penguins! raaaawR!!!

so, i can sum up my classroom management reflection with one story

it goes back to right after christmas break and i was still having trouble with my 4th block. i called ben, just planning on asking some questions and suggestions and it later turned into me breaking down on the phone with him. he realistically asked me if i (1) had rules, (2) enforced those rules, (3) enforced those rules consistently. i could only sort of half way answer YES to the first one. obviously there was a problem.

it was pretty much like this in all of my other classes. if any serious issues came up, i just wrote kids up. it seemed like too much of a hassle to go through the writing of names on the board etc etc. however, it worked like a charm for my 4th block.

RULES:
1) Raise your hand and wait for permission to speak
2) Raise your hand and wait for permission to leave your desk
3) Keep your self and your belongings inside your desk area
4) Extreme violation earns immediate write up

Consequences
1) Warning
2) 1 day after school detention
3) 2 days after school detention
4) Write up

I talked to my administration about this before implementing this scheme and they were all for it as long as i called parents about detentions which i did.

i even had a rewards system in which the class would earn 1 point for every day i did not have to issue detention. however they didnt even make the first milestone (5 points for 5 points on a test) before the year ended (yes i started this right after christmas)
and from that point on, 4th block was still difficult, but i didnt dread it every single day. for the rest of my classes, i just kept on with the same ole "if you piss me off enough, ill write you up" policy. as non-effective as that can be, i made it work enough to keep my sanity

its always hard writing a curriculum map for a subject you arent even certified to teach. even better is when there are lessons that you still dont completely understand (appositives, all the english buzz words, etc).

i feel that our final map was pretty good though. im glad i got first picks on what lessons to teach though so i could really be successful teaching it. at the same time, mapping for a summer school is very difficult. there is so much you want to accomplish and so little time. plus you cant really get a feel for the students' abilities until the first week. theres a chance that the students struggle greatly with english and that is why they are in summer school OR that the student doesnt struggle at all and was purely lazy throughout the year and didnt go to class or didnt do their work. already ive noticed both these kinds of students in my class.

in addition to gauging students' abilities, you have to gauge time. already we are 3 classes behind because of school wide test that was administered. however, i dont think this is too bad for first years to experience considering most schools have weekly disturbances that throw a wrench here or there into any teacher's scheduling. not everything is cut and dry organized like MTC summer school tends to be

however, i am looking forward to mapping out next year, considering im switching schools. i plan on looking at the other spanish teachers at my school and going off what they have (because MS doesnt provide a pacing guide for spanish). hopefully then i can start to stabilize a curriculum map that i wont change between school years