As his student and now as an observant, I have always admired Mr. Lefort’s ability to combine a lax atmosphere with effective classroom management. As I am now a more informed observer as a result of taking Dr. Kraus’ course, however, I did notice that some aspects of classroom management were “managed” better than others. The time from when students entered the room until instruction began lasted roughly five minutes, with students moving around and talking amongst themselves freely before making their way to their seats. As they entered the door, they made sure to grab a copy of the handouts printed out and placed on a desk by the door. Mr. Lefort had advised me before the class to have all materials that the students would need readily available for them and always in the same spot, as it occupies student attention and generally brings them to their desks faster. It was interesting to watch exactly what he had predicted unfold- the handouts really did grab student attention and bring them to their seats faster in comparison to the first class of the day I had observed. It was definitely a piece of advice I will hold on to.
When everyone was seated, Mr. Lefort glanced around the room before quickly taking attendance and then starting off the class by playing a youtube video. As it played, he walked around and collected any late assignments that students wished to pass in; I assumed that their had been no homework assigned earlier that had been due that day. After the video had ended, Mr. Lefort announced to the class his intentions for that day’s class, telling students that they would review previous material in order to retake a previous exam that a number of students had performed poorly on. Throughout all this, I was impressed with the behavior of the class as a whole, and Mr. Lefort’s ability to disarm those few “problem” children who would occasionally disrupt classroom instruction with a smile and a quick joke. He allowed for momentary lapses in concentration, but always seemed to be able to get everybody back on task; in the four classes that I observed him teach, he only had to call for the class to quiet down once, which stood in sharp contrast to my memories of middle school. Everybody seemed to like him, to listen to him, and he in turn listened. With my memories of struggling to get second graders to focus on math fresh in my mind from FNED, it really made me respect the careful balance of fun and focused that Mr. Lefort had managed to achieve.
The only thing that struck me as something that could be worked on was Mr. Lefort’s lax approach to end-of-class behavior. After completing the lesson with some 5 minutes to spare, he allowed students to pack up and gather around the door; compared to the low chatter when they had first entered the room at the start of class, they were being particularly loud, and I personally would have been concerned with them disrupting nearby classrooms, but Mr. Lefort seemed to shrug it off with a grin before preparing for next class. “They’re kids,” he said, “not robots. They gave me their time, I don’t care what they do now as long as it isn’t anything too crazy.” When one adventurous student attempted to wander into the hallway, Mr. Lefort was quick to call him back inside, but aside from this, he continued to allow students to congregate by the door until the bell rang. When it finally did, I was caught in a flood of students as I made my way towards the exit, noticing that there were no teachers in the hallways to make sure no one was running, as there had been in my middle school. This added to the relaxed atmosphere of the school; from the front desk to the cheerful reading of the announcements, everything seemed conducive to learning in a way that was not as strict as I remembered school. All in all, I enjoyed the way Mr. Lefort, and Kickemuit Middle School at large, managed their classrooms and their students.
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