In the article, "It's People, Not Programs", the two teachers, Mrs Smith and Mrs Jones, taught their classes in an old beaten down gym. Because they knew how to use the environment they were given to the best of their ability, the students did not even notice that their class was being held in an old gym. The main reason why this type of an open classroom can work is because of the teachers' experience with classroom management. A good teacher must know how to handle students in certain situations.
While I observe I notice that the worst thing to do to get your students to be quiet when they are getting too loud, is to say, "Shh!" twenty million times. This simply does not work and the students will just ignore it. A couple of ways to get students to simmer down is to have a signal such as putting your hand up in the air, giving a stern look and remaining silent, or shutting the lights. Writing students names on the board is not going to get them to stop misbehaving, it simply is going to make them disrespect the teacher, as seen in Mr. Lewis' classroom.
Another reason why these teachers succeed in such a lacking environment is because they know how to constantly get the kids motivated by doing creative projects instead of having them remain in six rows of five. Kids need to move and they need to keep their minds moving as well as their bodies.This is why lecture does not work as seen also in the article.
