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It is important to create a comfortable classroom environment where students are able to make mistakes.  

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It is important to create a comfortable classroom environment where students are able to make mistakes.  

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According to Richard Curwin, author of many student behavior and motivation books, teachers need to use student mistakes to allow and promote learning.

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Columnist and University of Iowa lecturer, David Gooblar, mentions that children do not come into the classroom as blank states. Students often have their own ideas and preconceptions about how the world works.

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My goal is for my students to walk out of my classroom not being afraid to make mistakes, whether in education or in the broader sense. 

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My goal is for my students to walk out of my classroom not being afraid to make mistakes, whether in education or in the broader sense. 

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Explain how you will communicate with students 

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Explain how you will communicate with students 

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• I will start each day with a small check-in with each student. This will be different depending on the grade.
• I will include students in the process of creating classroom rules.
• I will have my learning goals for each lesson posted on the board.
• I will incorporate a lesson rating system where students can share with me how comfortable that they feel with the topic after each lesson.

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Explain your expectations for how students are expected to treat each other and work in your classroom

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Explain your expectations for how students are expected to treat each other and work in your classroom

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• Students are expected to be respectful of others in the classroom.
• Students are expected to lend a helping hand when they see someone who needs it.
• Students are expected to come to the teacher if there is an issue that needs to be resolved.
• Students are expected to follow the rules and procedures of the classroom.
• Students are expected to listen to and follow the directions that they are given.
• Students are expected to raise their hand when asking questions.
• Students are expected to ask questions when they feel lost or confused during a lesson.

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• Treat others the way you want to be treated.
I chose this as one of my classroom rules because I expect my students to treat each other with respect. I worded the rule in this way to help in explaining the word respect for younger students.
• Be kind and helpful.
I chose this as a classroom rule because I want to encourage my students to be kind. I want my students to be nice to each other and help others when they see someone struggling.
• Listen when others are speaking.
I chose this as a classroom rule because when someone is speaking in the classroom, they are most likely talking about something important. If students are not listening, they will not remember the information that was discussed. It also shows respect towards other people’s words.
• Follow directions.
I chose this as a classroom rule to emphasize the importance of directions. Directions are given for a reason, and students are expected to listen and follow them when they are given.
• Do your best.
I chose this as a classroom rule because I know that each student has a different “best”. I want each student to give me their individual “best” every day and I will do the same in return.

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Explain the step-by-step procedure for 4 classroom activities that require procedures.

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Explain the step-by-step procedure for 4 classroom activities that require procedures.

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Entering the classroom (morning):
1. Go straight to your assigned seat.
2. Get your folder and materials out of your backpack.
3. Put your backpack into your cubby.
4. Put your take home folder into the front basket.
5. Sit down at your seat and work on the bell ringer for the day.
Working with special materials (art, science, etc.):
1. Clear your desk of everything other than a pencil.
2. Listen to the teacher give directions.
3. One student from each group will get the materials for their group members (this will be a different person weekly).
4. After using the materials, one person from each group will gather the materials and put them back where they belong (different person weekly).
Circle/floor time:
1. Clear desks from the previous lesson or activity.
2. Sit quietly.
3. One seating group at a time will be called to come to the floor based on their behavior.
4. Once on the floor, students will sit quietly and wait for the teacher.
Broken pencil:
1. Go to the pencil station in the back of the room.
2. Put broken pencil in the broken pencil pail.
3. Grab a new pencil from the sharpened pencil pail.
4. At the beginning of each day, either the teacher or a chosen student will sharpen pencils to put into the broken pencil pail.

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Explain two ways you will help manage transitions in the classroom

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Explain two ways you will help manage transitions in the classroom

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• One way that I would help manage transitions in the classroom is by having designated jobs for each student in a seating group each week. This lessens the number of students at the same spot in the classroom during transitions. Some roles that students could have include gathering materials for their seating group, turning in assignments for their seating group, and cleaning up around their seat group.
• Another way that I would help manage transitions in the classroom is by having designated areas for everything. These areas will be spread out enough so that students can easily get to where they need to go without being near another area. This helps to have lesson classroom traffic between lessons or activities and in turn will make transitions faster and smoother.

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• I will implement a clip up/down chart in my classroom. This gives students some responsibility over their behavior management because I will have the students move their own clips after I tell them to. I will keep track of this on my own, but they can choose to be honest or dishonest when moving their clip.
• I will also implement a classroom reward system if the school does not have one. Students will get classroom “dollars” when they are well behaved and doing what is expected of them. At the end of each week, students will be able to cash in their dollars for rewards.

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• As a first response to misbehavior I will talk with the student about what they are doing and give a warning.
• If the behavior continues, I will make use of the clip up/down chart in the classroom and give another warning.
• If the behavior continues further to the point of clipping off of the chart, the student will be sent to the principal’s office and a note will be sent to their parent about the incidents of the day.
• If the behavior continues, a meeting with the student’s parent would be discussed and carried out, if possible.

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So far in my field experience at Western Kentucky University I have noticed that I struggle with remembering my next steps when teaching a lesson. I struggle with looking away from my lesson plan in fear that I will forget something important. This hinders my lessons because it doesn’t allow me to connect with the students as much. My goal is to learn to teach my lessons without having to consult my lesson plan as much. I will do this by reviewing my lesson plan multiple times before teaching it. I will also implement known class procedures into my lessons so that I will not have to memorize any new procedures for my lesson. I will also give myself specific notes in areas where I may struggle to remember something. In addition, I will try not to put so much pressure on myself to teach my lesson according to the plan. If there is something that I forget to mention, I can always work it into the next lesson.

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Another thing that I have noticed that I struggle with is having an assertive teacher voice when talking to students with behavioral issues. I tend to try and talk in a nice voice, even when a student is being disruptive. This makes students think that I am not serious when telling them to stop something or discussing consequences. My goal is to improve my teacher voice and have students take me more seriously. In order to improve my ability in this area, I will need to practice being more assertive when discussing classroom rules or student misbehavior. I will also improve in this area by following through with the consequences that I have set into place. I plan on mentioning this struggle with my mentor teacher and discussing ways where I can improve throughout my student teaching semester.

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Curwin, R. (2014, October 28). It's a Mistake Not to Use Mistakes as Part of the Learning Process. Retrieved November 27, 2020, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/use-mistakes-in-learning-process-richard-curwin

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Gooblar, D. (2018, January 24). The Benefits of Doing it Wrong. Retrieved November 27, 2020, from https://community.chronicle.com/news/1986-the-benefits-of-doing-it-wrong

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Image: iStock In the early 1970s, Rosalind Driver, then a graduate student in education at the University of Illinois, had a peculiar notion. To understand how children learn important scientific concepts, she argued, we first need to grasp how they see the world before they start school.