Aaron Bennett

Ed 391

Management

12-5-‘00

The case study that we were given for this exercise on management was an interesting case about Barbara Parker. I think it is interesting that she teaches the same class to extremely different class types. It brings up an interesting point about how much a teacher can do in a class and how much the students themselves must be responsible for. Mrs. Parker tried many things through the course of the semester to try and gain control over the unruly class. We should not lambaste her for what she tried to do, most teachers in her situation would have acted in a similar fashion. This is the problem with education today. Too often teachers are more baby sitters and security officers rather than instructors of knowledge. The classroom environment greatly effects the learning the will get done there. It is the teacher’s job to try and maintain some semblance of order in this chaos called high school.

This might be a case for the drill sergeant type attitude from the beginning. Mrs. Parker could always have lessened the rules when the students got into the swing of things. The kids were lost to her before she ever started teaching. Some of this comes from the teacher’s presentation and bearing. Women teachers are often looked upon as weaker than the male and so worthy of less respect. There is nothing Mrs. Parker can do about her gender. Her pleading tone could have been helped though. Beating a pointer against the wall will get the students attention but it will not make them behave. All that it tells the students is that “this teacher does not have control over us, we can push her around.” Mrs. Parker tried to rebound as best she could and stick to the rules that she established.

Mrs. Parker did a lot curriculum wise to try to teach her seventh hour class. The pacing that works for one group of students will not necessarily work with another. I saw this in my observation. I observed two freshman English classes. Because of defacto tracking caused by the different level math classes, the higher achievers were generally in on class. That other class tended to be more rowdy and vocal. They would act out a little more but nothing like what Mrs. Parker went through. We did more hands-on activities like plays and illustrating texts. The students learned a great deal and had more fun doing it. The curriculum was still kept as close as possible though. Mrs. Parker’s case was rather extreme. She cut out most of the classic stuff on the Middle East in favor of current events because she figured this might be more engaging to the students. The level of instruction must fit the students. If it is too hard, they will feel overwhelmed and give up. If it is too easy, they will get bored. I think that Mrs. Parker was trying to make the material more engaging to the students figuring then they would want to learn. She grades the students’ notebooks to try and ensure that the students are taking the needed notes. I think that some more hands-on activities would have been beneficial to the students.

Mrs. Parker tried to have rules and punishment to curb her rowdy class. She did not start her opening day with the set rules because she did not figure that high school students needed them. This might be a mistake but she did not know the class yet and her previous classes in the morning went off without a hitch. By starting to make a seating chart alphabetically and then stopping half-way through, she said to the students that she was not in control. The students say this as the teacher flying by the seat of her pants. If the teacher has not thought out what will be done, she will be easy to sidetrack and generally mess with. I don’t know about her decision to send Marie out of the class. Marie had shown that she was a “troublemaker” from past experiences. Keeping her in the classroom after such a remark would had indicated that Mrs. Parker tolerated such behavior. I would say that the students should have some sort of warning but it seems as is her previous performances did not warrant one. Idle threats do not help the situation. By sending Marie out of the class, Mrs. Parker showed the rest of the class that she was really serious. The conferences with Maria’s and Lincoln’s mothers show how hard the struggle to maintain control is. The parents are pretty much placing the discipline problems of the children in Mrs. Parker’s exasperated hands. She instituted a lunchtime detention because so many kids were involved in after school activities. I think that was a pretty good modification on that punishment. That way the student cannot get out of it. If all the student wants is attention, this method may have the opposite effect however. Then the student would act out more so they would get even more teacher attention. It is hard to know which to use. That is why a graduated scale of punishments is needed for different offenses and frequency of offenses.

There are some things that Mrs. Parker did not try in this case study that might have helped. Mrs. Parker might have arranged the desks in such a way to eliminate much of the talking. The desks could be arranged in a circle with the teacher in the middle so that all students can see the teacher and the teacher can see all the students. This might not work in practice, as the teacher must have their back to half the students. A better idea might be a large rectangle with the teacher sitting at the head. This would allow all students to see the instruction and participate in discussions. It would also make it easier to get to a problem kid to reprimand him/her. She did set up rules but only after it was clear that the class was out of control. It would be good to have them already made up and posted in the room. If the class can handle it, they might help create the list of rules and punishments. I do not think that Mrs. Parker’s seventh period class was quite on that level yet. It is good to give the students a sense of control over their own education. Where that line is is different for each class though. Too much leeway will make the teacher seem easy to control. “with this class any deviation invited bedlam.” (p. 38) That was the last thing that Mrs. Parker was looking for. A firm and definite tone of voice and demeanor go along way toward having unruly students behave. If they perceive that you “mean business” they are more likely to play along. A pleading tone does not demand respect and puts the power in the students’ hands. Mrs. Parker could have pressed the parents to take more responsibility for their children’s upbringing and behavior. There are many of other roads that Mrs. Parker could have gone down. She went down the one she thought was the best at the time. As teachers that is all we can do. We can amass all of this information but it comes down to a gut feeling. I guess this course’s purpose is to give your gut enough information to act a little smarter.