Week #7

    The teacher I have been observing has been teaching for over 15 years and is very set in her ways. Her students know exactly what she expects and know the punishment if they do not follow the rules. The teacher has a chart in the classroom with various colors. Each of the students start in the same place every morning, but based on their behavior will either move up or down on the chart and receive different consequences or rewards. The chart shows exactly what the consequence is whether good or bad, and they know where they stand on the chart. If they are doing something that does not line up with what the teacher expects, all she has to say is "move your pin" and they students immediately know the behavior they are participating in is either good or bad.
   With the different levels of learning in the classroom, the teacher has to have a classroom that is very quiet. There are times when the students know they can be loud and have fun, but when they are working on certain things, they know the teacher expects it to be quiet. They have points on the board called a "yahoo" and an "oh man". When the students are exhibiting exceptional behavior, they get a "yahoo" point. At the end of the week if they have more "yahoos" than "oh man" points, they get extra recess time. 
   I think this teacher is very successful with the way she runs her classroom. Her students know what she expects and she always follows through with the consequences of her rules.