Running head: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT AND GUIDANCE 1

Classroom Management and Guidance

Autumn Carter

Concordia University

November 16, 2017

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Classroom Management and Guidance

Classroom management and guidance is something that needs to be a necessity in

every classroom. We have different rules and management to keep the children safe and

keep a good flow going through the classroom. Without classroom management and

guidance the classroom could potentially mean there is chaos throughout the day.

Classroom management is not only for preschool classrooms, but elementary, middle, and

high school classrooms as well. The teacher places certain guidelines for the children to

follow in order for the children and students to succeed. It is important to develop certain

guidelines at the beginning of the year, however it is important to know all years are

different, so changes may have to occur throughout the school year.

The teacher plays an incredibly large rule in classroom management. Not only are

the teachers the one creating the different rules for the classroom, but also they are

creating an environment that is healthy and successful for all of the children. They are

building a classroom that will affect the children’s social development and their pro-social

behaviors (Kassin, Fein, Markus, 2014, p. 394). Classroom management affects everything

that happens in the classroom. It is not just rules that the children have to follow, but sets

them up to succeed with how to behave in different environments and how to be towards

their peers.

Teachers not only want their children to be safe in the classroom, but they also want

them to build healthy relationships with every person around them. Building friendships

and relationships is important for young children because they now are gaining those types

of skills for the future. If you do not start a child out young with building relationships, then

they might never understand the correct communication skills for when they are older
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(Kassin, Fein, Markus, 2014, p. 399). Children are learning not only how to build

relationships, but how to be towards other people as well. They are learning pro-social

behaviors for when someone they know has been hurt or if there is a problem between

them and another person. They begin to build skills on how to treat others around them

and how to act around the peers around them. Starting children out early to learn these

types of skills will help them to continue building healthy relationships in the future.

A teacher of course plays big roles in the classroom, not only are they teaching the

children, but they are there for the children and comforting the children when they need it.

The teacher can effect the child in many ways in the classroom, if the teacher is not loving

or does not do a good job at teaching, then that might reflect on the children’s behaviors

and the way they learn in the classroom. Not only can the teacher effect these things, but

also they can effect the child’s social development. Social development is important in a

young child’s life. When a child does not learn social development and does not learn how

to interact when they are young, then it can poorly affect them when they are older.

Children are learning all day everyday how to be social and with others. However, it is the

teacher’s job to make sure the children are learning proper social behaviors and how to

interact with others. When a problem arises in the classroom between two of the children,

the teacher can then take this as an opportunity to teach them how to handle conflicts.

Children need to learn how to interact with others in good and bad situations so they can

learn how to interact with all people when they are older and need to be using social skills

(Akman, Kukurtcu, Tarman, Sanli, 2017).

So is the teacher the only one to effect the child’s social development in the

classroom? No they are not the only effect, because the environment plays a role in a child’s
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social development and behavior as well. The teacher does set this up for the children

though. They make sure that the environment is best for all of the children and can help the

children when it comes to their social development. Without and environment that helps

children’s social skills, then they may not learn how to control and act when they are in

social situations. The environment in a situation can always affect people not just children

in the classroom. The way the classroom is set up can affect the children and even when

they are outside can affect them. Children need to be in different situations when they are

developing socially because then they will learn that there are different types of social

situations (Akman, Kukurtcu, Tarman, Sanli, 2017).

Children need to feel that they belong in the classroom and that they have a place in

the classroom. If they did not feel this way then they would struggle every morning at

parent drop off and they are probably struggling throughout the entire day. A child’s

emotions are greatly effected if they are not having the right experiences in the classroom.

It is important that children feel a sense of belonging in the classroom so they have a great

time when they are at school and so they can have great experiences. Preschool is the start

of it all, this is where the children learn and this sets them up for the rest of their school

career. If the children feel that they do not have a good preschool experience, then there is

a chance that they may not enjoy school ever because of bad experiences in the beginning

of their school career (Garwood & Vernon-Feagans, 2017).

Emotional changes are not the only changes that occur when children have

belongingness and security in the classroom. There are also social changes that the

children could end up experiencing. Sometimes a child feels their sense of security and

belonging because of the people who are around them. If they are making friends and if
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they have a good relationship with the teachers, then the better chance of a good sense of

belonging. Children learn how to form relationships at this age and it is important for them

to learn that they have others to be with and play with while they are at school. This helps

them feel like they have a reason to be a school. Wanting to see their friends and their

teachers will make an easier transition for them when they get to school in the morning

and will even sometimes mean that the children do not want to leave preschool at the end

of the day (Garwood & Vernon-Feagans, 2017).

Every fieldwork experience that one has teaches them how they want to run a

classroom in the future. I think when one observes a preschool classroom, they learn what

they will do and not do in their future classroom. Every person learns a lot through

different fieldwork and observation experiences. I have learned an incredible amount of

how I want my future classroom to look. Classroom management and guidance is a tough

thing to control in the classroom, but I have seen how to works and how it has not worked

in situations. These situations have taught me what I might do and might not do in my

future classroom. I have learned that there are going to be times where each group of

children is different each year. Some classroom management policies and guidelines may

work one year, but may not work the next year. It is important for me to keep an open mind

that not everything works for every child.

I want to keep the children safe and make sure they are having fun in the classroom.

I have seen children struggle with teachers while in fieldwork experiences and I want to

make sure that something like that will not happen in my future classroom. I want the

children to succeed. One time I witnessed a teacher tell one child they were not allowed to

do something, but then watch another child do the same thing, but they did not say
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anything. You have to be consistent with all of the children and you have to show them that

it is important to follow the rules. If you have poor classroom management and guidelines

the children will see that and be affected by it. I want what is best for each of the children in

the classroom. I want to watch them all succeed, so I am thankful for the fieldwork

observations I have experienced because it has taught me how I want to be as a teacher and

how I want to teach the future children that walk through the door of my classroom.

So what is the difference between classroom management and guidance verses a

rule and discipline policy? Well many things, classroom management and guidance are

more about how the classroom flow is and how things work in the classroom. Rules and

discipline are a more strict method that tells the children what they can and cannot to and

gives them a discipline when they may do something wrong. Both methods are important

for a classroom. You need classroom management to keep a good flow in the classroom, but

it is also a good thing to have rules to keep the children safe. Do all of the rules need to be

stern and bad? No, they do not; they can be as simple as using walking feet when in the

classroom or using an indoor voice. It is important to teach the children at this preschool

age that there are times that rules need to be followed. Rules happen at every age, so it is

important for children to learn how to begin following rules at a young age (Odenbring,

2014).

Having a set routine is good for classroom management and classroom rules. If you

have a set schedule and keep the same rules, then the children see consistency. It is

important to be consistent every day and for every child. If you tell one child something,

but tell another differently, then it can show favoritism and that you do not like a child.

Teacher’s need to always show the consistency that the rules stay the same and that
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classroom management stays the same throughout the year. Sometimes a teacher may have

to change some things depending on the group of children that particular year, but overall

you do not want to change something in the middle of the year. A child may not like to

experience change, or it could even change the flow of classroom management throwing

many of the children off. When a change needs to happen it is important to make sure that

it is an important and good change for all of the children (Lester, Allanson, Notar, 2017).

Researching this topic has helped me to better understand that classroom

management and guidance is not there just because. It is there because we want what is

best for the children in the classroom. This information has helped prepare me for my

future classroom and my future children. Good classroom management techniques that

make the classroom run smoothly and that let the children have fun while they are learning

and playing will be beneficial for the classroom I have in my future. I will learn as my years

go on in the classroom, but I am looking forwards to being the best for each of the children

that will come and go through my classroom.

Classroom management and guidance is important for all children and all

classrooms. It is not something that is only seen in preschool classrooms, but even all the

way up to college classrooms. It is important for teachers to keep an open mind about how

the flow of the classroom is going to make sure everything is going smoothly. Classroom

management and rules keeps the children safe and helps them to have fun. They learn and

grow from these things and it is important for a teacher to see and know that. Classrooms

would be chaotic without certain management policies and rules in place.

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References

Akman, B., Kukurtcu, S. K., Tarman, I. & Sanli, Z. S. (2017). Examining Preschool and First

Grade Teacher’s Opinions on the Effects of School Readiness to Classroom

Management. International journal of progressive education, 13(1), 22-41.

Garwood, J. D. & Vernon-Feagans, L. (2017). Classroom Management Affects Literacy

Development with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Exceptional children, 83(2).

123-142.

Kassin, S. M., Fein, S., & Markus, H. R. (2014). Social psychology. Belmont, CA: Cengage

Learning.

Lester, R. R., Allanson, P. B., & Notar, C. E. (2017). Routines Are the Foundation of

Classroom Management. Education, 137(4), 398-412.

Odenbring, Y. (2014). Gender, Order and Discipline in Early Childhood Education.

International journal of early childhood, 48(3), 345-356.