Mackrell-classroom Management Philosophy

1 Classroom management plays a significant role in students’ safety and success in the classroom. When students understand the expectations and follow a well-planned routine, the teacher can spend the majority of class time on instruction and learning activities. This is because less time will be needed for redirection or discipline. Students who are engaged in a lesson are inquisitive, on-task, and are less likely to misbehave. They want to participate in the activities because they are interested. Sometimes engagement comes from interest in the subject matter, but other times the teacher will need to draw her students into the lesson. By knowing her students’ interests and favored learning styles, a teacher can create a learning environment in which students want to participate. In this way, student engagement can cut down on the occurrence of misbehavior in the classroom. Class procedures, routines, and behavior expectations should be explicitly taught on the first day of class. Doing so will set a precedence for appropriate behavior in the classroom. Students can be successful when the expectations are clear. Along with teaching the expectations, teachers should also post the procedures and expectations in the classroom. When a student’s behavior is less than ideal, the teacher can simply call the student’s attention to the posted expectations. This can sometimes be accomplished without further interrupting the lesson. It is also a good idea to go over the expectations again after a long break so that students are clear on what they should do. In order to support all of my students, I will need to pay attention to each individual’s needs. The school environment is easier for some students to be successful than it is for others. A student’s culture may affect what he believes to be appropriate behavior in the classroom. I will need to learn about my students’ backgrounds so that I am patient and recognize if a student’s behavior might be related to cultural norms. Students with emotional needs may

2 require extra support, too. These students might need more personalized reminders of their expectation or even picture based behavior charts that they can carry in order to stay on-task. As a teacher, I believe that it is important to teach my students the classroom expectations, but it is equally important that their parents are aware of them as well. Students who receive unified support in the classroom and at home are more likely to be successful. I will meet my students’ parents on back to school night and begin to build rapport with them. I will email weekly class newsletters telling parents what we are covering in class and reminding them of upcoming events. I will also email or call parents when their child has had a particularly good or bad day. It is important that parents are aware of both their child’s successes and struggles. I feel strongly that my students’ parents and I should form a partnership in order to support their child’s success.