Describe your classroom management style.

Question

Describe your classroom management style.

Answer 1

Authoritarian, hitler style.

Answer 2

Controlled chaos.  For someone who walked into my room, they would think it was chaotic because the kids are all working in centers and groups.  There is noise, but it doesn't hinder learning.  Each student or group knows their task and is on task (at least most of the time!).  I try to keep my classroom very student-centered.  When I am working with small groups, the other kids are doing activities which force them to be creative and use higher-level thinking while learning the content.  It's certainly not "busy work" as I spend countless hours aligning my activities with the standards and making sure it's differentiated.  The kids all do similar tasks, but at their own levels.  Granted, this isn't every moment of every day, but as much as I possibly can.  When I am speaking to the whole group, the kids have very clear consequences for interrupting or being disrespectful.  This is the case for their work-station/center activities as well.

Answer 3

I allow my students to help me create the classroom rules and consequence system. This way they cannot tell me they "didn't know" a rule. Also, they take ownership of the rules and know exactly what the punishment is if they break a rule :)

Answer 4

I teach preschoolers English as a foreign language in an immersion program, so it depends on the age and experience the children have in the learning environment. In the beginning, I tend to be more authoritarian, giving constant instruction so that the child can  quickly learn what is expected of him or her, get used to hearing the same language repeated several times  and adjust quickly to the environment.  Once the child becomes independent in the classroom, I tend to encourage independent learning, stepping in from time to time with incentives to keep the child active in learning to communicate in the language.  At age 5 and 6, I try to encourage more group work since the children can communicate pretty well by then.   Of course certain periods of the class require more  more rigid teaching approach than others but the goal is ultimately for the children to have enough confidence and independence that they can learn on their own, but it takes quite a bit of flexibility, especially when you have such young students who are barely used to a school enviornment much less learning a foreign language!

If I were teaching other age groups, I think I would still keep this flexible style, starting off a bit more authoritarian until the students could get used to what is expected of them and realise that I am in charge of the class, that they ARE being graded by ME and that good behavior and all around respect is expected of them.  Too many classrooms I see nowadays seem completely out of control from the start and you can hardly expect kids to work individually or in groups until they understand the structure of the class and have the tools to complete their tasks successfully.

Answer 5

I'm pretty laid back with my fourth graders.  My principal described my room as similar to a college classroom.  Although my kids work together a lot and I allow a lot of "discussion" and moving around the room, they know what I'm serious about and obey pretty well.

Answer 6

My belief is to have children sit in groups and be able to do group work when it is most suitable so that they learn to work as a team and work with each other.  I also feel independent working skills is important also though so they will also have a set of solo activities each day along with group ones so they learn to work in both situations and see the best of both worlds.