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Janel Horton
EDUC 540
October 19, 2014
Domain 2 The Classroom Environment
As a teacher, classroom management is extremely important. While I follow my
cooperating teachers system, I often think about how I would run my own classroom. From
the very beginning, I would create an environment of respect and rapport by learning the
students name on the first day. By knowing their names right away, I am showing that I
care and respect each one of them. Imagine spending the day with someone who does not
even know your name. I have been in these situations before and it certain made me feel as if
I was not important or part of the group. I will also take a genuine interest in the students
lives. While I cannot spend all day talking to the students about their lives outside of school,
it is important for the students to know that I care. Every day, the students can count on me
to greet them by name as they enter the classroom in the morning, go to lunch, and leave for
the day.
Students are encouraged to do their best and will be told that it is okay if they do not
know the answer. I will never force a student to share when he or she does not want to.
While I give the students this choice, most of the students will actually try. I will never
shame the students for getting a wrong answer. If they get it wrong, I will always say good
try, but I also try to express why I can see them getting mixed up if possible. For example,
while teaching a lesson on the sound, a student said that nay was the sound that a horse
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made. I explained that neigh is the sound that horses make, but nay is another way of
saying no. It was an easy mistake, because they are sound alike wordssame sound, but
different meanings. There are many times when students go off on tangents during a lesson
and I say something like, I really would love to hear about your trip to the shore, but we
need to focus on the work right now. I definitely want to hear this story, so please tell me
later on. Those students often come to me later to share their stories, but I often try to come
back to them and ask them about the story at a more appropriate time.
Respect between student and teacher is important, but so is respect between all of the
students in the class. By showing and demanding respect, the students will hopefully do the
same with their peers. This seems to be the case in this classroom. I have never heard one
student make fun of another for not knowing the answer to a question. Conflict resolution
should be also addressed very early on. I am fond of I statements. The I statement
allows students to express what is bothering them, why it is bothering them, and what the
other person can do to make things better. This is not always needed, but it is certainly
helpful when confrontation is necessary.
As a student teacher (and in the future as a regular teacher), I have high expectations for
the students. My expectations are different for each person, so I try to consider this when
differentiating lessons. I also try to have the more advanced students help the struggling
ones. I tend to do this in social studies more, because there are people with a large range of
abilities, but I try not to do this too often. Another way I do (and will) establish a culture for
learning is by showing interest in what I am teaching and finding ways to make them excited.
I was reading a book about voting today and was very animated. Besides being animated, I
did my best to make it relatable to the students. When we got to the part in the story about
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people fighting for the right to vote, I brought up the vote that we had for a class reward. I
asked the students how they would feel if only those in the class with glasses could make the
decisions for class rewards. There were three people with glasses on, including myself. The
look on the students face suddenly showed an understanding and they seemed to become
more focused on the lesson after that.
Managing classroom procedures is something that is difficult for me at times, but is
getting much better. My experience has made me see how vital consistency is with all
students. I always believed in being consistent with younger students, but this is also the
case with third graders. By being consistent with routines and transitions, there will be little
to no instructional time lost. In my classroom, social studies is right after recess. 35 minutes
later, they are supposed to be in their specials classroom. Getting back into the class from
recess always takes 5 minutes off of their instructional time; this is something that I have no
control over. The students, however, now know that as soon as they come into the
classroom, they are to sit down immediately, get quiet, and be ready for the lesson. From
doing this every day, lost instructional time is less than before.
While managing student behavior, I will do much of what my cooperating does with my
future students. Students are told on the very first day what they are expected to do and how
they are expected to act. There are rewards and consequences for their actions. I will
continue to use a behavior management board. Each student has a green card in the front
displayed. For certain behaviors, they will be given a warning. If they continue, they will
pull a yellow card. The yellow card is a sign on an official warning. The next card, orange,
makes them miss part of recess. The card after, red, means that they must stop, reflect on
what they did, and write a note stating what they did and how they could change this in the
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future. This note goes home to their parents. The final card is a black card. The black card
means that students will be sent to the principals office. I started on the first day of the
school year and have never seen one student have anything worse than an orange card
missing part of recess. The first few days, they students were given examples of behaviors
that might warrant a warning and what might cause them to bypass a warning and
immediately go to a different card. They know that this is up to the teachers discretion.
Although there is a card for missing part of recess, I will try not to limit that too much. I feel
that many times the students have so much energy that they need to run it off. This would be
impossible to do if they were sitting for an entire recess. The five minutes of lost recess
seems like a good enough consequence without taking their physical outlet completely away.
I will have students who do not do their homework frequently make it up during recess time
though. This will hopefully be enough to have them take responsibility and do their
homework.
As I stated earlier, the students know what they are expected to do and how to behave.
Any students who have a tendency to throw tantrums are stopped immediately when one
appears to be starting. They are told that this is not appropriate and does not belong in
school. By stopping the tantrum before it occurs, it is easier for the student to calm down and
reason. According to a study that I read and learned about when I was working in childcare,
once students reach a certain point, they are unable to be reasoned with until they calm down.
It is almost as if they shut down. Students will also be encouraged to take responsibility for
their actions. It is better to admit doing something wrong than to lie about it. The students
will know that the consequences may be much worse if it is found out that they were lying.
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Organizing a physical space is something that I will have the students take a large part in.
While it is my responsibility to make sure that everything is arranged with safety in mind, the
students will help by being responsible for keeping their areas clean and free of clutter. I
have almost tripped several times, because of students throwing their backpacks or
lunchboxes on the floor. I often have to remind certain students to push in their chairs, close
their backpacks, and put things away. I will focus on this more than we do, because people
can get hurt.
By creating an environment of respect and rapport; establishing a culture for learning;
managing classroom procedures; managing student behavior; and organizing the physical
space, students will feel safe and comfortable to learn and take risks. They will be respected
and will respect others. The students will also take pride in their work.