Managing My Classroom!

For my blog this month, I wanted to talk about my learning experiences that took place in my clinical placement. I am placed in a 4th grade class and that scared me at first. I never thought that I would like 4th grade. I always wanted to stay K-2, but as I’ve gotten more involved in this 4th grade class, I’ve realized that I like it and I wouldn’t mind teaching it.

I had the amazing opportunity of teaching reading for the day for my teacher who had to attend an IEP meeting and was going to be out of the room. She asked if I could teach it because there were going to be a couple teachers in and out to watch her class, but I knew the students and the book she was teaching and she didn’t want her students to get too behind. I did their reading with them that day and I loved it. I felt like I was in my own classroom and it was a great feeling.

I’ve also learned a lot about classroom management by being in this class. The teacher I am shadowing is very good at managing her class and they have a lot of respect for her because she respects them. Her students are very well behaved and know what to do. They never tried to disrespect me because I was a new authority figure in their classroom. They welcomed me with open arms and respected me like they had met me the first day of school. I have learned that if I have a student that is off task and not cooperating like they should, then it is best to let that student go off on their own and cool down. There was a student in this class that was having a bad day. He was being very disruptive and not doing anything that was asked of him. The teacher sent him in the hallway to cool down, went out to talk to him, but had him stay in the hallway to work on his work alone. The teacher handled this very well and never allowed the student to take away from the rest of the class being productive.

For my outside research, I wanted to take a deeper look into classroom management strategies, see what my clinical educator does, and research things that I can take into my classroom to manage it. Edutopia has provided a list of 11 research-based strategies for managing a classroom. They are referred to in this article as “kernels.” It states that kernels are “bite-size strategies that are validated by mountains of empirical evidence and teacher experience” ("11 Research-Based Classroom Management Strategies"). The website is linked below:

https://www.edutopia.org/article/11-research-based-classroom-management-strategies

This learning for this month relates directly to NCTCS Standard 1: Teachers Demonstrate Leadership. In order to manage our classroom, we have to be leaders in our classroom. A classroom should be full of respect. We must respect our students in order to expect respect from them in return. However, they must know that we are the teacher and we are the leader in that classroom. We must take charge and allow our students to know what is expected of them at all times. In order for our students to learn, feel safe, and enjoy school, we must manage and lead our classrooms!

I have mentioned previous times in this blog post about my future classroom. I strive to have a classroom like my clinical educator does. In order to do that, I have to educate myself on classroom management strategies and enforce those. By researching articles like the one from edutopia, I am educating myself on things that have worked for others and by watching other teachers in action, I am learning as well. Classroom management is a necessity in order for my classroom to run smoothly and for my students to feel safe, loved, and learn all that they can!