Classroom Management Philosophy

Calm is strength, upset is weakness. -Fred Jones

Meagan Wylie

Table of Contents
[Page 2] [Page 3] [Page 4] [Page 5] [Page 6] Building Relationships Rules and Procedures Motivation Classroom Design Relationships with Parents Reflection

Teaching Philosophy
Teaching is more than simply giving out facts and having students recite them and memorize them. It is giving students the opportunity to grow into who they are going to become when they are adults. As teachers, we give students chances to explore, make discoveries, and learn to take ownership of their own education. If we have done our job correctly, the student does not stop thinking about what they learned when they leave school for the day. In addition to fostering a love for learning, it is important to create a space that students feel safe to explore and ask questions. This not only happens with the consistency of the routine, but with the ability to create a community in the classroom. I have noticed throughout my teaching that when students feel safe in a place, they begin to take risks. When students begin to take risks, real learning begins. Teaching is a balance between what the student desires to learn and what the teacher is required to teach. Of course with the growing size of classrooms, it is not always an easy task. However, it is a task that I look forward to figuring out how to accomplish.

Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then do something. Dont just stand there, make it happen. Lee Iacocca
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Building Relationships
Building relationships in the classroom is something that is extremely important in helping a student succeed. If a student doesnt feel safe and doesnt know what is coming day to day, then there is going to be more stress and interfere with learning. Below is a list that discusses teacher student relationships and student-student relationships. Teacher-Student 1. 2. The first tool that I plan on utilizing is a morning sharing time. By setting aside time to listen to how students are doing and making a clear effort to know what is going on in their life, students will feel more comfortable when they have a true difficulty that they need to discuss. I will create a chart that has different moods that they are able to point to. Every morning, I will ask the students to point to the mood that they are in. This will allow me to gage where the students are and what to expect from them that day. Furthermore, if they are having a bad day, I will be able to ask them why later to help them further build rapport. Another tool that I plan to use is rather than immediately assuming that a student is at fault, listening to what the student has to say and trying to view things from their perspective. By doing this, hopefully the student will not see me as someone who reprimands them but as someone who is trying to help them succeed and find solutions. I will also take the time to let a student know when they are doing something well or correct. I think as teachers, we easily fall into a pattern of only talking to students when they are doing something wrong or misbehaving and completely disregard the good behavior. I think by recognizing desirable or good behavior, we put the attention on the behavior we expect and want.

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Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn. -Benjamin Franklin
Student-Student 1. Students will constantly be forced to work in groups that are always changing. This will give students the opportunity to work with different students and personality types. Not only will they develop relationships with every student but will help them build the skill of working with others. I will also be constantly changing the seating arrangement. This gives students the opportunity to sit next to different students and to develop relationships with students they otherwise would not have. As soon as it is logistically possible, I will take the students on a field trip or create some sort of bonding experience. Creating an opportunity for students to bond over an event or fun experience is something that creates friendships and helps create community in a classroom. Finally, I will never let the students use the excuse of I do not like them or he annoys me to be a reason to not work or include anybody. As adults, they will have to work with peers they do not like. Furthermore, the scars of being excluded as a child is something I never want to allow a child to endure in my classroom. Every student will always being included in every situation if they desire to be.

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In my field placement
My cooperating teacher has said that classroom management, above all else is extremely important. He believes that if you know the content but cannot control that class to teach them, it isnt worth anything. Therefore, he has focused all of his efforts into classroom management.
Rules
I firmly believe that giving the students the opportunity to create their own class contract gives them ownership of their classroom in doing so they are more likely to follow the rules. When this exercise takes place, I will have a pre decided idea of what the rules should be and guide them to those same rules. However, giving them the chance to decide how their class should behave is important. To finish this practice, the students will sign the bottom of it, creating a contract. By doing so, it reminds them that if any of the rules get broken, they agreed to it at the beginning of the school year. The rules themselves will be very broad and they will be limited to about five. I have seen in the past, especially with students who enjoy pushing boundaries, the more rules and that are set in place and the more specific they are, the more loopholes students will attempt to find. Making them broad and by limiting the number will allow for class discussions and behavior modification. A quick question of Is that respectful? or Is that the hardest you can work? will simply remind students of the contract they agreed to in the beginning of the school year. Below are examples of rules that I would like in my classroom. one request is that despite their mood or how they are feelings, they just do their best for what they are feeling that day.

Every Student Will Be Engaged and Be An Active Listener

Our class will discuss what active listening looks like and how it can mean different things for different students. Furthermore, we will talk about engaged and active listening is more than just listening. It is responding to class discussions.

Procedures
Taking the time to create procedures in the beginning of the school year is something that saves time down the road. Below are some procedures that I plan to institute in my classroom.

Be Respectful
This rule encompasses so many things. It encompasses being respectful and understanding to each other as learners and a community. It is also respectful of our classroom and the materials we use to learn. Finally, it is also being respectful as listeners and learners towards the teachers. When this rule is created, we will discuss what respect is and in all the situations it can be applied.

Try Your Best

This rule will be created to let the students know that I as a teacher knows that every day is a new day. I know that some days students will be energetic or tired. I also know that some days students will not be very interested in learning and have very little motivation. My

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Bathroom Signal
Students raising their hands to use the restroom is something that can be both embarrassing for students and take instructional time away.

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Continued
Furthermore, it may also interrupt the flow of conversation or a discussion. To help combat this, I will have students raise their hand and use the sign language symbol for toilet. Therefore, I will know that their question is not academic related and I will be able to nod my head to the student discreetly and they will be able to get up and use the restroom. without giving students time to relax. However, I think that if students are not given the opportunity to get up and stretch their legs, they are not as receptive to the information and arent truthfully listening anyways. Therefore, breaks will always be worked into lessons and in between subjects.

Seating
In my lessons, my students will not always be sitting in their seats. There will be times that they will be moving their desks so that we have an open space to work with. Sometimes students will be asked to sit on the floor. Other lessons will tell students to find their own private space to help them work productively. I will take time in the beginning of the school year to discuss how each of these seating arrangements look. Furthermore, I will have a blue strip of tape placed on the floor. I will explain to students that I will want the front two legs of their desk on the blue strip of tape. Therefore, if the desks were ever to be moved there would be an expectation of how the room is supposed to look after the activity is completed.

Emergencies
Practicing what to do incase of an emergency is something that is essential. Fire drills and tornado drills were always a procedure that was practiced within the first week at my school. Unfortunately, in the society that we live in, an evacuation or an intruder in the building is a plausible event. If this were the case, students will have been told where to hide and how important it is to be quiet. Furthermore, I would explain if there was ever an emergency where I was not there, only trust an trustworthy adult like another teacher, the principal, or a police officer.

Active Listening
In the beginning of the school year, we will discuss that active listening looks different for every student. For some students, it will include standing or sitting on their desks so they can swing their legs. For others, it will include sitting on an exercise ball. For otherwise, it will include sitting on stool. I will explain that I, as a teacher, wants them to know themselves as a student and that they need to know that which of these opportunities will help them learn and which of these opportunities will be a distraction for them. I will also explain that I can help them with this decision. However, it is my goal as their teacher to begin to develop their self-awareness.

Breaks
Breaks are something that are easily forgotten in todays teaching environment. With so much content to be covered, it is easy for teachers to continue teaching

Motivation
Motivation is something that is extremely difficult to accomplish especially when students see little value in a subject or dont know why they are learning it. One way to help with this gap between academics and real life is to show students how it is applicable. For example, if students are learning how to tell time or to count money, we can use a real life application to help with the acquisition of knowledge. Another tool that I have found really boosts motivation is having the educator be excited about the material as well. I know that when my teachers were excited to teach a subject, I was really excited to learn it. Furthermore, I want to give my students some choice in what they are learning. When I say this, of course there is curriculum that has to be followed and I will of course teach that to them. However, I will allow my students to choose when they want to learn something. Again, this gives them ownership of their education and also intrinsically motivates them because the students chose what they wanted to learn. Finally, Alfie Kohn explains in Rethinking Homework that was published in 2007. The negative effects of homework are well known. They include childrens frustration and exhaustion, lack of time for other activities, and possible loss of interest in learning (Kohn). As a future educator I personally agree with this statement. I think that it is extremely important for students to be able to explore different activities outside of school rather than constantly doing homework. It is what makes students well rounded individuals. Furthermore, if I discover that students need extra support and additional practice, I will give them individualized homework on the skills they need to improve on. I believe that this alone will have a very large positive impact on

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Classroom Design

In my field placement
My teacher has students do endless amounts of homework and worksheets. Sometimes he has the students complete the worksheets and throws

Rationale This is my ideal classroom set up. As I stated in my procedures, the expectation of how the classroom would should be set up on a regular day would be explicit. This is not only for consistency for students but also so that students know what the expectations are to help keep the classroom clean and organized. I would have the student desks organized in this way so that students could all see the board and each other when learning and having discussions. Furthermore, this would allow me to walk in between their desks so that I would have access to every student. My desk would be in the back so that I could see all of the students work and monitoring their progress. This also gives the students the opportunity to watch me when I am modeling behavior that I want during work times. Finally, the space in the back of the classroom would be the classroom library. This space would include bean bags, a library, and other comfortable spaces for students to sit while reading. This would be a very literacy rich area and a resource for students to use.

them right into the recycling bin without looking them over. I have always been a bit skeptical of this because I do not like the message that this is sending to the students Additionally, I think the amount of homework that he is giving his students is actually having an adverse affect on their learning.

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Relationships with Parents

Building a relationship with parents is something that is crucial to having a good learning environment. One important way to build that rapport is to send home newsletters to help them know what their sons and daughters are learning. Unfortunately, young students are not the best messengers and do not always give the accurate information on what they did in school that day. However, if I as a teacher take the time write a newsletter and inform the parents, that would help build a positive relationship. Another thing that I plan on doing to help build positive relationships with parents is calling home to parents to discuss the good things that their students have been doing. Ordinarily, calling home is only something that happens when students have misbehaved or not performing well academically. However, by telling parents what their students have done well and praising them for their performances, it would help build a positive relationship and foster more trust with parents for when more serious matters come up. Unfortunately, in one of my field placements, my teacher only calls home to discuss the behavior challenges he is having with a student. He never tells the parents what good things the student is accomplishing. I do not believe that this is a effective way to get parents to help a student succeed. Additionally, I would try to get parents involved through parent teacher conferences. Creating face-to-face contact with parents, giving them time to voice their questions and concerns further nurtures and builds a relationship with parents that is extremely important in helping students succeed. Unfortunately, my field placement teacher was telling me that parent involvement is extremely low in her school. She has a difficult time getting parents to come in for conferences. However, she always makes it well known that the parents are invited and she is always available to talk when they want to. Finally, I would try to get parents involved as much as possible. Creating events that promote parent involvement and that are still educational allows parents first hand to see what their students are learning. These events would give opportunities for parents and students to bond and discuss very specifically what the student has done that day in class.

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Reflection
Overall, my ideal classroom is a student-centered classroom with minimal to no homework. Ideally, this type of classroom would help increase motivation and foster an interest in learning. Only providing homework when I saw a skill that needed to be improved would hopefully eliminate the exhaustion that students often feel from never having a break from school. Furthermore, the students would learn how to take ownership of their classroom and education. I would do my best to recognize good behavior as well as behavior that needs to be changed. I would have consistent and clear expectations for students so they would know what is expected of them on a regular basis. A combination of my education classes at Hope College and my field experiences has led to believe that this would provide a very successful learning environment for my students.