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One Idea That Changed My Thinking About Managing Classroom Activities – Why I Don’t Have Classroom Rules by David Tow

Reading this article changed how I think about managing classroom activities. Instead of relying on strict rules, Tow emphasizes building a classroom community around core principles like respect, engagement, preparation, and courage. This approach shifted my perspective: rather than controlling every behavior, I can focus on teaching students to make thoughtful choices and reflect on how their actions affect the learning community.

I see this as particularly valuable in my classroom because it encourages student agency and responsibility, helping learners become more independent and reflective. I plan to experiment with guiding behaviors through principles rather than rigid rules, allowing for meaningful conversations when challenges arise.

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As a substitute teacher, I am not in a permanent classroom where I can create a classroom culture. How can I, as a substitute teacher, maintain the classroom culture that was established by the permanent teacher at the start of the school year? Can I create a classroom culture of my own in an established classroom?

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Classroom culture can be built to benefit scholars through the use of student voice. According to the article Elevating Student Voice in Education, “ the authors of this report define student voice as authentic student input or leadership in instruction, school structures, or education policies that can promote meaningful change in education systems, practice, and/or policy by empowering students as change agents, often working in partnership with adult educators.”  The culture of a classroom can benefit from incorporating student voice because students will know that they have a say in what they learn and where they learn in terms of the learning environment. Students can take ownership of their own learning when they have a voice in the outcome.

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One idea that changed my thinking on how I interact with my students came from the article Creating Cultures of Thinking: Ch. 1. In the article, the author discusses dispositions. According to the author, “A disposition is an enduring characteristic or trait of a person that serves to motivate behavior.” As a substitute teacher, I interact with different groups of students each day, and how well that day in that classroom depends on my disposition. If my disposition is positive and productive, hopefully, my students for the day will also have a positive and productive one.

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I think that understanding the message in this unit might encourage a shift in understanding on how classroom layout and formating can positively impact student learning. This shift might allow educators the funds to prioritize classroom learning environments, either through tax breaks, or funding that can actually impact educators, especially those just entering the field. I know that personally I spent quite a bit of money setting up my room, and I am always adding new things. My lights for example are a reaccurring cost, as they have a limited life span. If new teachers were alloted a set amount of funds (a REASONABLE amount, not just $50) this might give the a jump start on creating a welcoming environment for all students.

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I am not sure where to put my thoughts for this module. I think that reading the article Room for Improvement really struck me as I never thought about how posters and words might effect students who need "quiet" and calm. When I look around my room though, I realize that I really only have posters with words on one wall. I chose this because I guess I dont like "messy" spaces. While I do have a lot of things to look at, most of my things are "framed" with blank space, meaning that if you look at a wall, there might be 6 decorative things on it, but each is spaced so you can focus on one at a time. I wonder if I did that subconsciously due to my avoidance of "clutter." While I do love the posters in my room, it just made sense to me to have them all on one wall where I could almost wall paper the space (if that makes sense). Students who choose that wall enjoy the color posters, but I notice that they are very different from the students who choose to instead look at the globe, or even one of the plants.

I think what I am trying to say is that the idea that has changed my thinking is this: creating a classroom learning space needs to recognize that some students MUST have engaging spaces that are engaging in quiet ways versus the loud busy ways most people think about classrooms nowadays.

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I've always thought that children are not that different from adults. We all want to have purpose, be heard, and be respected. As an adult, I know that I don't like to sit through long meetings where I don't feel like I have anything to contribute and I don't like doing busy work. Students aren't that different, they also probably don't like to sit through long lectures just taking notes and don't like to participate in activities that aren't engaging/busy work. Classroom management and the learning environment is all about creating a safe, calm, and enjoyable place that everyone wants to show up to.

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Rebekah Meeks: Building a culture of respect among students and teachers

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Rebekah Meeks: Building a culture of respect among students and teachers

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I keep thinking about the students I have worked with over the years including those who are nonverbal and those who have emotional impairments. A lot of times, the students I have worked with will "push-into" general education time for recess, lunch, field trips, and large group time. There is always, year after year, a teacher that pushes back because they already have too much on their plates or does a poor job of explaining why a student in class might only be with the rest of the class sometimes. This creates an environment where the student who pushes-into gen ed time to either be treated differently from their peers (infantilized) or students don't really want to interact with a student because they may be labeled as "unstable" or "bad", which happened a lot with my EI students. I often wonder what else I can do to convey to others that students who are nonverbal or have other challenges are just like everyone else and you don't really have to treat them all too differently.

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Rebekah Meeks: Classroom Management is All About Relationships

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Rebekah Meeks: Classroom Management is All About Relationships

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I loved this article/interview with all the different perspectives on what classroom management is/should be. Every year, the thing that discourages me the most is classroom management because I always make mistakes on this front and reflections on scenarios always make me face the hard truth that I could've handled situations better by having clearer and more consistent expectations or maybe having a lesson that didn't drag on and was more engaging. The one idea that changed my thinking was the idea that kids don't want to disrespect adults who care about them. I have to be firm, but caring.

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I think allowing student voice and demonstrating vulnerability are the two biggest ways you can build classroom culture in middle school. I taught in twelve week chunks and I always found that if I deliberately embarrassed myself or at minimum didn't take myself too seriously in the first few weeks, by week 2-3 I had students jumping in the water to join. When I allowed less rules and more principles as David Tow shared, wow, my class did much better. It also didn't push me into creating a rule for every possible circumstance. It's Christmas, and we are having snacks while making a Christmas craft and the floor is littered with sprinkles and snips of paper, sure, I might not have a rule about no eating and clean up after crafts, but we can get at the heart of it really fast. "Hey 3rd hour, let's take a peek at the floor. Shoot! We were having a GOOD time in here, weren't we? Does it feel fair or respectful to 4th hour to leave the class like this? What are our values as a class? I know we had said we wanted to treat others with "the golden rule." Would you want to walk into this classroom with a floor like this? Or would you appreciate it picked up? Sweet, how are we going to get this picked up in the next 10 minutes? Thanks Pedro for grabbing the broom, I love seeing your friend John coming with the dust pan. Anyone else think of ways we could help these two people?"

And they solved the problem, which wasn't really a problem, just students having a good time and needing to be reminded of expectations. And the students who cleaned up had leadership opportunities, and no one is being yelled at, or punished. I'm also not over here huffy and angry as the teacher, just putting it back in students' hands to move forward with the work.

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I value beauty and simplicity. It is hard for me to do work day in and day out in a dark, dingy, or nature-deprived space. I tend to work best in our sprawling kitchen counter, looking out into our yard with little bird chirps and animal sounds. I need quiet, so I function best when my children are actively engaged in their own activity. I find tuning out noise very difficult and when I'm in a great work flow, I find it so hard to stop or redirect. I think about these things when it comes to classroom environment.

Reading the required article, I found it interesting that color palette, clutter, and rigid setup were noted as difficult for students. I AGREE! I dreaded moving schools and seeing the previous teacher had left me with mounds and mounds of junk, chipped paint, and before I could begin working on curriculum, my class HAD to be cleaned up. I like having artwork and displays from the countries we were studying, but arranged on a shelf and not cluttered everywhere. I wanted my students to know what I taught and I wanted them to see authentic pieces not posters with hanging cats that said "si se puede." Natural light was HUGE for me. I spent time actually praying, asking God, "please, please, please, give me just one window or I will lose my mind." I also found playing background music and giving my students headphones helpful for those who needed quiet. I do!

I'm thankful that my own values line up with best practice. I'm thankful that my parents gave me a clean and structured home that had places for me to study and go to. I think we need to give students those spaces, too. We all have the values of wanting to feel loved and accepted. When we treat our classroom as a home for students who might not have one, we can offer hospitality and warmth and organization for them to thrive. We can also show them that a clean and organized space can be theirs (and show them how to make that happen!)