Classroom Management Philosophy

Throughout this course, I learned a lot about classroom management. First and foremost, I learned what classroom management was. According to our Elementary Classroom Management book, it is “Promoting learning with the use of tools that help students develop cognitively and socially in a setting together (Williams, 332). In addition, I learned that there are many attributes that make up a classroom. However, there are three aspects that I believe to be most important, and those include the physical environment, the emotional environment, and a well-managed discipline and punishment system.

First, I believe that the physical environment of a classroom is significantly important, because this is where both you and your students will be day in

When I think of the emotional environment, I think of an environment that is welcoming to each student and provides each student with a sense of warmth and safety. As a teacher, I want to know my students more than just academically. I want to know about their likes and dislikes, what they did over the weekend, why they are sad, etcetera. I want to be a caring teacher who creates a democratic classroom and produces a community within it. Page 32 of our classroom management book states, “Our goal as teachers should be creating an environment where children want to be and learn” and I could not agree more. I want my classroom to be a place where students’ thoughts and ideas are valued and where all voices are heard, in one way or another. I find the emotional environment of a classroom to be extremely important, especially in younger grades, because it can assist students in creating a positive outlook on school, for that year and for years to

Through my experiences so far, I have seen systems that work and those that do not. I do think that whatever system you adopt will potentially change yearly or even periodically in one school year depending on your students. However, I do believe that a system should be in place at all times to obtain a well-managed classroom. When referencing the different systems of classroom management in our Effective Teaching Methods book, I would align myself with the applied behavior analysis tradition. It is closely linked with Skinner’s theory of learning (Borich, 107). Although I align myself more with this system, I do not, however, agree with all of its content. I can see myself also adopting some segments of the humanist tradition and the classroom management tradition as well. I do not necessarily know what type of discipline and punishment I will implement into my classroom, but it is certainly something that I will use to manage