The following blog assignment can be found here.
In our Education and Training class, the second year interns are doing a book study over Fred Jones's book, "Tools for Teaching". After reading chapters 3 and 4, I have gained a lot of knowledge on arranging a classroom in order to work the crowd the easiest. I am so excited to continue reading this book and widen my knowledge on professional teaching techniques!
Chapter 3- In this chapter, I read about ways to work the crowd, so the crowd does not work me instead. I learned that a teacher's mobility is very important, and it is a subconscious activity. Eye contact is very important in addressing issues in a classroom in order to avoid a disruption or embarrassment of the students. In my field site classroom, I think there are a few obstacles that make it difficult to work the crowd. First, even though the desks are in groups, the walkways are very narrow and difficult to get through without the students having to move their chairs closer to the table. There is also not a good zone to walk to check on all of the students without having to make several figure eights. I think these flaws in my field site classroom allow the students to goof off because the teacher would not be able to address the problem very quickly, each table is difficult to get to, and it can be difficult to check on all of the students in a short amount of time.
Chapter 4- According to Jones, the teacher's desk should go in the front of the classroom, 5 feet away from the students in the front row. The teacher may feel claustrophobic, but "will soon come to appreciate the intimacy and control that proximity provides". In my field site classroom, I would probably put the teacher's desk in the back of the room, so the teacher can watch over each of the students and put troubled ones in the back to keep an eye on them. In the back of the classroom, the teacher can do work at his/her desk, but keep an eye on all of the students. The teacher's desk would not be in the way of the white board, and there would be plenty of space in the front of the classroom for activities. In the reading, Jones says that "eight feet is the difference between prevention and remediation whenever you are standing in the front of the classroom," and whenever the teacher is sitting in the back of the room, the teacher can be close to the students without blocking their eyesight by sitting in front of them. I think that this location for a desk would provide the benefits of being near the students, but would not intimidate them with the desk right in the front of the room. The teacher can be as close as 5 feet behind them, in which the students would "cool it" and not goof off.
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