The Art of Management
By Maryann Manning

I'm not a certified counselor on how to stay sane when teaching reading and writing, yet I do feel like I spend a lot of time in the role of counselor when I talk to teachers. I know very few classroom teachers who are totally satisfied with all aspects of their classroom management.

Why do I think management is such a challenge in the classroom? Because classroom teachers have many balls to juggle as they implement a literacy-rich curriculum. The three biggest ones are organization of time, space and materials. Many teachers can successfully keep one ball in the air, but keeping all three up is a career-long challenge.

A matter of time
Have you ever met a teacher who felt there was enough time available in which to complete everything that he or she needed to do? If we could clone ourselves, we might begin to meet all the diverse needs of our students. We all feel the need to have more individual conferences about books students have read and pieces they've written, to teach more mini-lessons, to meet with more small groups of children, to read aloud more often, to reflect longer on our teaching and so on. The challenge is we feel as if we simply cannot do any more than we're currently doing.

There are times during the school day when we're working with students and simultaneously orchestrating varied activities all over the classroom. Managing all this interaction – from small group and individual instruction, to students working in triads and pairs – requires great skill. We only have about six and a half hours in a school day (if we teach in a self-contained setting – time is even shorter for those of us in a teamed situation) and there is only so much we can do during this time.

Pace yourself
When faced with the all-too-familiar "time crunch," it's a good strategy to make choices about what you can realistically accomplish. I find that when I want to change something, I often need to begin on a small scale. For example, if I'm implementing literature circles into my curriculum, I keep in mind that I don't have to begin them all on the same day.

From time to time, a component of your classroom management will seem to refuse to go the way you want or expect it to. When that happens, try pulling back and beginning again on a smaller scale. For instance, if peer conferences are deteriorating in quality, demonstrate a few and begin fresh a few days later.

If you can remember to pace yourself and to expect that, at the end of the day, you will most likely say, "There was a lot more I could have done today, but I'll attempt to do it tomorrow," you may find yourself feeling calmer and more accomplished.

The paper chase
The papers and books in our classrooms seem just like the mail at home – they have a habit of piling up. The fact is, our classrooms cannot be bare. We must have many types of texts for our students to read (books of different genres, newspapers, magazines, reference materials, etc.) as well as supplies for writing and self-expression. Most of the teachers I know have a very small amount of storage space, and no matter how much space we have, we always need more.

It's important to have materials accessible for students' easy location and retrieval, but there are no easy solutions since what works in one classroom fails in another. Tubs work well in many primary classrooms, while shelves answer storage needs in other rooms. Once, I bought dozens of plastic shoe boxes, only to realize I had been foiled again. Although they worked well for items such as pens, pencils, staplers, rulers, etc., I found out that a plastic shoe box doesn't hold 8 l/2" x 11" paper.

So how can we increase the amount of display and storage space for books and magazines? One of the best ideas I've seen is the use of plastic rain gutters for display space. A single gutter can be placed under a window, bulletin board or chalkboard. Multiple gutters can be hung on walls.

Many teachers I know head for the laundry department of their favorite discount department store when they need help. That's where they find chain or clothesline that can be hung in swags at student height. Attach magazines with clothespins or plastic clips and voila! Hanging storage!

The home/office storage department of your local discount store also offers inexpensive solutions; I recently saw plastic closet organizers used as book cases.

Space – the final frontier
Classroom space is, in a way, the easiest challenge to face because we must work within the space we've been assigned. We may have to wait years until we can move to a larger classroom, so we must maximize the space we have.

I usually begin by studying the furniture in the room to determine which pieces are absolutely essential. Often large furniture, such as a teacher's desk, can be replaced with a more compact file cabinet and shelf. If you have inflexible furniture such as student desks with slanted tops, beg for tables and chairs. Create as much shared space as possible, so students can engage in reading and writing all over the classroom. Continue to redesign the space until you're satisfied that you have made the greatest possible use of what you have.

You're not alone
Now, back to my non-certified counseling role. I can tell you, without a doubt, that if you have stressful moments of feeling inadequate because your classroom doesn't look perfectly organized, and if you can think of 20 things you wanted to accomplish today but did not, you're a very normal teacher.

So, what can we do about frustrations over the juggling act our time, space and materials seem to require? If you're like me, you'll continue to read books that offer a few solutions, you'll discuss your challenges with your peers, you'll attend conferences where you hear other teachers share their notions and you'll use the ideas that make the most sense to you in your special niche.

Maryann Manning is on the faculty of the School of Education, the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

August/September 2003, Vol.34, No.1