Juliette McBarry

February 6th, 2024

EDUC 540

Domain 2: The Classroom Environment

When looking at the Philadelphia Teacher Residency (PTR) Core Practices, the first

practice refers to establishing a safe and respectful classroom community. The first subsection of

this practice is specifying and reinforcing productive student behavior, which I believe to be one

of the most important factors in classroom management. This is depicted well in the video

“Praise and Preparation” following the steps one teacher in inner city London takes to make sure

she is reinforcing positive behavior in her classroom. She is depicted putting the names of

students on the board that are “doing the right thing” and has a constant reward system going

with her “star chart” that rewards students with 10 stars with a postcard home telling parents of

their positive behavior, and with 50 stars students get to join her on a field trip. This type of

reward system is something I am already utilizing in my classroom, where I have a more

simplified and immediate reward system for my preschoolers. This takes form with my

“superstar chart” where students can move up, never down, on a four tier chart to become a

superstar classroom helper, door holder, line leader, board wiper, etc., and if the whole class

becomes superstars they get a prize, usually stickers or small eraser toys. This management

system, like the one depicted in the video, helps tremendously with my ability to praise and point

out positive behavior, which in any level of education is tremendously important.

The second subsection of the first practice, implementing organizational routines, ties in

with the idea of praising student behavior. When students are able to have an established routine

and know their expectations in the classroom they are able to succeed and gain our praise. Again
in the “Praise and Preparation” video, the teacher explains that “they [students] just want to feel

comfortable and know that everything is okay” this is mainly done with praise yes, but also the

expectations that we hold students accountable for. This idea is also emphasized in the second

PTR practice, to position students as sense makers by implementing rigorous tasks and content,

specifically subsection d. implementing norms and routines for classroom discourse and work.

This emphasizes the importance of classroom expectations for behavior management, but also

for learning. When students are able to understand what is expected of them as learners, they are

able to learn more effectively in the classroom. This is something I have also been doing in my

preschool classroom where I spend a great deal of time reiterating classroom expectations and

specific times of the day expectations to help students listen and focus better, allowing them to

learn better. Working with such young children this often takes form in our “listening songs” and

reminders or what different parts of our body is doing to listen, eyes watching, ears listening,

voices quiet, bodies calm. Without this reinforcement, learning would be much more difficult.

Another major part of my classroom routine focuses on social and emotional learning,

which reflects the first PTR practice’s last two subsections, building respectful relationships and

learning about students’ cultural, religious, family, intellectual, and personal experiences and

resources for use in instruction. As demonstrated in the video “A Breakthrough in Social and

Emotional Learning,” incorporating social emotional learning opportunities in your classroom

offers “core social skills that give students the experience and the knowledge to work effectively

with others.” This is especially crucial in my preschool classroom that brings together young

learners that have little social emotions skills. This takes form in big outbursts, and sometimes

physical arguments between classmates. I feel that it is important as an educator to combat this

with daily social emotional instruction to give students the opportunity to talk about their
feelings, or ways that they may have felt before. This social emotional work puts students again

in a better situation to know their expectations and how they should choose to navigate

emotional situations, which may take away from their learning focus.

Overall creating a classroom environment that focuses on praising positive student

behavior while also providing students with routine expectations allows for a more manageable

classroom dynamic between the teacher and students.

CITATIONS:

YouTube. (2016, March 24). Teachers TV: Praise & preparation. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPAvT4h2CPY

YouTube. (2010, January 8). A breakthrough in social and emotional learning. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXy2V1JmJUs