Classroom Management
On these pages, you'll find details about my classroom management style and strategies I might use in my future classroom. Visit each page for details on my classroom setup, instructional strategies, motivating students, classroom expectations & behavior management, procedures & routines, communication plan, and material management. Click here for a brief summary of each page. Keep reading for my classroom management philosophy.
My Philosophy
My classroom management philosophy centers around four themes: classroom communication, student well-being & mental health, positive behavior supports, and student engagement & motivation.
Classroom Communication
I use laconic, goal-oriented, positive language with students and families, as promoted by Ginott (Charles & Senter, 2012). My goal is to use my language to model growth mindset, empathy, and critical thinking for my students. This type of language will help me foster an environment where students feel safe to make mistakes, ask questions, and get out of their comfort zones. Using such language also helps students learn to treat others with respect and kindness and shape their own thinking positively. |
Student Well-Being & Mental Health
I believe that part of my role as a teacher is fostering students' overall well-being, mental health, and social-emotional development. As Dreikurs, Glasser, Kohn, and Albert all agreed, students' mental health can greatly impact their academic performance, the quality of their social interactions, and their behavior in and out of the classroom (Charles & Senter, 2012). Therefore, I aim to foster a child's sense of safety and belonging to the classroom community. This involves routines such as greeting each student at the door, having regular mental health check-ins, and practicing presence. Another goal I have is to do more research on trauma-informed education to better understand my students' mental health as both a classroom management strategy and a way to support their growth. |
Positive Behavior Supports
I draw ideas for behavior management at these levels from Skinner, Kounin, Dreikurs, and Albert's theories (Charles & Senter, 2012). I believe in using positive behavior supports at the individual, class, and school-wide levels. These systems include antecedent strategies, behavior reinforcement strategies, and student accountability strategies. For example, I use positively-phrased expectations for behavior, plan for effective transitions, and motivate students to be accountable without creating competition or fear of punishment. When addressing challenging behaviors, consequences must either be a natural or a logical, related, and reasonable result of a behavior. Behavioral expectations must also be reasonable and developmentally appropriate. |
Student Engagement & Motivation
I believe from experience that students learn best when they are engaged, having fun, and internally motivated. This aligns with Tomlinson's five basic needs as well as Glasser's ideas on motivating students. To be most engaging, tasks must have value and be worth students' time. Therefore, I set a purpose for learning with my students and review the goal for the lesson or activity in the form of an "I can" statement. In addition, I do my best to make activities as interesting or fun as possible through creativity, play-based learning, hands-on experiences, and purposeful use of technology. I would like to explore problem-based learning and service-based learning as more ways to boost engagement and motivation while also teaching the value of service and global thinking. |
References
Charles, C. M. & Senter, G. W. (2012). Elementary classroom management, 6th ed. Boston: Pearson, Allyn and Bacon.
Charles, C. M. & Senter, G. W. (2012). Elementary classroom management, 6th ed. Boston: Pearson, Allyn and Bacon.