Professional Documents
Culture Documents
KD Classroom Management Philosophy
KD Classroom Management Philosophy
Kylee Duitsman
Classroom management is a very important aspect of teaching. On the very first day of
school, teachers should, “define the standards and purpose of your community and set
expectations” (Alber, 2015). Depending on the grade you teach, these expectations will probably
look different. Younger kids probably still need rules such as, “keep hands and feet to
yourselves”. Once kids get older, that becomes an unspoken rule, so you could keep that one out.
I like the idea of having a large discussion and brainstorming rules for the classroom. At the end
of the discussion, we can consolidate and keep three main rules. Whatever the purpose of your
classroom is, whether that be learning new things, making friends, etc., classroom expectations
should be able to link to that. The expectations set at the beginning of the year should be
repeated multiple times throughout the year, and should be followed by everyone.
In the classroom I’ll also use attention signals. I think it’s important to keep student
engagement, and if I ever need to regain engagement, attention signals can be a great way to do
that. There are a lot of different attention signals I’ve seen used. There are a lot of verbal signals
that can be used as attention grabbers, as well as silent ones. Hand gestures, such as holding up 1,
2, 3, fingers can also be used as attention grabbers. The verbal signals are extremely effective in
my experience. Sometimes you might have to repeat it a few times, but once a few kids realize
what’s happening, they’ll participate and the whole class is paying attention. There are a lot of
fun attention signals, and when I was in school, some of my teachers let us give them attention
signals to use with the class. There’s a large variety of signals and you can definitely make them
the students. It’s extremely important to make your classroom a safe environment. “Students will
be more likely to meet your expectations, follow your routines, and respond to your redirection if
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY 3
they feel cared for and valued in your classroom. Express interest in your students, notice their
strengths, and reinforce positive behavior” (Lissy, 2013). Routines should be established early
on. That could be a specific order students turn things in, a specific order you do things in a
lesson, and so much more. “Routines are all about saving time, managing expectations, and
making behavior choices easy for students” (Roush, 2021). I think that routine and structure are
one of the keys to creating a safe environment for students, along with classroom expectations.
Managing misbehavior is a huge part of classroom management. There are a lot of ways
to do this, but I think proximity control is extremely beneficial. With proximity control, you
would need to be able to be in constant motion, walking around the classroom, so this might not
always be something that can be done. When you are able to do it, students will be more
engaged. Students will be more willing to raise hands to ask questions or provide answers if the
teacher is right next to them. Taking these chances and raising hands builds student confidence.
It also allows the teacher to give instant feedback and make sure they know what all the students
are doing. If the teacher is standing right next to them, students are way more likely to be
engaged and doing their work. Even outside classwork, proximity can solve problems. If two
students are arguing, they’re much less likely to continue in the presence of an adult or teacher.
There are so many ways to manage a classroom, and there are too many to add to my
philosophy right now. I already know my small list will be ever-changing. Once I gain more
experience in the classroom, this philosophy will evolve, and I’ll add more and probably remove
things as well.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY 4
References
Alber, R. (2015, August 21). 5 quick classroom-management tips for novice teachers. Edutopia.
management-tips-novice-teachers-rebecca-alber
Lissy, R. (2013, August 1). September strategies to foster a successful classroom community.
Better Classroom Management from Day One, 8(22). Retrieved November 25, 2022.
Roush, A. (2021, September 22). Why classroom routines are important. TechNotes Blog.