Lisa Sietstra

Seven Things Students Want to KnowResponse

Effective teachers will plan for many procedures to help their classrooms run
smoothly, and according to Harry and Rosemary Wong, and especially these seven
situations. I want to set the tone right from the start by preparing for these.

I will take care to greet my students at the door, answering the question, Am I in
the right room? I will also have a seating arrangement/assigned seats prepared, so
there will be no questions about Where am I supposed to sit?

One aspect of tone setting in the classroom is establishing the rules right away. I
want to have basic rules posted throughout the room, then conduct group
discussions and activities to expand on and/or add to the list. Another aspect of
setting expectations is to teach my students daily classroom procedures so there are
no surprises to what will be done during the semester/year. Students will know
what is expected of them from the time they enter the classroom, to when they
finish an assignment or activity, and when they leave the room.

Communicating how I will grade my students is key. I want to use rubrics to make
expectations very clear to my students. Hopefully this will minimize the mystery of
grading for the classes.

Students also want to know about me as a person. To answer this question, I will
include myself in the icebreaker activities we conduct at the beginning of the
year/semester. This will help teach students that all of us are members of the same
classroom community. By showing students I am a person as well as their teacher, I
hope to show them I care about and respect them as individuals. Creating a society
of mutual admiration and respect is important to me and my students successes.