[nobe-l] classroom management

[Faith Manion]

Hello All,
 I am looking for some classroom management suggestions.  I am
currently completing my student teaching in an 8th grade classroom.  I
have about two weeks left at this school and then I will move to the
high school.  I am having some issues and I was hoping someone might
have some suggestions.

1. The students are very comfortable with me now and are taking
advantage of the situation.  (I.E. not opening their books when we
read, telling me they are following along even if this is not true,
moving around the room, and switching seats. They have also become
good at lip talking.)  The teacher I am working with has informed me
about these situations and I'm not sure the best way to address these
issues.  I considered appointing a student to help me monitor the
classroom, but I don’t think this is best for this age group.  I want
to manage the classroom independently.

2. I have one class in particular that always wants to talk.  Some
days this is easier to control then other days.  Sometimes they even
want to talk when I am giving instructions, which obviously doesn't
work.

3.  How do you typically arrange the room for tests?  This week I
administered a test.  The desks were grouped in fours, like a square.
During the testing environment, many of the students would whisper to
one another even after I had given direct instructions not to talk.
Most of the students stopped talking when I caught them in the act,
but some of them were a little sneaky.  They would whisper to one
another and by the time I reached the area to identify the speakers,
they would stop speaking.

I would appreciate any feedback you might provide.  My cooperating
teacher is great to work with and provides great feedback, but I think
classroom management is somewhat difficult in this case.   She doesn't
really know how to help me improve in all areas of management.
Thanks
Faith