Observations May 3

This week the seventh graders took the MSP writing test. So, naturally, I spent a great deal of time doing very little. The whole class felt prepared, but tensions were still high. I spent some time grading more essays and noticed a drop in the quality of writing. Some students neglected to finish drafts and were short a few paragraphs. The cause has to be frustration or exhaustion because they know the process; I have seen their previous essays. I hope they fared better on the MSP.  On Friday, they finished MSP testing so things were going back to normal. The history class had both periods to complete a group project. Students had to answer questions, provide textual evidence, and provide an illustrations. I had to make sure everyone was on task which proved difficult. I had received criticism from my observer that I was too stern with students. I needed to be friendlier and more energetic. So I made an effort this quarter to be friendlier. This is all well and good, but I don't think students see me as an authority figure. I saw one group off-task so I walked over and just stood there. When that failed, I asked them to get to work and reminded them that this was due at the end of the period. One student worked diligently but the rest of the group went back to joking around. I then joked that the hard working student was carrying the group. They all worked together for five minutes but went right back to talking. Realizing that this wasn't working, I decided to take a firmer stance. I made a vague (but appropriate) threat using a very stern tone. I don't know if it was physical intimidation, but it seemed to work. I think it's important to find that balance for classroom management. There are times for being friendly and there are times to be firm. I'm going to continue working on management and being more assertive in the coming weeks.