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Amy Parks Beginning Philosophy of Classroom Management and Discipline My philosophical belief of the purpose of teaching is to have students memorize information for a test, but it is for the students to store information in their long term memory. To do this, students must be exposed to the material in numerous ways. Each student is not simply just an auditory, visual, or tactile learner. I believe students are all of those. The more sensory involved in the learning process, the more the content is stored in their long term memory. I want my students to leave my classroom with knowledge that will last them a lifetime. That is the sole purpose of education and what is the result of good teaching. Effective teachers use proven research-based practices that are used by thousands of other teachers (Wong, 2009, p. 2). To promote long term memory storage of the content I teach in my classroom, I believe in these seven strategies developed by cognitive psychologists—repeat, repeat, repeat, use multiple ways to present information, think of relevance, emotion, and meaning, integrate stories that trigger emotional reaction, use scenarios and assimilations that access previously learned subject matter, break the objective into bite-sized lessons, and prompt my students for “active retrieval” of background knowledge (“Enhancing Long Term Memory,” 2015). A good teacher not only considers all types of learners and instills long term memory storage into their students, but considers all types of socioeconomic, racial, and religious backgrounds. To do this, I will build relationships with each of my students. On the first day of school, I will greet my students at the door. They will make a poster that is all about them using magazine scraps, markers, foam letters, and any other materials I can find. I will post their posters in the classroom. The purpose of this is to build a sense of community and individuality starting day one. This will also give me the chance to learn about the different hobbies and likenesses of each of my students. I want to learn what they like not just for relationship building, but to spark their interest in learning. By bringing in elements that the students enjoy into learning new material, they will want to learn it. My ideas about classroom management are influenced by my sociocultural background because I grew up in a rural, strict, Christian school and I identify as White. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 82% of teachers are white and 74% are female. Specifically elementary school teachers, 89% are female. Contrary to the teaching staff, the student population is highly diverse with 50% of it White which is predicted to lesson to 45% in the next decade, 15% Black, and 25% Hispanic (Cassetta, G., & Sawyer, B. (2015). How does my identity and the diversity in my students I will teach influence my classroom management ideas? The answer is how it could hinder me from building relationships with my diverse students. It is a lot easier for teachers to connect with students that look like them (Cassetta, G., & Sawyer, B. (2015). Many teachers deny this but it is a proven social issue. Additionally, students that come from diverse backgrounds are more likely to be exposed to traumatic events or lifestyles caused by living in poverty (Cassetta, G., & Sawyer, B. (2015). . As a result, those students who have or do experience trauma have behavior in the classroom such as anger and hyperactivity. White middle class students tend to grow up in more stable, safe environments resulting in more positive behavior. Naturally, teachers build closer relationships with those students because of their mature and intelligent behavior rather than with the students with anger and hyperactivity (Cassetta, G., & Sawyer, B. (2015). . This causes a divide between not only the class, but also the students will notice. Being aware of these things, I will be extra cautious as to how I change how I interact with certain students with certain backgrounds and behaviors. Another factor about diversity is that I wasn’t exposed to it throughout all of my schoolyears. I was deprived of this important chance to learn about other cultures. To prevent my students from this lack of experience, I will include and celebrate different cultures within my lesson plans. It wasn’t until 8th grade that I entered a rural public school. My classrooms were traditionally set up—rows of desks resulting in very limited social contact. Social contact was not encouraged and the teaching was always conducted as a teacher-centered lecture. I was very chatty as I got older in elementary school which resulted in me missing a lot of time of recess or getting pulled out of class instruction which was quite humiliating. That same treatment followed me into high school, as well. These factors influenced me into encouraging social contact in my classroom. I think I missed out on a more effective learning experience by not having social contact. Not only does learning improve in a social contact setting, but also behavior will, too. If I was given more opportunity to talk during class, I think that I wouldn’t have been punished to the same extent. Since I will encourage social contact, I will not have the highest degree of control in my classroom. Although there will be times I will conduct a whole-class instruction, I want to keep that minimal. I didn’t enjoy long, boring lectures as the teacher just rambled in front of the classroom. I want my students to have ample opportunities to “turn and talk” and engage in group projects. I want my classroom to be more student-centered as they will have opportunities of choice and interaction. If at any time I feel I am losing control such as the class is off topic, or is getting too loud, I will do a call and response that will get my students back on track. The goals of a classroom management plan shouldn’t just be to maintain control of the classroom. Management should also ensure students’ sense of safety, community, and wellbeing. Students crave structure and structure is only possible through management. I will implement classroom management during the first days of school by practicing the rules and procedures using interactive modeling. Using these techniques will ensure that I will have a smooth and time efficient school year by setting the tone of what I expect of my students from the very beginning. Positive reinforcement is the discipline approach I will utilize in my classroom. I will focus and reward positive behavior instead of just addressing and punishing bad behavior. Often times students who do behave are overlooked, causing the bad behavior to outshine the good. Focusing more on the good behavior creates a more positive learning environment. Each time I notice a good behavior, I will put a ticket on the student’s desk. Each time I notice a wrong behavior that’s continual; I will take away a ticket. Whoever has the most tickets by Fun Friday, gets to choose their “fun” station first. The stations will have activities they don’t normally do such as Play-doh. The rest of the students with ticket(s) will join that person by dividing amongst the stations. If a student doesn’t have at least one ticket, they will not be permitted to participate in Fun Friday. I really liked the “Finding Your Marigold” article. If you plant a marigold beside most any garden vegetable, that vegetable will grow big and strong and healthy, protected and encouraged by its marigold. The same idea of a marigold can be found in any school. I hope to find at least one Marigold that can help me grow into the teacher I aspire to be. Additionally, I really appreciated “The Power of Our Words” because I learned the five important rules of teacher language—be direct and genuine, convey faith with children’s abilities and intentions, focus on actions, keep it brief, and know when to be silent (Denton, 2015, p. 12). Use of this positive teacher language will provide students with precise feedback to reinforce my expectation and specifically address good behavior. I learned a lot about what not to do in my practicum. I think seeing it first-hand solidified it even more. I quivered every time she would yell at the students. I felt confused and overwhelmed the majority of the time. I couldn’t even imagine how they felt having to be there all day. My philosophy is the complete opposite of everything I observed in my practicum. The students in that loud, chaotic environment are stressed and in turn, aren’t learning as much as they could. The goal of my classroom management philosophy is for students to enjoy learning and look forward to coming to school every day. References: Cassetta, G., & Sawyer, B. (2015). Classroom management matters: the social-emotional learning approach children deserve. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Denton, P. (2015). The power of our words: teacher language that helps children learn. Turners Falls, MA: Center for Responsive Schools, Inc. Enhancing Long-Term Memory: 7 Strategies For eLearning Professionals Christopher Pappas – https://elearningindustry.com/enhancing-long-term-memory-7-strategies-elearningprofessionals Gonzalez, J. (2013). Find Your Marigold: The One Essential Rule for New Teachers . 1-4. Wong, H. K., & Wong, R. T. (2009). The first days of school: how to be an effective teacher. Mountain View, CA: Harry K. Wong.