Classroom Management

I believe establishing a classroom community is very important and should begin on the first day of school. As a teacher, I am responsible to set high expectations for all of my students by establishing rules, routines, and daily norms that are appropriate for that particular group. Establishing such things allows the students to know exactly what is expected of them. However, it is also important to be inclusive by permitting students to participate in the building of the classroom community. Students should feel comfortable expressing their feelings and voicing their expectations to the teacher and to each other. This can be accomplished by allowing students to establish the classroom rules as a whole group. Students should vote and agree to set the goals they would like to apply in their classroom. As a teacher, it is also important to show students a sense of trust by establishing classroom jobs they can fulfill. I have witnessed and learned that students enjoy having those responsibilities. Responsibilities help students feel as though they are contributing to their community, thus able to relate it to their daily lives.

Establishing a comfortable classroom community also helps students develop socially, emotionally, and cognitively. Students are able to develop socially through classroom management because they have to work together to problem solve and make decisions for their group. Also, when the environment is more accepting and safe, the students would feel more comfortable sharing their emotions within the classroom. The students are developing cognitively because they are being given responsible roles to which they may analyze and find ways to self improve. When a student feels accepted, they are most likely to engage and contribute their thoughts during instruction. It is my goal to ALWAYS establish a friendly, encouraging, and safe classroom community that fits the diverse needs and interests of my students each year. As a teacher, I also believe students must learn the importance of good citizenship and becoming active members of their classroom and society. Students must understand the importance of respect and responsibility to oneself and when working with others. As an educator I believe that good behavior should be announced and addressed to the whole class more so than negative behavior. Depending on the severity, I believe that negative behavior should be addressed directly with the student and/or the parent. Also, I have implemented behavior charts that are placed inside the students’ homework folder. This notifies the parents of their child’s behavior in a private manner. Some examples of positive reinforcement I’ve implemented in the past include token economies for individual students, table groups, and whole class. As an individual token reward I have used raffle tickets, which students can receive on a daily basis depending on their behavior and performance. For table groups, I have used coins to reward those who are cooperating and showing problem solving skills. As a whole class I used superstars, which were drawn up on the board when the whole class would demonstrate great behavior and performance.