My Classroom Management Philosophy

In an interview, Harry Wong stated that, “The number one problem in the classroom is not discipline: it is the lack of procedures and routines,” (Wong). Harry and Rosemary Wong support a system of classroom management rather than classroom discipline. The Wong’s believe that students need to be “taught the roles, procedures, processes, and routines” that they are expected to follow (Charles, 116). When the “teacher explains the procedures of the classroom to the students, and the students turn the procedures into a routine,” then the teacher will have better control over the class with less discipline issues (Wong). For the Wong’s discipline philosophy, the teacher needs to have a script for the first day of class with everything that needs mentioned and completed. The students need to be greeted at the door by the teacher, bell work needs to be placed on all of the desks (even on the first day of school), and procedures and rules need to be taught, rehearsed, reinforced, and repeated (especially during the first two weeks of school). The students need no down time during class, by allowing down time, the teacher is allowing the students to misbehave. The students will follow directions when given, raise hand before speaking, and use kind words. The teacher will take role while all students are working on bell work so that it doesn’t take time from learning.

I find an effective tool for managing behaviour is to set firm ground rules at the beginning of the course. These include clear boundaries, and expectations. If this can be done in consultation with the students it can be extremely effective, as it gives them the responsibility of managing each other’s behavior. It is useful to note however, that set sanctions must also be clearly defined and followed as a consequence for breaking the rules for this technique to be effective. The use of reward is a good method of encouraging positive behavior, the use of praise, certificates and house points for example.

I think that setting rules on the first day of class and remind the students of those rules every day before the beginning of the class, can be a way of preventing unwanted behavior in the class. For example, rules such as: Respect other student’s

In order to prevent students’ need to act out, rules need to be established not only by the teacher but, more importantly, by the students. These rules or social contract should be positively oriented versus negatively oriented (i.e. we will respect others while they are speaking versus don’t talk when others are talking). The teacher should be consistent with the consequences when students act out regardless of the number of offense. Consistency is a good start to prevent students to act out. Being aware of all the students’ needs and allowing them to set their own rules give them a sense of belonging and responsibility. With the sense of

I believe that every student is good; every student shows that they are nice and care about the teacher and the class at some point in the classroom, however, due to their peers they do not always show empathy or generosity. One of my biggest goals of classroom management is to not only create a caring and loving classroom, but also a classroom that promotes these same feelings amongst the students in and out of the class. I want others to feel more than welcome to be good neighbors and care for one another and myself in and outside of the classroom. Thus I think that students are equals. I am highly aware that the thought of students being equals is far from the most common or even the accepted by many, however I believe that I am just as

I believe that classroom management is the very essence of effective and skilled teaching. It is imperative that as a future educator, I have sound understandings of the impact that child development and growth can have on classroom management, as no one child is the same. Drawing on theorist Jean Piaget’s four stages of development; thinking abilities, reasoning, logic and articulation, all develop at different times during a child’s growth and maturation (McDevitt & Ormond, 2010, p. 198). This influences greatly on a child’s reactions, concentration levels, memory skills, verbalisation, self-control and self-regulation (Blake & Pope, 2008, p. 60). I will strive to foster individual abilities,

When I think of my future classroom, I imagine it to a home. I plan for my students and I to be a “big family”, and it will still be a learning environment. While I am teaching a lesson I would like for my students to be quite when they should be listening and participating when it is time for them to participate. I am there to guide their learning, the students will be allowed to share, correct, and exchange information when the time is appropriate. I will have the traditional teaching style which is the students paying attention to the teacher, then once the students seem to understand the content they will then be able to move around and interact with other student in either group discussions or at the learning centers throughout the classroom. My classroom will be nice and bright to keep up the positive energy, and it will still be conducted as a learning environment for my students, and they will understand that everything that they learn in my classroom will travel with them till they are old, and they will be able to understand why they are in school and what their purpose is in life.

I believe classroom management encompasses every aspect of the classroom and entire learning community. In this community, the central role does not belong to me. That role belongs to every child that walks through the school doors. As soon as a student enters the school, everything revolves around them. This is what I like to call student-centric, a name I derived from Aristotle and Ptolemy’s geocentric model of the universe in addition to Copernicus’ heliocentric model. Each of the root words describe what everything revolves around in each model of the universe, so in the learning universe, everything revolves around the student. With that in mind, there are certain things I would like to discuss in relation to my future students and classroom.

The role that the teacher plays in molding student behavior is the rule keeper, the love giver, and the judge. Every teacher needs 3-4 standard rules that will be followed. For me, the rules students will be expected to follow are:

I want to involve students in rules about the classroom as well as what curriculum they would like to study. I believe if students feel they are involved in the workings of the classroom, they will be more motivated to engage in the class and in turn, learn.

The management style of the teacher sets the tone for the learning environment. I believe students can be taught to self-discipline. Most students are naturally good, and with the right management plan being implemented by the teacher they can be conditioned to be idea students. Students should be viewed as being equals in the learning environment. Students should not be considered subordinates within the classroom who have little to nothing to add to the principles and rules adopted by the teacher to govern the class. Consequently, I believe in establishing a democratic classroom. Teachers should give students the responsibility to, in a sense, take over the classroom and their learning.

There are many factors that affects a student 's ability to learn and achieve. Classroom management plays a major role in the effectiveness of education and paves the way for the teacher to engage students in learning. Classroom management creates a set of expectations, routines, rules, and consequences. Through my experience at Olson Elementary, I have had the privilege of observing Ms. Mason, her students, and how she addresses classroom management. Every teacher has their own approach on classroom management, but essentially instills and models and principles of instills the goals and structure that meet the needs of their students.

Classroom management is not something educators employ when a problem occurs. It should be proactive rather than reactive. As a teacher, classroom management is vital for successful day-to-day operations in the classroom; it is important that teachers think critically about the techniques and strategies they employ. Therefore, as a pre-service educator, it is imperative to delve into theorists whose work has had an impact on classroom management. Through the examination of the research, there were four theorists whose work and styles work well to manage the classroom: C. M. Charles, Rudolf Dreikurs, Marvin Marshall, and Harry and Rosemary Wong. The implementation of aspects of each of these four theorists will help create the classroom community and atmosphere teachers strive for; one where the students are in charge of their own learning and the educator is more of a facilitator of their growth. Using the Democratic Classroom approach will be important in fostering student involvement and responsibility. It will also help spur intrinsic motivation because the students will have ownership of the classroom and choice in the types of work that they do. However, the piece that helps to tie it all together is the Wongs; their work on the first days of school exemplifies the need to explicitly teach the rules and procedures (Charles, 2014). Therefore, using aspects of the Wong’s first day of school suggestions, Dreikurs’ democratic classroom, Marshall’s intrinsic motivation, and

In as much as students are expected to behave in particular by the teachers, they are equal expectations on their behaviors as such, and there should be a consensus between teachers and students in the establishments of the norms. According to

Classroom management ultimately makes or breaks an educator’s ability to impart knowledge to the students within their classroom. Classroom management encompasses the skills, techniques, and overall pedagogy employed by educators to establish control in a classroom environment. This allows for an academically maintained productive workplace. Educators are able to facilitate sufficient classroom management in circumstances where they maintain a level head and respond calmly and confidently to adversity.