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"Resilience grows through relationships, not through will alone" (Howard, 2015, p.33)

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Anchor Chart for Flex Seating

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Cassetta, G., & Sawyer, B. (2015). Classroom Management Matters: The Social--Emotional Learning Approach Children Deserve. Heinemann.

Gibbons, P. (2015). Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning Publisher: Heinemann. Heinemann.

Howard, J. R., Milner-McCall, T., & Howard, T. C. (2020). No More Teaching Without Positive Relationships (Not This but That). Heinemann.

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1. Respect your teacher and your peers

2. It's okay to make mistakes

3. Questions are encouraged

4. Be inclusive

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Classroom Procedures and Routines (Pt. 3)

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Classroom Procedures and Routines (Pt. 3)

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Morning Meeting (routines for the week)

Every morning, I will conduct a Morning meeting. Each day of the week will consist of a different topic/ type of meeting. This helps to establish both a weekly and daily routine that the kids can look forward to, and know what to expect.

At the beginning of the school year, I will spend time every day working through what kind of expectations there are for each type of morning routine, and what kind of rules go along with them. We will co-create these rules together, and I will hang them in the classroom as an anchor chart.

Monday: rant, rave, reply (students can choose to reply to a question, rant about something or rave about something - this helps to build community in the classroom and share outside concerns/ hobbies, etc)
Tuesday: film short (watch a short film of about 5 to 10 minutes in relationship to important themes like perseverance, positivity, etc.. then have a classroom discussion about it)
Wednesday: poll + discussion (get students comfortable with answering polls, then tally up answers on the board, they talk with students about responses- can be fun get to know me questions, or can be more serious questions)
Thursday: think outside the box (mind teasers + jumbled word games to get the brain flowing and going)
Friday: Friday fun game (fun games to end the week - ex: using emojis, guess the film title)

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Classroom Procedures and Routines (Pt. 2)

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Classroom Procedures and Routines (Pt. 2)

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Read to Self, Write to Self, Type to Self
(helping to build stamina and ensure a student knows what to do when "they finish their work early")

In my classroom, I plan to take the first month to teach my students 3 different "self" activities they can do when they finish up early, or when I need to work with groups individually. By teaching the rules and procedures first, and getting them comfortable with their Read to Self, etc, I will be able to find time to focus on small groups, work with students individually, and allow students to work at their own pace without other students sitting there not knowing what to do.

1. Read to Self - have a book at their desk at all times and know what it means to read to self and when to read to self
2. Write to Self- have their journals and pencil at their desk at all times and know what it means to write to self and when to write to self
3. Type to Self - have access to their chromebooks and software where they can practice typing so they know what it means when they can type to self and how to do it

Again, I plan to teach these in stages, instead of all at once. This will help to build their repertoire of activities they can do when I am helping groups or when students finish an activity early.

This procedure helps them not only to be responsible for their own learning, but helps to set a nice tone in the class so students are not constantly asking "What do I do now?" and disrupt the class and me when we are working in small groups.
It also helps to promote stamina and the ability to work on one task for a while.

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Classroom Procedures and Routines (Pt. 1)

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Classroom Procedures and Routines (Pt. 1)

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Flexible Seating

In my current classroom, the Resident Teacher set up the room using flexible seating. Not only can the students choose where they want to sit, but each group of seats (typically 3 or 4), are different kinds of seating. Flexible seating is about more than just having fun seats in the classroom, it's about heightening collaborative learning and prioritizing the students needs concerning the environment in which they learn. It helps students to self regulate when need be. I find it to be very effective.

Rules and procedures for Flex seating:
1. Have a class discussion about what kind of expectations should be met when using flex seating
2. Co-create an anchor chart with the rules and post them in the classroom
3. For the first two weeks, rotate the students to ensure they all get a chance to test out each type of seat before letting them choose each day where to sit
4. Call out good behavior on flex seating

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“Involving parents and caregivers, which is the teacher’s responsibility, helps students feel more supported and end up performing better in school” (Howard, 2020, p.17)

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Establishing procedures and routines should be a collective effort with your students. It is important to make sure your students feel heard and have a voice when establishing norms in the classroom.

How to accomplish this:
- Share your goals and purposes with the whole class with a draft anchor chart (write in pencil that can be erased)
- Ask them if they agree with what rules and procedures are already on the anchor chart, and what they would like to add
- Once the whole class is on board, use a permanent marker to write the rules

Enforcing procedures
- Repetition and modeling

- Teaching students behavioral expectations need to be procedures that are systematic and methodological
- After you co-create rules with your students - remind reinforce, redirect (Cassetta, 2015).

Emotional objectivity: students will mirror your emotions - if you speak to kids with frustration, annoyance, etc they will speak back to you in that same way

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I plan to help my students succeed by building off of my student’s foundational knowledge, or in other words their epistemologies. Trying to start from scratch and have every student learn the same foundation is near impossible and furthermore, detrimental to building a culturally responsive curriculum around reading and writing (Howard, 2020). Student’s experiences, realities, identities and histories must be celebrated and recognized in the classroom.

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As a teacher, I plan to make it known that it is okay to learn at different paces, and remember that every student is different in their own way, which holds true even more to their backgrounds and cultures (Cassetta, 2015). It is so important to take the time to understand in what ways your students learn, what their metacognitive approaches are, and how their potential home literacy shapes their understanding of reading and writing. I really believe that how we are taught and by who makes all the difference in the world.

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My classroom will be a place where students feel like they belong and are supported by their teacher and classmates. It will be welcoming and inclusive, promote diversity, and challenge students to be the best they can be.
I will do this through:
- Greeting my students as they enter the classroom and let them know they are safe and welcomed
- Build culturally responsive and sensitive curriculum to help meet the needs of each of my students
- Provide them with flexible seating to help with self regulation and care, to ensure they are equip with the best space and seat to learn
- Decorate my classroom to represent diversity and the hobbies/ interests of my students to foster a positive learning environment

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"Language learning is not a simple linear process" (Gibbons, 2015, p.8)

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"We cannot and should not control our students. They can only learn how to behave when they understand why, the decision making and the effects of their behavior" (Cassetta, 2015, p. ix).

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I truly  believe that if we can focus more on the process and less on the outcomes, our students will learn to embrace the fall and will be more equip to handle challenges.They will be able to express themselves from their point of views and what they have learned, and not be confined by a unique, single perspective that was taught to them. The impact of my philosophy will ensure students as individual, critical thinkers who feel they have a voice and are in charge of their education.

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I have chosen this philosophy because I believe that students should be encouraged to make sense of what they are learning through their own individual experience, and teachers should be there to provide them with those experiences and make sure the lesson plans and material relate to the needs of the students. Students learn in all different ways, and we must help them find their metacognitions to feel challenged and grow. Students need guidance and facilitation to help them learn and it is up to teachers to build a culturally responsive curriculum through incorporating instruction and learning that are tied to student’s experiences, realities, identities, histories and many of their expertise. Children, students, and humans are all different. We cannot choose a one size fits all approach. If we focus more on how students arrive at a problem, and less about an answer, students can learn to embrace mistakes and grow from it. Promoting critical thinking, and reaching into their “toolbox of strategies” to solve a problem is what I think should be rewarded. Lastly, it is important to remember that we cannot control our students, and that we must be cognizant when we are exerting power and establishing rules - does this serve a purpose? (Casetta, 2015).

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To become an educator is such an immense privilege and responsibility, and as such I feel so fortunate to be a part of this incredible profession. I am committed to equity and inclusion in all aspects of my life and vow to carry that into my work as a teacher. Our education system is tainted by disproportionate accessibility and is limited to a singular representation of what is taught and how we teach. I joined this profession because I want to help disrupt that singular narrative, and teach students to love education and harness its power to help make a positive change in the world.
Every child deserves a teacher who has their best interest at hand, and stands up for them no matter what. I hope to be that teacher for my students.

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Love and support your child through their learning journey whichever way you see fit and can

Encourage literacy and learning at home

Model positive behavior

Find a voice for your child with your teacher - come willing to share and participate at conferences, etc

Be an active participant in your child's learning

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Be an advocate, be a disruptor

Be a facilitator of learning and help to engage students

Foster positive relationships with your students and take the time to get to know them

Create a safe learning environment where diversity, culture and all backgrounds are welcomed and cherished

Support students individual needs - understand their metacognitions

Be patient and foster creativity and curiosity

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Be open to making mistakes, and come to school each day willing and ready to learn

Embrace your education and feel empowered to take it into your own hands (you're in the driver's seat)

Come to school with an open mind and be open to sharing about your own personal background and experiences with your teacher and classmates

Be kind, and treat others with respect

Be the change you want to see in the world, and understand just how powerful education can be

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My philosophy of teaching is a holistic one, as  every child is unique and special in their own way and deserves a stimulating educational environment where they can learn to grow both emotionally and socially. As an educator, it is my job to ensure I provide a space for children to thrive and feel safe in. I believe in celebrating and cherishing diversity, and see students as problem solvers and thinkers, and not just as “material absorbers”. Education is one of the most powerful tools we can equip our youth with, and I want to ensure I do my job in providing them with it.