The classroom management talk

Classroom management is a term teachers and teacher candidates hear from day one of their professional career. It is ultimately one of the most important aspects of teaching because if there is poor classroom management the learning environment is not going to work.

By now everyone has completed their final project to create what our ideal classroom would look like and how it would run to foster the construction of knowledge for our students. A portion of the assignment involved creating classroom rules. This part of the blog is where Anita Woolfolk's podcast on classroom management comes in. She spoke about a study of classroom management and the difference between a smooth running class and a poorly managed class. "In the smooth running classroom, the teachers had planned and thought rules and procedures from day one" (Woolfolk, 2007). This is a part of the learning environment as a whole. If students are not given specific rules or develop them with the teacher they are less likely to abide by the common rules of school. These teachers that Anita spoke about taught the rules of the class just as they would teach mathematics or reading. It was an important part of the daily routine, especially in the beginning of the year (Woolfolk, 2007). 

Many of the classes at the Mount, especially in the special education department focus on classroom management. I have had a lot of experience reading about the best techniques but until I am able to be physically in the classroom I will not know if I have good classroom management skills. Anita spoke about ways to make sure the teachers are prepared and have the tools to incorporate positive classroom management. 

References 

Woolfolk, A. (2007, August 13). Podcast #12 - Beliefs about Classroom Management. Anita Talks 

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