Classroom Management 1

Responsive Teaching and Classroom Management

Carlos Ayala

LBS 302
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Goals are achieved through planning, execution and dedication. You must have a clear

and precise understanding of what you want to accomplish. Once you have set a goal, now you

can devise a plan that will guide you to attain this goal you must work backwards, one step at a

time, until you reach your goal. John Wooden said, Its the little things that are vital. Little

things make the big things happen. In the classroom managing the details is crucial; it could

affect the students in a positive or negative way. You must be mindful of all the choices you

make, because as a teacher you are more than just an educator, you are a role model. I observed a

culturally diverse fifth-grade classroom. The class is made up of 27 students: there are 14 gifted

students, a few English Language Learners (ELL, some struggling students, and two students

with disciplinary problems. I focused my observations on 3 of these students. My GATE (gifted)

student is self-motivated, quiet, and independent. She is well behaved and is always willing to

help others. My struggling student (ADHD) is disruptive, seeks attention in a negative manner,

and is rarely on task. He is emotional and can have an outburst at any given moment. He doesnt

work well with others if they dont follow his lead. My ELD student is very well mannered, and

tries to stay on task. At times, he doses off and loses concentration. He understands most of what

is taught, but struggles due to the linguistic differences.

Life is a balancing act! It is a crucial part of our mental, physical, social, and

emotional,health. The book states that a successful and balanced classroom is like a multiple

vitamin. I am the one that must distribute these vitamins daily and ensure that every child gets

the adequate amount. Ask yourself, how would you make this a feasible goal every day?

Engagement! When I was a child, and even now as an adult, I needed to be engaged with what I

was learning. Lack of engagement, results in difficulty retaining that knowledge. Laura E. Pinto
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The author of of the book From Discipline to Culturally Responsive Management says

Engagement in schooling points to social aspects, while engagement in learning points to

academics. It is my duty as the educator to engage them at all times, and to make them

passionate about what they are learning. Everything begins with me. I must emit and show the

passion, make it so vivid that it inspires them to want to learn more. In the classroom students

will acquire skills that will be great tools for them to have at their disposal when they set foot

into the real world; because the goal is to have them engaged in life, not just in the classroom.

Every childs needs are different, therefore, my methods must be as well. We are creatures of

habit and our students are as well. In the classroom, we must instill routines and procedures that

will allow the students to become autonomous scholars. In the morning when they come into the

classroom, I will have a critical thinking mathematical problem on the board while they are

getting situated and going through their morning routines which consistof putting backpacks

away, prepping the previous days homework for collection, and getting ready for the day.

Before leaving the classroom on their breaks they will leave their desk organized and clean, and

have the appropriate items ready to go so when they come back from their breaks they can

transition seamlessly onto the next lesson. At the beginning of the school year they will be

provided a yearly planner. They will write down all their homework assignments as well as all

relevant events and reminders. My goal is to get them engaged in their educational journey, and

to establish these habits so they can learn to be self-sufficient and accountable for their lives.

Their job is to be students, and the better prepared and organized they are the better results they

will yield.
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As citizens of the United states we must abide by certain rules and regulations, a

classroom should be no different. Students must learn at an early age that their choices have

consequences. In history class we learn about the constitution, and the laws that us as U.S.

citizens must abide by. I too will have the rules of the classroom posted on the wall, and I will

explain to them in detail the first week of school so that they are all aware and know what is

expected of them. As a group, we will come up with consequences when the rules are broken.

Allowing the students to choose their own punishment will allow them to be more mindful of the

rules, and will provide a checks and balances system amongst themselves. From my

observations, I can be certain that they will make me aware once any of the rules are broken.

In a Democratic society, we are encouraged to live autonomously and to govern

ourselves. That means we can differentiate between right and wrong, and we understand that our

choices yield certain outcomes. Growing up we look to our parents for this guidance. Once we

begin to attend school we not only look to our parents, but our teachers and peers as well.

Communication and interaction are two things that we will encounter for the rest of our lives. In

the classroom students must learn to work independently as well as in groups. I will teach my

students ways to be respectful to themselves and others. I will have them role play with one

another so they can experience certain scenarios, and thus know how to approach each

circumstance when they do occur. For example; when they make a mistake, they should own up

to it and not lie about it. If you hurt someones feelings, apologize, let them know that you are

remorseful for hurting their feelings, and let them know that that wasnt your intention. Having

them role play these scenarios will better prepare them in case they do ever come up, and it

allows them to experience it first hand.

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Harvey Mackay said Time is free, but its priceless. You cant keep it, but you cant

spend it. Once youve lost it, you can never get it back. Time is precious, especially when you

have such a brief time to infuse as much information as you can into the eager minds of your

students. Once you enter your classroom each morning, the curtains open and youre on! You

must be ready to go and have a detailed plan of how you are going to execute your lessons for

the day. My classroom will have a guided schedule on the wall which I will updated daily. This

will allow us to have a visual structure of the day to be able reference, as well as an added

component that will allow us to stay on task. Furthermore, having a visual aid of the schedule

will allow the visual learners to have that added support. All students learn and process

information differently so it is my intent to provide as many creative and fun ways to approach

all of their ways of learning. As humans, we are born with certain senses. Most of these senses

we take for granted because we unconsciously use them without knowing. I intend to use these

senses (sense of hearing, sight, touch, smell, and taste) to my advantage and appeal to my

students in certain ways. For example, I will set alarms on my phone to remind of time allotted

for certain tasks, and to remind the students that we are coming to the end on a certain task. I will

also appoint one student every week to be the time master. This will allow me to teach my

students the importance of time management, as well as to teach them that time is valuable and

once time is lost it cant be used again.

As human nature evolves so does the way we teach our students. From the no child left

behind act to now with every student succeeds act. Our methods of teaching keep evolving,

and so should the way we manage our classrooms. In my classroom, I will have students break
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into different groups. I will have some work on iPads to either further sharpen an area they are

strong in, or to have them focus on an area they are weak in. All my groups will have a mixture

of students. I will seat the students that need the most help directly infornt of me, and the others

that need less direction throughout the lesson will be seated to my left and right side. I will

interchange them depending on their needs at that specific point in time. For example, I would

have three to four diverse groups (depending on the size of the classroom). In one group, I will

have my students working with an iPad on a math or language arts exercise. In another group, I

will have them working on fluency, so I will have them reading or writing. In my final group, I

will focus on creating modified content to better assist my special needs students. This process is

also known as differentiated instruction. This will allow me to focus on my most challenged

students in a smaller settings, and be able to provide them with direct and instant feedback.

Throughout the process of working in groups I will empower my gifted students to help others

only when they are done with their assignment.

Humans consist of different colors, races, religions, and so many other qualities. In our

work environments, we interact with our peers, and while we might not get along with all of

them, we do need to be respectful, and mindful of each other. Young children begin to learn

theses social rules with one another in the classroom. Fortunately, our world is in such a place

that it has created a huge melting pot of different people. It is a huge benefit for us as educators

because it allows our students to interact with each other, and to learn about each others cultures.

One of the tools that is widely used, and which I will implement, is the turn and talk method.

This method serves many purposes, and its a great tool to get students to talk and practice their

fluency. The wonderful thing about children is that they are innocent and not afraid to try new
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things. I will use this to my advantage and create activities that will allow for them to showcase

their own personality, and to share it with one another. Another example to have students interact

with each other is through fun activities. For example, I will have them draw a picture of their

favorite things to eat, then I will have them walk around the classroom and share with their

peers. This serves as an ice breaker for them, as well as a way for them to learn more about each

others likes and dislikes. Naturally, activities such as this, allow students to listen to each others

comments, ask each other questions, and build rapport. think-pair-share. Is another great

strategy to use to promote peer interaction. This strategy allows students to first think

individually to a question I pose, then discuss their ideas with a peer, before sharing with the rest

of the class.

We get many of our traits from our parents. When their DNAs are combined they create

a unique strand that can be traced only the three of you. We are not born knowing right from

wrong, or knowing how to treat others. All these things are taught to us by our parents, our

family, and at school, through our teachers and administrators. We must lead by listening to our

students. The average classroom is culturally different, and with those diverse cultures come

with different beliefs and mannerisms. What is a form of respect to me might be a form of

disrespect to others. For example, in the Japanese culture it is a form of disrespect to look at an

elder in the eyes. For another person not looking at someone in the eyes might be a sign of

disrespect. As a class, in the beginning of the school year I will set rules, guidelines, and make

them aware of how to treat themselves, how to treat each other, how to treat adults, and how to

treat guests that visit the classroom. The best way to learn is through failure, and the best way to

not have the same thing occur again is to learn from those failures. I want to give my students the
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upper hand and confront situations that might occur. I will have them role play certain situations

and have them teach each other of what the proper ways of addressing each situation would be.

For example, I would give them a scenario where one students call another student a name. I

would have 2 students role play it and have the entire class chime in and give their opinions of

how to best resolve the issue in a respectful and peaceful manner. Consistency in implementing

and enforcing these rules is important because if a student feels that you have been unfair, he or

she will experience an emotional response, that is, feelings of isolation, anger and hostility and

will likely be resistant to my requests in the future. In case a conflict were to arise I would

implement the restorative justice method, in which I will have the students sit in a circle, and let

them express their feeling to one another. I will serve as the mediator, and everyone will speak

one at a time, and only when they have the peace stick in their hand. I believe its a great way for

students to solve their own issues, and to be able to talk it out in a very respectful, and peaceful

way. These skills and methods that they learn will help them when they are faced with real world

issues.

Space is infinite, and it consists of many different planets, stars, moons, and galaxies.

Independently each planet or star is just that, but together they make up the universe. Our

children are our planets and as parents and teachers we must make sure we keep them on the

right axis by keeping them balanced, and focused. That can only be achieved by working

together in a symbiotic relationship. Communication is vital in any relationship; it is as important

as breathing. Tony Gaskins said it best when he said communication to a relationship is like

oxygen to life. Without itit dies. I have seen many great friendships end over lack of

communication, or assumptions. Thankfully now a day since we live in a technologically

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advanced world we can use things like class dojo to have real time communication with parents.

The more parent involvement I can have the more it will boost my students morale, and help

with their overall success. Apart from the regular teacher- parent meetings, I will conduct

monthly meetings to give the parents an overview of how their child is doing, and to come up

with a plan of action that will further assist their childs education. Furthermore, I would ask the

parents to have a positive study rich environment at home. I would encourage them to set up a

routine for them, and if possible to have an area where they can do homework exclusively. I

would also encourage the parents to help their child with their homework, and if for any reason

they couldnt they could contact me and I could teach them how to best help their child with their

homework. Parents always say, they dont act this way at home, many times it is untrue, but to

help resolve the situation I would encourage the parents to come in and volunteer in the

classroom, or to volunteer in the school. Parent involvement is defined as any variety of

activities that allow parents to participate in the educational process at home or in the school.

Together (Teacher, parent, and school) we can help further a childs educational growth, and the

better equipped the child can be when faced with obstacles. Two brains will always be better

than one, and having the teacher and the parent on the same page will provide a child with a

great fundamentally rich and positive environment for them to grow in. Just as any other human I

am flawed, and teaching is a process, not something that you are just great at. It takes time and a

lot of experience, feedback also helps. Therefore, at the end of the school year I will ask my

students as well as the parents of my students to evaluate me and give me things I did well and

things I can improve. Being able to humble myself enough to embrace the reviews will empower

me to be a better teacher, and an overall better communicator. After all we are who they look up

to, we are their role models. We want to give them all the tools for them to succeed in life, as
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well as to be autonomous learners and citizens of the world. Margaret Mead said it best when she

said, Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.

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References

Pinto, Laura E. (2013). From Discipline to Culturally Responsive Engagement. Thousand oaks,
CA: Corwin

Rose, D. H., & Gravel, J. W. (2010). Universal design for learning. In P. Peterson, E. Baker & B.
McGraw (Eds.)