Classroom Management and Organization - Article Example

Teaching Name Tutor 23rd April 2011 Introductory Teaching entails the act of impacting knowledge to others. It is a career that is most rewarding as teachers get to see their students excel. Therefore, teachers need to be prepared and organized at all times so that they can be able to teach their students effectively. The unit,” introduction to teaching” therefore, aims at training the teachers adequately with all that they require in order to teach effectively. In addition to this, good quality education entails a lot of effort from qualified teachers as well as the parents. The quality of education in a country influences the economy of that country. This is because; people that are educated are able to make profitable investments that will enhance economic growth as well as make sound decisions regarding how to utilize the available resources. Therefore, good teachers translate to good education a standard, which ultimately leads to economic growth. Body 1) Professionalism and ethics Teachers are always expected to act professionally in the classrooms. This means that; they have to put a boundary between their professional life and their social lives. In addition to this, they must strive to observe the work ethics set up in the institution. Ethics is the study of theoretical concepts of integrity and morality. Ethics entails determining what is good and bad. Since educational practices take place within the society, and are linked to the culture in which they are based, ethics is a key part of any school or educator. Professionalism in teaching, on the other hand, refers to the interaction between students and teachers. A professional educator works hard to ascertain an impartial and safe classroom where students not only feel cared for but also fairly treated (Hinkel, 2011). Lecturers are not only masters of what they lecture, but they are also communicating to their pupils’ general community principles such as dependability, respectfulness and precision. Teachers are always educating other people; this is because; teachers influence a student's life in every aspect. As a result of this, professionalism and ethics are vital subjects in teacher training courses. The correlation between professionalism and ethics is significant. Professionalism is the accountability to the public of as determined by the culture in which it is experienced. Teachers are given a great responsibility in the society, and a great level of professionalism is expected of them. Likewise, the ethics of teaching is developed from the values in the society as well as the importance the people place on education. Teachers are professionals who serve society therefore; they are expected to carry themselves with integrity. Also, they are expected to abide by the requirements of professionalism and ethics as dictated by the society. 2) Reflective teaching Reflective teaching refers to when the teacher has comprehension of the school's curriculum, his strengths and weaknesses and his students. He, therefore, takes time to identify, examine and meditate about their teaching methods. In addition to this, a teacher must behave professionally and must be able to evaluate his effectiveness with respect to factors affecting education this helps the teacher to improve his quality of teaching. The process of reflection begins when a teacher has a problem with a student. This problem could be with a student's failure to understand what the teachers teach them during lessons. Since other methods to solve the problem have failed, teachers take time to analyze the possible solution based on their previous experiences. The reflective teaching model makes use of the student’s experience in school as well as the student’s learning styles. Reflective teachers take time to reflect upon the quality of their work, and efficiency of their students. When teachers do this, they are able to teach their students much better hence, productive learning can take place. Many years ago, teachers individually took time to reflect mentally. However, with the changing trends in the society, school administrators nowadays encourage teachers to record their reflections in journals or diaries. 3) Classroom management and organization Teachers must ensure that they organize the classroom in an orderly manner to ensure the environment is conducive for learning. The teacher must also write a curriculum to allow her to cover the syllabus effectively. A student’s achievement or failure is highly dependent on a student’s ability and how the teacher plans and understands the curriculum for students. The teachers are required to engage the class in the lesson. This can be achieved through active learning. This is where students take part in the lesson a rather than just sit passively sitting in class. This enhances the students understanding as well as their retention of information (Hurst & Cooke, 2010). A well-managed classroom should be predictable and task-oriented. In such an environment, learners are conscious o, and men the expectation and they should use it to ensure they succeed. Therefore, students are able to attain the goals set for them. When teachers take time to manage and organize their students, the students understand the set of laws and measures set. This, therefore, enables them to follow then, thus achieving the expectations set in the classroom. It also helps them understand the outcomes encountered in case they fail to achieve these objectives. 4) Teaching and learning strategies Teaching strategies refer to the strategies teachers use in order to ensure their students learn the course content of the subject as well as practice the goals of the unit. The learning strategy must be task specific more than content specific. It is required to be well recorded and attached to strategy to make easy it to remember. The second strategy is changing attitudes to promote generalization. In this case, the teacher can ascertain whether the objectives have been accomplished. If the student can spontaneously do the following: identify the relationship between the tests and skills that are needed, provide rationales for learning the skill, analyze why the skill can be difficult to use or remember, identify where and when the skill can be used immediately, identify where the skill can apply to the end. Second, the teacher should explain the new skill in various steps, than he should identify the goal of learning this skill and put dates for completing each step. These strategies may include: 1) Active learning - Active learning is any activity that students participate in during a lecture apart from passively sitting and listening to a lecture. Research shows that this method improves students' understanding and retention of information. This is very effective in ensuring students develop top level cognitive skills. These include, problem solving and critical thinking. 2) Collaborative/Cooperative Learning – these are instructional approaches where students are encouraged to toil together in various groups with the same objectives. However, groups need to be carefully executed and planned to ensure they achieve the intended goal. 3) Critical Thinking – this refers to a collection of mental activities that help a student to clarify effectively, analyze, reflect, connect, deduce, and judge concepts. 4) Discussion Strategies - when students are engaged in a discussion, they become motivated to build up their own views and ideas in class. The first step is establishing a good environment for interaction. This encourages students to talk and internalize more concepts. 5) Experiential Learning – this approach focuses on "learning by doing," in the participant's subjective experience. The job of the teacher is to design "direct experiences" that include preliminary and philosophical exercises. 6) Inquiry-Guided Learning - here, students understand concepts by themselves. Moreover, the decision to learn rests with them. This method encourages students to enhance their research skills. Teachers can also try and introduce humor in the classroom. This would make students keener in the classroom. 7) Learner-Centered Teaching – this means that the student takes upon himself the responsibility of learning. The instructor on the other hand, is responsible for assisting the learning. Thus, the control in the classroom is transferred to the student. 8) Learning Communities and team teaching- Communities help people to come together for learning and discovery. In a learning community, all members take duty of ensuring the community achieves the learning goals. Team teaching on the other hand, helps learners and teachers to grow academically because of the healthy exchange of ideas. 9) Service Learning - this is a mode of teaching that unites civic responsibility and academic content. This learning is planned and supervised. Moreover, it allows the student focus on what took place in the lessons. 10) Case studies and written assignments- teachers use case studies to help their students to apply their knowledge from class in the real world. This enhances the students understanding of what they are taught. Writing assignments contrary offers a chance for learners to apply their thinking skills as well as assist them to study the course content. 5) Positive classroom environment School environments are social settings where children from diverse backgrounds interact in a neutral environment. Therefore, the school environment should not only be a standard model of teaching and learning but also an interactive model. Thus, social skills are very important for learners to assimilate successfully into the surroundings. Schools and teachers have to coach students the essential skills and then revisit and teach them again. This is especially necessary after periods when the students have been on break has been on school break. This ensures that all students behave in an acceptable manner towards each other. Ensuring there is a positive classroom environment reduces the risk of conflict. This is because; the students are respectful towards themselves and their schoolmates. There are various things a teacher can do to improve the class environment. For example, they should first try to know the students’ identities in the classroom. This gives students the impression that they matter to the teacher. In addition, the teacher can arrange the student sitting arrangement based on the behavior of individual. The teacher is also expected to accord fair participation in class. In addition, they ought to understand the capabilities of each student and not openly favor the smart ones. This is because, doing that would breed hatred amongst the students hence hostility in the classroom. Teachers can also foster a good learning climate by not making harsh remarks to students. This way student will feel appreciated for the effort they put to participate in class hence motivating them in class. However, the teacher must be strict on teaching and must make the students aware of her expectations from the first day. In order for a teacher to manage effectively a classroom, it is vital for teachers to be acquainted with the developmental development of the learners. It is very important for teachers to make an effort to understand a child also the adolescent growth and development process. Moreover, there is need to comprehend the problems affecting their students’ in terms of their cultural diversity and cognitive abilities. This is important since it ensures that the basics are met for a successful and constructive learning atmosphere. Conclusion This paper focuses on teachers and the various ways they can use to improve their teaching techniques. It offers the best method teachers and students can relate in order to achieve the objectives of learning institutions. This course helps teachers to maximize their potential capabilities and apply this to teach their students. It also aims at helping teachers to understand their students better in the classroom. This will ensure the standards of education in the country improve, and the children have access to the best quality of education that is available. In the short run, the people will be well educated and eventually they will be able to get good jobs. In addition to this, the knowledge they get from school will help them to mak4e wise and sound decisions in their lives. Therefore, the living standards as well as the mortality of the people will improve. Section 2 A) Beliefs about teaching that changed in the unit For many years, teaching was considered merely a career. It’s a way in which one can put food on the table. However, this view has changed with time. This is because; people now realize that teaching involves shaping the society and also the whole country. This unit has helped many people to understand the best methods of teaching students as well as how best to deal with problems that may arise in the classroom. B) The readings with the most impact “Introduction to Teaching by Hurst and Cooke was the most influential readings in this course. The book offered the necessary framework for the course. In addition to this, it is written in a comprehensive and detailed manner which is easy for learners to understand. Chris, in this book, has successfully incorporated the modern teaching methods into the education system. These, in the future, will help teachers in dealing with the modern age students successfully. “Teaching strategies: A guide to effective instruction” by Orlich was also another inspiring reading in the course. This book gives the reader the modern day teaching strategies that teachers can adopt in their teaching career. The teaching and learning strategies outlined in the book offer the reader various options to choose from at any time. This way, teachers can choose the most suitable strategy for the students. “The non-profit sector: a research handbook” by Powell discusses the modern day teaching methods. It offers an array of options for teachers and advice on how to deal with issuers that may arise in the course of their teaching career. C) The learning accomplished from the research. The research conducted in preparation of this paper has been helpful in many ways. First and foremost, the research has enabled students in this unit to understand clearly the true meaning of teaching. It has enabled teachers to understand the need to understand first their students in order to successfully perform their duty. In addition to this, research has helped to give a variety of new ideas and strategies that one can implement in teaching to make it more fun for the student also more effective. Through these strategies, one can chose the best one that works well with them and apply it to the current situation (Orlich, Harder & Callahan, 2009). The course has also equipped individuals with key points to be considered when a teacher is managing a class for the first time. These suggestions can be very effective in ensuring teachers and students’ Co exists in the classroom. In addition to this, teachers are able to create conducive and positive working atmosphere in their classrooms. This will ensure that they do their work much better and with little hurdles. In addition to this, course has successfully managed to enable teacher’s understand the core ideas of teaching and learning tactics in relation to sustainable education. Education has the prospective of being one of the greatest catalysts for change in a person’s behavior. This is achieved through the introduction of sustainability issues in the teaching methodology that can improve society’s understanding of the unsustainable world. This course has therefore, imparted an alertness of sustainability in teaching. It also proposes measures on how correspondence of sustainability ought to be altered or transformed. D) Implementation of the teaching course. As a teacher, the best way to make use of the knowledge this unit has impacted is through ensuring that one gives the best quality of education available. This way, students will excel improve the living standards of the country. In addition to this, teachers should be role models in society, and if students grow up realizing that teaching is important, more of them will want to join the profession. The course has further helped students to understand effectively child development and growth. The development of a child takes place in stages, and it is the influence by the cultural background, the environment and the personality of the people around them. The course also helps teachers to deal with issues that may crop up disrupting the smooth flow of education. Therefore, as a teacher, the course will help to educate the public especially parents on the best way to help teachers to educate effectively the children. Moreover, the basic education acquired will help the parent community when they have issues with their children that they cannot handle alone. In a world full of diverse cultures, all intermingled in one place, the unit equips an individual with the skills necessary to deal with people diverse cultures. This is because; different cultures have different needs, therefore, as a teacher one is supposed to be aware of these factors. This will foster peace and understanding in the community as everyone will be treated accordingly and with respect. The knowledge acquired in the course also helped teachers to investigate successfully the roots of the unsustainable lifestyles with respect to the methods of teaching and learning practiced in a country. In addition to this, one will be able to recognize the systems of teaching and learning in the educational sector that require to be put into practice or altered and how this system need to be structured to benefit the community (Steinberg & Powell, 2006). Finally, the knowledge one acquires from the unit is useful in creating awareness about the effect of illiteracy in a community. Through organizing seminars and conferences, a teacher will be able to create awareness amongst the people about the importance of educating the children. Moreover, the teacher will be able to discuss with other parents and teachers on the best strategies to apply in schools in order to ensure that they give the children the best quality of education available. Through this, the education system of the country will be strengthened, and competition in the education sector will develop. This will motivate the learners to work harder in class. These will increase the number of intakes in tertiary institutions as well as universities all over the country. The result will be reflected in more young people doing productive jobs in the future and eventually the quality of life for everyone will improve. References Hinkel, E. (2011). Second Language Teaching. New York: Taylor & Francis. Hurst, C. & Cooke, A. (2010). Introduction to Teaching. Sydney: Cengage Learning. Orlich, D., Harder, R. & Callahan, C. (2009). Teaching Strategies: A Guide to Effective Instruction. Sydney: Cengage Learning. Steinberg, R. & Powell, W. (2006). The non-profit sector: a research handbook. London: Yale University Press. Read More