Class of Seasoned Students
This is my second year teaching and I have a class in which a number of students were in one of the courses I taught last year. These students know each other very well and enjoy interacting. The challenging part for me is keeping the students from turning the classroom time into a social hour with each other. It has been challenging to try to keep them focused on the task at hand and complete assignments on time. I did change the seating arrangement in the class several weeks ago and that has helped. This is a second year class with frequent labs which can pose even more challenges. I have spoken to several other teachers in our department regarding the situation and they have shared with me that classes after lunch can be more challenging. Thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions you may have.
I have a class that meets right after lunch also and it can be quite a chatty group. I find that they are consistently behind my other classes. Something new that I have tried is playing music when they are doing their theory work. It has suprised me that they enjoy it so much that they don't talk and actually do their work. I have seen quite the improvement in the amount of work they are turning in. On the rare occasion that they do get out of hand I give them 2 warnings to get their talking under control and then they lose their music. I haven't had to turn off the music yet. There is a great web site that lets you program what kind of music you want to hear. It is www.pandora.com, you just request a group or a title of a song and it puts together an entire radio station that plays only that type of music. ONe of my classes favorite "stations" is Metro Station. This is music that the kids like to hear and the words are appropriate. If ever a song comes on that I don't deem appropriate I can block it from playing. I hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem with my after lunch class. I have made up three different seating arrangements this year. Finally I started giving them some extra work when they were so chatty and rewarding them with three minutes to talk at the end of the period while they packed up the books and computers. Also, now if I have one talking too much, I move them to the back of the room and make them sit at a table with me. However, the one thing that I find the most helpful is taking control of the class as soon as the students walk in. I know that we were taught to take control early this summer. Maybe I should try music as jayna has done.
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