The completed session is important to provide a teacher with a lot of information regarding the classroom management and collection of data to demonstrate the students’ understanding. First, it is necessary to discuss a general approach to organizing classroom practices and creating the working and positive environment during lessons. In order to succeed in working with students, a teacher of Mathematics should build a positive climate in the class that is based on the idea of trust (Borich, 2013). However, the key element is the creation of certain rules in order to regulate the interaction and activities in the classroom.
It is important to state that clearly formulated group norms and rules are important to guarantee the development of the effective atmosphere in classrooms. When teachers try to encourage students and stimulate their engagement in learning through building positive relationships without the stated rules, the real effect on the learning process and classroom management can be negative. Therefore, a teacher needs to set rules while following the processes of ‘diffusion’ and ‘crystallization’ in order to make students share norms and ideas to create the working atmosphere (Borich, 2013). As a result, it will be possible to avoid problems associated with daily classroom management tasks. From this point, it is important to build the classroom environment that is not only positive but also cooperative, competitive, and based on certain norms.
Thus, the idea of the necessity of rules can be discussed as the key one while referring to the work by Borich (2013). In addition, while focusing on the work by Lemov (2010), it is also possible to concentrate on the idea of rules, but in the context of teaching Mathematics and gathering the evidence regarding the students’ understanding of the material. While monitoring the students’ understanding, a teacher can use a variety of techniques to ask the correctly formulated questions. In this context, it is important to note that a teacher should ask questions while following certain rules: self-reporting questions should be avoided; questions should be prepared in advance; and questions should be targeted and open-ended (Lemov, 2010). Furthermore, there should be a system of rules regarding the use of hand signals or organization of discussions. From this point, the process should be structured perfectly, and students need to know what rules teachers follow while gathering data regarding the understanding of tasks and materials.
Still, the experience demonstrates that a positive and productive climate in the classroom cannot be based only on following strict rules that regulate the interaction between students and a teacher, as well as assessment procedures. While synthesizing the information from the works by Lemov (2010) and Borich (2013), it is possible to conclude that the effective classroom management is a guarantee of a successful teaching-learning process. As a result, the practical task for a teacher is to build the open environment in which students are not afraid of making mistakes, they know the rules of interaction and cooperation, and they are encouraged and stimulated to work better. Therefore, the knowledge gained during the session is important to plan the work in the classroom. Furthermore, the readings provide a range of helpful notes regarding the creation of a positive climate and organization of effective observations and question-and-answer sessions. The ideas provided by the authors are important to help teachers plan lessons and build strong relationships with students.
References
Borich, G. (2013). Effective teaching methods: Research–based practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Lemov, D. (2010). Teach like a champion 2.0: 62 techniques that put students on the path to college. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.