Classroom Management Philosophy Essay PDF

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Prof. Nolan -- Education Philosophy Essay...

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Kelley Poehls Nolan CI 4370 October 18, 2017 Classroom Management Philosophy In many classrooms, getting information into the minds of students is one of the most important things that must be addressed before anything else can occur. Thankfully for me, I am in an area that does not have standardized testing so I have the luxury of truly exploring what makes a classroom work most efficiently in terms of classroom management. With every class being its own treasure trove of needs I’ve found that consistency, vulnerability, respect, willingness, and community are the most important traits that every classroom should have. As a theatre arts teacher, I will always have at least one student who does not necessarily want to be in my classroom. This is a given when fine arts are a required credit and while this is wearisome to think about, I think the best way to handle students like this, ones who might possibly be a cause for disruptions and class rowdiness, is to provide incentives to the class as a whole. I say this as someone who struggled in certain classes, but thrived in English and reading: whenever I was given the opportunity to stop focusing on something I didn’t want to focus on and read a book I immediately felt more inclined to finish my work and not put it off for that teacher. It’s such a simple thing, but it made the difference of me putting homework off and not turning it in late. This relates back to the idea of responsibility within the classroom; students are more likely to cooperate with a teacher who is willing to give them something in return for good behavior and, yes, for many educators this might seem like a cop out, but for many students theatre and public speaking are not something they’re eager to do, but if I’m able to get one of my students up to perform two out of five times when the other three they assist with directing or lights then I will consider that a win. Theatre also has one of the best incentives out there that most students absolutely adore: theatre games. Not only do these activities provide educational

Kelley Poehls Nolan CI 4370 October 18, 2017 value, but they can also serve as Preferred Activity Time, like the book example I provided a few sentences ago. Theatre games provide students with on their feet thinking skills and most usually involve acting without the students even knowing which promotes educational growth. For example, a popular game many students like to play is Vampire; this game is typically played in a large circle and one student is asked to be the vampire and other students are various other parts as well. Vampire promotes critical thinking skills to help deduce who the vampire is while the vampire is trying to act and maintain a good face among their “towns-people”. Games like these also get uninterested students involved with their peers which will promote a positivity classroom environment down the line. This is something I value greatly as an educator because I think building an ensemble among every different class will naturally create a warm and welcoming environment that will help students feel more inclined to open up and experience something they aren’t used to. Establishing rules within a classroom is something that every teacher should make their primary goal at the start of any new school year or semester. No teacher ever wants to have the classroom that is unruly and refuses to listen to anyone and this can be avoided if expectations are written out and verbally stated to every student that enters. Being the type of teacher who wants to build an ensemble among their students, I think it’s important to allow every class period to create a set of guidelines that they should adhere to. Of course, I will implement my five golden rules that will be followed regardless of whatever guidelines are set up. By giving students the ability to have a hand in building their own classroom environment it gives them a sense of ownership and pride whenever those guidelines are finished and followed. It’s also nice to have the option of building a classroom environment around the needs of your students

Kelley Poehls Nolan CI 4370 October 18, 2017 because it’s not realistic to think that my 30 student all freshmen Theatre I class will behave the same as my 15 student Theatre IV class. This will also help with discipline problems when they occur in the classroom. If students are aware of what is to happen whenever they get too rowdy, cheat on a test, or forget their supplies then the expectation is set. Instead of immediately sending the student to the office, I can go through a three-step process of: verbal warning, email home, and then sent to the office. When the office is now a third tier, disciplinary action it will be taken more seriously because the behavior had already been noted two previous times. By choosing to be a proactive teacher, I’ve already prevented myself from at least one parent conference where the parent is upset because I never discussed or explicitly laid out my expectations. A personal philosophy that I follow is the idea of failing forward. This is the idea that whenever you fail or you don’t achieve a goal you move along and turn that instance into a stepping stone for success. Every opportunity is a learning experience and in a classroom where students are asked to get up and perform it’s a safety net for them to realize that not everything has to consistently be perfect. While this idea might turn some educators off because it’s not asking 100% of their students all the time, it still requires students to reflect on their experience in a safe way. This also promotes the idea of trying new things; often many students are afraid to step out of their comfort zone because of the fear of the unknown, but when there is this idea that you cannot explicitly fail, you can only propel forward it opens so many pathways that previously might have been blocked. This idea also helps with building relationships and creating that safe classroom environment that many students crave. Speaking up and saying the wrong answer to something doesn’t necessarily make you feel embarrassed or looked down upon by the teacher because everyone in the room understands the classroom is a learning

Kelley Poehls Nolan CI 4370 October 18, 2017 environment and sometimes mistakes occur. There is an understanding between student and teacher that every moment in the classroom can be reflected upon to figure out positives and negatives and how they can assist with later learning. An example for my classroom would be a student who clams up and gets incredibly nervous during a performance, inevitably making it impossible to complete their scene; this student and I can figure out what some of the triggers for the anxiety were and help prevent them for later performance grades. This allows the students to know they have later opportunities to achieve better results and can reflect on what they did previously that was not a desirable outcome. Students can make mistakes and learn from them in a safe environment that allows the vulnerability that will help them academically grow. While many people agree with the phrase “respect is earned, not given” I am a proponent of switching it around a bit. In my classroom, every single person who walks in the room has the same amount of respect that is required from them and everyone around them. If a student is to lose some of that respect then it is to be, safely, earned back by proving they can be a productive member in the classroom. An example of this would be someone who abuses the bathroom policy; if a student is consistently leaving class to go the bathroom or they are leaving for extended amounts of times, then to regain that trust from the teacher the student may have to assist more in the classroom by making sure their peers are quiet or the room is picked up after. Respect is a tricky topic because many people think that students should automatically respect their instructors and elders, but, teachers should also respect their students as well. Learning habits and ideas are something many students do not feel comfortable sharing because previous educators have knocked them down continuously without even listening to them. Students should feel safe to talk to me and share these ideas without the fear that I will laugh or scoff at

Kelley Poehls Nolan CI 4370 October 18, 2017 them. It’s highly inappropriate to merely throw someone’s ideas out the window because they are “below” you. My classroom is a welcoming environment that will not diminish anyone’s ideas for whatever reason. A classroom discussion can commence when something that might not sit well with other students comes into play, but there will never be any sort of humiliation from peers or me, alike. I touched lightly on this topic in a few of my other paragraphs, but I would like to fully go into my idea of building an ensemble within a classroom. To ensure a smooth-running class period, be it just for the day or more ideally the year, the students need to feel secure and safe with not only you, but the peers around them. I like to think that every single classroom is its own community and runs independently from the other classes you may see that day; every class has its own level of tolerance and personal needs. When I use the word ensemble I follow the definition of a closely-knit group of people, or students, who work dependently and interdependently of one another. An ensemble is aware of the needs and strengths of those around them. An example of this would be a group of gifted students who are aware of some of the struggling students in class and when it comes to group projects they assist their struggling counterparts and divide the work in a way that will suit both of their needs instead of just throwing them to the wolves to fail. Every student wants to assist one another to create a productive learning environment that can grow more efficiently because if one person falls behind one of their peers will be there to assist them and put them back on their feet. This classroom community stands on the idea of we are all learning and bettering our academic selves together and as a unit. It ties in with the other ideas presented in my various paragraphs because

Kelley Poehls Nolan CI 4370 October 18, 2017 it allows the classroom to be more vulnerable and open when the students are this close and aware of one another. If I were to pick three words that rang true to efficient classroom management I would pick trust, respect, and vulnerability. Classrooms are an everchanging anamorphous area that can never be put into a box where everything will always work, but with those three things they can ensure that the classroom will rely on foundation of safety and comfort. By actively choosing to implement any or all of these ideas into a classroom, the educational desire and comfort will rise and promote an academic growth that might not have previously been there.

Works Cited Chapter 4, Fred Jones’ Positive Classroom Discipline Chapter 8, Budd Churchward’s Honor Level System Chapter 9, Barbara Coloroso’s Inner Discipline Chapter 12, Linda Albert’s Cooperative Discipline Chapter 14, Alfie Kohn’s Beyond Discipline...