Grand Canyon University
Dear Future Parents,
I want to welcome you to the start of a wonderful school year that will be packed full of adventures and positive (but challenging) learning experiences for your child. Through your compassion, support and consistency with your child you will be creating the foundations to a better future. This is because through your continued efforts your child will have the ability to become a more prestigious individual that can maximize his or full potential in not only school but in life.
My class will be at a critical stage in the development of your child, socially, cognitively and academically. Therefore, I will be making all the necessary attempts to ensure that your child develops in the best possible way socially, academically and cognitively. All efforts will be made towards the achievement of this goal and it is expected that your input as the parents will also be readily available and will go a long way in ensuring that these goals are achieved in the most effective manner possible.
A meeting between the parents and the teacher will have to be arranged at an appropriate time to explore the ways in which the performance of the child can b improved by analyzing the background from which the child comes from. From such I will be able to develop the most appropriate policies to apply in the classroom to ensure that your child develops in the most positive manner possible (Darling & LaRocque 2007).
My classroom will be run through the use of clearly defined policies which will be applicable to the students, and will from time to time involve you as the parent. The set rules that students need to follow are based on the principle of ensuring that proper behavior is conducted in the classroom. To this end, I have developed a guide book to enable me to properly manage the behaviors of the children.
I have classified the behaviors in the classroom into three broad categories; the productive behaviors, the unproductive behaviors and the counterproductive behaviors. Productive behaviors are those that in my opinion constitute those activities by the children that are positive and seem to foster cooperation among the children. To promote positive behavior in the classroom, the productive behaviors will be encouraged through a mode of positive reinforcement which is discussed later in this letter. On the other hand, unproductive behaviors are those that are non productive and neutral. Children who exhibit characteristics of the unproductive behaviors will be motivated through rewards to improve into productive behaviors. Counterproductive behaviors are those behaviors that are negative, disruptive and cause chaos in the classroom. The rules that will be applied in the classroom will seek to create harmony and an environment for learning and development for all the learners (Darling & LaRocque 2007).
The classroom will have general rules that will be applicable to all the learners. The rules will be five and will be written and displayed on a wall in the classroom. They will be simple and straightforward and will be written and displayed on a wall in the classroom, and will be expected to be followed by all without fail. The rules will define the engagement of the learners with the teacher and other students, break times, talking in class and expected conduct within the classroom. Some common kindergarten classroom rules will include raising hands in case one wants to speak, working closely with others as well as,using materials as instructed (Darling & LaRocque 2007).
It is from these set rules that positive reinforcement will arise. Positive reinforcement will be aimed at reducing the unwanted aggressive and uncooperative behavior in class. This will be done by specifically focusing attention on those students who exhibit negative behavior and give them attention when their actions exhibit positive and appropriate behavior. This will be a way of motivating such learners to shift their attitudes towards positive behavior by helping them understand that only the actions that are beneficial will receive attention (Darling & LaRocque 2007).
The traditional color card system will be used in the classroom as the behavior management system. The system uses cards colored in green, yellow and red to indicate student behavior and a chart showing the card for each student. Green represents positive productive behavior while red represents the other extreme of negative behavior. At the start of the day, all the students are at green and if a student misbehaves, his card is changed to yellow. An extra card which shows exemplary behavior is allocated another color such as gold. This is reserved for those students who show exemplary behavior in class. It will act as a point of excellence which the learners will try to achieve. To positively reinforce behavior in the classroom, a student who misbehaves will not necessarily have his card moved to yellow or red, rather I may choose to move a the card of a student who is behaving to gold. The most common reaction is that the other students will change their behavior in the quest to having their cards also changed to gold. I will try and ensure that the consequences directly relate to the misbehavior of a child and I will ensure that children understand this relationship. Because there will not be specific consequences that match misbehaviors or that match to the colors on my chart. A choice of consequences will be offered so as to allow some discretion to the child regarding the punishment to be metted on them. For instance, if a child makes noise during a lesson and fails to complete his class work, I will offer him the choice of completing it at recess or center time. I am not punishing him-sitting out to complete the work will be a consequence of not doing it in class (Darling & LaRocque 2007).
Negative reinforcement will also be applied appropriately to the students as a way of behavior management. As the teacher, I will conduct negative reinforcement by removing the facilities and items that may be used by learners to engage in negative behavior. Since this is a low age classroom, I will mainly concentrate on the environmental factors which may lead to negative behavior. For example, in the use of toys for learning, students who will engage in negative behavior will have their toys taken away from them or asked to stay away from participating in activities which involve the use of toys. This will reinforce a negative which will be associated with engaging in a negative behavior in the classroom. This will help the students avoid behaviors which are uncooperative and cause chaos in the classroom. Punishment will be another method that I will use in behavior management in my class.
Attempts will be made to positively shape the behaviors of the students who exhibit counterproductive behaviors. This will be done after an investigation into the learner’s background to try and establish why the student has such behavior. This will be a gradual process over a period of time in which the students with behavior issues will be involved in activities intended to correct negative behavior. This will be through the rewarding the learner every time he/she makes a stride towards a productive behavior pattern. This will be encouraged especially in terms of increased cooperation among the students in class (Darling & LaRocque 2007).
All these programs I have put in place will be informed by The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The law requires that an investigation into the source of behavioral problems be investigated, and this will be done through home visits to students and neighborhood walks to determine as accurately as possible the ways of addressing the problems. From these assessments, behavior intervention strategies will be developed and implemented to ensure that the best behavior is obtained. (Darling & LaRocque 2007)
I look forward to a long lasting and rewarding relationship.
Very Respectfully Written,
References:
McDevitt, T. M. & Ormrod J. E. (2010).CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION 5TH EDITION: FAMILY CULTURE AND COMMUNITY. Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson Education.
Maschinot, B. (2008). The changing face of the United States:The influence of culture on child development. Washington, DC: ZERO TO THREE.
Darling, S. M. & LaRocque, M. (2007) Blended curriculum in the inclusive K–3 classroom: teaching all young children. Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson Education.
