Philosophy paper Our classroom is a safe and welcoming learning environment, where everyone will be respectful of each other.

We will all get the chance to be creative and grow as successful students. This is my vision of how a classroom should work. I believe it is important for the learning environment to be welcoming and inviting for all students. It should be a safe place where no one will be judged and everyone is valued. As a teacher, it is important that we teach the students the curriculum, but it is even more important to teach the students how to interact appropriately. Rudolf Dreikurs shows this idea well, All students want to belong. Their behavior is directed to belonging (Maintaining Sanity in the Classroom, 1998).Students walk into a classroom concerned with who will be their friend, who will they talk to, and who will they work with on projects with. For some students these questions are answered easily, but, for other students they are not. Some students come into the class without the knowledge of how to communicate effectively. Dan Mathews stated in his lecture, Behavior is a form of communication. Challenging behavior occurs when a student is unable to communicate their needs or desires effectively, its their way to obtain or avoid something (Dan Mathews, 2013). However, when students act out in class, most teachers believe that a punishment is necessary. Now, why is it that when a student does a math problem wrong we teach him or her how to correct the mistake, but when a students behavior is wrong our first reaction is to punish him or her. For certain situations, students should be punished (eg. for bringing weapons to school or threating the safety of another student), but this should not always be the first defense. Dan Mathews continues to explain, The greatest problem with

punishment is that it does not provide an appropriate model for acceptable behavior (Dan Mathews, 2013). As teachers, it is our job to teach. When students act out, we should teach them how to appropriately behave. We need to provide our students with the right resources and tools that will allow them to be successful. Establishing relationships with our students and peers is vital. Right from the start teachers need to set the tone that a classroom is a safe and welcoming environment. Dan Mathews states, If students believe that you care about them you will be much more successful in changing their behaviors. Tap into the students behavior by finding their emotion of joy. Find what brings joy into their lives, and try and use this in your lessons (Dan Mathews, 2013). I plan to send out a postcard to my students before the school year starts. Since I will send the postcard to the student, instead of the parents, the student feels involved and valued. On the postcard would be a simple message introducing myself and telling the students how excited I am to meet them. There is more that I will do such as meet the teacher night. The room would be set up as it would be all year (eg. math stations literacy groups). This way they know where the room is and what to expect on the first day. It makes the beginning of the school year seem less intimidating and helps to create a welcoming environment. I will continue to build a solid relationship with my students through community building and by teaching the students how to collaborate. I would start by having, get to know you exercises scheduled for the first week. Kids are pretty open. I would expect to hear everything from their favorite color to whats going on at home. This way they would know I care about them outside of the academic setting. By knowing if they are involved in sports or clubs, I can find time to attend their events and support them. In addition, it helps to know the students interests. Teachers must teach to the Common Core State Standards, but they can slip in

little things here and there to connect the lessons to the students interests. This helps to engage the students in the activities that they must participate in. An additional way to get to know the students would be through journaling. Students are required to work on their writing skills but, I will allow them to pick topics that interest them; helping the teacher to find out about what excites and motivates them to learn. To create a welcoming environment students need to feel like they belong and that they are valued individually. While I might be able to make students feel this way, I also need to teach the students how to appreciate one another. I will do this through student of the week. Student of the week permits everyone to get to know what makes that student unique and special. It will also address the diversity in the classroom through this. Student of the week will provide the students with an opportunity to share their culture and background. Some other ways a teacher can create a community in the classroom is by having teamwork activities and classroom bonding time. Both allow the students to work together and practice their communicating skills. In addition to working with students I will also have to work with their parents. To start off the year I will send out a letter introducing myself. I want this letter to get the parents ready and excited for the new school year. I want the parents to feel confident in me as their childs teacher. I will also invite them to meet the teacher night. This way they can get a feel for how the year will go and they can have the chance to ask any questions or share any concerns they may have. I want the parents to feel like their input is appreciated and that they can come to me at anytime. In addition, I will send the parents an email of my rules, procedures, and expectations for the school year. I want them to know what is expected of their child so that there are no surprises. Another way to keep parents informed is through a classroom newsletter and website. I want the parents to know upcoming assignments, projects, and fieldtrips. This way they can plan

for these events and choose to help out in any way if they wish. Furthermore, they can keep track of what their child is doing in school and help their child keep up on assignments. Lastly, and probably the most important interaction with the parents would be my monthly email. This email will let the parents know a good thing that their student did. It could be a random act of kindness or a good grade on an assignment. It is anything positive that, together, the parents and I can praise the student for. Especially if this is a more challenging student, it is important to remind him/her and their parents of positive quality and accomplishments. Another big part of managing the classroom is through the enforcement of rules. Now, because I plan to work with elementary students I need to pick only a few rules. I decided on five rules because the student could easily count them on their fingers. This way they can put a visual to the rules to enhance their memory. The first rule is to bring all necessary supplies to class each day. This would include a pencil, notebook, homework and books. I want my students to learn to be responsible through this rule. However, I will not punish my students if they forget to bring a pencil one day. As the teacher, I will make sure I have extra supplies to lend out. The second rule is to respect one another. This rule is important because my goal is to create a safe and welcoming learning environment. In order to do this the students need to respect me and each other. They need to treat one another how they would want to be treated and to take care of the classroom supplies. I plan to do group discussions so my students learn how to respond appropriately and take turns talking during discussions. The third rule is to raise your hand when you want to be called on. This rule will establish order in the classroom. It is important that I am able to teach and that the students are able to learn. The fourth rule is to listen to all of the teachers directions. It is necessary for the students to listen to what the teacher says so that they do not miss out on any valuable information. Lastly, the fifth rule is to complete all assignments.

I want my students to grow as individuals and to expand their knowledge. In order to do this they need to take the time to do independent work and deepen the skills they have learned. I will go over all these rules on the first day of school. Furthermore, to implement these rules, I will start by reading them allowed to the students. Then as a class we will discuss what they mean. Next, we will discuss the consequences for breaking the rules. Then as a class we will say the rules together. We will practice going through the procedures because it may be challenging the first few months to remember the rules and procedures, I will go over them on the first Monday of every month. The next component to keeping my classroom organized is through my procedures. Procedures are important because they help show the students what is expected of them. It also saves time during transitions because each student will know what to do. The first procedure is for, the morning procedure. The steps are as follows: greet the teacher, put coat and backpack away, daily attendance, go to your desk, and start morning work. Each step directs the student and gets him or her ready to learn. The next procedure is for, the lunch time procedure. The steps are as follows: put materials away, grab lunch/money, line up and wait to be dismissed. This procedure helps transition the students from the first part of class to their lunch break. The third procedure is for, the end of the day procedure. The steps are as follows: get agenda and make sure all assignments are written down, collect homework, put materials away, grab backpack and coat, put chair on top of desk, and wait for the bell to ring. This procedure helps the students to gather what they need for homework. The fourth procedure is for, when a student has completed the assignment. The only step is to quietly grab a book, piece of paper to color, a word search, or another assignment to finish. The fifth procedure is for, when students need to use the bathroom. The steps are as follows: give the teacher thumbs up and wait until she nods back to you. The

sixth procedure is for, turning in homework. The steps are as follows: place homework in the tray at the beginning of the day. The seventh procedure is for, a crisis. The steps are as follows: teacher will flick the lights on and off, students will stop and locate the teacher, and the students will listen to directions. When I explain this procedure I will go over what a crisis means and how important it is for the students to pay attention and listen for further instructions. I want them to understand what to do and be prepared, but not afraid that something bad is going to happen. Once I have my classroom organized I can focus on motivating my students to learn. I can accomplish this in a couple of different ways. One way is to differentiate assignments. By giving the students a choice on how they will accomplish projects allows them to have some control. This will motivate them because they will be interested in the assignment that they choose. Another way to motivate my students is through student led conferences. I want them to put together a portfolio of the work that they are most proud of and then explain to their parents what they have been learning. If the students know that they are going to put together a portfolio of their work, then they will be motivated to work hard on assignments and projects. I will also try to make most of my lessons connect to real world situations, so that my students can see why the lesson would be important to know. In addition, I will try to make my lesson hands on. This way the students can move around and discuss with his or her peers what they are learning. Instead of listening to me lecture they can explore the concepts for themselves. Some other ways to motivate my students is through positive reinforcements. This will be done through smiles, verbal phrase, notes home, and for big moments, recognition to the principal. The final piece to think about is my classroom layout. I want all my students to see the board for when I am teaching and modeling, but I want them to be able to work in pairs and

small groups. In order to accomplish this I will place the desks in four rows with three pairs of desks. This way the student will have a partner and they can be grouped into small groups when necessary. I will also place tables at the back of the room for different stations. These stations will enhance the learning of different activities and lessons. In addition, I will place a chair in the back of the room as a cool down corner. This will be a place where students can go if they need a break to calm down during the day. I will put the supplies that students need to use on a daily basis in places that are easily accessible. I will keep the materials that I want to monitor on my desk (eg. teacher manuals, tape, and stapler). I will distribute these supplies to the students as needed and be able to monitor their use. I will also have technology in my classroom. I will put the computers in the back of the room for the students to use. Then I will keep the document camera and my I-pad close to my desk. Lastly, I will put my desk off to the side of the room. I will do this because I do not want my desk in the way of the board. Throughout my years of assisting in different field placements, I have learned a couple of different ideas for classroom management. One example involved taking attendance. The teacher had placed on the board a chart with lunch options: hot lunch and sack lunch. The students were to take the magnet with their name on it and move it to what they wanted. This way, the teacher could check to see who was here without having to spend the first five minutes of class taking roll call. Another example was for dismissal. My teacher would group the students into tables and each table could earn tallies for good behavior. However, if the group was off task then the teacher would erase tallies. The group with the most amounts of tallies would be released first to specials, lunch, or to the bus. This helped make the students responsible for their behavior and they could see how their actions had consequences. However, I have seen some examples of classroom behavior that I did not like. One of my teachers would punish students for not turning

in their homework by keeping them in for recess. In my experience, usually the kids who do not turn in their homework are the ones who need that break to release built up energy. No matter how many times this student stayed in, they still had a hard time turning in their homework. Personally, I would have kept the student in during lunch. This way we could work on his or her assignment together and he/she could still go out for recess. Another teacher of mine used to call in the students parents when the child was causing trouble in class. The only down fall to this is that it embarrassed the student to see their mom at school. In addition, she was a very loud talker, so classrooms nearby could hear her. I know that there is a lot of planning that goes into creating a welcoming learning environment. Carl W. Buechner stated, I may not remember what you taught me, but I will always remember how you made me feel (Carl W. Buechner). I want school to be a great experience, where my students feel comfortable and valued. I hope to inspire my students to be lifelong learners. It is my goal to provide them with the necessary tools so that they can be successful in everything they do.

References

(2005). Behavioral vs. Cognitive Views on Teaching/Learning and classroom management: two schools of thought.. [ONLINE] Available at: http://utpp.southernct.edu/research2s.htm. [Last Accessed February 12, 2013]. Mathews, D. (2013). Curriculum and Methods: Behavior Management. Lecture. Hope College. (2013). Carl W Buechner Quotes & Sayings. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.searchquotes.com/quotes/author/Carl_W_Buechner/. [Last Accessed February 12, 2013].