Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
ED327
Classroom Management Plan
Introduction
While science can get messy and sometimes chaotic, like professional
scientists there is always a need for structure to guide the learning and
exploration. Good classroom management focuses on the needs of adolescent
learners. It is important to understand that middle school can be very challenging
for many of the students apart from the academics requirements. These
adolescents are experimenting with their own identity and have needs that will
aid and support their learning. I believe that I must respect these needs and do
my best to meet them in class and in all interactions with our students. While
some developmental needs can be difficult to meet every lesson; many of theses
needs can be included by adopting student-focused instruction rather than simply
lecturing. I believe that student-focused instruction will meet students’ academic
needs as unique learners and support their developmental needs.
Expectations/Rules/Boundaries
Gaich 3
Motivation
Students are more motivated when they are involved in the learning process.
This can be done directly through the content or class discussions by making
connections to their personal lives and interests. Allowing student voice in the
form of assessment also increases intrinsic motivation because they are invested
in a project they have created themselves.
Positive relationships with students and their parents are vital for
communication and motivation for the student’s success. Getting to know my
students, allows me to continue to create a safe and encouraging environment to
foster their learning and celebrate their differences. The beginning of the year is
an ideal time to begin this process for both students and parents. Students can
fill out interests sheets that give details about their hobbies and passions, as well
as family background. I believe that it is important for me to also fill out this sheet
and share it with my class to open the path of communication and begin to make
connections. The students are given an option to share parts of their sheet with
the class or they can simply turn it in to me to read confidentially. Once, this initial
connection is made I am able to build upon it and begin to support them as
unique individuals by going to any extracurricular events, such as games or
shows. While I do believe in celebrating mistakes, I also believe that we must
celebrate the success of our students in and out of the classroom. We can begin
to build a supportive school community by informing other teachers of their
success and displaying student work that they should be proud of.
These positive relationships with students are important for their
motivation. With positive connection students are more motivated to put in effort
if they know their effort will be celebrated and their learning supported. Good
relationships can also help to decrease poor behavior in the classroom by
increasing the mutual respect for one another. Most people are not going to
purposely cause distractions or problems if it is going to disrespect someone
important to them. However, sometimes distractions do occur but they can all be
met in a respectful manner, maintaining the positive relationship between
educator and student.
I think that it is equally important to build positive relationships with
parents as it helps to establish trusted communication about their student.
Parents are invested in their student’s success academically and socially. It is
important to let parents know that these successes are also important to you as
their teacher and my goal is to support them in reaching their goals. Parents want
to feel heard when it comes to their child’s education and therefore should be
welcomed into the learning environment. Since, parent communication is
important in discipline for poor behavior, if there is already a positive relationship
built on trust and respect they are more likely to listen to what is being
communicated. That being said it is critical that parents are also informed of their
child’s achievements academically and in the behavior. This increases the trust
in the relationship and lets the parent know that your communication is not solely
disciplinary and negative.
Gaich 6
Communication with parents can be slightly more difficult than with their
students because we do not have the privilege of seeing them every school day.
The line of communication can be opened early on with a small orientation or
welcome packet during the first meeting before school begins. This packet is to
help inform parents about the course and about you as their student’s teacher. At
this time it is good to talk about the homework and behavior policies that will be
put in place in the classroom, as well as answering any questions they may have.
It is important to highlight the contact information in this packet so that you can
be easily accessible to parents and ensure that you will answer any
communications in a timely manner.
A class website or blog can be very useful to communicate any news or
student accomplishments. It is easy access for many parents and families and
easy to update with relevant information. The blog can act as a hub for
announcing important dates or any changes in policies that have been discussed
in class. It is also a good place to honor student work and success, while also
thanking and recognizing guest speakers, volunteers, and parent helpers. I
believe that a website could help bridge some communication gaps between
teacher and parents and continue to build a positive relationship.
While email or a blog would be the easiest and faster form of
communication, I believe that face-to-face conversations and meetings are vital
to start building a positive relationship. In person conversations are more
personal and are quicker to build connection, as well as trust between both
parties. Parents should be kept in the loop about their student’s progress
throughout the year and well before any final grades are posted or conferences.
Keeping an open schedule allows for parents to schedule time that best suits
their life outside of the school day and reduces the need to rely on electronic
communication.
Conclusion