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Kayla Miller

Dr. McAllister

ED 327

27 March 2023

Classroom Management Philosophy

I want to foster learning that engages students and prompts them to ask questions. The

student-centered instruction we have focused on this semester will be a prominent part of my

lesson plans to ensure that students have input in their learning and become active members of

our classroom community. To establish positive relationships in this classroom community, I

will set clear expectations for students and for myself. My students should expect me to support

their emotional and academic well-being, foster belonging and community in the classroom, and

to prepare developmentally appropriate and student-centered lessons. I expect students to

communicate with me about their learning, respect their classmates, and to be willing to try new

activities and learning strategies.

Classroom management includes employing antecedent strategies and setting classroom

expectations every day at the beginning of the class period. Since I plan to implement many

cooperative learning strategies in my lesson plans, I will also make sure to manage my classroom

by frequently checking in with student groups and asking: “How are you helping your

[classmate(s)] right now?” (Larson 211). Proactively planning my classroom management should

establish rules, norms, and expectations, which are meant to improve the flow in classroom

activities and set students up for success in their daily learning. It is important to ensure that

students know what they should gain from the day’s work and how they are expected to behave

in the classroom space on any given day. My proactive planning will also account for classroom
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setups and management strategies that account for students’ need to move. I can plan for student

movement by allowing flexible seating for projects, something I see often in my Zionsville

teaching experience, and by planning activities and assessments that allow students to move

around the room, like four-corner formative assessments and gallery walk activities.

I can give my students a ‘voice’ in the classroom by planning lessons that that are both

student-centered and inquiry based. Both strategies give students the opportunity to ask questions

and let their curiosity guide their learning. Student-centered instructional strategies will

specifically support student learning and agency in the classroom. Allowing student inquiry and

curiosity will foster “authentic learning” at higher levels of cognition rather than just helping

students recall and repeat facts (Larson 280). Additionally, the strategic learners in my class will

be motivated by activities that develop their problem-solving skills and activate the higher-order

functioning in the upper levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

The development of short-term and long-term goals will be restated and revised based on

student progress (Larson 71). Reflection on past lessons will help me reevaluate goals and

identify new targets for students in our lessons. Making goals clear provides direction for

students and my goals will also outline a pathway for students to successfully reach these goals.

My assessment strategies will sometimes include summative tests to help students prepare study

and test-taking skills for state exams, but will also include projects, presentations, and debates so

I can assess students on content while also asking them to develop creative and communicative

skills. When I begin a new lesson in my class, I will use backwards design to make goals and

upcoming assessment clear so students understand how their personal learning process will help

them succeed. I will demonstrate high expectations for student’s classroom behavior by planning
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class activities and assessments that engage higher order thinking and maintaining consistent

communication with students about their academic progress.

However, to allow for students to engage in cognitively demanding tasks, they must feel

safe and heard in the school environment. I will ensure students feel safe in my classroom by

listening to their concerns, prioritizing respect and good treatment of one another, and creating a

calm space to diffuse inappropriate behaviors or emotional outbursts. I will hold my students

accountable by reminding them of overarching classroom expectations, which we will establish

as a classroom community, and having individual check-ins when students are not upholding

these expectations. These meaningful conversations with students about behavior and

expectations begin with a safe and private space to talk and reassurance from the educator that

they care about the student’s wellbeing and want the best for them. I’ve seen this strategy

throughout Zionsville West Middle School as they reinforce their motto to make great choices.

My co-mentoring teacher has made a point in her classes to have individual check-ins with

students to provide time and space for meaningful conversations, which is what I hope to do in

my classroom.

I want my students to solve problems by being willing to engage in productive struggle,

whether this involves academic work, communication, or a personal decision. During my field

experience, my co-mentoring teacher explained her recent strategy to help my students problem-

solve independently by giving them five minutes to try to start their work without asking the

teacher any questions. This strategy worked well and was a great way to structure productive

struggle in the classroom. A cooperative action plan for behavior helps to maintain

communication and accountability between the teacher and student. It can also help students

keep think critically about their behavior and emotions if they are asked to have conversations
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about their actions with their teacher. Students who learn peer mediation are more likely to

improve their communication and conflict management, as well as decrease behaviors which

result from frustration over interpersonal struggles. Student behavior contracts are a helpful way

to document behavior and ask students to think about cooperative action plan and peer mediation

strategies that they can add to their social-emotional toolkit to address their actions in class.

I will motivate my students by using academic incentives and content materials that align

with their interests and intellectual skillsets. Incentives can be something small like receiving a

piece of candy, or something bigger like a homework pass. However, students will need

additional motivation beyond extrinsic rewards. At Zionsville, I implemented video interviews of

some students’ favorite football team into my lesson to show students examples of high-quality

questions. Appealing to their interests motivated them to participate and pay close attention, so

this will be a strategy I pull from again. I also believe motivation can come from within. I can

move my students toward the practice of monitoring their own behavior by focusing on proactive

management strategies rather than reactive discipline (Larson 55). By setting up students to learn

and purposefully focusing on developmentally appropriate SEL skills, they will better understand

the functions of their behavior and will have the tools to manage actions and outbursts.

Parents will be a stakeholder in my classroom space. Schools should serve as community

centers, and parents/guardians should be able to have access to and input in their child’s

educational journey. Research shows that support at home and school sets students up for the

most success, which is why I will prioritize an open line of communication with families.

Overall, I plan to create an open and welcoming space for students, families, and community

members to learn and grow with one another, and I hope to find a school community who shares

similar values.
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Works Cited

Larson, Bruce E. Instructional Strategies for Middle and High School Social Studies: Methods,

Assessment, and Classroom Management. Routledge, 2016.