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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT IN THE COMPUTER LAB

Lisa Lacaria

INTRODUCTION

A primary concern in my teaching is that of classroom management. Throughout my grade two placement I found that this was the most difficult aspect of teaching. When I found out that my final placement was going to be teaching computer studies to the entire school, a feeling of anxiety came over me. How was I ever going to control fourteen different classes when I only saw them once a week?

The idea of doing this for my action research project did not come to me rightaway. I spent the first week in this placement watching my associate teacher teach and getting a feel for the classes. I found this even more stressful than I had ever imagined. My associate teacher had control of the class, but there still were those moments when he had to raise his voice or use another technique of getting everyone back on track. It was not until I was in a meeting with my faculty liaison that the idea came to me. The only way I was going to feel comfortable and in control teaching in front of the different classes was to do research on the topic. 

THE PROCESS

Once I had decided upon my topic, the next step was to develop a plan. I discussed my idea of doing my action research project on classroom management in the computer lab with my associate teacher and he became very excited with the idea. He helped me throughout the process, inviting me to experiment with the different classes. He encouraged me to take risks and try different techniques. He aided by supplying resources on the topic and by sitting with me at the end of each day and discussing how things were going. He was always filled with positive reinforcement and suggestions on how I might go about something differently that had failed.

My action research comprised of many different techniques and methods. I will briefly go through them, explaining where and how I made improvements and the positive and negative effects of them.

LEARNING THE STUDENTS' NAMES

As a Queen's Concurrent Education student I have had a lot of practical experience in many classrooms. The thing that I discovered in all of these was that the first step to successful classroom management was learning the students' names.

In a computer lab I wondered how I was going to go about this. I only saw the students once a week for forty minutes that left too much time in between classes to forget. I spoke to my associate teacher about the idea of a seating plan for all classes in the lab, as I noticed some classes followed one. He explained that because in some classes the students outnumber the computers it was not fair to always have the same students paired up. I found solutions to learning the younger students' names (helping them to log on, having them put their name on their work so they were visible on the screen, or just asking them when I stopped at their computer), but the older ones did not come as easily. Outright asking their names caused awkward tension, as many felt I wanted to know them because they were in trouble. I then decided that names could not mean that much, but the importance quickly came back to me. The first time I taught my previous class (whom I had spent five weeks with) in the lab my associate teacher was quick to point out how relaxed I was and how easily I could keep control of the class by referring to a student by name. I found that there was no easy solution to learning the older students' names, other than reading over class lists and using available seating plans.

More important though, I realized that getting involved in extra-curricular activities would allow for more one on one with students and therefore getting to know them better. I discovered that once I learned their names my question and classroom management skills improved immensely.

Along with learning the students' names, it was important that they learn mine. This way I was not just another face in their lab, but a teacher whom they referred to as Ms. Lacaria. My name was put on the board under my associate teacher's, showing that we were both teachers in the lab.

QUESTIONING TECHNIQUES

This was an area that I felt needed to be looked at from both a teacher and a student perspective. I wanted to make sure that when I was teaching a lesson and asked a question students raised their hands and only one student spoke at a time.

When I first started teaching in the lab, I always asked open questions, allowing the entire class to call out the answer. This was not the response I wanted, but how were the students to know? An example of this might be: "Who can tell me what a thermometer is?" or "What is this shape I am holding?" I turned to my associate teacher for help, and he suggested a technique that he uses. He told me to start all my questions with "Raise your hand if...", unless you want the entire class to answer.

This worked out beautifully and every time I slipped back into my old habit, my associate teacher was quick to point it out. I found that near the end of my placement, once the students were used to raising their hands, even if I did slip back they still raised their hands because they knew that was expected of them.

One of the other questioning problems I had was when students were working at their computers. Often if they needed help or had a question they would raise their hand, but then proceed with calling out my name or my associate teacher's. This made for an extremely noisy lab, frequently interrupting other students. My faculty liaison suggested two solutions to try to fix this problem. The first was "Ask Three Before Me", which meant that before asking the teacher the student should try asking three or his/her peers. This certainly did not work, as students used it as an opportunity to chat with their neighbour. With only a limited amount of time to work on my action research and improve this part of my teaching, I decided to try her second idea of using paper cups. The idea was when students were working at their computer and had a question they would simple place a paper cup on top of their monitor. This allowed for their hands to be free to keep working until the teacher came to help. It also allowed for a quiet working environment, as this task involved no talking.

When explaining this new concept I learned quickly after my first class not to give out the cups until they clearly understood what they were to be used for. The cups were a distraction as they first entered the classroom and this meant a longer time to get their attention. The rest of the classes I explained the concept first and then from then on the cups remained at the terminals.

The cups were a great success. All the grades were very open to this new concept and tried hard to use them. I would remind the students before each lesson to raise their hand when I was at the front, but once they were working they were to use their cups. I am also happy to report that my associate teacher promised to keep using the cups, as he felt they helped with keeping control in the classroom. The one area where I had trouble was in what order to help in as it was hard to keep track of when students put up their cups..

STUDENTS WASTING TIME WHEN THEY ENTER THE LAB

I realized that a forty-minute computer studies class could quickly become a twenty-five to thirty-minute one. This was because in some classes students did not arrive at the same time or students came in and started talking and also the fact that they would have to leave early because of recess, French class or another reason.

The first problem of teachers not sending their entire class at once was a one that would lead to the class never getting properly settled. I would have to put off the start of the lesson which would mean that those there on time would get restless. We spoke to the classroom teachers about the problem, but that did not seem to work. My associate teacher and I then sat and brainstormed ways to deal with this, but we failed to come up with a solution. 

My goal was to have students come in, log on and then sit and wait for me to start the lesson. I did not want the waiting to last long, as this type of free time was only an encouragement to do their own thing. One manual I read suggested using a bell or signal to cue the students that it was time for the lesson to begin. I did not like this idea because I felt that the students would not react well to it. I began to teach my lesson giving a specific task that the students must complete by the end of the period. These tasks would range from an assignment to simply finding out what happens if you click on a certain icon in a program. The older students tended to listen up a lot more carefully when they knew that they had to pay attention to my lesson in order to complete the task. They also knew that there would be a consequence for not completing it or for slow starts. This idea came from reading I had done on the subject. The consequence was usually having to make up for lost time, which would range from missing free time at the end of the period to staying in at lunch or recess to complete it. Once I had discussed this with my associate teacher, I explained to the students my expectations. I did not ever have to take away recess or lunch for not completing the task; the students no longer wanted to delay the class because they had limited time and knew they had to get their work done. 

THE LESSON

The lesson itself was an area in which classroom management played a key role. The layout of the lab was not always the best for what I wanted to do, but I had no control over this. Also, I had to make sure that with each new class I taught at their level and to them, not in the state of mind I was in during the previous class. 

With having one class after another it was often hard to keep a clear state of mind. I had to remind myself between each class that it was a new class and not to let whatever happened in the previous one to affect this one. This was important because I soon learned that students sense tension or a negative attitude. When you are in front of a class, you have to be positive and encouraging. This was not always easy, but in order to keep the class interested, it was necessary. Once I was comfortable in front of all the classes and got to know them better, this came a lot easier. I knew what to teach and how, therefore cutting back on the problems of them upsetting me.

I often taught the same program or lesson to different classes. This was also a challenge because what a kindergarten student understands is not the same as a grade two student. I learned that each lesson had to be unique for that individual class, which meant making different visual aids and changing my language and pace to suit who was in the lab.

Visual aids were often a problem due to the layout of the lab. I had two blackboards in the class, but they were not visible to everyone. In my lessons I tried to use visual concepts as much as possible (key words, aids, etc.) because it was easier for students to learn when they could visualize. If students could not see, then that gave them an excuse not to listen and therefore interrupt the class. The one solution I came up with for this problem was two have two sets of aids, therefore putting one on each board. This was a lot of extra work, as between each class I would have to remove them and may have to use them again in another period, but when you have limited space you must do this kind of thing. Also, the other concern

I had to watch out for was that of the smaller children. Many of them could not see over their screen, therefore I would have to use the upper part of the board or else have students hold up the aids so everyone could see.

My lessons were often made up of many mini-lessons, which meant that I could not teach it all at the beginning. For instance when I taught the primary grades the program "Sammy's Science House", I did not want to go through all five sections of it at once. Instead I used a technique that my associate teacher was very fond of, "Chunking". It means teaching a small part of the lesson, letting students do it and then teaching something else. This approach worked beautifully. The only thing I had to be careful of was to be flexible with the time, as the different classes learned at different speeds or were interested in different things. I then needed a technique of gaining attention back once they were working on their computers. For the younger students I would say "Please push your mouse forward and look up here" and for the older ones I would tell them to look up to the front. If I did not ask them to push their mouse forward, I would then hear a lot of clicking as it was too much of a temptation. Chunking was one of the greatest techniques I learned because it allowed me to teach an entire lesson without going beyond the students' attention span or giving too much information at once.

TIMEOUT

When teaching a lesson, I often had to compete against the computer itself or other students. I realized that talking over the students or the noise of the computers were not the solutions. Instead I used two different methods of timeouts. The first was shutting off the student's screen until I was done. I always tried to do this without interrupting the lesson. I would keep teaching (if possible) and walk up to that computer and switch it off. That way the student now knows to listen, yet it did not effect the flow of the lesson. If that did not work, I would often have to stop the lesson and ask the student to sit at one of the tables in the room, although this did not happen very often. Timeouts such as these were also given if a student was not doing his/her work at his/her seat. 

LINING UP

Before leaving the class students had a procedure to follow: logout, wait quietly until their row was called, when called push in their chairs and line up at the front door of the class. This sounded simple when I was first told, but executing it was not so simple. Even though the students did this every time they left the computer lab, they would often forget and try to run out of the classroom. I decided to remind students before I told them it was time to go about the routine I expected them to follow. The first thing I realized was lining up in the classroom was not efficient. There was not enough room and when lined up beside computers was a temptation to touch them. So I decided to ask them to line up in the hall. This worked well with the younger students, but not the older ones as lining up was not a daily routine for them. I also realized that I had to leave enough room at the end of each period to accomplish this. Trying to rush them into a line and out the door was too distracting and unsettling. I decided that I must tell them my expectations and once again consequences for not following them. If the line up was not quiet or done properly I would send them back to their seats and they would have to start all over again. This really bothered the older students, as they felt like they were being treated like little kids. I did not like doing this, but I have to admit that it got my point across and by the end of my practicum the line ups were better (but still not perfect!).

CONCLUSIONS

It is amazing the difference my action research project made in my classroom management skills and teaching practices. I was much more relaxed in front of all the classes and I also discovered that I had a "teacher's voice". I found in the beginning I would often rush through the lessons for the intermediate students therefore not being in front of them long enough to have to use many management skills. This was a total failure, but I had convinced myself that it worked. As this project went on, I looked forward to teaching everyone in the school.

The success of my action research project is a reflection of the great associate teacher I had. He encouraged me to try many different ideas, even those he knew would fail. He also let the students know that during my lessons I was in charge of the class and not him. I remember one grade seven and eight class where I was trying everything and could not get their attention. Both he and their classroom teacher sat at the back of the class silently. At first I was upset by this, but after awhile I was able to get the class back on track by myself and was excited by what had happened. They both helped me to prove to myself that I could do it. They told me later that they were both sitting back there wanting to get involved, but knew that I had to do it on my own. The faith that my associate teacher showed in me inspired me to keep going. He was not only the computer studies teacher, but also the vice-principal which meant a lot of meetings for him. He had enough confidence in me to let me take the classes on my own, therefore laying out to the class what I expected of them and firmly setting down how I wanted to handle classroom management.