Effective Classroom Environment Essay

An essential tool to create a safe environment for students to learn is classroom management. I hope to create an effective classroom management plan that dissolves barriers that are stopping students from learning. I am highly committed to make my classroom a safe environment where my students are provided with the best opportunity to be challenged and engaged in learning. As a special education teacher, I seek to meet the needs of every student I work with, so they have a sense of belonging in my classroom. I believe belonging will create a classroom atmosphere that will be conducive to student-centered learning in which all students are challenged to be critical thinkers.

It is exceedingly important for schools to ensure a balanced and stable environment that provides safety, well-being, and acceptance to all students. In order to do this, as well as generate a positive communal learning atmosphere that empowers the entire student body of the school and the individual classroom, there needs to be a school-wide positive behavioral intervention and support (PBIS) system implemented. The defined explanation of PBIS is “a framework for enhancing the adoption and implementation of a continuum of evidence-based interventions to achieve academically and behaviorally important outcomes for all student” (Sugai and Simonsen, 2012). The goal of a PBIS application to a school’s community is to develop appropriate standards

McKevitt, B. C., & Braaksma, A. D. (2008). Best practices in developing a positive behavior support system at the school level. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology (5th ed., pp. 735–747). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

Critical response journal three is a reflective entry to detailed questions and thoughts pertaining to managing student behavior and promoting effective behavior in special needs students. Effective classroom practices and positive behavioral support approaches help to foster student success in the school environment.

“One of the essential roles of special education teachers is coteaching and working with other professionals, as well as communicating with family members and between special education teachers and other school-related professionals(Vaughn & Bos, 2015, p. 114)”. With the importance of a least restrictive environment special education and general education teachers are working together in a classroom with varying levels and abilities of learners. It is vitally important to have an effective relationship between the two teachers while developing and implementing lesson plans for learners with special needs. The physical space and dynamics of the classroom should fit the needs of the students and the established procedures should ensure a highly functional environment. Importantly, educators need to communicate to families “encouragement about what they can do at home and about an effective plan for providing instructional supports for their child(Vaughn & Bos, 2015, p. 114)”.

The implementation of positive behavior management systems in schools play a vital role in creating and maintaining a safe and supportive school environment. According to (safeschoolshub) “A safe school is one that takes action to promote and recognize positive student behavior, ensure student safety and minimize risk.”

Throughout the years education has taken many different directions, each direction presenting new positive and negative outcomes. One of the newest directions the school system has taken is the inclusion movement. As a result of the inclusion movement some other changes within the classroom have been made. This includes behavior management programs. This has led to the development of Positive Behavioral Support.

Have you ever thought about how the behavioral expectations are different at varying developmental levels in students' lives? If you have, the changes and developmental differences of the students that are involved whether at the elementary, middle school or high school levels must be taken into account when developing a Positive Behavioral Support System (PBSS). Furthermore, school leaders must also value the socioeconomic and experiential differences of students and both also must be kept in the forefront for developing how a Positive Behavioral Support System should be implemented. Moreover, in urban settings, culture and meaning must be in the careful planning of what is going to be in the desired set of behaviors. Understanding expectations from the cultural norms have to be also considered. (Betters-Bubon, Brunner, & Kansteiner, 2016, p.265) This juggling act of keeping all of the different needs in the air of different students comes down to whether an effective leader can keep all the balls in the air and not let them drop, or to be stated more succinctly, to delegate and supervise the

Children who have behavioral, emotional and social difficulties may be withdrawn or isolated, disruptive and disturbing and they may be hyperactive.They may lack concentration and have immature social skills. Challenging behavior may arise from other complex special needs. Children who have these needs may require a structured learning environment, with clear boundaries for each activity. They may need extra space to move around and to ensure a comfortable distance between themselves and others. They may take extreme risks or have outbursts and need a safe place to calm down.Behavior support or counseling may take place in a quiet supportive

Welcome parents and student to Franklin County Elementary. Our superintendent of education has recently decided to implement a school wide positive behavior support. This approach to discipline includes school-wide, targeted, and individualized strategies for achieving social and learning outcomes while preventing problem behavior with all students. It involves modifying our processes and procedures to help decrease problem behaviors. You will see that we have added reminders throughout the school (in the classrooms, hallways, lunchroom, bathrooms, etc.) as a friendly reminder of the rules to encourage good behavior. Our goal is to get more remarks for positive behavior than incident reports for negative behavior every week. The remainder of this paper will outline our School Wide Positive Behavior Support, explaining behavior expectations, rewards, error correction procedures, and data collection procedures.

Today schools are faced with an overwhelming amount of behavior problems as a result they have incorporated programs to help create a positive culture within each school system. Several behavior management programs have been implemented in schools all over the United States therefore the school environment can run more smoothly. Here are some approaches that aid in creating a positive and safe environment in schools.

The overall functioning of a classroom is impacted by trust, safety, and consistency. When a student does not feel safe he or she will reflect this through his or her behavior. Trust is important for students to take risks and allow learning to occur in the classroom. Trust, safety, and consistency are beneficial in the learning environment. A classroom where students feel safe, realize the teacher is consistent, and trust is developed, will allow students to grow and change socially, emotionally, and academically. This will offer a positive learning environment.

A 6-week inservice program focusing on the principles of operant conditioning and positive reinforcement was implemented. The study was designed to evaluate the use of behavior management strategies in the classroom, and positive results were found in the decrease in restraints and crisis incidents. Crisis incidents were defined as a child being required to leave the classroom because of unacceptable behavior, e.g., persistent noncompliance. As the revised treatment module began to work, community special education programs began to send students for short term diagnostic placements, and a plan is in development for "transition classrooms" intended for children who no longer need intensive treatment but are not yet ready to return to the community. Applied behavior analysis provides teachers with methods for encouraging positive behaviors and coping with undesirable ones.

All four processes- collaboration, consultation, teamwork, and co-teaching, as they occur in the school context, involve interaction among school personnel, families, and students working together to achieve common goals. (Dettmer, Dyck, Thurston, 2005, p. 7)

Action research is a means through which an educator stays informed of the on going trends in education with specific interest in individual content areas or classroom management techniques. Teachers need to understand these trends to better serve the students. By participating in these research activities, teachers embrace change in pedagogical strategies and learn how to best understand their students and the learning environment. These in turn opens avenues for differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction is a teaching strategy that varies teaching techniques depending on individual student needs to meet the student at their points of need. Meeting students at their points of need and teaching them required content based using the most appropriate method should be the sole purpose for every educator. Therefore, teachers should conduct action research in their own classrooms to be better educators.