Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach

Questions to Consider:

1. Which classroom would you have preferred as a student? Explain.


2. Where would you rather work as a teacher? Explain.
   3.If you could organize your classroom your own way, what would it look like? Why?

SECTION D: NUTS AND BOLTS OF TEACHING 2:
HOW DO YOU ESTABLISH CLASSROOM RULES?

I smile on the first day of class. Why not? I like being a teacher and I like working with teenag-
ers. I find you can be caring and still be efficient and demanding. When students know you
are willing to smile, a disappointed or disapproving “teacher’s look” carries much greater
weight. If you always frown, it does not make a difference.
In January 2001, the New York State edition of a teachers’ union newspaper reported that
the winner of the Disney American Teacher of the Year Award winner had five “rules” and 50
“procedures” that students were obligated to follow in class. It seems to me that this was far
too many procedures and substitutes control for community. I prefer a more minimalist ap-
proach to rules that encourages student freedom and responsibility. However, I also recog-
nize that some classrooms need greater structure than others. I would sometimes tell a
more rambunctious group (the class at the end of the day or right after lunch), “I know how
to teach the fun way and the boring way. I prefer the fun way, but by your response you will
decide the way that I will teach this class.”
When I taught at schools that were relatively well organized and where students had an
expectation of doing work and behaving in class, I had only two class rules. I introduced
them with selections from songs performed by “Professor” Aretha Franklin: R-E-S-P-E-C-T and
THINK. On the first day we discussed having a classroom where students and teachers re-
spected each other and thought about the implications of our behavior on classroom com-
munity before we acted. We also discussed some procedures for resolving conflicts and my
expectations for them.
In schools that tended to be disorganized and where procedures were less firmly estab-
lished, I distributed “Singer’s Ten Commandments” and we went over them on the first day.
Some of the commandments were a restatement of school rules (no hats in class) and some
were tailored for my class. However, even in this case, I tried to keep the classroom atmo-
sphere relaxed. I did not post rules or require that students sign contracts where they prom-
ised on the pain of death to always be good. I always warned students, “If you sit with your
head down I will figure the problem is that your wicked stepmother keeps you up all night
chopping wood for the fireplace and scrubbing pots and pans. If it keeps happening, I will
have to report her for child abuse, so don’t give me the wrong message.”

JOIN THE CONVERSATION—SINGER’S TEN COMMANDMENTS

An important idea in this class is the connection between freedom and responsibility. The

more responsibility students take in class, the more freedom you will have to learn. A few

basic procedures will help the class run more smoothly.

1. Be a serious student. Respect yourself and others. Raise your hand before speaking
   and listen to your classmates. Let’s learn from each other.


2. Come to class on time. Sit with your assigned team.


3. When you enter the room, copy the AIM, the DO NOW, and the HOMEWORK.

ORGANIZATION 133