I have long been aware of the importance of classroom organization. Even this year, I have been trying to make it a point to notice the differences between what I have seen in the past and what is done at Dominion Trail Elementary. As it turns out, it's the little things that make the biggest difference.
It seems fairly obvious that we want our classrooms to be as organized as possible. When I think about this, I am usually pondering my file cabinet, my desk, book shelves, etc. Today I noticed for the first time, even though it had been like this all year, how my third grade class organizes their pens and pencils for each student.
Third grade at DTES is departmentalized, meaning they switch classrooms for different content instruction. While this is the first time I have seen this in third grade, it is not a new concept for me. What is new is how the teachers handle the pen and pencil issues. She keeps a container on each group of desks filled with pens for marking assignments and pencils to be used during class. I know this sounds trivial, but it is genius! When students switch from class to class, it is a given that at least a couple students will forget their pencil. This way, the problem is eliminated. Also, because the pencils are pre-sharpened, there is virtually never the delay for students to sharpen their pencil. This simple step provides the classroom teacher as much as four or five extra minutes of instruction time.
I think the reason this was just noticed is the second grade class I work with started a program called Power Up this week. The students travel to preassigned classrooms for math enrichment/remediation. We spent the better part of three minutes handing out supplies to the students. Some students brought their own pencils, while others needed to have them supplied. You ask who needs a pencil, and inevitably, someone needs a pencil and does not ask for one creating even more delay after the lesson has begun.
Believe me...I know this sounds silly, but the little things you can do to keep instruction fluid are ultimately...priceless!
Pat, I definitely agree that the little things do count! My teacher does a similar thing where she has pre-sharpened pencils and colored pencils on each table which keeps students from getting up to get supplies. I've noticed that in her classroom, being organized helps to save valuable instructional time!
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a good week! See you in class tomorrow :)