CRITICAL REFLECTION

REFLECTION ON WEEK 3: Classroom Management Challenges

“When teachers are asked the question ‘what is classroom management?’, they typically

answer with words such as control, order, and discipline. The idea that classroom

management is mainly about discipline is a misconception held by teachers that can actually

interfere with effective teaching.” (Garrett, 2014). Classroom management can often be a

misconception to teachers who believe strict discipline is a must within the classroom to

keep things running smoothly. This may keep the students quiet in class, but their attention

is focused more on staying within the rules of a classroom atmosphere the same as an army

camp instead of focusing on the learning material.

Coming into the last week before Christmas students can often get giddy and excited for the

holiday season. This can often cause challenges to classroom management and behaviour

as students are in the holiday mindset and forget the fact they are still in a classroom

environment. Without ruining the Christmas spirit and avoiding being a scrooge, its important

to maintain classroom management to ensure students don’t get out of hand and cause too

many disruptions to this class and other classes taking place in neighbouring rooms. “Quite

often teachers are quick to respond to misbehaviour by verbal intervention and reprimands

which can have an adverse effect on student learning and ruin a classroom atmosphere.

What is often forgotten is that the goal of classroom management is not to control students

but to prepare them to become self-disciplined.” (Wai-shing, 2008). It is important to maintain

calmness when teaching. If misbehaviour occurs and you lose control, it may result in losing

the authority of the class as some students enjoy the reaction they receive once they know

they have defeated your patience. That is why you must react appropriately to the severity of

the action otherwise you lose respect and control of the students. Instead, teaching the

students on how they should behave should hopefully prevent future disruptions from

occurring as they have been made aware that disruptions to class only impede their time in

the classroom which causes them to miss out at the end of the day.

References
Garrett, T. (2014). Effective Classroom Management-- the Essentials. Teachers College

Press.

Wai-shing, L. (2008). Classroom Management. Hong Kong.