Amy Neilson

Eisenman, G., Edwards, S., & Cushman, C. A. (2015). Bringing Reality to

Classroom Management in Teacher Education. Professional Educator, 39(1), 112.
This article was great, full of informative facts and information.
Beginning teachers report that weak classroom management skills and
disruptive students are the most significant barriers to being a good
teacher. Often teachers in their first few years of teaching blame their
lack of preparation programs for failing to adequately prepare them for
classroom management. Most teachers feel that classroom
management is a very important skill. According to the article most
teacher preparation programs dedicate less than one course to
classroom management, this lack of focus has put classroom
management at the low end of priorities.
This article shares five activities that are used in education
courses to assist future teacher in developing their own classroom
management skills.
1. Movie Study: Teacher candidates watch one the following
movies- Freedom Writers or The Ron Clark Story- while watching
candidates are to take notes of classroom managementafterwards the teacher candidates write a reflective paper on the
classroom management practices in the film. The teachers
benefit from this assessment because it requires them to
analyze intervention techniques and make connections between
the movie and classroom management theory.
2. Microteaching: Teacher candidates plan a full lesson plan, age
appropriate- when it is ones turn to teach, the teacher will
explain the lesson he or she will teach- then draws a
management problem out of a hat and leaves the room. At some
point during the lesson, the management problem occurs,
causing an interruption in the learning. After the microteacher
ends the lesson, the class discusses what happened- what
techniques the teacher candidate used and what she or he could
have done to solve the problem.
3. Animated Video or Comic Strip: Teacher candidates create two
animated videos- In one video the teacher makes common
mistakes of dealing with multiple behaviors simultaneously In
the other video the teacher handles the behaviors the correct
way
4. Observation Protocol- Teacher candidates use this observation
protocol in their field experience classrooms. During the first
one-hour observation, the teacher candidate tracks ones

individual student records at five minutes intervals. Throughout

the day, the candidate records individual interactions with
teachers and other adults in the school. The teacher candidates
analyze the data they collect as a group to look for patterns and
determine what types of classroom interactions led to student
learning. This activity is used to engage teach candidates in
critical reflection of their own assumptions of using classroom
management strategies.
5. Personal Management System: To promote the most effective
learning environment- teacher candidates are required to create
personal systems of discipline tailored to their teaching
philosophy. The teacher will design a personal management
system that fits his or her teaching beliefs and style that shows
promise for establishing an environment conducive to student
learning. This serves as a starting point for a classroom
management system that can be implemented in their future
classroom.
This article shared with me many great ideas on bettering my
classroom management. Even though I am in my first year of teaching,
this gives me a starting block if want to back track and enhance my
current management skills in my classroom. This is a great article to
keep on file to look back at in the future.