INQUIRY INTO CLASSROOM PROCEDURES, EXPECTATIONS, AND CONSEQUENCES
On Day 1, Mrs. Garrison went over classroom rules, course materials, and policies for grading, writing assignments, and late work and absences in her English 2 (magnet) and English 2 Advanced (non-magnet) classes (above). She outlined the daily procedure for entering class - students are to enter, retrieve their Do-Now notebook from the bin for their class period (located on a table along the back wall of the classroom). She emphasized that these notebooks will always be stored in this bin - they are never to leave the classroom.
Every day, as they arrive, students will immediately get started on the Do-Now activity that is projected on the smart board at the front of the classroom. They will have 5-7 minutes every day to complete this assignment. When time is up, Mrs. Garrison will go around the room and stamp students’ work that has been finished. If you do not finish the Do-Now, you do not get a stamp for that day. At the end of the marking period, she will tally up the total possible stamps, and your Do-Now grade will be calculated by dividing the number of stamps you received by the total number. So as not to alarm students, she acknowledged that there were some valid reasons why someone might not earn a Do-Now stamp on a given day (maybe the student was absent or had an assembly to attend). To avoid unduly punishing students for such circumstances, she would subtract a few stamps from the total number of possible stamps when grading. This way, she explained, you can still get a perfect Do-Now score, even if you miss a couple stamps.
On Day 2, I saw Ms. Garrison’s Do-Now policy in action. When she went around the room with her stamp, some students had not finished (they had been talking, came in late, forgot) and were passed over without receiving a stamp. Some of these students then rushed to finish the assignment and, by the time she reached the other side of the room with her stamp, were frantically raising their hands to get her attention. She did not return to students she had passed, saying it was time to move on, but reminding them of the cushion she would ultimately be building into the grading system. She also said that, throughout the week, she would vary where in the room she started the checking process so that the same people did not get more or less time every day.
This struck me as an effective way to set a tone of clear expectations and create an atmosphere of both fairness and student accountability in the classroom. Consistency in following through on established norms seems to play a pivotal role in maintaining classroom order and fostering a productive learning environment. Reflecting on Ms. Garrison’s Do-Now policy, however, some potential problems come to mind. What if there is a student who, try as (s)he might to hurry, just works more slowly than average. Do we ignore his/her efforts for the sake of classroom consistency, possibly sending the message that, no matter how hard (s)he tries, (s)he is not good enough? Or do we make an exception and risk sacrificing classroom consistency? It seems that, upon noticing a trend like this, a good way to address it might be to work with the student one-on-one to come up with strategies for working more quickly or establish a individual plan that is manageable for that student. Another situation that might call for differentiation came to mind on Day 3, when one of the students came in late (with a note) from gym class. If a student is always coming from a class on the other side of the building or from a teacher who consistently lets students out late, then this student might run into problems with the Do-Now that are out of their control. Keeping in mind such issues, how do we as teachers create a “fair” learning environment that also takes into account student’s individual needs and abilities?
Every day, as they arrive, students will immediately get started on the Do-Now activity that is projected on the smart board at the front of the classroom. They will have 5-7 minutes every day to complete this assignment. When time is up, Mrs. Garrison will go around the room and stamp students’ work that has been finished. If you do not finish the Do-Now, you do not get a stamp for that day. At the end of the marking period, she will tally up the total possible stamps, and your Do-Now grade will be calculated by dividing the number of stamps you received by the total number. So as not to alarm students, she acknowledged that there were some valid reasons why someone might not earn a Do-Now stamp on a given day (maybe the student was absent or had an assembly to attend). To avoid unduly punishing students for such circumstances, she would subtract a few stamps from the total number of possible stamps when grading. This way, she explained, you can still get a perfect Do-Now score, even if you miss a couple stamps.
On Day 2, I saw Ms. Garrison’s Do-Now policy in action. When she went around the room with her stamp, some students had not finished (they had been talking, came in late, forgot) and were passed over without receiving a stamp. Some of these students then rushed to finish the assignment and, by the time she reached the other side of the room with her stamp, were frantically raising their hands to get her attention. She did not return to students she had passed, saying it was time to move on, but reminding them of the cushion she would ultimately be building into the grading system. She also said that, throughout the week, she would vary where in the room she started the checking process so that the same people did not get more or less time every day.
This struck me as an effective way to set a tone of clear expectations and create an atmosphere of both fairness and student accountability in the classroom. Consistency in following through on established norms seems to play a pivotal role in maintaining classroom order and fostering a productive learning environment. Reflecting on Ms. Garrison’s Do-Now policy, however, some potential problems come to mind. What if there is a student who, try as (s)he might to hurry, just works more slowly than average. Do we ignore his/her efforts for the sake of classroom consistency, possibly sending the message that, no matter how hard (s)he tries, (s)he is not good enough? Or do we make an exception and risk sacrificing classroom consistency? It seems that, upon noticing a trend like this, a good way to address it might be to work with the student one-on-one to come up with strategies for working more quickly or establish a individual plan that is manageable for that student. Another situation that might call for differentiation came to mind on Day 3, when one of the students came in late (with a note) from gym class. If a student is always coming from a class on the other side of the building or from a teacher who consistently lets students out late, then this student might run into problems with the Do-Now that are out of their control. Keeping in mind such issues, how do we as teachers create a “fair” learning environment that also takes into account student’s individual needs and abilities?