Classroom Management with Tech

• Arrange desks in a way that enables you to monitor device screen activity, maximize learning, and prevent digital distractions.
• In Classroom Management in the Digital Age, Heather Dowd and Patrick Green emphasize, "Teachers must arrange their rooms so they can monitor all screens while enabling maximum productivity."(2016, pp. 39-41)

You might consider choosing certain room arrangements to maximize learning, monitor screen activity, and prevent digital distractions.

• Teacher at the Front: Works well in small doses for direct instruction. Devices will most likely need to be closed, so the teacher can have full attention. You will need to walk around the back of the room when students are working with devices open.
• Teacher in the Center: Students are facing away and lined up like a spoke on a wheel. Works well when studens are working independently or when the teacher needs to speak with students individually. The teacher can easily look up and check screens from one central location.
• Teacher at the Back: Works well for monitoring purposes. Teacher simply moves to the front when giving direct instruction.
• Pods and Pairs: Great for groupwork and student collaboration. The teacher will need to continually move around the room to monitor screen activities.

• Many of you already have existing procedures in place for tasks such as bell work, direct instruction, transitions, giving the teacher attention, finishing work early, class discussions, working in groups, note-taking, taking tests, etc. With digital devices in the hands of students, you need to consider how those existing procedures should be modified to maintain a successful learning environment.  
• How would you like students to use tech during different learning modes (ex: lecture, individual work, group work, bell-work, note-taking, stations, etc.)?
• Provide very clear procedures for every scenario. Teach, display, practice, and reinforce your classroom rules and procedures for using devices.
  • Teach the procedures: introduce them, discuss them, post them visually.
  • Rehearse the procedures: teacher models them, student volunteers model them, and whole class practices them.
  • Reinforce the procedures: students put what they learn into practice and if issues occur they are rehearsed again until mastery is met. 
• Try keywords and phrases to help with transition times:
  • Stoplight Technique: red = no tech, yellow = tech but not now, green = tech needed now
  • Shark position: Lid half closed
  • 45: Lid half closed
  • 1,2,3 eyes on me: Attention on teacher
  • Flapjack: Lid closed
  • Flat: Lid closed or iPad down
  • Apple Up: iPad face down
  • Jazz Hands: Hands up off the keyboard and attention on teacher
• Number each device and try to organize a system in which students use the same device each time to help monitor and track any unwanted activity occurring on specific devices.

• Teachers need to help students understand their responsibilities when using digital devices and what the consequences are if undesirable behavior occurs.
• You and your students will learn digital citizenship principles from your media specialist at your building. It is your responsibility to display digital citizenship principles around the room, enforce them, and remind students of these principles in your daily classroom environment.
• www.commonsense.org/education and www.commonsense.org/posters

• Provide mini-lessons on how to use the device and access the tech tools needed.
• Also, consider teaching mini-lessons relating to the objective before handing out devices. Once students receive their device they are often distracted with logging in, locating their point of access, etc. and may not listen to your lesson objectives and expectations with their full attention.

• Get up and move around the room to monitor student use of technology and to make sure students are staying on task.
• Build in a time for teacher check-ins to communicate with each student periodically about their learning experiences using technology.

• Provide opportunities for students to engage in activities away from devices: verbal expression, hand written expression, practice using manipulatives, creative expression through drawing, designing, innovating, storytelling, etc.

• Some students learn differently (visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic). How will you create balance and accommodate your students' individual learning styles?

• What are some extension activities that you could use with your students who complete assignments early (tech or non-tech related)?
  • Research and allow your curiosity to lead you using the research tools in Clever (World Book, Digital Pairie, EBSCO Host, etc.).
  • Read books through www.pioneerlibrarysystem.org or MyOn.
  • Design, build graphic organizers, draw, and express creativity in Canva, Adobe Spark, Google Jamboard, or Seesaw.
  • Practice typing with Typing.com.

• Giving students 5 to 10 minutes a day or 20 to 30 minutes a week to write out assignments, create to-do lists, prioritize tasks, and physically or digitally file documents can really make a big difference in the students’ ability to stay on track, decrease stress, and increase productivity.
• Posting your lessons/agenda in Canvas allows for better transparency for students, parents, coordinators, and administrators helping everyone stay connected, organized, and on the same page.
• It helps your students to understand the concept of schedules, plan of events, and structure in your classroom.
• You should be showing your students how to pull up your daily lesson plan (agenda) in Canvas and how to navigate to Clever to access other resources they will be using periodically. This will empower students and give them confidence to share with their parents what they are learning in class each day, which in turn helps parents to know what to re-enforce and practice on with their children in the evenings.

• Don’t just think of tech as a replacement for in-person, hands-on learning. Think about your learning objectives and strategies. How could you use digital tools/techniques to meet your objectives, enhance your strategies, and promote critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration?
• Allowing students to use a variety of tools to share their learning can help build connections between real-life/in-person experiences and how they can be translated into verbal, physical, and digital expressions of learning.