When asked to think about my own elementary school experience, I am always

transported back to my fifth-grade classroom. I had a first-year teacher name Ms. Joyce who
quickly became one of my favorite teachers. Today, when I consider the environment I want for
my own future classroom, I think about all the things I loved about being in her class and try to
find ways to connect those elements to what I’ve learned over the last year. Ms. Joyce was the
first young teacher I had, and at the time I remember feeling like she treated our class as if we
were her peers and not little kids. She always validated our contributions to the class and
provided insightful feedback on our assignments. She never talked down to us and entrusted us
with some big projects. I loved that about her. I spent much of my fifth-grade year feeling
challenged in the best ways.
Over the course of the last year I have been introduced to a variety of ways to facilitate
learning and maintain an effective teaching style. I know that both of these elements will be in
constant development throughout my teaching career, but one of the key lessons I’ve learned is
that my connection to my students is imperative to my ability to reach them. Students require
love and respect from caring adults and there will always be kids in my class who do not receive
enough of that at home. Recognizing that the time they spend with me in the classroom may be
the only interaction they have with a caring adult has already reshaped the way I approach some
of the more difficult students in my placement. If I can demonstrate to each student that they are
appreciated and valued in my classroom, they will be more receptive to our interactions, whether
they be one-on-one or with the entire class.
One of my favorite parts of the school day is the first half hour of the day in which
students are coming into the classroom and settling into their morning work. I have seen this
done in different ways, but I like the idea of my kids doing a different morning work task each
day of the week. It provides the need for routine without this period of day getting stale. Morning
work is intended to set the tone for the day and help kids transition into that “school-mindset,”
but I also think this could be a valuable time of day for kids to share what happened on the bus,
or over the weekend with their friends. I like the idea of morning work also being a time when
students can get that need to socialize out of their system before we move onto weightier topics. I
love when students share their morning work with me and I love seeing them share it with one
another, and so I do not plan to admonish students for talking during this time if they are staying
on task and not being a distraction to their neighbors.
Another important part of maintaining an effective teaching style is to remain open to
new methods. It will be up to me to research new techniques and strategies to use in my
classroom. I know that it is easy for me to get set in my ways, so this will be a challenge for me
that I need to stay aware of. It is important to remember that students today do not learn the same
way that students learned ten years ago. That being said, a student at the red table in my
classroom learns differently than a student at the blue table in my classroom, so I not only have
to stay up-to-date on new teaching methods, but I have to be willing to employ them differently
throughout the year with different students to ensure that I can find ways to connect with my
students’ different learning styles.
When it comes to establishing a culture of learning, I am constantly looking for ways to
nurture my students’ curiosity. Second graders have questions about everything, and they’re
usually pretty great. I love when my students can stump me and we have to think up how we’ll
find an answer together. One element I would like to incorporate into my own classroom to help
this idea along would be to create a wonder-wall, as described in Harvey Daniels’ book, The
Curious Classroom. “To create a culture of questioning and investigation, we need to solicit and

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record topics kids wonder about,” Daniels says (Daniels, 2017). He provides several different
examples of wonder-walls in different classrooms. A wonder-wall is designed to be a place
where students can post their questions or things they may wonder about during a lesson. If they
wonder about something a teacher can’t answer right away, or may be slightly off topic, they can
simply post their “wonder” onto the wall to be addressed later. There are two ways I would like
to go about addressing these wonderings, one is to review them at the end of each day and work
them into my lessons throughout the corresponding unit. The other is to leave them on the wall
for students to research when they have downtime in class. I love this idea because it not only
honors student curiosity, but it provides additional insight into how a child thinks. It can help me,
as the teacher, get to know my students better.
Another key element to establishing a culture of learning is to provide students with
access to high-quality reading materials. Books are vital to a classroom and they should be
selected wisely. As non-fiction texts are becoming more of a priority, I hope to stock my
classroom with a collection of books that appeal to a wide range of student interests. I also hope
to keep a good selection of literature that represents a variety of people groups. In one of my
undergrad classes, we talked about the importance of our students seeing themselves or people
like them represented in literature. Students need to see themselves in the books they read so
they see that they are welcome in a literary world. They may be more comfortable writing about
their own cultures and experiences when they read about others similar experiences. A
multicultural library also opens students up to worlds outside their own and enables them to take
initiative in learning about other people.
Social awareness is a huge priority for me as an educator. I use this term to refer to a few
different topics, as I want my students to learn to be good citizens who care about their
community and the world around them, and I also want them to learn how to contribute
effectively to our classroom environment and regulate themselves. Alfie Kohn points out that
students need to feel a sense of autonomy, belonging, and competence (Kohn, 2014). These
elements create a sense of confidence in the learner and enable them to contribute more to the
classroom. As an educator, I hope to meet these needs by offering students choices and holding
them responsible for the outcomes of those choices, creating an environment of respect and
rapport, and doing my best to keep a classroom stocked with resources that interest and engage
my students.
During my time as a student teacher I have seen a plethora of ways to create a community
feel inside the classroom. I would love to incorporate both the class meeting and a mailbox into
my own future classroom. One thing I have noticed in my time with these kids is that they love
anything that makes them feel like adults. Having the opportunity to contribute to a classroom
meeting and carry themselves into this very adult-oriented environment makes them feel
important and like their input matters. During these meetings, I have seen kids offer suggestions
to anonymous classmates that may be struggling with their friends on the playground. They
brainstorm solutions to how they should handle a specific conflict that came up during class, and
I have been able to use this time to talk about issues that do not fit neatly into a planned lesson
time. I see this as a key element to establishing an environment of respect in the classroom.
Students have a set time during the week when they know their voices will be heard.
One of the aspects of the mailbox that I appreciate is the way kids can write about their
frustrations or concerns in the moment they arise without disrupting the rest of the class. I ask
students to “write it on a conflict card” if I am in the middle of something and the student has a
concern that is not an emergency. My second graders are also learning that not every discomfort

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or concern needs to be addressed immediately. In a way, using the conflict cards is teaching
students form of self-regulation. Dedication to a class meeting and consistency with the mailbox
method will be great tools in helping me to establish a good rapport with my students.
From a technology standpoint, I cannot control what kind of resources will be available
to me, but I have extensive experience with a variety of tech-related tools. I recognize the value
of ipads and chrome books, and hope to have access to them when students need them. I have
used a variety of apps and programs in my classroom that are effective for ELA and math
instruction. I like the interactive element that these items can bring to a classroom and it is a way
to meet my students where they are. Math manipulatives and other tools should be within reach. I
also plan to be very intentional about how my room is decorated, as I do not want to
overstimulate students with too many things. Student work and visual aids are my priorities
when I think about decorating my classroom.
When it comes to managing misbehavior, I recognize that many schools already have
procedures in place that all teachers are asked to adhere to. I have seen clip charts in action,
stoplights, names on the board, and students asked to go out in the hall. I prefer a stoplight to a
clip chart, because I think it is less embarrassing for the student and does not give them the
opportunity to disrupt class more than they already have. I have used a laminated page with a
stoplight on it. I write students’ names on the stoplight when they are misbehaving. The stoplight
page stays at my desk and I simply tell the offending student “You’re on green” before
continuing on with my lesson. Many of the researchers we have talked about in this class have
spoken out against extrinsic rewards systems in the classroom and I agree with them. Alfie Kohn
describes these types of rewards as nothing more than “short, temporary compliance methods.”
Glasser takes this idea a step further and describes rewards systems as a form of “coercion” and a
“deadly” habit (Charles, 2008). Glasser and Kohn would be disappointed to see the way rewards
are employed in my current classroom. Outside of them being a manipulative tactic, they are a
huge distraction for students. I prefer to reward good behavior with verbal acknowledgement or
encouragement.
The classroom management models that resonated with me the most over the course of
this semester are those from Fay and Cline, Barbara Coloroso, and Curwin and Mendler. There
are strong similarities between each of the models from these researchers and many of them
match my own priorities. Fay and Cline and Coloroso emphasize student autonomy. Our students
need to learn to make their own decisions and take responsibility for those decision. Coloroso
points out that we should allow students to experience the discomfort of their actions, rather than
rescue them from that discomfort (Charles, 2008). As a huge proponent of learning through
experience, I support this concept wholeheartedly. Fay and Cline’s model of “Love and Logic”
stresses the value of teaching through empathy and consequences. They state that we need to
help students feel good about themselves, help them learn to solve problems and think for
themselves, and replace punishment with empathy and consequences (Fay and Fay, 1995). One
of the best ways we can teach children to think for themselves is to give them the opportunities
to do so. Coloroso uses this approach when she tells us not to save children from their problems,
but ask them how they are going to handle them. I have started using this approach in my
placement. Sometimes it is effective, but often I am met with “I don’t know,” so this is a process
I am still refining.
Curwin and Mendler talk about disciplining with dignity and I really appreciate this
approach. Before reading the works of these theorists, I never considered the importance of
dignity when thinking about discipline, but their models have really opened my eyes to the

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importance of that concept. Curwin and Mendler stress the value of a social contract in the
classroom and point out that “Contracts are different from traditional classroom rules in that
students are involved in designing them, they ensure clarity of rules, include consequences and
not punishments, allow for change with class needs, have safeguards to protect the dignity of
students, and increase communication (Curwin and Mendler, 1988)”. Protecting dignity is a
driving factor for all three of these models and it is such a vital part of our self-esteem. It makes
sense that these researchers would make it a priority and I hope to do the same in my future
classroom.
I have spent a lot of time this semester thinking about how to organize and effectively
manage my future classroom. I have seen things I love and things I hate in classroom settings,
but until I am in my own room with my own group of students, each with his or her own
personality, it is difficult for me to account for how I will operate. I can say that I am much more
confident in my abilities to manage a classroom now than I was at the beginning of the semester.
Each day that I am given more responsibility in my placement, I grow more excited to take over
my own class.

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Resources:
Charles, C.M. (2008). Building Classroom Discipline, Boston. Pearson.
Curwin, R.L., & Mendler, A.N. (1988). Discipline with dignity. Alexandria, VA: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum.
Daniels, H. (2017). The curious classroom: 10 structures for teaching with student-directed
inquiry. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Fay, J., & Fay, C. (1995). Teaching with love and logic: Taking Control of the Classroom.
Golden, CO: Love and Logic Press.
Kohn A. (2014, June 03). Alfie Kohn: The 3 Most Basic Needs of Children & Why Schools Fail.
Retrieved October 28, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3T8pFxIeyY