Tristyn Mandel

CT 534
Professor Schaffee
12/12/16
CT 534: Final Paper: The Educational Investment of Relationships

This semester in CT 534 has solidified my future career objective: To establish a

productive classroom environment where learning possesses primary importance.

However, in order for my students to academically grow, they must feel both comfortable

and confident within the classroom. Educators can inspire intellectual development

through the creation of teacher-student relationships. In order to optimize my students

success at the start of the school year, I plan to include them in classroom conversations

about management and ethics, and then proceed to put their ideas into practice.

In order to build relationships with my students, I will first educate them on the

core values of classroom management. Classroom management is a necessary factor in

the promotion of a productive classroom environment because it presents students with

structure, and provides them with achievable goals. Classroom management administers

academic archetypes through the establishment of general rules that outline broad bases

of behavior (Jones 2007). These positively stated expectations make students wary of the

proper ways to act within the classroom. Similarly, the introduction of specific

procedures helps students adjust to individual classroom activities. These procedures,

known as routines, are easily taught, learned and scaffolded since they only possess a few

steps (Jones 2007). Even so, a routines value in relationship building cannot be

overlooked. Specific routines, such as discourse routines, are essential components of

classrooms because they help define the norms of contact between individuals (Ritchhart

2002). The orchestration of discourse routines, like raising ones hand before speaking,
helps define the means of acceptable classroom communication. Furthermore, routines

present achievable goals since students easily grasp their sequence (Jones 2007). When

both students and teachers acknowledge a routine, they become more comfortable with

the presence of management within their classroom. This increased comfort results in the

establishment of productive classroom relationships. Thus, if my students are familiarized

with my stance on management, then they will understand my rationale behind classroom

practices.

Aside from classroom management, my future classroom will engage in

discussions about the significance of classroom core values. In many districts, students

are expected to accept classroom rules without questioning their implementation. This

authoritarian teaching-style not only denies students the opportunity to self-manage

but also increases student resentment (Walker 2009). In my prospective classroom, I will

ensure that my students feel valued by including them conversations about classroom

ethics. These conversations would encompass what Romi (2011) calls affective

education: instruction that concerns itself with the feelings, beliefs, attitudes, and

emotional well-being of learners (p. 237). Specifically, I will facilitate lessons where

students devise a list of classroom expectations that perpetuate essential core values. For

example, as demonstrated in my microteaching lesson, I will instruct students to

brainstorm areas where respect should be applied within the classroom environment.

My lessons focus on respect will deliberately encompass what Marzano & Pickering

(2003) would call emotional objectivity; a matter-of-fact approach to tackling

classroom values (p. 68). An emotional objective method would guarantee that the

classroom conversation stays pragmatic and places learning in the highest regard.
 Furthermore, once my students help draft a list of classroom expectations, I will

educate them on the consequences of overstepping their boundaries. As Fay and Funk

(1995) advise, consequences are most effective when they are administered with

empathy and understanding, in oppose to anger and irritation because students tend to

register the implications of their actions more deeply (p.65). When teachers employ

rational consequences, it encourages professional student-teacher relationships since it

allows teachers to exercise their leadership within the classroom. By including my

students in the dialogue about classroom expectations and consequences, I will work to

create a school community that thrives on productive relationships.

The significance of classroom management and community values are messages

that I aspire to transmit to my students on the first day of school. As Ritchhart (2002)

clarifies, the first day of school establishes classroom norms for the entire year.

Therefore, on day one, my lesson will include classroom expectations, and my teaching-

style will encourage student collaboration. During my lesson, I will verbally educate my

students on the proper standards of learning and behavior within the classroom in order

set the tone for the school year. My lessons focus on expectations will remind students

that they have entered an environment where productivity endures as the ultimate aim

(Lieber 2009). Even so, the lesson will dedicate time to facilitate social dialogue that will

draw out my students opinions. Turning to my students to share their ideas on classroom

management will help my students get to know each other, and signify my high

expectations for participation during classroom discussions (Marzano & Pickering 2003).

As an educator, group discourse will underscore my encouragement of student input

without sacrificing my authority (Lieber 2009). My lesson will urge my students to

discuss their diverse perspectives on classroom management, and also move my students

to value each others judgments. My goal for the first day is to inspire my students to feel

comfortable with my classrooms expectations for both learning and expression, so that

they will be more likely to develop productive relations within my classroom.

Even so, increased classroom communication does not guarantee that productive

relationship will emerge. In order to build relationships with both my individual students

and my class, I will make deliberate efforts to study my students backgrounds in a way

that does not undermine my authority. According to Tough (2016), students experience

higher levels of motivation when they feel like their teachers value and respect them. I

plan to learn about my students lives outside of the classroom by asking them about their

unique interests and hobbies. Fay & Funk (1995) recommend that teachers utilize the

one-sentence intervention method to get to know their students. This tactic pushes

teachers to approach students with the sentence starter I noticed and to say

something positive and true about their students personal lives (Fay & Funk, 1995, p.

21). This technique motivates teachers to learn about their students throughout the school

year, which results in higher levels of student engagement. Although my method will

resemble Fay & Funks (1995), I will also strive to establish professional relationships

with students by presenting myself as what Delpit (1995) would call a warm demander

(p. 71). As Delpit explains, warm demanders push their students to achieve and preform

within the classroom. They also dedicate time outside of class to help their students

confront personal challenges. Most importantly, Delpit (1995) characterizes warm

demanders as educational mentors rather than friends. The productive relationships that I
hope to foster within my classroom will rely on both my efforts to get to know my

students, and my determination to inspire students to reach their full potential.

My students high regard of classroom management and ethics will also serve as

my inspiration for the blueprint of my classroom setup. My design will create an

environment that both promotes deep thinking and instigates constant collaboration. In

order to promote a rich thinking environment, I will hang up posters of questions,

pictures, and positively stated expectations that activate my students curiosity (Ritchhart

2002). Aside from their aesthetic appeal, these decorations will direct my students

attentions towards the ultimate aim of classroom learning. The setup of my room will

simultaneously encourage student participation. As Jones (2007) explains, furniture

rearrangement is the cheapest management method since it establishes limits in a

nonadversial fashion that assists with teacher mobility. I will take Jones advice and move

my desk to the back of the room, and push my students desks forward. Shifting my

students to the front of the room will enhance their classroom focus because it places

them in closer proximity to my instruction. Moreover, student relocation to the green

zone will ensure that they stay engaged during the majority of classroom conversations

(Jones 2007). I also will deliberately move my students desks to form what Jones (2007)

calls an interior loop that places each student within two seats of an aisle (cite). An

interior loops wide walkways will allow me to easily observe and supervise my students

interactions. My goal for my proactive room arrangement is to remove any physical and

mental barriers that might impede the development of productive relationships.

My final classroom practice that will infuse my students stance on classroom

management and behavior will be my strategy for dealing with high rollers. According
to Jones (2007), high rollers are students who frequently abuse the faculty due to their

inherent brat behavior(cite). High rollers are not overtly bad, but they like to test the

limits of teacher authority. My plan for dealing with high rollers demonstrates my

respect of productive relationships since it encompasses the theme of a safe classroom

environment. Safe classrooms both showcase teacher authority and avoid student

embarrassment (Patterson 2014). I plan to assert my authority without singling out my

students by practicing behavioral narration within my classroom (Canter 2014). To do

properly preform my narration, I will take physical and verbal notes about my difficult

students actions and behaviors, like when they communicate effectively, in order to

motivate students to succeed. Students will perceive my monitoring style as assertive;

however, I will never argue inside my classroom because that results in the formation of

student resentment and negative self-concepts (Romi 2011). Even so, if behavioral

narration does not solve the problem, I will not shy away from applying forced choices

(Fay & Funk, 1995). For example, if a student receives warnings but continues to

misbehave, I will inform them that they have chosen the consequence of talking to me

after class, My calm nature will influence the consequences of my students actions to

resonate with them more deeply, but it will not undermine my professionalism. The

disciplinary tactics that I hope to utilize within my classroom will manage my students

behavior, but they will never sacrifice the productive relationships that I plan to acquire.

The opening days of the school year arguably set the tone for student learning.

Almost immediately, students internalize the values and expectations that their teachers

impart on them. Thus, in order to ensure that my future students grasp the importance of
productive relationships, I plan to invest both my time and energy into exercising

collaborative management tactics that foster a sense of classroom community.

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