Organization

Organization

Initializing a classroom is the hardest part in teaching. It is a new beginning with the students, parents, and teachers. There is no possible way to start off a classroom by jumping into a lesson plan and expecting the students to learn. Students must be familiar with their surroundings and their classmates in order to establish a comfort level. "An educator must be well-organized and planned. The students must be able to trust the teacher and their peers that the classroom will be a safe place. It is very difficult to establish the right atmosphere with a group of students if it is not there from the first day of school" (Matthews A19). The first six week time period is usually set aside for establishing a climate with the students. There is a method known as, “morning meeting.” This is a daily scheduled routine. Every morning in the beginning of class the students are taught to sit in a circle and talk. They are first told to shake hands with the children next to them and become friendly with one another. Next they go around the circle giving everyone a brief introduction of themselves. For the most part, students are asked their name, age, and their hobbies.

This activity not only gets the children acquainted with each other, but it also produces certain learning skills which need to be present. This teaches social skills, eye contact, self confidence, comfort, etc. The children become focused in others and interested in making friends. Without “ice breaker” events, students often have a hard time interacting with their peers. “A survey was conducted that asked children ‘How much do you like to play with this person in school?’ The lowest three females and males were then focused on for improvement of their social skills. Would you want this to be your child?” (Ladd 172). Student social skills play a large role in initializing an effective classroom setting. Now, since the students are acquainted with one another and their attention is captured, a beneficial prelude to begin teaching is established.

Initializing A Classroom

Teachers have a harder role than what is presumed. “…As ever, the discussion is couched in terms of contrasting the relative strengths and limitations of a whole class and group