Cassandra Szegeti

Early Childhood Education

Dr. McGrath
September 30, 2014
Many teachers have a different philosophy on how they are going to run their classroom,
and teach their students. Although some students may need more attention and guidance than
other students, All studentsregardless of race, color, national origin or zip codedeserve a
high-quality education that includes resources such as academic and extracurricular programs,
strong teaching, technology and instructional materials, and safe school facilities( US
Department of Education, 2014). Occasionally, some rules, or ways of discipline have to be
adjusted based on each individual child, especially if suffering from learning disabilities. I have
come across a blog, titled Kelsey Bickfords Education Portfolio, which provides helpful
insight for teachers to consider. Kelsey states, Good discipline does not emerge from a teachers
desire to control a student or to assert her power over a student. Rather, discipline should come
from a desire to teach students to self-assess and self-regulate their behavior (Bickford,
Philosophy of Discipline and Classroom Management).
It is beneficial for students to create their own rules, with assistance from their teacher,
because when it is their own work it has more importance to the students. Students will
recognize the rules and internalize them better, realizing that it is their own work. I believe it is
important to have few, broad rules that many situations fall under, and for students to recognize,
and understand those rules and which situations will be considered. Bickford also discusses that,
classroom management exists to guide students toward healthy behavior. It not only maximizes

the time spent learning in the classroom, but it also serves to eliminate many situations in which
students are tempted to exhibit negative behaviors ( Bickford, Philosophy of Discipline and
Classroom Management). Discipline should highlight positive behavior, not only be used to
address inappropriate or negative behaviors.

There are many ways a schedule can be created to attract students to learning. I believe
that I have created a schedule for my class, which will benefit the students, providing them with
the best learning possible. I have constructed my schedule placing literacy in the morning from
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. I believe it is important to facilitate literacy in morning because almost
all learning hinges on whether the student can read and write. Students will then attend special
from 11:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. then proceed to lunch/ recess until 12:40 p.m. Following recess,
students will receive 10 minutes of Read Aloud time, which will allow the students to calm down
and enjoy a book, and prepare for the rest of the school day. I have scheduled math at 12:50 p.m.
until 1:50 p.m., because students will have re-energized, and students will have an easier time at
focusing. Students will study Science, or Social Studies, every other day from 1:50 p.m. to 2:35
p.m. and another period of read aloud from 2:35 p.m. to 2:45 p.m., allowing time to recap the
day with a book that relates to a subject that have learned. Students will then end their school day
with Intervention/ Enrichment from 2:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. If a problem arose where I was not
able to complete my language arts lesson prior to lunch, I would move the lesson to the
afternoon, being it is essential to understanding all subjects, or if students are struggling and I
feel that with a little bit of extra time to reinforce a topic is beneficial to their understanding.

When teaching young children, an easy way to introduce rules, and structures, teachers
can read books to students, including: No David, or Know and Follow Rules. I feel that it is
important for students to receive the opportunity to create their own rules. If teaching
Kindergarten, or 1st grade, I will provide students with one word. Students should use the words
that I provide to create classroom rules together. This gives some structure to the rules,
reminding students of what is important in the classroom, while they create the actual rules. One
of a rule that I think will benefit my classroom is, I will be respectful to myself, my friends, and
my teachers. If I was teaching a 4th grade class, I would provide students with the opportunity to
create their own rules, individually, then together as a class, we will choose the most effective
rules created by the students. For all grades, I will have students sign each set of rules for
agreement. I also think it is important for students to have expectations for themselves outside
the classroom, therefore I would have students create expectations for themselves and attach this
to their homework folder, so that they are reminded of their expectations at home at school,
inspiring them to achieve these expectations at home and at school.

The way a teacher sets a tone in her classroom, or delivers information to her students
can largely affect their desire to learn. One of the key items when setting a tone in your
classroom is reinforcing the positive behavior of a student. Many students gain confidence
hearing that what they are doing is admired by an adult, especially their teacher, who often times
students look up to. The tone in which teachers deliver, and the way they word that the directives
that they are giving the students also could affect the students desire to listen. According to a
responsive classroom newsletter, Positive adult language is the professional use of words and
tone of voice to enable students to learn in an engaged, active way (2012). The use of positive
language can maintain the childs desire to learn. To guide children toward choosing and
maintaining positive behaviors, school adults need to carefully choose the words and tone of
voice we use when speaking to them (Responsive Classroom, 2012). Instead of saying to a
student, I am going to put your name on the board, you could rephrase it saying, I am going to
put your name on the board, if you do your work and show that you have earned it you name will
be erased. By wording this into a positive manner, it provides students with the opportunity that
they can work hard and strive to change their day around and improve their behavior and work
ethic.

When having to consider a new classroom profile, it was important to consider some
adjustments to my plans, especially how I would formulate my lessons, in order to touch each
student. I think it is beneficial to know ahead of time a little bit about your class, so that you can
make sure you touch on all levels of thinking when planning for the school year. When knowing
any information on your students abilities and needs, you will be able to adapt any instruction
prior to the students beginning school, and then make more changes once you have observed the
child in the actual classroom environment.

References
Bickford, Kelsey. "Philosophy of Discipline and Classroom Management." Kelsey Bickfords
Educators Portfolio. N.p., 2010. Web. 28 Sept. 2014.
"Responsive Classroom." Want Positive Behavior? Use Positive Language. N.p., 2012. Web. 29
Sept. 2014.
"U.S. Education Secretary Announces Guidance to Ensure All Students Have Equal Access to
Educational Resources." U.S. Department of Education. N.p., 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 06 Oct. 2014.