Blog Entry #7

I didn't notice the teacher having any difficulties with discipline in her classroom. I think the biggest reason for that was that most of the students had been in the class long enough to be aware of the rules and know what the teacher expected of them. Also, the teacher explained to the students what the schedule for the day was going to be, so they knew what they were expected to do at what time. Especially during their rotation time, the students were responsible for making sure they were in the right place doing the right activity. I feel like giving the students a little bit of responsibility reduces the stress on the teacher and helps students learn to organize their time. Most of the time, school rules are displayed in classrooms. I admit, I did not look for them, so I don't know exactly what they were for the 1st grade class. In my classroom at work, though, we have our rules posted on the wall. When we first posted them, I wondered why we did it because I work in a special needs classroom and only two of my students know how to read, making a poster kind of obsolete. My boss explained later that it's important, not only for students, but for parents and visitors to be aware of what the school expects from students so they can promote appropriate behavior. Also, the rules we have in our classroom are more specific to our students than the ones usually created by regular education schools. Things like "turn off cell phones in class" or "no talking over the teacher" don't really work with my students because they don't use cell phones and we can't force them to not make noise while we're talking because the noises they make are part of their disability. The point is, though, that every classroom will have specific problems. Rules need to be established early and both students and parents need to be aware of the expectations in a class.