Spring 2014 Post #2

"What is something you want to change about your classroom management?"

Honestly, my management hasn't been too much of a problem at all in my time teaching. I am lucking to work with high school students who are generally well behaved and who I relate with well. With that being said, I do wish to improve student motivation. My precalculus students are quite motivated. However,  my algebra 1 students work hard during the 55 minutes I have them in class, but put forth very little effort outside of the classroom. A strategy that might help build investment in these younger algebra 1 students is to send positive notes/make positive phone calls home. I struggle to find time to call home as I am at school from 6am to 6pm everyday (coaching adds the two hours at the end of the day). I have also found phone calls to time consuming because for every time a parent picks up the phone, four calls go unanswered. I will start with sending handwritten notes home with students first to see if motivation improves. If not, I will find a way to make phone calls happen.