Classroom Management

These past few months I have seen the importance of classroom management. I understand that it is needed to have an effect and safe learning environment. One thing I have really experienced and learned about it is making expectations clear to students. I feel that it is important for students to understand what their expectations are and why they have them. I have experienced many classrooms some having excellent classroom management and others having very little. Today I wanted to comment about how important it is to have expectations.

I feel that a well managed classroom will function whether the teacher is there or not. I have experienced a classroom in which I feel the lack of classroom management affects the students learning. I feel that the students are not respectful to their teacher or any other teacher that works with them. I believe that this is not their fault though. I do not feel like they have learned how to act or what is expected of them. The teacher does a lot of yelling in the classroom and I am 100% against that. I feel that it does not solve anything in fact it makes the problems worse. If a teacher is yelling the students one, are embarrassed and two, may not understand why their behavior is wrong. I have also experience very well managed classrooms where the students have high expectations in learning and behavior and the students understand those expectations. I have seen classrooms function with the teacher not there and they are well behaved and the classroom continues as it would if the teacher was there. In one classroom I was in there was a problem with tipping chairs. I noticed this and pointed out that they could get hurt and they need to keep all fours on the floor. The teachers plan was to have the students write their names on the board if they continued to tip. The students in this class were very honest. They would put their name on the board if they found their self tipping without me saying any thing to them. I feel that these students understood their expectation and wanted to help themselves by giving a consequence.

I have learned a lot from the experiences that I have had. I have learned what not to do as wells as good things to do in the classroom, as far as classroom management. I have seen why I believe in not yelling. I have seen that it does not work or solve any of the problems that are occurring. I want to help my students learn to interact with others and I feel the only way to do that is help them understand the correct way too interact.

Integrated Curriculum

Throughout the semester we have explored what integrated curriculum is. I have learned many things that are included in an intergraded curriculum that I did not know before. Integrated curriculum connects multiple subject areas. It means taking one subject area such as animals and integrating that into all subjects. It also helps the students see how subjects are connected. By integrating subjects students see how you can learn about something in many different ways. Integrated curriculum also involves personal experiences. It is important to connect to students lives to what they are learning. Integrated curriculum allows students to have being there experience to enhance learning. Learning is more meaningful to students when it is connected to real life experiences because they are able to see why it is important to them. Integrated curriculum involves a lot of planning. Teachers need to first look at their students. They need to understand their needs and interests. Then they look at standards and base their integrated units on the standards for that grade. They then will develop the key points that students will explore throughout the unit. Integrated curriculum also involves giving students choice. Students can choose the things they want to further investigate or how they want to learn about a subject. I feel that integrated curriculum is very important to use in the classroom simply because content areas such as science and social studies seem to be put on the back burner, especially in the primary grades. I feel that integrating science and social studies into a literacy lesson is the best way to solve this problem. Students can learn about science and social studies while they are gaining literacy skills. I believe that developing an integrated curriculum takes dedication but I feel that it is needed for students to learn to their fullest potential.

Classroom Management

Since writing the theories part of the paper I have looked at many different theorists ideas in depth. I had a hard time picking just a few because I feel that they all could be implemented into the classroom in some way. I have really pulled things from Alfie Kohn and Nelsen and Lott. I have realized that I value building a community more than I thought. After seeing how they works in a college classroom when only seeing each other in class once a week I can't imagine how they can be with a class of students that are with each other everyday. I feel that in a community students will be more comfortable and cared about. I feel that having a community built within a classroom can lead to less misbehavior. I feel like Alfie stated that creating a community helps meet the emotional needs of students which often is the reason they misbehave. After reading about Nelsen and Lott and class meetings I see how community circles can be turned into a discussion rather then just sharing. I feel that class meetings are also important because it lets the students know that they have the opportunity to discuss what is going on in the classroom comfortably.