Technology Tools for Classroom Management
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| pomodoro technique image from here |
Technology can play an instrumental role in managing the learning environment. The tools available to teachers assist in multiple ways including collecting and monitoring behavior data, empowering students to stay on track, and even communicating with families. With my cohort, we examined various technology tools that are designed to help us better manage the learning environment.
I focused on the following three tools:
The Pomodoro Technique
It is a time management method that is set up so that students engage in focused work sessions, with frequent short breaks to promote sustained concentration. For example, students work on their task quietly for 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the task, then they get a 5 minutes break. This is repeated 4 times. In a typical class that is 50 or 60 minutes long, two rounds are possible. It was designed for the students who procrastinate and are unfocused, finding little distractions causing them to not complete work. Students who are assigned open-ended work that could take unlimited amounts of time. Students who are overly optimistic when it comes to how much you can get done in a day. And, I think it could also be used for students who are perfectionists and over-work, you know, working, perhaps, past the point of optimal productivity.
Fishbowl
Whole class discussions don’t always work. We all know the students who casually avert their eyes in the hopes of not being called on, just as we know the kids who are constantly wanting to share their voice to the discussion, hands always up to be called on or just talking out. In this way, the fishbowl, helps those eager to contribute to take a step back and practice listening and those who are more shy to shine. In a Fishbowl discussion, students seated inside the “fishbowl” actively participate in a discussion by asking questions and sharing their opinions, while students standing outside listen carefully to the ideas presented. Students take turns in these roles, so that they practice being both active contributors and listeners in a group discussion. The structure supports effective collaboration and communication. Students discuss and learn from each other instead of listening to a lecture given by a teacher. In this vein, it is also a good reminder for teachers that students are their most important resources.
Class Dojo
It is an online classroom management platform and app where teachers can record and track student behavior, facilitate classroom activities (i.e. can assign activities to students to submit in the form of videos, audio, text, files, images, or drawings), curate student portfolios which follow students from year to year, and engage in school-to-home communication. However, my focus will be on just one of these aspects, the recording and tracking of student behaviour as this can have a huge effect on the online learning environment, which is what we have been learning about during this unit. When the learning environment is a positive one, students can better learn. This tool is best used for all students, and especially those struggling students. When all students are on a “behaviour management” plan, it doesn’t single out those students who would have had one anyway.
Fishbowl
Whole class discussions don’t always work. We all know the students who casually avert their eyes in the hopes of not being called on, just as we know the kids who are constantly wanting to share their voice to the discussion, hands always up to be called on or just talking out. In this way, the fishbowl, helps those eager to contribute to take a step back and practice listening and those who are more shy to shine. In a Fishbowl discussion, students seated inside the “fishbowl” actively participate in a discussion by asking questions and sharing their opinions, while students standing outside listen carefully to the ideas presented. Students take turns in these roles, so that they practice being both active contributors and listeners in a group discussion. The structure supports effective collaboration and communication. Students discuss and learn from each other instead of listening to a lecture given by a teacher. In this vein, it is also a good reminder for teachers that students are their most important resources.
It is an online classroom management platform and app where teachers can record and track student behavior, facilitate classroom activities (i.e. can assign activities to students to submit in the form of videos, audio, text, files, images, or drawings), curate student portfolios which follow students from year to year, and engage in school-to-home communication. However, my focus will be on just one of these aspects, the recording and tracking of student behaviour as this can have a huge effect on the online learning environment, which is what we have been learning about during this unit. When the learning environment is a positive one, students can better learn. This tool is best used for all students, and especially those struggling students. When all students are on a “behaviour management” plan, it doesn’t single out those students who would have had one anyway.
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