Class management for student success
Why is class management a critical part of educational planning?
Cherie,
I love your hard work in order to ensure your students know exactly what is going on. Your students should feel very fortunate that you go to great lengths to make sure they can operate the technology and they know about every due date. I can tell you genuinely care about your students and their success. I admire educators like you, simply because you put the students first. Continue to help your students soar to very high heights.
Patricia Scales
I teach most of my academic college classes online, and I've taught many courses entirely online. Managing an online class efficiently and well for student success raises many completely different challenges from those posed by face-to-face instruction. In an online setting, it's easy to have the syllabus and outline of assignments and due dates always in front of the students. It is not so easy, however, to make certain that they pay attention to it. I make certain that all of the operative policies and procedures are listed in my syllabi, and I have a separate schedule of when assignments become available and when they are due. The separate schedule is easier to change from one semester to the next, and it makes it easier for students to print out and reference throughout the term. There is also, clearly stated, a firm "no late work accepted" policy, which, many students are surprised to discover, is enforced.
In addition to students not being fully aware of the due dates of assignments, another big problem is unfamiliarity with the technologies that they must use to complete an online class. In particular, many of my classes involve video, interactive social tools, collaborative and individual postings, and other techniques. For some students, these interactions are quite easy; for others they are nearly impossibly difficult. While the ease or difficulty of using those tools is profoundly affected by the learning management system being used, even the simple question of which platform or browser a student uses can have a tremendous effect on their online learning experience.
One method that I use to ensure that students have mastered all of the technologies they will need to complete the course also works well to ensure that they have reviewed the syllabus sufficiently. All of my classes begin with a series of brief, required, introductory assignments. Students receive no credit for these assignments, but they are not allowed to continue or to turn in assignments for grading unless they have completed the assignments. Each class has several short assignments, each of which requires one or more of the technologies the students will need to use later in the class. So, by the time they begin working on substantive assignments, they have already accessed all videos, books, online sources, interactive mechanisms, sections of the course website, etc., they will need throughout the course. One of those assignments requires them to summarize what the course is about and the assignment and course grading structure and schedule, including required lengths, formats, citations, and submission mechanisms. Another assignment requires them to introduce themselves, and, among other things, explain why they are taking the class and how it fits into their degree, career path, and life. Students who do not complete an assignment correctly or with sufficient detail are required to repeat and complete the exercise before they may continue in the class.
Another method I have used to remind students of upcoming assignment release dates and due dates is to create a series of announcements to be posted on the course website which are specific to particular dates in the course. In most learning management systems, it is possible to schedule those announcements to be posted automatically when desired. This method ensures that I am never late with an announcement and never miss a due date reminder, leaving me free to create encouraging announcement messages that are specific to whatever is going on in that particular class at that time. Many students opt to receive the announcements from the course website as an email or text message, which provides another avenue for reminding them of due dates. I have even considered sending email messages in my face-to-face classes reminding them of upcoming release and due dates simply because it provides needed information in another communication channel, one to which they may pay more attention than an announcement in class from the instructor.
Class management is a critical part of educational planning because it benefits the students and the instructor to have a structured learning environment. If ground rules aren't established from the beginning it can create chaos. Students should and need to know what is expected of them as well as how to conduct themselves in a professional manner. Class management creates a level of respect for the student and the instructor.
Class managment is a very criticalpartof educational planning. You must be able to manage your class appropriately in order to be successful. On the first day of class you need to lay out and explain the policies, rules etc and make it very clear what is expected of them. If you do not take the time to do this, the students may try to take advantage of you which could disrupt the classroom and the other students learning experiences.
Hi Denise,
That's right! Let your students know immediately that you are not going to tolerate their foolishness!
Patricia Scales
Hi Patricia,
Being fair is a must, and when you have policies in writing you can always refer to them to help students remember!
Patricia Scales
It provides the foundation for student and instructor success. Students do not like a classroom with disharmony in it, even if they are the center of e disharmony. Most of my students are young and I provide boundaries from day one. Once they try to play with those boundaries, I reinforce the boundaries again.
Although I am new, I have seen the value of having the classroom policies contained in the syllabus and going over this information on the first day of class. Then when disputes about grading late homework or making up tests arises, it is easier for me to follow and students realize that I am being fair.
Hi Tanya,
Absolutely! We must do our due diligence as an instructor to ensure the environment is conducive for effective learning to take place.
Patricia Scales
Hi Kelly,
I agree! The classroom environment should be conducive for effective learning to take place.
Patricia Scales
The instructor and fellow students need to be respected. The students will get the most out of their education if the class is managable.
Managing your class is essential for a harmonious learning environment. If the class was out of control, it would affect the learning of all of the students in a negative way.
Hi Gail,
I concur! Adults want and love structure. If the instructor does not control the class, the students will. We as instructors must ensure and environment that is conducive for effective learning to take place.
Patricia Scales
If the class is unmanageable, then obviously, the students will not learn. If parameters are set on the first day, then the student can either follow the parameters, or leave be asked to leave the class with out disrupting the class any further. I have observed in my few months in teaching, that students prefer to have a structured environment, rather then one that is haphazard, and unruly.
The class must be mananged and order kept so the students can learn. Any disruption in class sucks the life out of the education the students are paying for.
Hi Debbie,
That list on the board is a great way to keep the class on target, and as mentioned it ensures even late comers get what they need to know as well.
Patricia Scales
I have found that writing on the board what we will cover for the class is also rewarding for the students. They can see what we will cover this evening and see the variety of classroom activities (my class can be 4 hours long on our module system)
I like staying organized and having that list to follow - I strike through each item once we have completed that. If I have to adapt and change something because some students are not in class yet, I can always refer to that list and remind them what we have gone over already and what we still will accomplish for this class.
I do find making notes after each class is helpful in discovering what worked and what did not work...I do change my lesson plan the next day - so I do not forget to make those changes next time I teach it.
Hi Darlene,
Absolutely! It is the instructor's responsibility to produce an environment for effetive learning to take place.
Patricia Scales
Class management is important because it brings a secure atmosphere to your students. Security is a good start to helping students trust you as an instructor. If they are confident in your ability to manage and maintain the class, it will help build respect, trust and rapport.
