However, many teachers in our country have been facing a great challenge in managing their classrooms. Possibly, the single most important factor to effective teaching is classroom management. Students are described to be different, and at times, they tend to act superior than their teachers or the authorities in the school. They might show less respect or even refuse to take part in the learning sessions. In order to ensure that the teaching and learning environment a teacher has to come up with a set of guidelines in managing their classrooms (Yisrael, 13). These guidelines are also referred to as classroom management system. In this paper, I will seek to describe my classroom management system and expound on how it relates to my personal style of teaching. In addition, the paper will present the fundamental principles in regard to classroom management alongside students discipline and other ways that aims at involving the students in creating a favorable learning environment.
According to Hue and Wai-shing Li (2008), once a teacher losses control of their classrooms, it normally becomes very difficult for them to regain the control again (132). In addition, their analysis further shows that, the time that a teacher takes to correct a student’s misbehavior, resulting from a poor classroom management, largely lowers the rate of academic engagement or performance in the classroom setting. From the students view, an effective classroom management system should incorporate clear communications of both academic and behavioral expectations as well as a generally cooperative environment (Hue and Wai-shing Li 91). Most theories in regard to classroom acknowledge that a classroom management should be founded on respect, discipline and motivation. Usually, many teachers prepares their management system by establishing various rules and procedures at the beginning of the year in their quest of controlling any form of student misbehavior in the class room. Hue and Wai-shing Li further explains that, rules give leaners concrete direction that aims at ensuring that their expectations can become a reality.
In my classroom management system, I always try to reflect my desired teaching style and environment for my students in the classroom setting. It communicates information about my beliefs on the content and the general learning process. Additionally, it represents the usual kinds of instructions that take place in any typical classroom. In this management system, the teacher is solely responsible for guiding the student in all their classroom activities. I believe that, a good classroom management system is especially seen or understood better at the student’s perspective of learning and behavior. A student normally has at least two cognitive requirements at all times: the academic tasks requirements, which mostly involves understanding and working the classroom content. The other requirement is the social part of learning whereby a student has the task of interacting with other individuals especially their classmates and discuss the content taught by the teacher (Yisrael, 13). Therefore, I will ensure that my classroom management systems, allows my students to understand the content that I teach them and also find the most effective ways to participate in them so as to demonstrate their understanding. According to my personal teaching style, I will highlight some of the aspects that I would ensure I have incorporated in my classroom management system.
Creating a Learning Environment
The notion of creating and implementing a favorable learning environment for my students through my management system is because I am of the opinion that, the student’s perspective on becoming successful, instructions and the management aspect of it are simply inseparable. The teaching and learning environment ought to be supervised in both the cognitive and physical space. The physical space is normally prepared by the teacher by ensuring that it has been arranged in such a way that it prepares the students for learning (Hue and Wai-shing Li 91). Before I start my lessons, I would ask myself various questions such as, is the room warm enough and inviting? Does the room arrangement in line with my philosophy of learning? Have any distracting materials in my classroom removed? Among many other questions that largely defines the condition of the learning environment. It is imperative for teachers to create and implement classroom management systems that involve practices that cultivate a favorable classroom environment for the students.
Setting the expectations
The next feature in my management system is the setting up of expectations through the formulation of various rules and procedures. Rules are known to indicate the expectations for behavior in the classroom setting while procedures are meant to indicate how things would be done when in the classroom environment. In fact, rules can be formulated in the classroom with the help of the students so that they get the feeling that they have been involved in the setting up of their governing structure and therefore would not complain when disciplinary measures are have been taken after a student goes against the set rules. As the teacher, I am expected to be possessing the knowledge on how rules and procedures should be applied for different environment. It has been proven by classroom management theorists and researchers that students who demonstrates high level of engagement and academic success usually implement a systematic style towards classroom management during the beginning of the school year. Thus, I find my management system effective since setting up expectations is vital in enhancing learning by the student.
Motivational Climate
Arguably, the most important role of a teacher that would largely improve on the performance of a student is the aspect of motivation. My classroom management system aims at encouraging and motivating the students to do their best and to also be excited about whatever they are learning since I believe that the process of learning should be fun. The climate of motivation is formed by expounding on two factors that are; value and effort. In order to be motivated, the students have to see the outcomes of their hard work and that of others. As the teacher I have opted to motivate my student both through encouraging them in their efforts in classwork and also by praising them verbally when they do exceptional things in the class.
Maintaining a learning Environment
In my classroom management system, I also involve the aspect of maintain the learning environment through the issue of decision making. Maintaining a learning environment is very important and requires the teacher to actively monitoring their students. Through active monitoring, I would watch closely on the general behavior of my student, correcting any inappropriate behavior before it gets worse and attending to their learning process. I recommend that, for any teacher to be able to effectively monitor both the behavior and academic progress of their students, regular survey of the class is required, and also to watch for any signs that may suggest instances of inattentiveness or confusion in the behavior for a particular student.
Conclusion
In conclusion it is evident from the description of my classroom management strategy how imperative it is for any teacher to have a management system for their classroom. I find it very important for a teacher to take into account various basic mistakes commonly made during the implementation of the behavior strategy. However, I believe that the management strategy should not be too rigid. Despite having laid down the rules and procedures for various occurrences in the class and the probable consequences upon contravening these rules, a teacher ought to use logic to solve various problems in the class. For instance, two students with a similar misbehavior may require a totally different intervention approach strategies. In general, when proper communication between the teacher and the students exists and an all-inclusive classroom environment is created, I believe that any teacher’s management system would work effectively and learning would progress with minimal confrontations.
Works Cited
Hue, Ming-tak, and Wai-shing Li. Classroom Management: Creating a Positive Learning
Environment. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2008. Print.
Yisrael, Sean B. Classroom Management: A Guide for Urban Schools Teachers. Lanham,
Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012. Print.
