Observation 3: Classroom Management

NOTE: The following is a retrospective look at a shadow-study completed at a local inner-city high school. The name of the high school, as well as the involved educators, has been changed to protect their anonymity.

After observing an ELA classroom at a local high school, I feel that I have greater insight into the world of classroom management. No longer does classroom management simply require a teacher to send unruly students to the principal’s office, nor does it entail endless amounts of detention. Classroom management in today’s society requires insightful reflection regarding student behaviors and sometimes the implementation of many different plans before getting it right. Most importantly, effective classroom management requires patience, and lots of it. For some educators, classroom management comes easy, and for others it takes a great deal of effort. For Ms. Smith of Smokey Hill High School, it appears that classroom management comes easy to the confident teacher; however, confidence doesn’t always lead to effectiveness.

            Ms. Smith’s third period class is an AP English class. Just a few weeks ago they were reading “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison. Today, students are participating in a Socratic seminar that requires full participation from every student. Before the class even gets started each student heads to what appears to be an assigned seat. It is evident that several students are absent today, but Ms. Smith asks the students where Vanessa is. It is clear that Ms. Smith knows which students are in the building today, and she does not take attendance. Students inform Ms. Smith that Vanessa is wrapping holiday gifts for her project in the classroom next door. Clearly agitated, Ms. Smith requests that one of the students bring Vanessa back to the classroom since she had missed the previous class. When the student returns without Vanessa, Ms. Smith exits the classroom without warning and returns several minutes later with Vanessa in tow; Vanessa does not look happy. While Ms. Smith was absent from the room, the class talked loudly and joked with each other.

 As soon as Vanessa takes her seat, Ms. Smith tells students to move their desks into a circle. Setting up the classroom in such a way helps to ensure student participation because all students are positioned facing their peers. Not all students must take part in discussion though. There are about four students that sit outside of the circle, and they only observe discussion. The students that are participating in discussion are reflecting on an article that was to be read for homework. Although the students appear to manage themselves well while Ms. Smith observes, it seems as though the same three students are doing most of the speaking. There are several long awkward pauses, yet Ms. Smith does not interject. This is her way of managing student interactions; by not participating in discussion, she is requiring students to do the work themselves. In this sense Ms. Smith is utilizing classroom management effectively.

            Following the discussion, Ms. Smith asks students to evaluate how they felt they did with the discussion. Students were very honest in their reflections, admitting that many of them did not complete the reading homework. Ms. Smith sternly addresses this issue by warning students that if they don’t want to be in her class they can leave next semester and go to another class taught by another teacher. Ms. Smith makes it clear that if students aren’t serious about being in her AP English class, they can leave. The mood of the room changes, and students clearly feel uncomfortable; admittedly, I too feel uneasy. Although Ms. Smith may have addressed the issue of not completing homework, I’m not sure that this is necessarily effective classroom management. Her stern words may have addressed the lack of homework completion, but not once did she ask students if they had any difficulty with the reading. It seems as though Ms. Smith doesn’t think to ask if students needed additional help clarifying the article on the basis that they are an advanced class. Due to this, I believe that Ms. Smith may have created an uncomfortable environment that does not welcome questions; thus creating additional difficulty for the next Socratic seminar if students continue to not complete the homework.

            In my opinion, a more effective method of managing the issue would have been to first ask students if they had any difficulty with the reading. This would have given students an opportunity to ask questions and provide the teacher with a formative assessment. It seems as though Ms. Smith’s goal for classroom management is to ensure that students respect her and behave during the class period. If this is her objective, then her method of classroom management is working. However, if her goal is to create an environment that is beneficial to a student’s academic growth, I’m not sure that her method is entirely effective. As students leave the room, it is clear that they are no longer the enthusiastic learners that entered. They head to their next class feeling defeated.

            As I walk through the hallway on my way out of the building, students yell to one another, and profanity bounces from several student’s mouths. Although there are many adult hallway monitors, not one corrects student misbehavior. There are several monitors shouting to get to class, which seems to only add to the chaos that is taking place in the hallways. Being that this is my second visit to the school, it seems that as soon the bell rings it is a free for all and students are let loose to scramble through the crowd to their next class; there is no particular order or management to the way things are done between classes.

            I reach the parking lot feeling drained from the entire experience. It did not feel as though student management was effective. Rather, it seemed as though the staff at Smokey Hill High School simply wanted to get students through the day to the sound of the last bell.