Class Room Management with FSNE

By Wendy Baier

            Melissa and I recently completed our third rotation.  Things are flying by!  We have officially completed all of our technology rotations, finishing off the set with Food Supplement Nutrition Education (FSNE).  This experience was slightly different in that we worked on technology by composing texts for their “Text2BHealthy” program and writing blogs, but we also were in the classroom.  FSNE works to educate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligible people on nutrition.  While working with them, we were involved with 3^rd and 4^th graders as well as teachers of various grades. 

            Something that I found incredibly valuable was observing different types of classroom management.  Especially with the elementary students, it can be hard to hold their attention and keep everyone on topic.  Here are a couple tricks that I learned: 

• Have established rules from the very beginning and enforce them consistently.
• Ask questions and continue to encourage answers from the students
• While reading books, make connections to the lesson.  This will break up a long story and make it relevant to the students. 
• If students have connections that you don’t have time for, ask them to hold on to it for later. 

            These general rules may seem simple but seeing them in action demonstrated that when used together, you can run a class very effectively.  Our first couple of days, we taught classes ourselves and didn’t have a good grasp on how to run things.  When we got a couple of rowdy classes in a row, it definitely shook us up.  It was a challenge to continue teaching.  Later in our rotation, we were able to observe different teachers and see the tips above in action. 

            Seeing successful teachers in front of the class after being in front of one myself, I feel that I understand how to teach better.  I realized that it’s not just whether or not you understand the material; you need to understand your audience.  A lesson to future interns is to absorb as much as you can about how to manage students.  These skills will come in handy in a variety of jobs and can prevent some rookie mistakes. Overall, I enjoyed this rotation and feel that I learned a lot from each classroom that I was in.