“Don’t smile until Thanksgiving.” I have often heard that quoted by teachers and teacher trainers, referring to classroom management. The train of thought here is that if you act mean and tough, the students will behave out of fear. What about showing the students that you truly care about them but at the same time you have high expectations? I have always thought that it is most important to bring laughter and joy into the classroom, there may be many students that do not get to experience much of that at home.
One article that I read this week was about a teacher in Kansas City, Kansas that creates videos and songs about history for his students. One of his videos, about whether Kansas City, Kansas or Kansas City, Missouri came first, recently went viral. You can find his YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/iammrbeat. In the article, the teacher discusses the fact that students are able to remember the material much easier because the songs get stuck in their heads. An interesting fact that the teacher cites from a study done in a college course he took is that if the subtitled words come after what was said, the viewer remembers them better. Students also enjoy the humor of the videos and they enjoy helping to create videos as well. The environment that his classroom is portrayed as being seems so inviting for students.
Technology can be a major motivator for students to complete projects. This article also showed me that technology can be a way to bring the teacher-student relationship closer. No, I’m not talking about friending your students on social media, please don’t do that. I don’t need anymore Google Alert articles about teachers getting in trouble. I’m talking about how to get students more involved in the classroom. Involvement will lead to students generally respecting the teacher. Which ultimately means that the teacher doesn’t have to keep a straight face until November.
Resources:
Resources:
Linenberger, S. (2017,
June). KC’s got the beat thanks to
Tonganokie High
teacher. Retrieved from:
http://www.tonganoxiemirror.com/news/2017/jun/22/kcs-got-beat-thanks-
tonganoxie-high-teacher/
Your first paragraph is great! I do admit, I do try to be more strict in the beginning of K because most of my kiddos come to school with no prior experience. However, I of course have fun and show them I care and love them. I am strict with routines and expectations, but I feel like kids need that, especially kids that have no structure at home! Showing them we respect and love them is the biggest priority!
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