Classroom Management Philosophy:
Many times a student’s development is hindered by the daily disruptions and behavioral problems that are presented in each classroom. It is inevitable that as a teacher we will come across students who are unwilling and unmotivated to learn and be cooperative. It is our responsibility as the teacher to change the culture of the classroom when we have students who are acting inappropriately. There are two things in my opinion that we can’t do if we want to assume the role of an effective teacher when dealing with classroom management.
The first is to allow students to gain control of the situation, or dictate the teachers approach to instruction. I have noticed through my practicums at SUNY Oswego that if the teacher allows the disruptions to manifest themselves into consuming the entire classrooms attention, then A) the students won’t pay attention to what you are teaching, and B) the problem student will continue the behavior in an effort to avoid the teachers’ desired method of instruction. This means that the student will use the negative behavior as a way to avoid the subject matter which they aren’t comfortable in learning for whatever their reason(s).
Secondly, the behavioral issues cannot always be handled by the administrative staff. Often the time that it takes to debrief a principle or vice principle as to the behavior that is generating such a problem for the teacher, takes a minimum of twice the time it would take to deal with the issue in the confines of the classroom.
For these two reasons I would like to implement a method of first dealing with the issue as the teacher, then if that is not working ask the advice of anyone who is familiar with the students behavior issues (ie. classroom aids, teacher assistants, past teachers), if the issue continues to exist then forming a committee of peer mediators to help assess the situation and attempt to resolve the issue with the student(s) in a way where each students voice is heard, and their peers can determine a few options for discourse which I will then review and create a plan of action that is appropriate the student and the behavior that they are displaying.
