Classroom Management Reflection

Classroom management is a big part as to what keeps your classroom together. Not only

does it help create a community, but it can establish expectations and prepare students for life

outside of the classroom as well. In my many field experiences, I have been able to see many

types of classroom management. My first field placement had a clip-up, clip-down chart and at

the time, I thought it was a good management strategy. Now, having been in more classrooms

and taking different classes, I realized it may not be the best thing because it is a constant visual

reminder of what a student has done, and it can be very defeating if you don’t end on a good note

for the day. Other than that, I have seen class dojo used in classroom and a behavior chart that

gave students ‘marks’ when they did an undesired behavior. Class dojo seems to work most

efficiently, and it has so many other uses than just a management strategy.

Classrooms need to be managed, no matter how a teacher decides to do it. Many theorists

have provided me with great insights with how I would want to manage my classroom, and by

combining some theories, I feel like I have a good idea of how I want to do exactly that. Jones

talks about chunking and how to not overload your students cognitively, which is so important,

at any age. Whether it is a few minutes to collect thoughts, or a brain break, this is something I

want to use in my classroom because I know first-hand what it is like to sit through a class and

learn for forty-five minutes and check out within the first twenty. Another pair theorists I agree

with is Curwin and Mendler, who offer a model that should be used in everyday life, like saying

to start fresh every day. Offering choices is also something I want to use in my classroom,

because although it is my classroom, it is mostly for the students, so why would I not let them

have choices in everyday things they do in the class. Even if it is with earned rewards or with

different stations option, students love to have a choice These theorists make a lot of sense to me

because it seems like the most rationale way to act as a human being. This is good not only for
the classroom, but for life as well. The last three theorists that I agree with are Ginott, Glasser,

and Canter. Ginott is all about modeling for the students Modeling behaviors is extremely

important, because if they see the teacher do it, chances are that they will do it as well. i.e. telling

the students when you are having a bad day to show them that it is okay to have a bad day as

well, but also showing how to deal with it. Glasser talks about holding students accountable

which is a crucial thing to learn at an early age, because the earlier you learn to own up to your

actions, the more willing you will be to do it throughout life. Lastly, Canter talks about how you

have to be strict sometimes. This will definitely be the hardest one for me. Using a firm tone can

be very important when your students just will not listen to you, so this is something I definitely

want to do in the classroom.

These are all important and are part of my beliefs, and I plan on implementing them in

my classroom. There are a lot of things that I want to have in my classroom like: a solid

relationship with my students, well known procedures and routines, using good instructional

strategies, and having good communication with parents. However, one important thing is

having a clear and concise set of class rules, or expectations which is what I would like to call

them, that also include the school’s rules. While I would love to include my students in helping

me with class expectations, it is kind of hard without a class room of your own, so these are the

set of expectations that I came up with:

Miss. Petrisko’s Class Expectations

1 Be kind to one another.

2 Be respectful to your classmates and the adults around you.

3 Follow school and class expectations and listen to one another.

4 Work and play safely.

5 Always do YOUR best work and believe in yourself!

These are my classroom management philosophies and I believe that they will help me when I

am creating a caring community in my classroom, which is what all students need to learn

effectively.