"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think." --Socrates
Top 10 Classroom Management Beliefs
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My classroom management plan should provide a safe place for students to be themselves as well as feel valuable and safe regardless of how their life outside of school makes them feel.
The goal of my classroom management plan is to create an environment with my learners that not only stimulates student learning but also motivates students to learn. Thinking deeply and critically should be the first goal of education, the second goal is the desire for more education and a lifelong affair with learning. |
THEORETICAL ROOTS
Constructivism
Choice Theory
Love and Logic:
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"A boss drives. A leader leads.
A boss relies on authority. A leader relies on cooperation. A boss says "I." A leader says "We." A boss creates fear. A leader creates confidence. A boss knows how. A leader shows how. A boss creates resentment. A leader breeds enthusiasm. A boss fixes blame. A leader fixes mistakes. A boss makes work drudgery. A leader makes work interesting." Cited in Dr. William Glasser's The Quality School: Managing Students Without Coercion |
My Classroom Management Philosophy
A highly adaptable and naturally evolving classroom management plan is the cornerstone of my teaching philosophy. The guiding principles explored in my classroom management plan are driven by my personal beliefs, experiences, attitudes, and thoughts. The central question of my classroom management plan is, “what do my students need and how can I help them meet their needs.” With that as my foundation, I can ensure that I appropriately respond to the diverse, intellectual needs of the student body as well as the needs of individual learners who are culturally, socially, and economically different, too.
I will provide stimulating and relevant learning activities that arouse the natural curiosity of my learners and provoke critical thinking skills along the way. One way I will engage my learners is by having them explore relevant topics that interest them. This engaged pedagogy not only convinces the learner that the task is worth exploring, it also recognizes their abilities, challenges their expanding knowledge, and gives them a sense of ownership and confidence. Such opportunities allow the learner to experience first-hand that the task is worth exploring as they come to the realization of their unique talents and abilities. As a class we will bring our ideas to the mathematical forefront and develop them through collaboration and reasoning. As an educator, it will be my role and daily challenge to develop and implement engaging learning opportunities that help create innovative thinkers and problem solvers, so that when problems do arise in the future, the learners possess the skills they need to formulate a plan of attack and devise an adequate solution.
Instead of teaching rules without reason, I will support the learner by asking challenging, open-ended questions that require reasoning and critical thinking. Essentially, the learners will discover the rules by building on previous knowledge and new concepts rather than having them handed to them. The main goal is to help the learner see that math is a process and is not about finding the answer. Because we will be working with open ended questions, learners have the ability to respond to the challenges at their own level of development. Essentially, I can monitor growth using several different formal and informal assessment methods. By planning in advance I will have already established a clear understanding of where the learner will be starting and through my classroom activities I can observe where they are headed. By having the learners reflect on our classroom blog, they can organize their thoughts and make their thinking more permanent. This reflection process is also a reflection process for me as an educator. I can use their thoughts to decipher were each learner may need more help as well as examine the progress they have made.
As a class and as individuals, we will set goals and make plans. We will have an organized agenda for the learners who require structure, but the process of how each student reaches their goal will be unique. Ultimately, each learner is responsible for their own learning; they decide how they approach the problem. However, as a facilitator it is my job to offer support and set the parameters in the classroom. I can monitor each individual learner by listening to them communicate and adjust the problem to reflect a more appropriate level of challenge if needed. The learning environment is a key factor in student learning and understanding. We will establish a learner centered classroom that is engaging and provides an enjoyable learning experience. Clearly, students benefit from hearing how one another is thinking and can then build off each other for support. I expect my learners to take ownership of their learning and utilize the resources they have been given. In this type of environment, discipline is typically not an issue. The learning experiences are stimulating and require all of their attention. However, if a learner fails to recognize the opportunity they have been given by disrespecting the teacher, themselves or other learners in such a way that disrupts the learning process, they will be given the opportunity to discuss their behavior with me after class and in the worst case scenario they will be removed from the class. In a private meeting, we will work together to make adjustments to the current set up that will help the learner avoid future problems. Further, they will identify the consequence to their behavior. The objective is the have each learner working on something they are passionate about, so hopefully behavioral problems are minimal.
The goal is to create responsible individuals who take risks, establish realistic goals, and assume personal accountability for their behavior, where the competition is only with themselves and not one another and the process is about discovering and understanding rather than covering mass amounts of material. The most rewarding thing that a classroom like this has to offer is seeing the creativity learners bring to mathematics. Learners will approach math from completely new angles and viewpoints; they will give refreshing new insights to their classmates and also the teacher. Together, the learners can gain conceptual understanding by discovering math on their own in a way that it makes sense to them.
I will provide stimulating and relevant learning activities that arouse the natural curiosity of my learners and provoke critical thinking skills along the way. One way I will engage my learners is by having them explore relevant topics that interest them. This engaged pedagogy not only convinces the learner that the task is worth exploring, it also recognizes their abilities, challenges their expanding knowledge, and gives them a sense of ownership and confidence. Such opportunities allow the learner to experience first-hand that the task is worth exploring as they come to the realization of their unique talents and abilities. As a class we will bring our ideas to the mathematical forefront and develop them through collaboration and reasoning. As an educator, it will be my role and daily challenge to develop and implement engaging learning opportunities that help create innovative thinkers and problem solvers, so that when problems do arise in the future, the learners possess the skills they need to formulate a plan of attack and devise an adequate solution.
Instead of teaching rules without reason, I will support the learner by asking challenging, open-ended questions that require reasoning and critical thinking. Essentially, the learners will discover the rules by building on previous knowledge and new concepts rather than having them handed to them. The main goal is to help the learner see that math is a process and is not about finding the answer. Because we will be working with open ended questions, learners have the ability to respond to the challenges at their own level of development. Essentially, I can monitor growth using several different formal and informal assessment methods. By planning in advance I will have already established a clear understanding of where the learner will be starting and through my classroom activities I can observe where they are headed. By having the learners reflect on our classroom blog, they can organize their thoughts and make their thinking more permanent. This reflection process is also a reflection process for me as an educator. I can use their thoughts to decipher were each learner may need more help as well as examine the progress they have made.
As a class and as individuals, we will set goals and make plans. We will have an organized agenda for the learners who require structure, but the process of how each student reaches their goal will be unique. Ultimately, each learner is responsible for their own learning; they decide how they approach the problem. However, as a facilitator it is my job to offer support and set the parameters in the classroom. I can monitor each individual learner by listening to them communicate and adjust the problem to reflect a more appropriate level of challenge if needed. The learning environment is a key factor in student learning and understanding. We will establish a learner centered classroom that is engaging and provides an enjoyable learning experience. Clearly, students benefit from hearing how one another is thinking and can then build off each other for support. I expect my learners to take ownership of their learning and utilize the resources they have been given. In this type of environment, discipline is typically not an issue. The learning experiences are stimulating and require all of their attention. However, if a learner fails to recognize the opportunity they have been given by disrespecting the teacher, themselves or other learners in such a way that disrupts the learning process, they will be given the opportunity to discuss their behavior with me after class and in the worst case scenario they will be removed from the class. In a private meeting, we will work together to make adjustments to the current set up that will help the learner avoid future problems. Further, they will identify the consequence to their behavior. The objective is the have each learner working on something they are passionate about, so hopefully behavioral problems are minimal.
The goal is to create responsible individuals who take risks, establish realistic goals, and assume personal accountability for their behavior, where the competition is only with themselves and not one another and the process is about discovering and understanding rather than covering mass amounts of material. The most rewarding thing that a classroom like this has to offer is seeing the creativity learners bring to mathematics. Learners will approach math from completely new angles and viewpoints; they will give refreshing new insights to their classmates and also the teacher. Together, the learners can gain conceptual understanding by discovering math on their own in a way that it makes sense to them.