Reflection for TRB Standard 5

As part of my April to May practicum 2017, I prepared a classroom management

plan. It was integral that I did this prior to my practicum because I was teaching
grade 8s. Through research, talking to experienced teachers and prior experiences it
was especially important that my classroom management was consistent. Prior to
the practicum, and upon advice from my sponsor teacher, I introduced myself to the
students. The logic was that through becoming a familiar face, relationships could be
established with students and therefore make classroom management much easier.
To an extent this was effective, and in some cases when my management plan fell
short or had not accounted for the unexpected (i.e.students coming into class in a
state of emotional distress due to an incident at lunchtime) it turned out to be useful
as the students could be managed. However, for the most part the management plan
was effective in maintaining a general level of discipline in the class over the course
of the practicum. I found that the key element was being consistent in applying the
rules in the classroom. Discipline is easier to maintain when there is consistency with
the rules and reactions to predictable situations. Key to applying this consistency that
has the potential to make teaching run smoother and to be more focused is the
crucial element of self discipline. A teacher must possess the self-discipline to stick
to the classroom management plan. Establishing protocols also has the effect of
when something unexpected happens, the class is already managed at a base level.
Not possessing self-discipline and deviating from the plan would predictably result in
management difficulties. At the beginning of my practicum, I sometimes would
deviate from the plan and students would start to losefocus. This made me very
aware of how crucial sticking to the plan was. It is in those margins that success due
to a couple of events, I also quickly realised how much more detailed the plan would
need to be for future classrooms. A couple of times after lunchtime, students turned
up late because they had been involved in incidents. When they eventually arrived in
class, their peers became distracted because they wanted to talk to the student
about the incident and/or the meeting with school administration. This led to some
low-level chatter, and in some cases some students were distracted. Knowing the
potential for this to happen, any future management plans must include protocols
that deal with unpredictable events in a time sensitive and effective manner. These
would include talking to the student before they entered the class and remind them
of their responsibilities for example.Overall, in the light of my experiences during my
practicum, and in particular regard to unexpected incidents, any future management
plan will need to encompass a stage by stage process for dealing with this latter
element.