Classroom Management

My plan for classroom management is to set clear rules and boundaries from the very beginning. I will ensure that my students know what I expect of them, as well what the consequences are for choosing to be disobedient. My rules will be something along the lines of: 1.) I will listen the first time and every time. 2.) I will keep my hands to myself. 3.) I will only talk when I have permission. The consequences for disobeying these rules will be: after the first offense, they are given a warning. After the second offense, they will be separated from their friends for 15 minutes. After the third offense, their desk will be isolated for the remainder of the day, or until they prove that they are able to sit with their friends by working diligently. (Of course, there will be some variation based on the age of my students and what is developmentally appropriate.)

I know that it is important to have a minimum amount of rules which are stated clearly with set consequences because students work best in a structured environment. It is useful if they know what to expect. Therefore, having set rules with set consequences is important. However, each child is different; what’s punishment to one is reward to another and vice versa. So, along with the general rules, I plan on implementing natural consequences. For example, if a student decides that it is okay to blow his nose into his hand, instead of playing at recess, he will practice blowing his nose. He will bring with him a box of tissues and a garbage can, and practice blowing his nose until either recess is over or he runs out of tissues.

I think unconditional positive regard is very important in classroom management. I feel that if it is made clear that you care about the students no matter what their behavior, they will benefit greatly. The number one rule in child psychology is “A child does nothing without reason.” So, everything my students do is with a purpose. If they act out, it may be that they do not receive the attention they need at home; so any attention, even if it is for negative reasons, is better than no attention at all. I will do my best to watch them and try to recognize these types of things. That way, I could try to put more emphasis on the positive things they do rather than on the negative (which should be done anyway). It could be, that they are just having a bad day. In that case, I may just need to talk to the student about what’s going on, or possibly even let things go and hope for a better day tomorrow. Ultimately, unconditional positive regard is viewing the child through the scope that they are “behaving badly” not that they are a “bad child.”

One thing I will NOT do for classroom management is assign my students schoolwork for punishment. Schoolwork is not punishment. I may make them finish what they should have already completed, but I will not give them extra work. First, that sort of “punishment” most likely does not correlate with the behavior I want them improve, and second, that gives them a negative view of schoolwork.

Frog image found at: http://www.todaysteacher.com/images/frogtext.gif