Classroom management philosophy

My classroom management philosophy is based on three principles: 

Children need to feel safe

Children need to be heard

Children need challenges

        The most important thing is to create a safe and supportive environment that allows all students to engage in learning.  My goal is to have an inclusive, multi-cultural classroom, where students from diverse backgrounds feel safe and respected.  I plan to start each morning with a classroom circle on a rug in the front of the room.  I’ll check in with each child and see if they have any special concerns or announcements.  This allows me to make contact with each student, and it allows students to hear each other’s concerns.

        My class and I will develop the rules together using Democratic principles and practices.  This collaborative process takes time and energy, but it creates buy-in from the students.  I expect to take several days at the beginning of the school year as I guide the class through this process, but we will end with a set of classroom rules that promote respect, mutual support, dedication to learning and self-evaluation.  Collaboration is a powerful tool for getting students to provide input, and I will use it as a tool to develop classroom rules and procedures.

        Finally, students need challenges and they need solvable problems to learn.  These are different issues.  Solvable problems reinforce concepts and help students practice.  Challenges require students to think in different ways, form different partnerships and approach problems in new ways.  This is involved with classroom management because students who are challenged are less likely to cause problems, and students who are supported are less likely to fail.

Send problems/comments/suggestions to: tcHorner@csuchico.edu

All blog entries are the property and personal opinions of Tim Horner, and may be shared with appropriate credit.