Philosophy and Reflection 1

Breanna Johnson
EDUC 7240 Classroom Management
Personal Philosophy of Classroom Management
As a teacher, I want to provide a safe and predictable classroom environment for my
students. I believe every child deserves the opportunity to learn in an environment where they
feel safe and are not afraid to ask questions. I want my future classroom to be a safe place where
all students can take the risk to grow and thrive in their education. Classroom management is
essential to creating this desired learning atmosphere. It is important to remember that classroom
management is not the same as discipline. Classroom management is proactive, increases
learning time, promotes responsibility, and helps produce predicable behavior (Wong & Wong,
2014).
To minimize confusion about expectations, I plan to tell my students what is expected of
them in my classroom. I will make sure every student and parent understands the rules, rewards,
and consequences in my classroom. It is important for students to understand that classroom
rules promote safety, responsibility, and respect in the learning environment. I strongly believe
that organization is essential inside and outside of the classroom. As a teacher, I will need to be
prepared, flexible, and consistent.
I strongly believe that classroom management and procedures create consistency. As
stated in The Classroom Management Book by Wong and Wong (2014), Consistency in a
classroom is created when there is repetition of actions and tasks procedures. Consistency
allows students to know beforehand what to expect and how to perform the classroom
procedures (p. 11). Procedures are essential to classroom management. They provide structure

Philosophy and Reflection 2

and purpose in the classroom. As a teacher, if you do not create a procedure for everything in
your classroom, the students will create one for you. Procedures are extremely important because
they help to create an effective learning environment. Every procedure in my classroom will be
taught, rehearsed, and reinforced. It is important to remember that every procedure must be
practiced.
Classroom management involves minimizing behaviors and maximizing class time. In
my classroom, I want to keep my students engaged and motivated to help minimize unwanted
behavior. To achieve this, I plan to over-prepare and use sponges. These educational strategies
allow for little to no down time during the school day.
Describe how you will develop relationships with your students.
I want to develop a positive teacher-student relationship with each of my students.
According to Wong and Wong (2014), students want a teacher who is reliable, dependable, and
predictable. I plan to be all of these things for my students. I want to inspire students and be an
absolute role model to them. When students walk into my classroom, I want them to be excited
to learn and to feel safe and comfortable. I want my students to know that their interests,
strengths, and cultural backgrounds are valued in my classroom. I want students to thrive in all
aspects of their life, especially education. As a teacher, it will be my responsibility to get to know
my students. I plan to get to know my students academically, personally, and socially.
I know each student is special in their own way and I want to connect with them as
individuals. I want students to know that my classroom is a safe place where they can take risks
to grow without being judged or ridiculed. I plan to apply strategies in my classroom for
continuous success and excellence. To help develop relationships with my students, I plan to

Philosophy and Reflection 3

instill values of compassion, integrity, respect, responsibility, and teamwork in my classroom.
Each and every day, I will try to reach my students. I am excited to develop relationships with
my students because I understand how important this particular bond can influence them.
How will you work with the tough kids that make teaching difficult?
Throughout this course, I have learned that I am not going to have a tough kid in my
classroom every year, but I need to be prepared for when I do. In my future classroom, I plan to
positively manage tough kids. I believe it is important to remember to still set expectations for
tough kids. Although tough kids may make teaching difficult at times, it is important to
remember to respect and build rapport with them. Students are more likely to listen to you if they
like you.
When working with tough kids, communication is very important. I plan to overcommunicate with parents, staff, and administration about these particular students. I want to
express both the positive and negative things that I will be working with. I plan to invite parents
to observe how their tough kid is acting in the classroom. I plan on utilizing my resources,
building a team, and documenting everything. I will expect all of my students to be held
responsible for their behaviors and I will have a procedure in place for everything.
What will you do to build community in your classroom?
At the beginning of the school year, I plan to create a sense of community in my
classroom. By creating a sense of community, my students will feel more secure and supported
in the learning environment. It is important to remember that each student will come through my
classroom door with a variety of background knowledge and experience. Although I plan to
promote individuality in my classroom, I know it is important that each student feels a sense of

Philosophy and Reflection 4

identity in the classroom. This sense of identity will help students academically, personally, and
socially.
At the beginning of the school year, I plan to incorporate meet and greet games to help
students learn more about their classmates and me. I also love the idea of incorporating a
Student of the Week program in my classroom. This weekly activity allows for students to
share information about themselves to their classmates. I loved this activity when I was in
elementary and it encourages students to get to know more about each other. Also, I plan to
create community in my classroom through trust, predictability, familiarity, and family
involvement.
How will you establish teacher authority and become a leader in your classroom?
I plan to establish teacher authority in my classroom by being firm, consistent,
professional, and prepared. I plan to connect with my students early so they know that I respect
them as individuals. I will introduce a clear set of expectations and rules to my students so they
know what is expected in my classroom. It is essential to remember that effective classroom
teachers have classroom procedures. I plan to have a procedure for everything so students do not
have the opportunity to create one for me. Lastly, to become a leader in my classroom, I plan to
lead by example.
How will you motivate students in your classroom?
I love the idea of the Teacher's 100 Club to help motivate students in my classroom. As
stated in The Tough Kid Book (2010), The Teachers 100 Club is one of the most powerful
positive behavior support systems for the classroom (p. 141). This system effectively increases
positive behavior and rule following. The purpose of the Teachers 100 club is to "catch"

Philosophy and Reflection 5

students behaving appropriately and following the classroom rules. I especially like this positive
behavior management system because it seems easy to use and it involves the teacher, students,
and parents.
Alongside teaching my procedures, I think I will integrate the Teacher's 100 Club into my
classroom as soon as the school year begins. I will make sure that my students understand the
system, I will post the Teacher's 100 Club Chart right next to my classroom rules, and I will
make sure to keep the Teacher's 100 Club Celebrity Book in a prominent location in my
classroom. I plan to award ten tickets to students each day. By doing this, it will take about one
week to get a winning row/column/diagonal of ten winning students. All ten winning students
will receive a Mystery Motivator prize at the end of each week. I believe this system would not
only be a great motivator in the classroom, but could easily be adapted into a school wide
motivation system as well.
What information was most beneficial to you as part of this class?
I learned so much during this course and found so much information to be beneficial to
my future teaching career. I have learned that communication is so important. It is essential to
remember to over-communicate with parents, other teachers/staff, and administration. As a
teacher, I will need to utilize as many of my resources as I can and seek help when needed. I also
learned that I need to be constantly advocating for my students.
As a future teacher, I have learned that I will need to create a predictable and safe
environment for my students to learn in. To do so, procedures need to be taught, rehearsed, and
reinforced to create an effective and positive learning atmosphere. By reading The Classroom
Management Book, I will be more prepared to teach procedures to my future students. Also, this

Philosophy and Reflection 6

course has helped prepare me for the future tough kids that I will eventually have in my
classroom.
What do you still want additional information about in regards to classroom management?
As of now, I cannot think of any additional information I want to know in regards to
classroom management. Ultimately, I am excited to learn and experience more about classroom
management in my School Start-up course and during student teaching. I plan on having my
textbooks readily available during my student teaching experience and throughout my career. I
know that I am going to need these books in my future!

Philosophy and Reflection 7

References
Rhode, G., Jenson, W. R., & Reavis, H. K. (2010). The Tough Kid Book. Eugene, Oregon:
Pacific Northwest Publishing.
Wong, H. K. & Wong, R. T. (2014). The Classroom Management Book. Mountain View,
California: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.