"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by."

- Douglas Adams -

I believe that students learn when they are safe, happy and engaged. I aim to create a classroom community where students are motivated, challenged and they look forward to coming to each day. This requires careful planning; listening and responding to student needs; and flexibility.

Classroom management starts with planning. Designing lessons that are engaging is the back end of classroom management. The front end is setting expectations together and building a classroom community that upholds the expectations. An engaging lesson is challenging but accessible to all students. Curriculum, skills, student interest and barriers have been considered in the delivery of the lesson. Students know what to expect and can follow familiar routines throughout the day.

To be very honest, sometimes my classroom looks a little chaotic. Students are often scattered on various carpets and mats throughout the room. Some students are writing in binders or on clipboards; some might be reading or listening to a video on their Chromebook. Another student might be conferencing with me at the rainbow table. Someone else is writing their name on the whiteboard to signify they are going t the bathroom. There are a few students at desks. Students often move freely around the environment with an occasional reminder to use a whisper voice. A couple of students may have moved to the hallway to use a speech to text feature to brainstorm ideas.

Maybe next year it will look different, but this year, this works for this community. Sometimes assigned seats works best for students, sometimes flexible seating works best for students. For me, I am looking for how students work best and through trial and error, we will find it.

As stated earlier, classroom management starts with planning. I begin with the curriculum to see what outcomes students are expected to meet then work backwards to design lessons that will bring students to that understanding. I try to design learning experiences and that have access points for all my students.

For an example, when planning a writing unit I will start with the curriculum guide and choose some learning outcomes I would like the students to achieve. From here, I will plan a summative assessment and a rubric that will evaluate a students understanding of the outcomes. Then, I will plan for learning experiences that will develop the skills necessary to achieve success on the rubric.

In the case of a writing unit, a summative assessment will usually be an on-demand writing piece that students will complete within one or two days. The evidence of learning will be the combined information from their work going through the writing process and a proofread, editing and published final piece; anecdotal observation and conferencing; and the final on demand writing.

In math, the beginning of lesson planning looks similar. I start with the curriculum guides and determine the learning outcomes for the unit. I follow the recommended pacing guide and curriculum resources provided by the district. Each lesson focuses on a specific skill. I plan for teaching/modelling the skill, student collaboration, independent practice and conference/small group instruction time for students. I assess regularly for understanding of the skills being taught in each lesson and seek to fill gaps in understanding with small group instruction and whole group gamified instruction and re-enforcement with apps like Kahoot and Blooket.

Ongoing assessment in math looks like: students modeling problems in small group conferences, exit tickets, self grading google-forms for each skill and anecdotal observations. I look for as much evidence of learning as possible while trying to maintain a quick turn around on feedback. I no longer rely on delayed feedback for students when mastering skills and therefore I have eliminated correcting work and returning a day or two later. Students can complete a self grading google form with multiple choice and see immediate feedback and if they complete a worksheet to practice a skill I will provide an answer key for them to check their work when they are finished.

Currently, I am implementing a blended learning, self paced framework to deliver math to prioritize one to one conferencing. This is proving to be effective and I can collect evidence of learning and fill gaps in understanding in a more targeted and efficient manner.

What my classroom looks like today is different from five years ago and it will be different five years from today. The things that will stay the same are; I will respond to the needs of my students and the needs of the community. I will continue to employ careful listening, evaluation, and response to meet the needs of my students and community as best I can.