I believe that in a classroom all students and the teacher have the right to feel safe, comfortable, cared for, respected, and have the opportunity to learn and teach. To have these rights I believe that as a teacher I need to have a discipline system that involves classroom rules and guidelines so my students and I can have discipline and management within the classroom. I need to understand my students as individuals and help them to gain these rights and learn. I need to be able to enforce these rules and guidelines and insure that I have the support of the parents and school personnel.
To successfully achieve my goals of classroom management and discipline I need to remember what Harry Wong said about how the first day of school is the most important day. I need to be prepared before the first day of school with a fun curriculum that is not only enjoyable for me to teach but for the students to learn about. Setting the tone of the classroom rules and expectations on the first day of school will emphasize what I expect in the students, such as; good behavior, civility in the classroom, and that I am the ultimate authority in the class. As I set up this discipline system, I need to show interests in students, provide help, and keep the class on track with the activities and lessons that we do. When setting up the procedures in the class on how things are to be done, I will use physical proximity and signals to direct my students in their activities. I need to acknowledge good behavior and when appropriate reward the students with positive reinforcement as B.F. Skinner would do.
After my discipline system has been set up and procedures have been presented to the class these procedures will eventually become routines that the students will automatically perform. Although these routines will be set up and automatically done I do realize that students are only human and can not perfectly perform like I would want them to. I understand, according to C.M. Charles, that I will need to stop misbehavior, re-teach correct behavior, and also preserve the dignity of my students and me. By using consequences that I can uphold and follow through with I can become a fair, firm and consistent teacher. I need to recognize when behavior needs to be redirected, invoked, praised, and sometimes ignored. As a teacher with a classroom full of students upwards of thirty, I need to realize when I can not sometimes fix a problem or pay attention to little details. I can not make a mountain out of a mole hill.
Having rules, guidelines, and consequences are very important for the discipline system that is uphold in my classroom. But there are others that are needed, such as; I will need to create a seating chart that will best fit the needs and desires of my students. I must use my voice, eyes and body movements to convey messages of what I need from my students. As well as consistently checking with my students on how they comprehend the lessons and then finding how I should pace them. Talking with students is very important to understand their needs and wants. Along with talking to students I also need to talk with parents in good and bad situations. Having conferences and sending home the occasional note will convey to parents that I care about their child and their learning. Having the support of parents in the classroom will help to create an overall understanding that discipline in the classroom is needed to create a healthy, peaceful and educational setting.
By studying the methods of B.F. Skinner, Harry Wong and C.M. Charles I can pick and choose the discipline strategies that will work for my classroom and me. Although creating new ones will be a factor, it is important to include the ones that already work and have been working as a discipline system in the classroom for years.
