To New Beginnings: Classroom Management

I stood in front of the 36 faces staring back at me. They were watching my every move as I took roll and explained my plan for the class. Nervousness consumed me. I'd never had to get the attention of so many students at one time, let alone try to teach them a lesson. I was used to a much smaller group. I took a deep breath and explained my syllabus. My school year had begun.

I'd been hired to work as a junior high Spanish teacher at a private school in Danville at the beginning of the summer. My girlfriend's sister, a teacher at the school, had suggested I try my hand at the position since I speak Spanish and have tutoring experience. I showed up to give an impromptu lesson for a class of sixth graders. The Principal and other teachers told me repeatedly that they would be looking at my classroom management skills. The term "classroom management" seemed almost foreign to me since I had no formal training as a teacher. I got up in front of the class and was able to engage them in an activity where I taught them some summer Spanish vocab words.

Fast forward a few months and it was finally the first day of school. I've always had a love for the Spanish language and culture so the goal of my lesson was to inspire my students to find that same love. I showed the students a power point presentation of my year in Spain that showcased a variety of pictures of my life in Madrid. I was excited to show my presentation but was not prepared for what would happen to disrupt my plan.

One class of eighth graders would not quiet down and give me the respect and attention I deserved. They talked while I was trying to explain my syllabus. They made jokes while I was giving my presentation. When I tried to give them all Spanish names, some tried to be funny by picking names like "Jose Jalapeno" just to mess with me. I'm usually very patient, but this class pushed me so far that I had to raise my voice just to compete with the volume of thirty-six voices. Since I was a new teacher and had no training in classroom management, it made it all the more difficult to try and regain control.

It has been a few weeks since that first day and things have already calmed down quite a bit in that particular class. I've learned never to raise my voice in an attempt to talk over them. I've also let them know that I'm there to help them learn Spanish but at the same time, I have no problem zeroing in on a talker and asking for their attention in front of everyone. It's especially effective if I give the order in Spanish because I'm guaranteed a reaction AND their attention. It will probably take me all year to develop an effective classroom management system, and for that matter, learn all of my students' names, but now that I've let them know I mean business, I feel that I actually have time to teach Spanish.