Classroom Management Philosophy

My classroom management philosophy is rooted in my personal management. I am a very organized person and am more effective when the environment around me is clean and clear of clutter. I am aware that I would bring those aspects of myself into my classroom. Furthermore, my lessons and activities tend to follow a similar pattern of teacher directed instructions that move towards collaborative and student directed activities. I believe in teaching students to think for themselves and work independently. As a teacher it is my responsibility to lay the foundation down for students to succeed. My motivation strategies would be framed around the curriculum and strategic competence techniques. I will regularly use games such as Boxcars and Cribbage for mathematics and allow students that finish their work early access to those games. For students that excel in language arts, I would give them access to materials and support for writing their own stories and illustrating them. I will motivate my students with positive and clear expectations. Believing in success, creates success. If there are conflicts among the students, I would facilitate the manner in which communication is restored and re established. It is my role as the teacher to empower the students to find ways to resolve their own conflicts. If resolution is not possible between the students I would take on the role as mediator and help the students by guiding them towards better decision making. There is always a choice. I believe most, if not all, conflicts can be resolved within the classroom.