By Amanda N. Wegner
Contributing writer

For Gretchen Weber, it was an affirmation that she was doing things right.

Weber, a 1st-grade teacher at Rothschild Elementary School in the D.C. Everest Area School District in north-central Wisconsin, was one of the first Wisconsin educators to complete the WEA Professional Development Academy’s newest online offering: Classroom Management.

Gretchen Weber

Working on course assignments from the comfort of her own computer, Weber found that many of the tools she was using in her classroom to discipline and motivate students, keep her space organized, and communicate with parents and students were the same tools advocated as best practices by education professionals.

And she also realized how valuable a course in classroom management can be for teachers.

“Knowing how to successfully manage your classroom is the key to teaching,” Weber said. “By successfully managing a classroom, learning is able to take place and children have a safe, warm and inviting environment to do that in. I think that every teacher should take a course on classroom management as part of their training to become an educator.

“A course on classroom management is extremely important for teachers,” Weber added.

Course convenience

So important, said Debra Berndt, director of the Professional Development Academy, that when the Academy surveyed members a few years ago and asked what they felt were the most important topics for professional development, classroom management was at the top of the list.

“It was no surprise,” Berndt said, “that classroom management came out on top. A vast majority of our members wanted additional assistance in dealing with classroom situations and, actually, how to avoid them in the first place.”

Developed by a team of veteran educators and college instructors, the Classroom Management course was two years in the making. The course,which was launched in late October 2006, is offered exclusively online. This format, Berndt said, provides maximum flexibility to education professionals who find it increasingly difficult to fit off-site courses and seminars into their busy schedules.

“As teachers, even as people, we are so busy we don’t take or have the time to read the most current research in education. It’s hard to stay current. This course helps with that,” said Classroom Management instructor Adrienne Nerad, who is an adjunct instructor at Cardinal Stritch University and a former special education teacher with Milwaukee Public Schools.

Course enrollment is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week via the Academy Web site. Once registered, students can begin coursework immediately; coursework must be completed in 90 days.

Both WEAC members and non-members can enroll in the Classroom Management course (non-members pay a higher rate). Students can take the course for one or two credits or for no credit at all. For the noncredit option, Berndt said, the course takes approximately 15 hours to complete, though, she added “that will vary somewhat as teachers, like their students, are individual in how they learn.”

For those opting for credit, the course will require a bit more time and commitment due to additional assignments and activities, including the development of a comprehensive classroom-management plan, though the additional workload is “very manageable,” she said.

“I worked on the class about two hours a week for the duration of the class,” said Weber, who took the course for one credit as part of her license renewal. “The online class was very easy to use and understand. Every-thing was very well set-up so that I could follow the class modules with ease.”

While all course content is online, it is currently taught by two semi-retired educators, Adrienne Nerad and her husband Bob, an education consultant who taught in Milwaukee’s public schools. Students communicate with the Nerads via e-mail and file their assignments with them. Learning material for the course’s nine modules is delivered in several ways: an online forum allows students to share ideas, discuss assignments and troubleshoot issues; video clips give students the opportunity to see classrooms in action; and online readings put relevant information at the students’ fingertips without them having to dig through academic journals or a massive list of Web-search returns.

“So far,” Bob Nerad said, “all the students have been excited and engaged.”

More than discipline

The Classroom Management course covers more than student discipline. With a growing emphasis on student achievement through standards and assessments, it is more important than ever to create a classroom environment that is organized, meaningful and engaging, Berndt said.

While discipline is covered in the course, other topics include: welcoming a new class; how to help and make students feel important; establishing classroom rules; how to motivate students; setting up and organizing the classroom; communicating with parents, students and colleagues; and more.

“Class management is more than discipline,” Berndt said. “If you’re strictly looking for hardcore discipline, this isn’t it. It is part of it, but how you establish the classroom environment from the beginning not only provides meaningful learning, but it also sets the stage to avoid some of the discipline issues that might impact the learning that goes on.”

Participants past and present report using what they learned in the course, often immediately.

“I had one student who had parent-teacher conferences coming up and she used some of the communication skills taught in the course at the conferences,” Adrienne Nerad said. “The next day, that student came back and told me how excited she was because what she learned and used worked and she, the parents and the students got so much more out of the conference experience.”

Another student of Adrienne Nerad’s helped establish a structured discipline program for the school.

“This is really a good course,” Adrienne Nerad said. “These are just a few examples that verify that what you learn is practical, applicable and important.”

Weber, the veteran teacher from D.C. Everest, seconds that and shares her own examples.

“A lot of the ideas presented were things I was already doing or using in my classroom, so I was able to comment in the forums about how they really do work in the classroom,” Weber said. “One idea I was able to share on the forums was that it works very well to use some sort of reward system in your classroom; I use classroom cash that children are able to earn. I also use a good behavior bucket from which I draw students’ names for prizes.”

Learning for all

While the course is designed for new and veteran teachers, Weber and Bob Nerad agreed that new teachers stand to benefit the most.

“The course material was very relevant for a beginning teacher. I have been teaching for 10 years and so it was more of a reinforcer for me,” Weber said.

“A lot of new teachers struggle for the first few years as they realize the reality of managing a classroom is extremely different from the dream,” said Bob Nerad, adding that new teachers typically don’t get much classroom management experience before stepping in to their own classroom.

“In this course, we give sample strategies. We build a classroom management plan. It’s all there for you in this course.”

For the seasoned educator, Weber added: “If you are looking for creative and positive classroom management techniques to incorporate into your classroom (and a class) that can be completed online with a minimal time commitment, this course is for you. You also get a chance to network with other educators in Wisconsin and learn what types of classroom management ideas they are using in their classrooms.”

With larger class sizes, more students with special needs, reduced staffing and the push for higher standards, good classroom management skills are a must for every educator, they said.

“Teachers now more than ever – whether they are beginning or veteran – need more skills to create classrooms that really work,” Berndt said.

Posted March 6, 2007