Classroom Management Plan - Essay Example

Classroom Management Name Name of Institution 1.1 Philosophy 1. Introduction Factors like classroom management, student behavior and discipline have for a long time been viewed as part of the issues in the management of classrooms. This assumption has been found to be true more so for teachers who give classroom management maximum priority. A blend of implementing effective and interesting curriculums, good classroom settings, effective preventive measures for bad behavior and engaging all students in learning activities ensures that the learning needs of the students are met (Dunbar, 2004). Students, who are usually young people, are normally inquisitive, active and mischievous in nature. Teachers have to understand their student’s behaviors in order for them to be able to handle them properly. They are different in nature and knowledge about personal differences can be used to distinguish particular types of students. Most students want to be free and have the ability to make their own choices and may sometimes act on it. They are competent young individuals that are motivated internally and are perceived to be responsible for their own education while the teacher is a facilitator that helps them gain knowledge by gearing them towards it (Dunbar, 2004). The teacher also has to include them in decisions of the classroom and learning structures has to be set up and also involve them in all other aspects of the class or course. 2. Behavior management The behaviors of students in classrooms is a significant classroom management issue; students tend to display bad, disruptive and even violent behavior making it impossible for the teacher to run the classroom effectively. Effective teachers would naturally have high expectations from their students on their classroom behaviors. These teachers would therefore seek to understand why a student behaved badly when they do. Students behave inappropriately for various reasons, they could be tired, hungry, thirsty, needs the restroom, or just bored. The student could also be hoping to gain something from what he or she is doing and the teacher has to understand what the student wants from whatever he or she is doing. Another reason for disruptive behavior could be because of a disability. This could have many implications and the teacher also has the responsibility to understand this (Stronge, Tucker & Hindman, 2004). Those students that tend to have behavioral problems are the type that are resistant to work, aggressive, dependent on help or distractible (Stronge, Tucker & Hindman, 2004). The main causes of disruptive behavior in class are: One, boredom; students tend to feel bored at one time or another despite of how lively the lesson might seem to be. It is the most common excuse given by disruptive students. To avoid this, the teacher can use multiple teaching strategies in one lesson to avoid monotony and also keep engaging the students by asking questions for them to answer. Two is the need for attention; most individuals desire being recognized and this cannot be ignored by teachers. To most of the students, it is a subconscious thought. To address these types of students, the teacher can come up with cooperative tasks which will be assigned to meet their different needs. The third is power; this is mostly important to those students that feel like their lives are out of balance and as such try to control their environments which in this case is the classroom. Others could just be passive-aggressive. The teacher can come up with an area of choice of the student which still achieves the academic intent of the teacher (Stronge, Tucker & Hindman, 2004). The fourth disruptive behavior can be as a result of revenge; such students often feel like they don’t belong and therefore keep complaining about unfair classroom rules and may try to hurt other students for to bring them to such behavior. The teacher here can build trust with this type of students through reflective listening. The last disruptive behavior is as a result of self-confidence and this is to both extremes; for those with low self-esteem, constant encouragement would help. For those with too much self-esteem their desires for independence can be nurtured by being given learning activities that are challenging. Teachers have to think of ways to handle the different kinds of misbehavior. Understanding student problems and planning for them would go a long way in reducing if not eliminating disruptive behavior in the classroom. Discipline is sometimes essential to ensure effective running of the class. The classroom is not only a place for attaining academic goals, but also for personal and social development. Having self-control is very important for every individual and this is taught at a tender age. Good discipline is an amalgamation of many factors like good rules, good communication, good management within the institution and many other factors. The main goal of enforcing discipline is for the students to learn to respect themselves, respect the rights of others and appreciate the differences between themselves and others (Dunbar, 2004). These goals can only be achieved through day-to-day training of these principles by teachers. Teachers have the responsibility to inform the students of the classroom rules and the consequences of not abiding to them. This should be done on the first day of class; he or she should clearly explain what is expected of the student and the disciplinary action that would be taken if these rules are broken. 3. Instructional management Apart from the normal professional and personal preparation before class, the teacher has to also plan on the teaching mechanism. The stage of designing the lesson is quite simple and it sifts the main elements of a lesson. A teacher with effective instructional skills would ensure the students are settled with full attention on the instructor. The students will be able to identify the intended outcome of the lesson and engage in meaningful learning. Teachers with good instructional skills are able to maintain the attention of the students throughout the lesson (Dunn, 2015). There are different instructional strategies and skills that teachers can use to manage classrooms. The first is being able to meet student needs, teachers should acknowledge the fact that every student needs the opportunity to feel like they belong, to have some level of independence, generosity and mastery (Stronge, Tucker & Hindman, 2004). Instructors should select learning mechanisms that are simple and easy to understand and implement, includes ways of dealing with challenging behavior and susceptible students, is based on preventing disruptive behavior and has instructions to develop quality learning environments and can be applied to different classes. Applying different instructional strategies in teaching ensures maximum concentration from students and enables teachers to comprehend the student needs and also understand the reasons behind their different behaviors; this also accounts for the link between the beliefs of the students, their emotions and ways of thinking. 1.2 Theory Like Kohn and Glaser, I believe that we are the center of our experience. We are the ones that perceive, acts on and reflect on the world. We are the ones that are motivated internally by everything we do. I would teach my students the doctrines of this philosophy also known as Choice Theory. This would be one of the first instructions I would give them. This would enable them understand the roles they play in making their own decisions about how they behave and learn in the classroom. This philosophy is based on the Choice Theory that states that students should be able to choose and if they take part in deciding their curriculum and making the rules in the classroom, they will own their learning, have better self-esteem, be proud of their participation and eventually showcase higher levels of cognition and self-confidence (Glasser, 1993). Such an approach sets a good and safe learning pace since they own the classroom; they decide the rules and decide how the class will be decorated. This would encourage them to willingly show up in class with enthusiasm ready for any challenges that may come their way. Kohn’s classroom management theories are similar to those of Glasser. He states that praises and grades kill the desire to learn and inherent motivation (2004). However, this theory is different from what we are taught. The grade, praise and even punishment system that we were all accustomed to largely explain why the current education system has failed a lot of students. The normal competitions of almost every classroom shows that there will be a number of losers having to deal with self-esteem issues as a result of constant failure behind every student that performs best in class. One significant component in Glasser’s theory is the fact that the need for being competent personally is a self-initiated inner drive that is not related to the wanting extrinsic rewards of good grades and praises (Glasser, 1993). Kohn’s theory that public rewards destroy the motivation of the students leading to a manipulative, demoralizing and dysfunctional exchange that would reduce their initial interest in the lesson; this is in perfect conjunction with Glasser’s basic need of competence. The conventional education system however only appeals to the competitive instincts of the student. According to Kohn (2004), outward motivation mostly focuses on what the learners do not know as opposed to their growth opportunities and possibilities. These traditional assumptions about education have to be questioned since getting the correct answer is not as important as the learning process itself which includes exploring ideas and gaining a clear understanding of the concepts. The primary responsibility of teachers is to arouse the interest of the student in education and to help the students develop their genuine inner selves where they feel, think and care on a deeper level. According to these two theorists, teachers must help the students to communicate, reason and develop personal and social responsibility other than focusing on tests and grades. They should be encouraged to develop their self-awareness and leadership capacities. The first objective of education should be the ability to think critically and deeply, the other objective should be the desire to learn even more and an everlasting relationship with education. These theories do not force the education to the student; the theories are based on existing ideals of responsibility and freedom of choice. Kounin on the other hand takes a completely different approach from Kohn and Glasser. As much as his hands-on and practical theory is a perfect addition to the philosophies of the above mentioned two, his style of management addresses the importance of classroom theory. He states that the learners should be told all the expectations that if are not met, there will be a need of some form of desist strategy (Kounin, 1977). This practical and logical approach nicely balances with the theories of Kohn and Glasser. These three theories combined create the best approach to classroom management. According to Kounin, knowing classroom management should include the ability to teach to the group learning style, organization of lessons and teaching methods as opposed to individual learning. The purpose of classroom management is to come up with a learning environment that not only motivates the students to learn but also stimulates the learning process. The three theorists agree that the way to successful classroom management is in the prevention of potential problems and establishing good planning and organization skills. The fact that students are naturally inquisitive and already have the motivation to learn shows that it is the current education system that kills this natural motivation. This proves that praises and grades are not working. Kohn distinguishes between verbal rewards and positive feedback in that one is encouraging and the other is a motivation destroyer; one is a manipulative and fraudulent interaction while the other is a genuine and candid interaction (Dunn, 2015). Glasser’s choice theory also agrees that verbal rewards is dysfunctional and parasitic while positive feedback is functional and symbiotic. To him positive feedback is lead teaching while verbal rewards is boss teaching. It is widely assumed that students are uneducated and useless raw materials that have no power and are inferior to the instructors and have to be forced to learn and controlled in those learning environments (Dunn, 2015). Glasser disagrees with this and states that students already have motivation before going to the learning institution and they are competent in nature. They are responsible for their own education and the teacher is just there to facilitate the learning process. These theories also have a feature of cooperative learning that gives a sense of belonging to the students. This is what brings about the initial motivation to work hard to achieve academic success. Group work would also imply that there will be no individual grading and the stronger students help the weaker ones. In boss teaching, the stronger students rarely interact with the weak students and the latter only experience failure resulting to low self-esteem, lack of motivation and eventually dropping out of school (Dunn, 2015). The students compete as individuals and the bright students are identified from the less bright students in the initial school days. Lead management encourages equal distribution of power in the class and this results in more creativity. If individuals have power over their own destiny they tend to work harder and be more innovative. The failing educational system is not because of the students, but the management system itself. As such, teachers should try and take up lead teaching as opposed to boss teaching as this may yield better results. 1.3 Practice Students have a human inner desire for proficiency and as such, I would strive to build on these desires for self-determination and personal competence. I would invoke the students intrinsic motivations to learn by beginning with an overall summary of what the outcome of the lesson is expected. I would ensure they clearly understand the reasons why they should learn the lesson and stating its relevance to their lives. This is in conjunction with Kounin’s theory where the students are told the expected outcomes upfront. The students are then able to connect the ideas learnt to their personal lives and challenging their higher thought processes. This approach would coerce them to feel, care and think on deeper levels than they normally would; this would in turn stimulate their interest in learning. For the instructional process, I would use Kohn and Glasser’s theories to instruct and assess the students. These will not be the conventional instructional and assessment strategies. The student portfolios will have essays that show deeper levels of understanding than the normal tests. These would also have book reports, workbook exercises, journals and research papers. The lessons will mostly have group discussions, debates, panels, oral reciting, exhibitions and performances that will include speeches and dramatization. This type of teaching is intended to enhance the student learning process and increase their self-esteem and give them better chances at academic success. These approach is not competitive, student-centered and proactive. When it comes to misbehavior, I will perceive it as an indication that something in my instructional strategies is not working and therefore instead of blaming the students, I will try to find a solution to the problem. According to Kohn and Glasser, when the learners are motivated and engaged in the learning process, there is little to no behavior problems. Giving the students motivation and reminding them the goals of the lesson would result to less problems because they are interested in what they are learning and have no time or energy to misbehave or create problems. When it comes to extreme levels of misbehavior, I would try to talk to the student to understand the reason behind it and try to help sort it out. Students that would misbehave for the fun of it would have to undergo disciplinary measures. This leader instructional style creates new paths in the brain as learning progresses. To create a long term motivation, I would let them know and understand their cognitive processes where they can know that they are becoming smarter as they learn. This creates confidence and better self-esteem and as such keeping them more interested in learning. It is also important to identify and recognize relationships between facts, ideas and generalizations. Such learning is stored in the long term memory and is able to help them whenever it is needed. Including the students in decisions and discussions with regard to their course structure, education and their careers in general would also help in creating a long term motivation for learning. References Dunn, C. (2015). Classroom Management Plan. 123, Retrieved from: https://web.calstatela.edu/faculty/jshindl/cm/caroldunnCMP.htm Dunbar, C. (2004). Best Practices in Classroom Management. 218, Retrieved from: https://msu.edu/~dunbarc/dunbar3.pdf Glasser, W. (1993). The Quality School Teacher. New York: Harper-Collins Publishers. Kounin, J. S. (1977). Discipline and Group Management in Classrooms. Huntington: R. E. Krieger. Kohn, A. (2004). What does it mean to be Well Educated?. Boston: Beacon Press. Stronge, J. H., Tucker, P. D., & Hindman, J. L. (2004). Classroom Management and Organization Handbook for qualities of effective teachers, 34, 113-133. Read More