Barbed Wire? A matter of classroom managment

On Edutopia, I found a very fitting article that described classroom management. It metaphorically compared untangling barbed wire laying in the grass with managing a classroom of students.

This unique analogy is very fitting for education, based on personal experience and observations from the movie "Chalk." In "Chalk," several teachers had a hard time controlling their classrooms. For example, Mr. Lowrey, the first year history teacher had a very difficult time controlling his class at first. He presented boring lectures and did not have the nerve to discipline the class. The author of this article, Ben Johnson's, explanation about de-tangling barbed wire displays strategies Mr. Lowrey should have used from the beginning. Johnson explains that barbed wire does not untangle on its own, it requires work and cooperation. He stressed the importance of working with other teachers and students to fully manage classrooms. Although Mr. Lowrey did look for classroom management tips in books and slowly started gaining control of the classroom, he should have asked other teacher's for help and advice. He is going to have a harder time enforcing some discipline and control into a classroom if he started off being really lenient and out of control in the classroom.

Johnson's article also stresses the importance of variety in the classroom in order to engage student's learning, motivation, and help ease the de-tanglement process. This is another area in which Mr. Lowrey lacks; he lectures his class day after day after day. He could have learned a lot more than classroom mangagement from other teachers, such as Mr. Stroope and Coach Webb. While neither of these teachers were perfect either, Mr. Stroope crosses too many boundaries, they both implemented variety into their classrooms. Coach Webb varied the activities done in gym each day and Mr. Stroope kept his history class fun by making jokes and taking some time to hear about the students' lives. Unlike Mr. Lowry, these teachers seemed to care about their students, which I think is the first step for effectively managing a classroom.