At the beginning of my classroom management course, my personal
management philosophy was that of an essentialist, at least for solving
conflicts and classroom environment. I wanted to have a classroom where the
students and I would be positive, proactive and productive where I was the
manager of the classroom. After this course I have seen how much of a
constructivist centered management style I want to implement in my classroom. I
have learned that the approach I want to take to classroom management is where
there is shared control in (and of) the classroom, where I am a mediator not
the judge and jury. I am going to discuss my personal management stance by
going through each module we covered in class and how I would elaborate and
implement what I learned in the classroom.
At the beginning of the year every teacher
wants to get to know more about their students, and students are curious about
who their teachers are and what they are like. In the past I have had
elementary school teachers mail out a letter to their students, a week or two
before school begins telling, about themselves and what the classroom is going
to be like. I would like to reach out to my students before school starts and depending
on the grade I teach, I would like to make a home visit and see how the
students are in their everyday environment. I know that it is not always
possible to make a home visit, but making a connection with my students in a
place where they feel comfortable and in control would be very helpful to me
before we start the school year. In order to get to know my students I want to
have a list of things they can do to share with the class and myself, and then
let the students decide what they would like to do. I have been in a class
where at the beginning of the school year the teacher gives each child a brown
paper sack with the instructions to put four artifacts in the sack that can
help others learn about them. When the students bring back the sacks with the
artifacts in them the teacher randomly numbers them and assigns them to the
students. The students then take turns presenting the contents of the bag and
try to guess which class mate was represented by the artifacts. This was a fun
way to learn about each other and dissolve any preconceived notions about our
classmates. I am very much a constructivist when it comes to wanting to get to
know my students because I want them to feel comfortable in what they choose to
share, as well as how they choose to share. If I can start my class off with
the students becoming familiar with each other and feeling safe in the
classroom, then I can see the school year going much smoother. I believe that
by letting the students choose how and what they would like to share it will
help them build autonomy, and relate better with each other.
Just as I like having teacher guided ideas,
but student input and choice in getting to know my students, I want the
students’ voice in the classroom environment. I am a borderline of social
reform and constructivist when it comes to classroom environment. The second
job interview questions we were asked what we would need in order to set up our
classroom and what was on our to-do list before school started. I had many different
things I would want in my classroom to help provide a positive and welcoming
environment. To build the basic structure of my classroom, presuming I am given
an empty room that only has some cupboards and drawers installed, I would need
enough tables for groups of four students to sit at as well as a table to act
as a desk for myself. I feel that by having students sit at tables it gives
them more freedom to get to know the other students and reach out to each other
because they are sharing the space rather than having individual desks. At each
table I would have two crates full of groups supplies for the students to use,
and then have a four-section square Ikea shelving unit for students to put
their personal workbooks and supplies in. I want my classroom to be very open,
easy for children to move around in because I understand that it is difficult
for students to stay in one place for very long. I would like to set up a
reading corner in my classroom with either small beanbag chairs, or a small
amphitheater seating arrangement so multiple students can be there at once. I
would use the reading corner also as the cool down space for students when
there is conflict.
The
walls of my classroom may have some teacher selected spaces and how they are filled
in, but I want to have multiple areas for the students to fill in the space.
One of my favorite students filled in spaces was the calendar and events center
a sixth grade teacher had. Any student could write an event on the calendar and
then share about it during class announcements. This brought the students
together more because it gave them opportunities to support each other outside
of school and learn more about each other. I don’t want to necessarily have
rules posted, but something along the lines of norms or guidelines for the students
that they can build off of. The article by DeVries and Zan states,
“All teachers
have… norms. These norms are acceptable and necessary uses of external
authority in a constructivist classroom [, but these] teachers carefully
evaluate their reasons for norms and attempt to minimize the use of external
control as much as possible”(2003).
I agree with DeVries and Zan that by
minimizing external control, not eliminating it, helps students helps students
feel equality in the classroom. By having the students help create the rules it
lets me see what motivates them and what they are aware of in the classroom as
a potential problem. If a consequence is needed I would like students have
decided these along with the rules so that the class knows the consequences and
feel that they participated in making the choice to discipline a specific way. The
reading on students’ intrinsic motivation, from the book Motivating Students to Learn, was very insightful to me in how to
help motivate students, but especially in how to increase opportunities for
students to be intrinsically motivated in the classroom. My personal favorite
suggestion they gave in the reading was to have more game like features and
activities in how students learn. I had a teacher who was amazing at
incorporating more of a game like structure into lessons, as well encouraging
collaboration and peer work. That specific class of students became more aware
of each other’s needs and connected on an additional level that made the
learning environment even better. I loved the example Fallon shared in class of
using the star system, and I would love to be able to have self selected time
at the end of the week, or a student chosen themed party for those students had
the required amount to participate in the stars party.
When it comes to solving conflicts and group
issues I want to be a mediator and discussion facilitator, like Laura was in
our classroom role-play, rather than the judge and jury in a situation. I want
to help students become problem solvers and build their autonomy. I will be an
active listener to what the students are saying, but I will also help them to
understand how to actively listen, as well as use “I messages” to communicate
how they feel and their needs. I would like to have morning meetings each day,
and have Friday’s meeting be a class meeting where we can discuss any problems
that have been brought to my attention. I want to have a “book of grievances”,
like Fallon shared about, to help students think about what really has become a
problem and to think about solutions. I want to guide students to possible
solutions, but still let students voice their ideas. Overall my personal
management style is that of a constructivist, and I feel comfortable and
confident that it will increase learning and autonomy in my future classroom.
References
DeVries,
Rheta & Zan, Betty. (2003). When Children Make Rules. Education Leadership, 64-67.
Connecting
with Students Intrinsic Motivation. Motivating
students to learn, 126-157.
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