is so easy to get caught up with classroom management and educational terminology and teaching styles. While these things are all important, I like to remind myself of how my love for the content is one of the main reasons I want to teach. It is my job to care about the stuff I'm teaching.

Chapter 5: "Teaching to the Individual, Working with the Group"

I liked the discussion of the importance of open-ended questions on page 91. The suggestions the students make also include giving time and guidance for students to formulate an answer not in an "on-the-spot, right-or-wrong" kind of way.

I really agree with this point. Asking questions that apply to all students and encourage every student to answer are essential for stimulating thought. If you don't ask any open-ended questions, you'll find a small number of students who always raise their hand to get that "brownie point" of giving the "right" answer--as the rest of the class remains silent.

Chapter 4: "Creating a Culture of Success"

The part of the chapter that jumped out at me was the statement on page 64, "remind us often that you expect our best."

This statement is indicative that on the surface it may appear that students do not care about their studies--rather, they may be looking for another route to success because the current one isn't working for them or because no one cares. I will push my students not to "not get in trouble" but to think, and to "break ground" when it comes to their academics. This is learning.

Chapter 3: "Classroom Behavior"

The part of the book that jumped out at me, was the issue of declaring classroom policy before it becomes an issue.

I am not so sure that I want to spend the first day of my high school classes going over petty rules and other things that should be taken as common-sense for that age. I feel that stressing the rules and trying to establish that kind of relationship with students will only contribute to them acting up. This doesn't mean I would be a teacher that lets his students get away with everything. I guess this would fit into my philosophy that reasons, not rules, make us strong.

Copyright and Fair Use

The article found at http://www.techlearning.com/article/17674 discusses copyright laws in general, and stresses their importance--especially in regards to educators.

14. On Back-to-School night, an elementary school offers child care for students' younger siblings. They put the kids in the library and show them Disney VHS tapes bought by the PTA. This is permissible.

The fact that this is not permissible seems rather draconian and purely profit-driven, rather than an attempt to product the rights of creators.

16. At a local electronics show, a teacher buys a machine that defeats the copy protection on DVDs, CD-ROMs, and just about everything else. She lets her students use it so they can incorporate clips from rented DVDs into their film genre projects. This is fair use.

I am surprised that this is the case. It seems to me that there are many inconsistencies in copyright law.

18. A student wants to play a clip of ethnic music to represent her family's country of origin. Her teacher has a CD that meets her needs. It is fair use for the student to copy and use the music in her project.

This makes sense. The use is purely educational, and I agree with the author comment on broadening use guidelines for music.

20. Last year, a school's science fair multimedia CD-ROM was so popular everyone wanted a copy of it. Everything in it was copied under fair use guidelines. It's permissible for the school to sell copies to recover the costs of reproduction.

I disagree with this not being fair use. If the multimedia was compiled under fair use (especially in an educational setting), should it not be allowed for resale as a legitimately different creation?

8. A student film buff downloads a new release from a Taiwanese Web site to use for a humanities project. As long as the student gives credit to the sites from which he's downloaded material, this is covered under fair use.

Clearly, this should be false. I have no problem with this not being fair use, because all the student is doing is citing his illegitimate means of acquiring the media.

5. A geography teacher has more students and computers than software. He uses a CD burner to make several copies of a copyright interactive CD-ROM so each student can use an individual copy in class. This is fair use.

This falls under the same category as the Disney movies not being allowed to be showed to groups of children. Its only purpose seems to be to bolster the profits of the creator. To add to that, this is for educational purposes.