Expert: James J. Kovalcin - 11/14/2004

Question
Hi, I am taking a course on classroom management at my college and for one of our assignments we are to ask a teacher several questions about their teaching and perceptions of classroom management. The folks at allexperts.com have been so great at answering all my questions in the past (mostly relating to pets) and generally they have a lot of experience, so I thought I would try asking my questions here. There are a bundle of questions, so if you only have time to answer a few or none, please don't worry about it I can ask elsewhere. If you can answer them, Woohoo! Either way, thank you so much for your time.

1. What is your school like? Is it large/small? Wealthy/notwealthy? Public/private?

2. What particular strategies have you found to be most effective in managing your classroom?

3. What changes have you made in the past three years to improve student learning?

4. How do you think about student performance assessment and evaluation in your school?

5. Have you received an appropriate level of parental support for your students?

6. How do you handle a disruptive student in your class?

7. What do you do to achieve equity in your classroom?

8. What have been major concerns in your school?

Thanks again for your help.
Have a great week,
Darcy


Answer
1. Relatively new, large [2100-2200 students], fairly weel to do [upper middle class], and public.
2. Hard to say because all of my students do what they are supposed to! I really don't discipline them. I have high expectations and the students do what I expect of them. [33 years of experience makes this surprisingly easy!].
3. The most important change has been the addition of "white boarding" where the students prepare frequent oral presentations of labs and problem solving. I quiz everything and let kids take quizzes over until they are successful. I also check every homework assignment and award 3% at the end of the marking period to every students who has submitted everything.
4. I use performance assessment frequently as a part of my testing program in physics. For example, in the first test of the year the students had to analyze a tickertape describing an accelerating object.
5. Because of my approach and grading policy I very seldom have any difficulty with parents.
6. I don't have any disruptive students in my class. I believe this is because of my approach to teaching. All students can be successful in my class. There is no magic bullet. Be patient, have high expectations, never embarass a student in front of others, never write a student off, never close your door, never yell [ever!], get frequent feedback from your students [and really listen], have something important to say, keep your students actively involved and avoid "dead time".
7. I give every student as many opportunities as possible. The way I see it each student in my class decides what grade he/she wants.
8. The major concern is the total disconnect between the central administration and what really happens within the school. [I can assure you that "Dilbert" is alive and well is schools everywhere!]
See my web site for my grading policy at www.jimthx.vze.com.