WAP # 8 Classroom Management and Parent / Community Relations

 Classroom Management!

Many years ago when I was taking my student teacher course, I was taught that classroom management included things like teaching how to raise quiet hands and having all the kids quietly listening while I lectured.  I always thought there had to be a better way to teaching than this. 

Fast forward many years later and classroom management has taken a different route.  In my classroom I teach my students that there is a time to listen and a time to "play" because we do lots of playing.  To me an active engaged classroom consist of conversations and movement. As for keeping the class organized and managed, I use some technology tools that have proved be very useful and user/kid friendly.  In this blog I will share with you my favorite this school year to use with my high school students but can be modified to with any age group.

Google Classroom

It's no secret that with the current pandemic and country wide lockdown, all educators have had to make some technological implementation to their teaching philosophy. One big change (I have grown to love) is implementing the addition of Google Classroom to all my classes.  This has worked well because our students (at my school) are all equipped with their personal Chrome Book. 

Google Classroom is great for many reasons:

•    Teaching with ease
• Add name directly or share code/link with students and have them add class to their account
• Easy assignment set up
• Assignments appear on students calendars
• Add/invite parents/guardians for easy communication
• Can manage through your smart phone
• Can link it to your Google Email

• Measure students growth
• Can store and access students feed backs from comments bank
• Able to integrate rubrics for transparent grading
• Allows you to check for potential plagiarism
• Strengthen connections with students through collaborations
• Anywhere student connection (in person or hybrid)
• announcement stream
• Face to face student communication through GoogleMeet
• Can use with other Google Apps
• Security
• Each student has an individual log in code
• Teacher controls classroom activities during GoogleMeets
• Students data is kept private

These are only a some of the reasons why I love it, not to mention that is very, very easy to use.