Personal Teacher Classroom Management

Classroom Management

My classroom management theory is based on a constructivist approach to learning, which implies that there is a mutual responsibility between the learner and the instructor to move forward with the learning experience. My current position is in the First Grade, which at times can make this somewhat challenging. In many ways, First Grade is a segue into a "real" school atmosphere: longer day, more academics, less play, stricter expectations, social growth, challenging social and academic environment and more. Often, the first few months of First Grade are transitions into expected behaviors and a more regimented school day, so classroom management can be challenging at times. Overall, I have been using placement of students (moving desks, etc.), challenging paced lessons and a reward system for good behavior, excellence in teamwork, assignments, etc. By in large, this has been quite effective for this level of student, most of whom respect adult authority and look to the teacher for leadership and modeling of behaviors.

Classroom Management Theory

Based on research, experience and conversations with colleagues, I believe that the most effective classroom is one in which there are a combination of activities and philosophical models. The classroom should enhance student comfort and trust -- they must feel safe in their environment. There must be color and active visual stimuli, and a sense of continual adventure in learning. Students should be encouraged to think of their classroom as their own community away from home, and be encouraged to participate and actualize their needs appropriately. Certainly, constructivism tells us that each learner is unique, yet there must also be a willingness on both the instructor and learner's sides to be flexible and adapt to changing conditions. There is a great deal of research available that shows how important innovation is in classroom management in the 21st century school environment, as well as classroom management frustrations being at the top of the list of reasons teachers lack job satisfaction in some environments. In fact, the U.S. National Educational Association noted that almost 40% of teachers surveyed said that given the choice, they would probably not go into teaching again because of "negative student attitudes and discipline" and their lack of freedom in managing their class (Schneider, 2003).

Strategies and Developmental Considerations

In doing some research on classroom management and student development for the younger child, I found that over the past few decades, in fact, expectations both academically and behaviorally have drastically increased for early age children; particularly with the expectations of what they must be ready for to transition to a full-day First Grade environment. The more effective a teacher is in classroom management, the greater the translation to an effective learning environment and the greater the cognitive and social development of the young child. This is very important in the First and Second grade environments, because it helpes prepare students to stay on task and increase expectations of behavioral management. Too, using this approach to managing the class will incentivize the students as they mature and move into the upper grades -- good behavior achieves better rewards. The children must understand what is expected of them, and the teacher must follow through with those expectations (Rimm-Kaufman, S., et al., 2009).

One of the ways in which teachers and counselors can use play to effectively change behaviors, manage a classroom, and interact with difficult children is through the use of role playing techniques. Role playing refers to asking an individual to change their behavior to assume another person's role, act out an ad toped social role, which may or not be defined by the individual. Research shows that there are four issues that can be used to define role playing: 1) the playing of roles in theater or educational settings; 2) taking a role of an existing character or person and acting it out by taking someone else's role (gender, age, etc.); 3) games (video or in person) that require one to move into a different role; 4) specifically role-playing games (individuals assume the total role of a fictional character in a defined setting). Children often role-play using a variety of these techniques -- often called make believe. This causes children to project their views of other stimuli, as well as imagine empathy of the manner in which different people would react (Van Ments 1999).

Classroom Management Plan for Upcoming Year

Using the above research, I plan to incorporate the following seven play types into my classroom management style, at least one per week to see which tends to work. This should help get students to talk about their feelings, which will improve classroom behavior, reduce fear, and when given permission to play and explore through role-play tends to help with social problems, releases creative energy and improves cognition and behavioral issues. Besides my current program of structure, relevant and active lessons, formative assessments and regular breaks, I will add the following to my toolkit:

1. Attunement, or establishing a connection between the learner and instructor, learners, and the learner and the environment.

2. Body, of a touch based approach to exploring the world, the self, and all the things that have tactile senses that require explanation.