Today was a Bad Day

A fight broke out during the last 15 minutes of my last class today. It was a bad day. My classroom management skills are not as great as they once were. I don't really know what it is that's changed between just last semester and this one but I'm determined to find out. Thankfully, my current grad class is on Comprehensive Classroom Management! lol I hope to apply what I learn ASAP!

Could the fight have been avoided? If I created a classroom environment where the students weren't free to play around, then yes. Supposedly, two students were playing around. They were in their seats but fooling around nonetheless. (They openly admitted to it.) If I didn't allow the students out of their seats in such a large number at a time (4), then maybe I would've seen the incident occur immediately and stopped it or I would've seen it about to occur and prevented it. If I had designated one student to managing the sink in place of me, I would've been able to walk around the room instead of being stuck at the sink. Not only would I have been more aware of what was occurring in the classroom, but the student at the sink would feel empowered, as he/she was in charge of helping each group with their laboratory investigation. If I had planned out the day better, I would've been able to foresee problems that may have arisen and prevented them. Well, we learn from our mistakes, no? Tomorrow's a new day!