Running head: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY 1

Classroom Management Philosophy

Jessica Appelman

Tarleton State University

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Classroom Management Philosophy 2

Classroom Management Philosophy

I once believed in fairies. In my elementary school years, I began a journal filled with

imagined adventures with elves, fairies and trolls that included drawings, dates and times these

adventures occurred, and information on the creatures that inhabited my mind. Fellow students

noticed how I kept a diary with me everywhere and I always corrected them saying, “A diary is

about feelings. I have a journal about facts.” At one point, I had my journal taken up by one of

my teachers and she criticized my journal, saying that it was wrong to write about those things

since they were not real in front of the entire class. I stopped believing in fairies after that and

tore my journal to shreds.

Now I believe in my fairies and I know that they are real although they have no physical form.

I believe that creativity is key to learning; my creativity took the form of fairies, but all my

students will have different forms of creativity. Never will I stifle or criticize a student’s

creativity just because I could not see it their way. I believe that public ridicule of anyone is

unacceptable and I do not tolerate it in my classroom. Publicly shaming a student will only close

students off just as it had once done to me.

In school, there was a class where I had a teacher and she had a pet, by that I mean a teacher’s

pet. Whatever the teacher’s pet wanted, she got. It was the most irritating class ever. I believe

that all students should be treated equally and fairly. In my classroom, no student will have a

higher status than another.

Also, in middle school, I encountered a disagreement between two of my best friends that

spread until the teacher became involved. Since I was friends with both parties, I tried to explain

why they were upset with each other, but the teacher immediately cut me off and made a

completely wrong assumption that the argument was over a boy. I was given lunch detention for
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speaking out against the teacher. I believe that all students should be able to tell their side of the

story. When there is a disagreement in my classroom, I will listen to all the students involved

instead of silencing them and punishing them for using their voice.