Instruction and Management Statement:
Instruction and management go hand in hand. Management is the structure of the class, it is the skeletal structure where instruction is the skin. We must have clear classroom management before any lesson will be successful. Classroom management promotes not only on task behavior but safety in the classroom. Instruction runs smoothly when there is management because your students know what is expected of them and there becomes a mutual respect.

My Management Belief:

Safety physically and mentally is my number one priority when teaching. To achieve safety physically and mentally I try to demonstrate a well-managed class. Some examples of management to create that safe environment are:

• Never call a student out for misbehavior in front of the class. Instead get class started and then ask the student if you can talk in the hall; start by just asking the student what is going on.

-my mentor teacher showed me how to do this after a student had given me some grief. She asked if they could talk in the hall and started the conversation by asking how the student was. The student gave her some push back. So, she just told him it was ok, and he didn’t have to talk, but she did tell him how much she cared. He talked to her for a little while and ended up telling her he just didn’t feel like anyone cared about him.After his hall talk there has been positive improvement ,he has been helping other students and trying the best he can.

• Brain break.

-Sometimes students can get a little squirrely from sitting and listening to instructions. I have started doing brain breaks whenever I get done instructing a lesson. A simple one I like to do is giving the students one minute to high five everyone in the classroom. Not only does it bring movement back to the brain and the body, but it helps the students wake up so they can regain focus of their learning.

• Listening.

-       A big management skill is to listen to my student before telling what they are doing wrong.

• Keeping track of how many times you’ve asked a student to get back on track. (This can be important because when a student asks why their seat was changed or asking about their grades (participation), you can refer to how many times you asked them to get back on track. This is also important when it comes to discussing with students’ parents about how they are doing in class)

• Restorative questions/ Restorative circle
   -Restorative circles are a place where we are all equal and is a caring environment. It is a place where we can get to know one another in a different way.

 

 

Safety and management:

Safety in the art room is very important. It teaches mindfulness of the tools and mindfulness of each other. Anything that is a potential harm in the class tools, material, etc. needs to be treated with respect. Here is an example of how I teach mindfulness and safety with materials and tools:

• When working in metalsmithing students have to “graduate” before using a tool on their own. So, when teaching the drill press, we go over all the rules, no loose clothes, hair, safety glasses onsets. So, after learning about tools students get observed one by one to make sure they are using the drill press correctly. If they don’t do it right, they don’t get to graduate and work on their own.

Calling students to gather around and watch safety with tools is a very effective tool for me. To make sure they were listening I always try to get them to reiterate it to me to make sure they were listening.

Differentiation:

As I went through student teaching, I learned differentiation can be several things besides 504’s, IEP’s, and gifted and talented. I’ve learned that sometimes differentiation can be a language barrier, students who work at different paces, and different types of learning (visual, audit-able, etc.)

• For one of the beginning art classes I taught I had 6 kids out of 27 that had IEP’s and 504’s I found myself trying to help those select students and not being able to give my full attention to the other 21 students in class. I taught them value scale for their first project. I wanted them to have a skill moving forward in creating art. It became difficult and distracting to only be fully helping those students, so I had them work on self-differentiation. I didn't tell the students that I was doing that I just gave more options so students would be able to succeed with what they felt comfortable with. 

• Differentiation can also be reminding students to stay on track. I found a lot of times my students would get distracted easily. Sometimes it was as simple as giving a seating chart to keep everyone on the right track.