I’m at a new school this year and experiencing some classroom management issues that are new to me, even after 12 years in the classroom. I have a particularly needy class, that has caused me to rethink and restructure the way I run my classroom. I cannot do any oral questioning or whole class instruction. Here is my attempt at solving the problem.
1. Change the seating chart
To start, I broke up the seating chart by ability level. Rather than mixed-ability groups where everyone helps each other, I put the more motivated students together on one side of the room. I could tell they instantly felt better. As much as I wish I could have their behavior and motivation rub off on the other half, it isn’t fair to them to have to go so slowly when other kids at their table still can’t find a pencil ten minutes into the activity.
2. Change from whole class instruction to small groups
I created supplemental presentations for each unit.
Normally, I just project the slides and we go through the activities as a whole class. With this group, I shared the presentation in Google Classroom. This let the struggling students click through, read the questions at their own pace and take all the time they needed to answer with a partner. This way they had to participate, rather than relying on a few students to answer everything. My students sit in tables of four, so I asked them to rotate answering until they finish the slide. At the high-achieving tables, I had them work in partners and trade off every other question, but at the struggling tables, all four students took turns.
Pros
- Everyone has to participate
- I can give more individualized feedback
- All students work at their own pace
- Students seem to appreciate not being forced to speak in front of the whole group
Con
- No aural input. Students don’t hear me pronounce the words or get enough repetition.
- It’s a little more chaotic. I have to quickly bounce between groups in order to hear everyone speak.
- The well-behaved students finish quickly and often have a lot of down time. It’s not fair to give them extra work.
3. Find joy in the small things
This kind of class will definitely push all of your buttons and make you question your career choice. Try to remember that nothing they do is personal. They are reacting to their own insecurities and outside factors that you cannot control or fix. Try to focus on the quiet students who would normally fly under your radar and find ways to praise them for being good role models.
