A Note on Classroom Management

Classroom Come to Life Project

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      I created an overarching document in which I synthesized my ideas on classroom management and debated over the style that I find would work best in my classroom. This plan details areas that all teacher must consider in setting up their classroom, such as: Classroom Environment, Classroom Expectations and Routines, Responding to Misbehavior, Culturally Responsive & Inclusive Teaching, Integrating & Managing Technology, Personal Reflection & Next Steps

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Reflection

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     My understanding of my role as a science educator continue to shift as I interact with students in various classrooms in different schools and see how they interact with materials. I have seen middle to high school students in rural and urban environments with dynamic and reserved teachers alike. I've seen teaching that has blown me away with the level of planning and engagement and I've seen teaching that lack real zeal and substance. From these experiences, I've formed a foundation for what I think are the three most important modes of classroom teaching in the sciences.  These are: 1) Energy from Entropy, 2) Content and Creativity, and 3) No Backseats. 

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1) Energy from Entropy

     Entropy is the lack of order or predictability; a gradual decline into disorder. Energy in a classroom comes from the balance of routine and relaxation becoming punctuated by another force, such as excitement, change, or curiosity. I see the teacher's role as being that source of initial entropy when the time is right. Routines and regulations exist to establish the norm so that the norm then can be shifted and changed to open up students to the possibility of the new. Energy comes from directed excitement about a topic and engagement with that topic. I see my role as a classroom teacher as finding ways to get my students involved in the material. 

2) Content and Creativity

     Creativity is hiding in the sciences. I have always aspired to teach in a way that is flexible and allows for creativity in dealing with questions and situations that arise. I believe that all teachers are creative masterminds constantly assessing the milieu of their classroom and making subtle shifts in the physical arrangement or cultural norms of a classroom to better the learning environment for all. 

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3) No Backseats

     There are no backseats in my room. Having students up and engaged with the material is the best way to cultivate a positive classroom environment and to ensure that students engage and embody the material they are learning. By "no backseats" I mean to say that I aspire to teach in a way in which there really are no seats in the back of the classroom where students can disengage and check-out. I will work to rearrange, inspire, shift-routine, re-work groups, and reach students one-on-one to find ways to make them excited to some into my class and take the front seat in their education.