Page 35 - Year-Long Plan_Neat

This week I had the privilege of sitting down with Mr. Todd Selle, STEM (Science, Technology,

Engineering, and Math) teacher at Hagen Junior High in Dickinson, ND. Mr. Selle is in his second year of

teaching and has experienced both changes in his curriculum and also classroom management in his

time at Hagen. As a new teacher, I was especially interested to hear about what strategies, techniques,

and procedures that he uses in the classroom. In this summary, I intend to discuss those strategies and

procedures, curriculum and changes in technology that have impact Mr. Selle’s classroom.

Mr. Selle uses a variety of classroom management procedures such as the 5 Basic Rules, Ask 3

Before Me, and CHAMPS. The 5 Basic Rules are introduced at the beginning of each trimester. They are

enforced and not only rules for the classroom, but also rules for life. The rules are as follows: Have fun,

Don’t wreck someone else’s fun (i.e. be disruptive, disrespectful), Leave the classroom better than you

found it (i.e. clean up your work stations), Respect for teachers, peers, equipment and yourself, and Try

for best every day (i.e. students are graded on behavior. These 5 Rules are posted throughout the

classroom and students are reminded of them on a daily basis.

The Ask 3 Before Me procedure involves teaching students to be self-sufficient. They are asked

to use/ask three resources prior to asking the teacher. Those resources include their binder or book,

partner and the Internet. With the amount of module group and activities that are taking place at the

same time in class, Mr. Selle doesn’t always have time to make it around the room to answer every

question. He encourages students to take advantage of the resources that they have available.

The CHAMPS strategy is regarding voice level. This is a strategy that is used through the junior

high and introduced to all students at the beginning of the school year. Each activity in the classroom

has a voice level and those levels range from zero to five. For example, a zero means no talking or silent.

A two is a partner activity and a five is a presenter. Students are also asked to apply this strategy in the

hallways when they are transitioning from one class period to the next.