Suzy Dewrights classroom management

By: Lucy Voller

Suzy Dewright is a brand new high school art teacher.She learned a lot in her teacher training, and shes ready to apply all she learned to her new job.Suzy is a bit of a hothead, and sometimes acts before she thinks,

but luckily Suzy can use her REWIND button if she gets into a pinch. Lets look at some of the problems that Suzy will face

Problem #1: The Cheating Girls

Suzy got a job at very competitive college prep school.She wants to be taken seriously by her students and colleagues, and doesnt want them to think of art as an easy A.Suzy keeps a tight grip on her class, and wants to make sure there is as much structure as possible.Suzy knows that a lot of her students are used to taking tests in their other classes, so before she teaches art production, she teaches an intensive art history unit that has a large exam at the end of it. If the students do not pass this exam, they will have to continue to retake it until they pass in order to start making art.

On the day of the exam, in Suzys 2nd period, everything is going as planned until Suzy sees something fishy out of the corner of her eyeTwo of her best students are cheating!

Suzy is outraged and FuriousShe immediately calls the girls up to the front of the room, and gives them both zeros on their tests. She then sends them to the principals office where they both receive after-school detention.

When the school day is over, and Suzy has gotten a chance to cool down, she reflects on the incident.Those girls are so bright, why would they need to cheat? Why do students cheat anyways?Suzy thinks back to a Podcast she heard in which author Alfie Kohn talked about his article Whos Cheating Whom.She remembers Alfies veiws on competitive school environments, and how he suggested that these types of environments were the same as warm, moist environments are to mold.She thinks about the immense pressure these good students are under to get good grades. If they do not perform well in school some of their basic needs may be in jeopardy such as safety, belonging, and esteem. They may fear the security of their (future) employment. They may not feel acceptance or belonging with their high-achieving peers or family members. They may also get down on themselves and feel like they cannot achieve anything (Maslow).Suzy also thinks back on what she learned about Glassers choice theory. When she applies this theory to the situation she realizes that in these girls quality world they will get good grades which means they will go to a good college, and get a good job. If situations in their comparing place do not permit for them to get to good grades, they will do what they can to get them. In this case they cheated on a test.Upon reflection Suzy regrets giving out this competitive test.

Luckily she has her REWIND button to set the record straight.Suzy wants to prevent students from cheating, but she still wants to teach them art history. She thinks back to what she learned about Practice theory which posits that social interaction with others deepens learning individually.Suzy rewinds to the beginning of the unit, and instead of having a lecture/test, she has the students do group projects.Every group is assigned a different major art movement and they have to work together to learn everything they can about that movement. Once they have gathered all the information they present it to the entire class. All the students take notes during the presentations, and at the end of the unit, they each have to write a paper sharing what they learned about each movement.Suzy is pretty sure that it would be hard to cheat on this assignment, and she is confident that this approach will lead students to a better understanding of art history then a test would.

Problem #2: Toms not interested

Everything seems to be going well for Suzy and her classroom. But theres one student named Tom who is bothering her. She just cant seem to get through to this student. He seems like a very smart kid, but hes only completed a few assignments and when he comes to class, he rarely does what is asked of him. Suzy has tried to ignore this behavior, but its really starting to get to her.She decides she is going to say something to Tom.After class one day she asks him to stay behind and talk to her. When she asks him about his missing assignments and his lack of participation Tom doesnt seem to care.

But Tom, youre going to fail my class if you dont start showing a little bit of effort.I really dont care. This class is pointless and boring, I dont see why I need to know this stuff.

Suzy is very offended by this, in fact she is downright livid. She blows up at Tom, and Tells him to get out of her classroom and not to come back until he has had an attitude adjustment.

That night Suzy wonders if Tom is not the only student who feels this way. She thinks about what she read in James Zulls book The Art of Changing the Brain, and realizes that a lot of her students probably dont have an emotional connection to what they are learning about. She thinks about her physical classroom environment and realizes that for an art room, its really not that exciting of a place. She thought that posters would be distracting to students, but she realizes that with bare walls, there are no visual affordance cues to excite the students about making art. She thinks about the 12 processes that form the foundation of an effective discipline program from Curwin and Mendlers article Dicsipline With Dignity, and realizes that she is not listening to what Tom was thinking and feeling. She also doesnt really vary her presentation style, or offer choices, and because Tom is so bright maybe she isnt instructing him in a way that matches his abilities (Curwin, Medler).

After reevaluating her teaching, Suzy thinks that she needs to use her REWIND button again.

She wants to prevent her students from being bored in class, and make sure that they care about what they are learning. She rewinds back to her conversation with Tom.

I really dont care. This class is pointless and boring, I dont see why I need to know this stuff.Well Tom, Im sorry you feel that way, but I think you may find that theres really nothing boring about art. What are you most interested in?

Tom Tells Suzy she is interested in sports. This excites Suzy, and she gives him books, and URLs galore that are full of information on artists who made work that deals with sports and sports figures: Edgar Degas, Raoul Dufy, Geroge Bellows, Picasso, Richard Lidner, Jacob Lawrence, LeRoy Neiman, Andy Warhol and more.

The next day Suzy hangs eye-catching posters all over the walls before she starts her woodcut printmaking unit.For their woodcut prints, Suzy has the students pick a subject matter that is important to them, and then research one artist who has explored this subject matter in their work. The students really get into this project and make some of the best work she has seen all year.

Suzy feels good about resolving these problems, and confident to face other problems that may come her way. She realizes that she will be continually adapting her teaching, and her learning environment to get through to her students in the most effective way possible.

The End

Works Cited"Choice Theory." Wikipedia. 17 Sept. 2008 .

Curwin, Richard, and Allen Mendler. "Discipline with Dignity." Family Education. Organization of Supervision and Curriculum. 22 Sept. 2008 .

Kohn, Alfie. "Kappan Author Interveiw Series." Interview. Phi Delta Kappan. .

Linderoth, Jonas. "Three Concepts of Visuality." Affordance. 18 Sept. 2008 .

"Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs." Wikipedia. 17 Sept. 2008 .

"Practice Theory, Pedagogy, and the Design of Learning Environments." American Institute of Architects. 17 Sept. 2008 .