Reading Workshop (Chapter One-Effective Classroom Management)

Journal Jot: What is classroom management and why is it important?

Classroom management is creating a safe environment for all learners, having a set guide of rules that the students must follow and having consequences when students do not follow the rules. There should be a component of a classroom management plan that involves the students which shows that the teacher believes that the students are capable of coming up with rules and subsequent consequences. In a geology lab, there are certain rules or standard operating procedures (SOP's) that must be followed in order for a safe environment to be created. These should be required by the state so that if an emergency happened, there would be a plan in state.

List of Information, Facts and Ideas that are important to me:

1. There is a debate about whether or not classroom management and discipline are synonymous terms.
2. Some educators think that classroom management should be a process of controlling students' behaviors. Other educators think that classroom management is not discipline and more about the practices and procedures that allow students to learn and the teachers to do their job.
3. Educators that take the student-centered approach, view classroom management as a way of preparing students for their future and how to live in the tomorrow-world.
4. Discipline: n. rules established to maintain classroom order
v. what teachers do to help students behave acceptably in school.
5. There are three models: Classroom management as Discipline, as a System, as instruction.

Classroom Management as Discipline:
teacher is expected to maintain classroom control and disciplining students comes before control, there must be a set of consequences for misbehavior.

Classroom Managament as a System:
Classroom management is systematic and management and instruction are interwoven, there is a focus on the building of learning communities. In order for this plan to work there needs to be planning.

Classroom Management as Instruction:
Focus on teaching prosocial skills, goal is to establish habits of peacemaking, conflict resolution and peer mediation, teachers help students make ethical judgements and decisions

Classroom management is influenced by our own philosophy of classroom management.

Information on Fritz Redl and William Wattenberg:

"key students"-students who influenced other students

Four types of interactions that are effective in dealing with difficult situations:
1. Teacher provide support for self-control. Teacher models by using an appropriate tone. They also should cue behavior that is appropriate in a particular situation.

2. Teacher proves situational or task assistance by helping students in getting past temporary frustration, resturcturing or changing the activity, and using situational routines to minimize confusion.

3. Teacher to provide reality or value apprisal. This is the realty check. Students need to know the real life consequences for their actions. If a student is caught stealing another students' possession then the teacher needs to step in and explain that if this was in the real world there would be serious consequences.

4. The teacher needs to apply the pleasure-pain principle. This suggests that if you do something good you will be rewarded but if you act in a bad way you will be punished.

Jacob Kounin:

Desists: Teacher's actions and words used to stop misbehavior
Ripple effect: Teacher's method of handing a student who is acting out, influences the behavior of other students in the classroom.
Withitness: This principle is based on the teacher's ability to know everything that is happening in the classroom and an awareness of the verbal and nonverbal interactions of students with the teacher and their classmates.
Overlapping: Teacher's ability to manage two issues simultaneously
Transition smoothness: Teacher's management of various activities throughout the day.

Rudolf Dreikurs: Every student views the world differently and teachers cannot change student behavior until the reasons for the behavior is understood.

William Glasser: Glasser came up with the Reality Therapy which states:

1. Individuals are responsible for their own behavior. Behavior is not seen as a by-product of society, heredity, or an individual's past.
2. Individuals can change and live more effective lives when given guidance and support.
3. Individuals behave in certain ways in order to mold their environment to match their own inner pictures of what they want.

Good quality schools: satisfy 4 student psychological need:

1. need to belong
2. need for power
3. need for freedom
4. need for fun.

Haim Ginott

Ginott stresses that teachers set the tone of the classroom through positive communication.

Take aways from the reading:

1. The most important factor when constructing a classroom management plan is to think of your learners and developed by an individual teacher. In the chapter, there are three main factors to consider when designing a personal classroom-management plan:
1. Teacher traits: personality, personal values, teaching styles
(This means that I need to reflect on my own personality traits and how my values influence how I approach classroom management and discipline issues. This also relates to my teaching philosophy.)
2. School environment: age-grade level of students, students' characteristics and needs, principal style, school policy, parental support.

The struggle that I can see is having the parental support. Many parents want their daughters and sons to do well in school and behave themselves but might not have the time or energy to model appropriate behavior. Also, with cultural differences in how conflict is dealt with, we have to be careful to critize students who might not know that it is not appropriate to swear or yell.

3. knowledge and Experiences: Personal experiences, knowledge of models of classroom management and knowledge of research on effective practices.


We have to be willing to change our classroom management plan based on what works and doesn't. If we don't approach classroom management as something that is fluid and evolves, then we will not service our students.