Weekly Reflection #6 Foundational Classroom Management

By Gina Groger

Mrs. Nelson has an extremely diverse classroom, in many different

aspects. From ethnicity, to needs, to personalities, her classroom contains a
whole spectrum of differences, and therefore she has to implement many
different teaching strategies. In just a quick glance at the specified list of the
top ten classroom management strategies, I can confidently say that Mrs.
Nelson does her best to use every single one of the strategies. I have noticed
a great deal of focus specifically on building classroom community, sticking
to regular routines, her positive and inclusive mannerisms and attitudes, and
creating a variety of communication channels. The only one I cannot rightly
speak for is contact with parents as that is not something I am involved in,
but from speaking with Mrs. Nelson she has regular communication with a
fair amount of parents through the students and correspondence. All in all, I
am learning a great deal from Mrs. Nelson, and here is why: Mrs. Nelson
knows her students, and knows what works best for encouraging learning
and respect in a classroom setting.
To start with, Mrs. Nelson puts in a lot of effort to build positive
classroom community. From including students, setting up daily routines that
lend a sense of security and control and participation, and assigning roles to
various students (e.g. librarians, recyclers, student K is responsible for
checking agendas every morning there are numerous examples of how she

builds relationships and encourages responsibility within her grade four

class), Mrs. Nelson makes sure that every student feels included and
respected and important. Her classroom is a special place, where laughs,
learning and safety come together in an environment that is stable, and
constant. For some, home is not a happy place. Mrs. Nelson helps these
students through her reinforcement of community and a safe and friendly
learning environment within her room. When I am in her classroom and the
students walk in, there is almost guaranteed twenty six happy and excited
faces, and Mrs. Nelson starts off the day right with a handshake or a hug or
some sort of snippet of important conversation. In terms of including the
students and creating multiple channels of communication, Mrs. Nelson has a
really neat and handy trick that she calls something along the lines of clock
partners. This is a tool she utilizes that enables students to have four
different partners pertaining to different days and activities. Fire, Air, Earth
and Water are the different categories, so when Mrs. Nelson yells water
every student runs to their new partner. Partners are designated by any
category that Mrs. Nelson may decide in the moment, for example: pair with
someone who has the same hair colour as you, or pair with someone you
usually dont partner with, and so on. This saves time, incorporates some
daily physical activity, and forces students to be partnered with a variety of
people, integrating and including every individual. In addition Mrs. Nelson is
open to a variety of working strategies. There are small guided reading
groups headed by different instructors (teachers, EAs, helpers in general

etc.), there is often partner, or elbow buddy work, as well as individual and
teacher-directed. For guided reading as well as spelling, another tactic that
Mrs. Nelson makes use of is, for lack of a better word, categories. At the
beginning of the year she assesses her students and assigns different
colours to the different strengths of the students, and this is a great example
of how she incorporates differentiated learning in her classroom that works
to benefit each individual as much as possible.
On the other hand, Mrs. Nelson also is very present in the lives of her
students. She is consistent, and treats every situation equally, with no
favoritism or discrimination. If a student is having a problem, she always
uses the same consequences and no one is ever favoured over anybody else.
She is loud and expressive and makes learning a fun and exciting time, I
have yet to see her start a day off without being fantastic! or great! yet. I
think this is a super important part of teaching elementary, because if the
teacher is not even engaged, why should the students be? She is very tactful
in her handling of less-than-perfect situations, and I am learning a great deal
from the way she handles disruptive students. One thing I personally like in
her style of teaching is something that I hope to do in the future she knows,
really knows, her students. Student T likes to pitch in baseball, and student
C loves all things horse-related. Student D makes up commercial
breaks for in-between classes or transitory moments in class. Bottom line
students learn in a fun and non-threatening environment. This is especially

evident when Mrs. Nelson brings out her special glasses, and no one can
talk so she can finish her marking and it turns into a fun test.
Mrs. Nelson applies a large variety of classroom management
techniques and, although I am still learning I believe it has a large positive
impact on her students. In addition to these tactics, she has other small
things like Big Rocks as I have mentioned before, and the whole school
employs the Seven Habits. I truly think that the grade four students are very
lucky to have such a fun, but firm, teacher. I hope I can remember all of what
Mrs. Nelson and the students are teaching me in the future!