ClassroomEnvironmentPhilosophy(CEP)

AndiCooper November20,2012 ClassroomEnvironmentPhilosophy(CEP) ED204 NCSUCollegeofEducation

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AndiCooper ED204 November20,2012 Oneofthemostimportantcharacteristicsofasuccessfulclassroomispersonalresponsibility. Responsibilityofnotonlythestudentsbutofthatoftheteacheraswell.Myclassroomenvironmentis thatofrespectandresponsibility.Asastudentmyselfandgoingtoschooltobecomeamiddleschool teacherinbothlanguageartsandsocialstudiesIfeelitisveryimportantthatIshowpersonal responsibilityincompletingallofmycourseworkandworkingmyhardestonachievingagreatgrade. BycompletingeverythingIamexpectedtothenIamprovidingmyfuturestudentswithanexcellentrole modeltolookupto. Therewere3theoristswhoreallystoodouttomethissemester.ThosetheoristsareWilliam Glasser,B.F.Skinner,andThomasGordon.Ifeelasthoughallthreeofthemhavesimilartheoriesin thattheyrecognizepositivereinforcement.GlasserdoesntusearewardsystemwhichIdont completelyagreewithbecauseIfeelthatevenasmallreward,likeasmileyfaceonagoodpapercan makeastudentsday.IdoagreewithGlasserwhenhesuggeststhatstudentsworkingroups,Imafirm believerincooperativelearning.SkinnersuggestsusingatokensystemwhichIthinkcanbeagood idea,butIfindthattherearefaultsinit.Forexample,whatifastudenthasaccumulatedtheirtokensand thenmisplacesthem,itputseveryoneinanawkwardsituation.WithGordonstheory,Iagreewithhis thoughtsondefiningtheproblemandrecognizingwhyadisciplineproblemisoccurringandfixingit, ratherthanjustyellingandscreamingwhentheproblemdoesoccur.

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Teachers and students are not equals. I do not believe that students and teachers are equals. I do believe that teachers needs to assert themselves as the leaders of the classroom. They are the ones in charge and that needs to be known from the beginning. Thomas Gordon and B.F. Skinner are both known for using positive reinforcement and praising students when appropriate behavior is used. Therefore, the teacher needs to be the one who is giving that praise and on the other hand the teacher needs to be the one disciplining students when needed. My classroom management goal. The goal of classroom management is for students to be productive students. Students who dont need constant reminders to change their behavior, but those who work efficiently and effectively on their own. This goal can be accomplished by getting the students engaged in what they are learning. By creating exciting lessons that motivate the students to learn can assure that the students will be too busy learning to misbehave. The first thing a teacher should do at the beginning of the year. The most important thing for the teacher to do at the beginning of the school year is for the teacher to learn their students. Learn their strengths and weaknesses and learn how they learn so that learning on the students part can take place. By learning how the students are the teacher can then learn how and what type of discipline needs to occur if any at all. Do punishments really need to take place? I believe that there needs to be a divide between major and minor rule violations. Having the students involved in rulemaking helps them know when they break a rule. I think as a teacher I

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need to have a set of rules that if any are broken, for example, cheating, then consequences must be paid. Some forms of punishment that are acceptable for teachers to use include parent/guardian phone calls/ emails, parent conferences, verbal warnings to the child, sending the child to the principal, having a student sit by themselves and complete assignments, removing the student from the situation that could be contributing to their behavior, for example, changing their seat, detention before/after school or during lunch time. Students should be involved from the very first day in their classroom environment. William Glasser says to allow students to participate in developing class rules and determining acceptable behavior in the classroom. This is something I completely agree with. On the very first day of class, I think students should be allowed to contribute to the classroom rules and procedures. Ill start off by asking the students how they feel about talking out of turn, constant talking in class. If they think those things are bad then we write down that raising our hands would be most appropriate for some situations but in other,s like having a discussion, calling out answers is acceptable. As far as needing to go to the bathroom, I think having a sign out sheet would be acceptable; having the date and time on it as well would hepl especially if it is believed that a student is abusing the bathroom privileges. If we are taking a test or quiz then everyone must stay in the classroom at that time. No going to lockers during class time. I want my students to remember my class for years to come as one they could be themselves in. I want my students to look back and know that they had an amazing experience. They were in a safe learning environment that allowed them to prosper. I want to allow my students to collaborate and work with each other, because I feel that new ideas can emerge with group

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work. They have a voice and they are being heard. I want parents to be involved as much as possible. Parents should be involved in the classroom environment. Im fully aware that there will be situations where parents arent involved at all in their childs school life or even involved in their child at all. Those situations have a different role in this situation, but in general parents should pay attention to what is going on in their childs life. If the parent is involved then they can give input on what type of environment they think their child learns best with. For example, do they need a quiet area to read in, do they do best with group seating (or do they talk too much?) I want my layout to show that cooperative learning is key to success. The most notable thing about how I want my classroom laid out is I want there to be group seating, with desks in groups of 3 or 4. This way I want to promote community learning. This is something that Glasser has as part of his theory as well. I want there to be bright colors on the walls so that it has a warm feel about the room. I want to have positive posters on the walls conveying positive messages. I would like to provide each one of my students the opportunity to use a computer or laptop so space for those would be ideal. Consistency is key when changing disruptive behavior. If misbehavior does occur, the first approach needs to be correcting it right away. You must be consistent with the corrections, because kids will not learn that they are misbehaving if they do not know that their actions are inappropriate wtih single occasion. The best way to ensure consistency is to correct the behavior at every occasion and have clear consequences for breaking rules. When I think about my classroom environment I believe that we are all a community

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working towards a common goal. I hope my students will come to class every single day knowing what is expected of them and knowing that they will leave the classroom that day knowing that they had a great day. A positive experience to complete their day. A positive experience that they can take with them throughout the years to come. We are growing together in my class. We have an entire year to get to know each other and find out each others strengths and weaknesses. By growing together we can achieve all that we need to.

Mrs.CoopersSeventhGradeHistoryClass DearCaretaker, IwantedtotakethisopportunitytointroducemyselftoyouandtellyouhowexcitedIamto

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haveyourchildinmyclassthisyear.AsaparentmyselfIknowjusthowhappyyouallareforthestart oftheschoolyear.Itismygoaltoprovideyourchildwithachallenging,yet,funexperienceinmy classroom.ThisyearyourchildwillbelearningaboutWorldGeography.Wewillbeexploringthe cultureandhistoryofmodernsocietiesandregions. Therewillbehomeworkassignmentsalmostdaily,pleasecheckyourstudent'splannerweekly toensuretheyarecompletingtheirwork.Wewillhave2majorprojectsthisyear,1persemester,more informationonthosewillbeincludedinthesyllabus.Ihavehighexpectationsforallofthestudentsthis yearandIhopethatyouholdyourchildtothosesameexpectations.Ibelieveincooperativelearning andthereforewhenyoucomevisitourclassroomonopennightyouwillnoticethatthestudentsdesks areputintogroupsof3and4.Thiswaystudentscanbouncetheirideasoffoneanother. Iwillbeavailableviaphone/emailaswellasinpersonuponappointment.Pleasefeelfreeto contactmewithanyconcernsthatyouoryourchildmayhave.Iwillsendhomemonthlyprogress reportsofyourchildsprogressthatwillrequireyoursignature.Again,Ilookforwardtotherestofthis schoolyearandIlookforwardtowatchingyourchildgrowandprosperinmyclassroom. Sincerely, Mrs.Cooper

MyclassroomenvironmentphilosophyisthatIwantmystudentstofeelcomfortableintheir surroundings.Iwantthemtoknowthattheyaresafewithme.Theycanlearnandprosperundermy care.Iwantmystudentsparentstoknowthattheirlovedoneisbeingallowedtogrowandlearninan environmentthatpromotestheirlearningstyleandpromotesselfresponsibility.Myclassroomwill

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promoterespectamongallofthethoseinside.IwanttopromotecommunitylearningandtodosoI needtoprovideanenvironmentthatallowsstudentstobethemselvesandexpressthemselveswithout fearofnegativebehaviortowardsthem.Myclassroomenvironmentwillpromotemeasanemerging professionalbecauseIacknowledgethateveryonecanbecomeresponsibleforthemselves,andthis includemyselfacknowledgingthatIamresponsibleformyselfandallthatIdo.

References Manning,M.L.,&Bucher,K.T.(2007).ClassroomManagement:Models,applications,andcases (2nded.).UpperSaddleRiver,NJ:Pearson.

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B.F.Skinner ThomasGordon WilliamGlasser

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