Reading Response- Week 4 (Management)

Elementary Classroom Management by Carol Simon Weinstein and Molly E. Romano discussed positive teacher-student relationships in Chapter 3. They offered advice to many teachers on how to show care and respect for students in an appropriate manner. It is important for teachers to be welcoming, learn about students' lives, be sensitive to children's concerns, establish clear expectations, and be a real person (Weinstein & Romano, 2014). To be a real person for students means to share information about your own life to them when the time is appropriate. This information should relate to them or be applicable to the discussion in some way. The biggest point I took away from this part was "don't share just to share." These pieces of advice, along with many others discussed in this chapter, will help teachers develop positive teacher-student relationships that will improve the classroom community.

Chapter 7 in Principles of Classroom Management by James Levin and James F. Nolan was very similar to the chapter above. It explained the elements to building relationships within the classroom. Teachers should develop that relationship with their students and increase intrinsic motivation and pro-social self-esteem (Levin & Nolan, 2013). Another very important part of this chapter was family-teacher relationships. There was a list of reasons why teachers can be reluctant to reach out to parents and that can be due to lack of training, age difference, time, legacies, and cultural differences (Levin & Nolan, 2013). However, teachers need to be able to overcome these boundaries and find a way to communicate. If the home culture and school culture can connect, teachers and parents can be on the same side and work together to ensure a successful learning environment for the student.

Classroom Spaces that Work by Marlynn K. Clayton and Mary Beth Forton explains the importance of setting up your classroom based on students' needs. Traffic patterns should be considered, along with students' sizes, developmental needs and making sure the desks align with the teaching methods you will be using (Clayton & Forton, 2001). This means that desks should fit all of the students; there should be space for meetings; students should have enough room to line up at the door; and students should be able to move around the room comfortably. These authors included a "birthday cluster exercise" to complete at the beginning of the year, which allows teachers to group students according to their birthdays and this can help teachers figure out how to properly arrange their students based on developmental needs (Clayton & Forton, 2001).

I was able to make connections from my readings during my two days in the classroom this week. Weinstein and Romano explain that teachers should learn about students' lives. In my classroom, my teacher and I matched each student with a job that they will have for the year. For example, one of our students is very tech savvy, so he is one of the "tech squad" members in charge of the computers in the room. Another student is very responsible, so she is the "lunchroom manager." Identifying these strengths helps create a positive teacher-student relationship and helps better manage the classroom as well. Levin and Nolan discussed the positive effect of having teacher-parent relationships, and my teacher gave each child a "Parent Survey" on the first day to take home and have the parents fill out. The survey was also written in Spanish on the back due to this common language barrier. This helps parents express any concerns to parents and it helps teachers show that they care about each family's input. Clayton and Forton explained the importance of making sure teachers take classroom space into account. My teacher designed a rack in the back of the room for students' backpacks to allow for more room around the tables for movement in the classroom. With the backpacks in the back, they do not distract students during the day and students are not tripping over them. I was able to make these connections easily in my classroom and I am thrilled to see these important points demonstrated in my classroom. I will definitely be using classroom jobs and parent surveys in my teaching because I have found them to be extremely helpful to the classroom environment. Also, I have been researching more about how to effectively use my classroom space through Pinterest and other teachers' rooms, so I look forward to using Classroom Spaces that Work and my other resources to design a room that is effective and efficient to my students' learning.

References

Clayton, M., & Forton, M. (2001). Classroom spaces that work. Greenfield, MA: Northeast Foundation for Children.

Levin, J., & Nolan, J. (2013). Principles of Classroom Management: A Professional Decision-Making Model. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Weinstein, C., & Romano, M. (2014). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons From Research and Practice. New York: McGraw-Hill.

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