Classroommanagement

SALT LAKE CITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

CAITLYN HILTON BAILEY

My Classroom Management Philosophy 1
Having a classroom management philosophy is imperative to making sure that your

classroom runs smoothly. A smooth-running classroom will ensure that children are able to do
their best, and that you as a teacher are able to properly enforce rules and procedures while being
able to properly assist your students and their learning. A well-managed classroom can be what
makes the school year a positive and productive experience.
Classroom management includes several aspects, it details the organization of your
classroom, what rules and procedures you plan to implement throughout the year, how you plan
to work with students, how you will approach problem behaviors, what discipline will look like
in your classroom, and more. Each teacher will have a classroom management philosophy that is
unique to them and it is likely that a teacher’s philosophy will be fluid as they experience
different classroom settings, sizes, and environments. Every year teachers will be faced with new
students and thus new behaviors and challenges; a teacher’s management philosophy must
change and adapt to figure out how to incorporate these new experiences. A teacher who spends
several years teaching in a predominantly wealthy neighborhood, or at a pricy public school,
would drastically need to change their classroom management philosophy if they moved to a
community with a large population of low SES students. Because of the complexity of what
classroom management entails, one’s philosophy cannot be stated in a sentence, rather it is a bit
of a roadmap explaining on how you plan to navigate a classroom.
One of the first big parts of classroom management is the introduction of rules and
procedures into your classroom. While rules and procedures will change depending on the
classroom you are in, the rules of the school you are teaching within, and the grade level you are
teaching. As far as procedures go, I don’t think you can form procedures until you are within a
classroom. I have no idea what procedure will work best for turning in homework, until I know
what a week in my classroom will look like. Overall, I believe that rules and procedures should
be fair and realistic for students but should also be unwavering. If you find yourself giving too
many exceptions to a rule, it might be time to look at the rue and change it.
Having strategy and philosophy in place to prevent problem behaviors is just as important
as having strategy and philosophy in place to discipline behaviors. I strongly believe in the
saying that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Part of my philosophy is that it is
important for children to understand that they can ask for help if they need it, hopefully this can
prevent behavior from getting too out of hand.
Discipline is often a subject that isn’t thought about until it is needed. As a parent you
most likely haven’t thought of how to punish your child until they commit a punishable offense,
it’s just not a fun part of parenting. Likewise, as a teacher it isn’t fun to sit and think of how you
will discipline your future classes it is much nicer to believe that every student of every class you
teach will be an angel that requires little to no discipline or instruction. However, despite the
harsh sounding name, a disciplinary philosophy is much more than how you will choose to
“punish” a child displaying bad behavior. A disciplinary philosophy will help you. Decide how
you ultimately manage your classroom overall. My main belief when it comes to discipline is
that talking is key. As a teacher you must understand what caused the problem behavior so you
can further your knowledge of prevention tactics, and your student must understand why what
they did was wrong. Change cannot occur in a child if they do not understand why what they did
was wrong. The punishment should also be explained to the student, so they understand that it is
a direct result of their behavior. Talking with your student will also provide your insight to
underlying issues and help you pinpoint if there were other students involved.
Just as important as managing problem behavior is encouraging good behavior in
students. Small notes or stickers are a nice and quiet way of encouraging behavior without
calling out specific students. It can also be good to encourage good behavior even if you aren’t
currently seeing any. If you have a child that is only seeming to exhibit problem behavior, think
of one of their best traits and take a minute to remind them of it and how much you appreciate it.
Parental involvement is a very important part of classroom management. It never hurts to
send home a friendly note or send off a friendly email to a parent to encourage open
communication. Open houses are a great way to show off your students work, your classroom,
and to meet parents as well. Unfortunately, not every parent will be interested in, or able to
participate actively in their child’s education. However difficult it may be, you should never stop
trying to include parents in their children’s education.
As important as it is to know what you believe in doing within the boundaries of your
classroom, I believe it is also important to know what teaching strategies you will not implement.
If you know that yelling at a child will do more harm than good, and you know it is
inappropriate, but a kid is really pushing your buttons it is easy to think that “maybe if I yell at
them once they will get the message”. All you will really accomplish by yelling at the student is
breaking your resolve and hurting the student. It is important to establish your boundaries and
beliefs in the classroom and stick with them, this is as much a part of classroom management as
anything else. A big part of what I will never do as a teacher, is I will never manage my
classroom through humiliation and calling students out in front of their peers. This is a
management technique that I am against. I am also against making examples out of children,
even if the child has done something right. If a child gets an A on a test, comparing the rest of
the class to that students grade only puts pressure on the student with the good grade. Every
students grade, good or bad, is personal.
To reiterate, every teacher’s management philosophy is a personal one, just as their
teaching philosophy is. While a management philosophy may be multifaceted and a bit
complicated to create, the end result of a well-run classroom will be well worth the effort. We
must remember as teachers to take information from each student, each year, and use it to
improve our classroom management skills.

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SALT LAKE CITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

CAITLYN HILTON BAILEY

Having a classroom management philosophy is imperative to making sure that your

makes the school year a positive and productive experience.

Classroom management includes several aspects, it details the organization of your

several years teaching in a predominantly wealthy neighborhood, or at a pricy public school,

of a roadmap explaining on how you plan to navigate a classroom.

prevent behavior from getting too out of hand.

Just as important as managing problem behavior is encouraging good behavior in

Parental involvement is a very important part of classroom management. It never hurts to

trying to include parents in their children’s education.

students grade, good or bad, is personal.

To reiterate, every teacher’s management philosophy is a personal one, just as their

improve our classroom management skills.

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