Educational Technology Guy posted some random thoughts and I have one of my own to add.- Teachers shouldn't willingly waste so much time in the morning eating breakfast, taking attendance, finding out what students will be having for lunch, etc; (lists, lists, count students, lists, more lists)
I go to a first-grade classroom every Thursday morning for my TE 301 placement. I'm there from 8:00-11:30am; I realize it's not much time to be able to really criticize, but I feel like the mornings are routine by now. My CT usually comes in when the students do at 8:50am; she doesn't come in early to prepare anything. I feel that if she would come to the school at least twenty minutes early, she would have enough time to scavenge for the things she needs within the mess on the desk.
She actually is a pretty good teacher when the teaching finally starts, but the wasted time in the morning has been bothering me all semester. Not only is time wasted on things the principal or the lunch lady need, but lessons are always interrupted by the teacher's attempt to teach the children about manners and to improve behavior. I realize this is necessary, but constantly stopping the lesson to tell a child to stop picking his nose, sit on his bottom, get fingers out of his mouth, etc, is not. It takes away too much valuable time.
What grade levels have you had experience observing? How do the teachers handle their morning routine? How do they handle behavioral issues?
