TLED 360: Classroom Management

Classroom Management Stance

Classroom Management is like a seesaw

To me, Classroom Management is like a Seesaw, because achieving balance is a hard task. This correlates with classroom management in that as a teacher, I will be working throughout the whole year to achieve balance in aspects of classroom management such as discipline and communication with students and families.

In this portfolio, I will be outlining my plans for my future classroom including components of engagement, documentation, communication, and relationship building.

My classroom will be arranged in clusters:

Engaging Instruction

I want to have a student-centered classroom that promotes collaboration and community. I feel that a student centered approach is right for me because it is designed with students in mind, and it creates a culture where the teacher is a “co-creator” of their education (Milner et.al 2019 p. 97)

The way I will set up my classroom will encompass the idea of a student-centered approach. As seen in the photo in the previous section, I plan to have my room arranged in clusters. This will also promote collaboration between students. Because I will be teaching English, I think this seating arrangement is a good fit, as class activities may include discussing a chapter, reading as a group, etc.

I also intentionally chose this picture of cluster arrangement from Displays2Go because unlike other arrangements, these clusters are not linear, but are spread out more unevenly. I like this because it will allow my to see all of my students at all times.

As I have learned in my Mursion Labs, classroom engagement can greatly affect a lesson. I plan to regularly have activities for students that include things such as visuals, group collaboration, and creativity with drawing, music, videos, etc.

In addition to these types of activities, I also plan to listen to my students’ input and include their interests when it comes to lesson content. As stated by Milner and colleagues, “The more the curriculum is tied to students’ lives, cultures, and interests, the more likely they are to engage in deep learning, grasp the concepts, develop the skills, and attain the goals of the lesson. If the students do not know the references being used, they will not learn the lessons being taught,” (Milner et al 2019).

Relationship-Building Activities

Edmonds_Relationship-Building-Activities-final-1

Documentation and Communication plan

Edmonds_documentationandcommunicationplan-Final-1

Data-Based Reflection Plan

As a teacher, I reflection and data will be very important. At the beginning of the year, I will survey my students as mentioned in my Relationship-building component. This survey won’t be formal, but it will be an assignment in which students will be able to let me know the kinds of things they think make a good teacher. This will be a way for me to start off the year on a good note and consciously lead the class in a way that make my students feel comfortable. This is important because I will get to know more about them and possible avoid some of the bad experiences they had in previous classroom settings.

Throughout the year, I plan to continue to ask my students about how they are feeling about school, the content in my class, and just in general. This is because I want to include social-emotional wellness into my classroom as well. I also want to ensure that my students feel seen and valued, as this will help them thrive in and outside the classroom (Milner et al., 2019). I will meet with my students one-on-one at least after every quarter. This time will be scheduled into normal instruction time and Students will know beforehand that conferences will be held at this time throughout the year. While a student is having a conference with me, others will have their own assignments to work on. During these sessions I will ask about anything they have been struggling with, activities they enjoyed, and topic they would like to explore in the future.