Introduction
My classroom management plan will
focus on preventive and supportive approaches, to avoid unwanted behaviors and
corrective strategies to handle situations that arise. These approaches compliment
the educational philosophies that I have identified most closely with, the
experimentalism and essentialism educational philosophies, with an emphasis on
experimentalism. Using these philosophies to establish a student-centered
classroom where students are encouraged to develop their critical thinking
skills while also increasing their knowledge and learning to work with others.
According to the experimentalism philosophy, for each student to be successful
they need to learn how to think effectively and analyze and suggest ideas for
solutions to problems. By making this a part of the classroom environment, they
will see how problems can be solved through a collaborative and supportive
environment.
Preventive Approach
Preventative management approaches
are going to be the most important to me in order to avoid disruptive behaviors
before they even start. Using a variety of ideas from existing approaches, I
will use a combination that will be most effective for my classroom.
- Students
must find value in what they learn, so the curriculum must be revised so
it consists only of learnings that students find enjoyable and useful.
(Glasser, 1985)I have identified with the essentialism philosophy, as I do
believe that it is important to have a structure and curriculum to follow
to some degree. However, it is important that I preview the curriculum
that I will use and determine an appropriate order in which to present
information and cut out anything that is not necessary, giving students
the freedom to choose the order when appropriate. It also means I must
choose homework problems wisely and make sure they are relevant to the
lesson or unit, so that students see the value in the extra practice. If I
assign loads of homework that I have not previewed, students will not
benefit from it because their attitudes will change about the subject and
class.
- Teachers
motivate students to produce energy and excitement, which will reduce the
causes of classroom misbehavior. (Charles, 2000) I plan to make lessons
very interactive and interesting for students. I hope to establish a
classroom environment where collaboration and interaction are important
for learning, but with a strong emphasis on productive use of class time.
I want to motivate my students to be excited about math and create a fun
environment where students are interacting and learning math, but this
will only be able to happen if students are well behaved, which will be
emphasized throughout collaborative work. In the experimentalism
philosophy, “the curriculum is based on student interest and a good deal
of time is devoted to ‘learning by doing’ through discovery and
experimentation”. (Grant and Gillette, 2006) I will do what I can to allow
students to learn math by “doing” and allow them to work in groups to
discover and solve interesting and complex problems that include the
basics of the material that they should understand.
- Success
in school produces a sense of self worth and an ability to cope, which
reduces the likelihood of deviant behavior. (Glasser, 1985) I will do
everything that I can to provide my students with what they need to
succeed. Some of it they will have to seek out themselves, such as after
school or lunch tutoring to catch up or go over a concept again. This is
something that I will encourage all of my students to do if they are
having trouble. By providing the tools and resources needed, as well as
paying attention to certain individuals or concepts that need more
attention and providing extra help in class, I hope to avoid students feeling
like they aren’t succeeding. By creating an environment where students
feel they can succeed, they will be less likely to have behavior issues.
- Include
students in decision-making and problem solving. (Kohn, 1996) As a way to
prevent students from disagreeing with the rules and consequences set in
the classroom, I will have students be a part of creating the rules, which
I will call expectations, for the classroom, as well as the consequences
that they will face if these are not met. By involving and including the
students in the decision-making of the classroom, I hope to make them feel
like they are a valuable part of the classroom processes, and therefore
will be less likely to disrupt or not meet the expectations that they set.
Another idea that Kohn included in his approach is to have class meetings,
which is a great way to bring up issues that are going on in the classroom
and find out where the students are struggling.
- Something
that I have learned through my participation in the credential program is
that the use of directorships is a good way to establish responsibility in
the classroom. This is another way for students to be involved in the
classroom and will give them a responsibility to focus on. Making each
person feel like a valuable part of the classroom by giving them a
specific role will decrease the likelihood that they will have behavior
problems.
- Creating
an environment where the teacher is working with students rather than
telling or doing something to them. (Kohn, 1996) This is an important part
of making students feel like they are an important part of the class and
activities that are done in class. When students feel that the teacher is
working with them to help them be successful, they will be less likely to
disrupt the cooperative relationships that are formed between classmates
and the teacher. By making sure students understand that I would like to
work with them in solving problems, rather than just telling them what to
do, they will be more motivated to learn and be successful, which leaves
no room for behavior problems.
Supportive Approach
The
supportive approach to classroom management is also going to be an important
aspect of my overall plan. It is important for me to allow students to feel
comfortable in my classroom and feel their ideas and needs are accepted and
will help them toward success. In order to do this, I must support the positive
behaviors that I see and encourage students to behave in appropriate ways.
- Educators
and students can work cooperatively to create positive community for
teaching and learning. (Albert, 1996) Part of this approach was to “notice
appropriate behavior”. By creating this positive community where good
behavior is noticed just as much, even more, than bad behavior will
encourage students to act in ways that attract positive attention.
- Developing
caring, supportive classrooms where students fully participate in solving
problems, including behavior problems. (Kohn, 1996) The experimentalism
philosophy focuses on students and the need for them to be problem solvers
and critical thinkers. By modeling and encouraging students to use
positive ways to solve problems they have in the classroom, I will support
students in their efforts to solve their own problems before creating
larger problems. Encouraging and supporting this positive behavior of
identifying and working toward a solution to a problem will help classroom
behavior problems minimal.
- Demonstrate
how to clarify problems, determine ownership, and deal with the problems.
(Gordon, 1989) Support students by helping them to identify the problems
they are experiencing in the classroom. Part of this approach was to place
responsibility for different types of problems on different people and
then figure out how to proceed. Deciding whether the student, teacher, or
administrator should address the problem helps students to make sure they
are taking responsibility for problems that they need to handle on their
own. Supporting this behavior by recognizing when a student has made a
positive change in their behavior, will encourage students to handle their
own small behavior problems before the teacher needs to get involved.
- The
focus on meeting students’ basic needs as the key element in teaching and
discipline. (Glasser, 1985) Paying attention to student’s basic needs will
help them to feel that they are important and have support in the
classroom. Glasser describes the basic needs as “survival, belonging,
power, fun and freedom”. If these needs are not being met, students will
be more likely to act out and cause behavior problems in the classroom.
Part of meeting these needs is recognizing when students are engaging in
positive behavior so that they feel they are doing well, are a part of the
class, and it will help them to have more fun. By correlating positive
behavior with more freedom and power for the students in the classroom,
this will help their basic needs be met if they cooperate with the need
for a positive class environment with little behavior problems.
- Start
where your students are. (Jackson, 2010) This is the idea of using
currencies as motivation for students. Currencies can be many things and
differ between people. Discovering students’ currencies and nursing those
instead of the ones you think they should be worried about, will show that
you support their positive behaviors in the classroom. For example, if
students are not motivated by getting good grades, and are more worried
about how their friends perceive them, then it will be better to focus on
students challenging and pushing each other to perform. This will still
allow them to be successful, but changing the focus to something they care
more about, will help to support the desired behavior.
Corrective Approach
The
corrective approach to classroom management is also important because no
environment can be perfect for every student and there are other factors
contributing to student misbehavior. Aspects of the corrective approach will
help me in having a system for recognizing and handling inappropriate behavior.
- Redirect
students who are misbehaving. Indicate politely what you want from a
student. (Mendler, 1983) Acknowledging students who are misbehaving and
letting them know how you would like them to be doing is a great and easy
way to correct behavior problems. If these problems are noticed and
addressed at the time of the incident, students will be more likely to
change the behavior on the spot. The earlier a problem can be noticed and
a student confronted with a polite prompt in the right direction, the
faster the problem will be handled.
- Correcting
misbehavior that does occur by dealing with its cause. (Charles, 2000) I
tend to believe that students do not just act out and misbehave for no
reason. By asking students who are misbehaving to share the cause, will
help me to understand why they are acting the way they are. If the reason
is something that I can fix in my own classroom to accommodate their
needs, I will be happy to make the environment better for this student so
that they will not cause further problems. If it is something bigger than
I can change in my classroom, I will note what the student is going
through and refer them to others if it is necessary and they are willing
to talk further about it. By showing students that I care about them and
what is causing them to misbehave in class, will help both of us achieve
the goal of positive behavior in the classroom.
- Need
concrete suggestions, instead of abstract when dealing with violence and
other major problems. (Mendler, 1983) When students are misbehaving in the
classroom and causing problems in classroom focus, I believe it is
necessary to give them solid suggestions about how to fix their problem,
rather than just telling them that I am not happy with their behavior.
Mendler talks about this specifically with violent behaviors and major
problems, however I think that this can also be effective when dealing
with any behavior problems that arise. If I am able to help students come
to a solution by suggesting specific options for correction of their
behavior, it will be easier to fix the problem that is occurring.
- Explain
why rules are needed, provide an escape mechanism for students who are
upset and want to talk about what happened. (Canter, 1976) Part of the
essentialism philosophy is that there is a curriculum that I do believe
needs to be addressed and covered throughout the year. In order to
accomplish this, I need to make sure that we are moving at a pace that
allows us to cover material, but in a fun and interesting way. This leaves
little room for behavior problems, so if I am able to communicate this to
my students and give them substantial reasons why I have to have
consequences for disruptive and negative behavior, will help them to
understand why there are rules that need to be followed. If a student misbehaves
and I need to remind them of this fact, this will help them to correct
their behavior because they will know why they have been asked to stop it.
Also, by providing a way for students to discuss what happened outside of
class, students would be able to voice their opinion about what happened
and we can have this discussion about why we need rules and how we will
fix the behavior for the future.
- Give
signals developed in class to signal inappropriate behavior. (Albert,
1996) Establishing non-verbal cues to address students who are misbehaving
in class, will help to not distract the whole class when one student is
acting out. By signaling this behavior subtly, students will not feel
encouraged by the attention they receive for misbehaving and the rest of
the class will not be affected.
Conclusion
It
is important to have a plan for handling situations of student misbehavior in
the classroom, as it can be disruptive to the student, teacher, and entire
class. In order for all students to be successful, it is important to me to
have a solid plan in which all three categories of approaches are included, so
that student’s are involved in the process of creating rules, following them
and giving me feedback as to why the rules were broken. By using a variety of
approaches and combining them into a unique blend for my classroom, I hope it
will compliment my personality and teaching style, creating a positive learning
environment with little interruption due to misb
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