Chapter 5-Classroom Management

Classroom management is such an important skill in the classroom and is something that I work to improve each year. I am always looking for new ways to improve my classroom management and keep my students' learning the number one priority in my classroom. First, I like structure and routines. From day one, I go over all of my procedures and what I expect from my students. I have rules and routines for everything in my classroom. My students know what to expect every day. I use a lot of positive reinforcement in my classroom. The class creates our class rules on the first day of school and we use a type of token economy. The students are rewarded with tickets for following the rules. They are able to use their tickets to "buy" candy, treats in the treasure box and coupons. They love being able to cash in their tickets each day. I  also have a positive reward system for our class. The students earn marbles for the marble jar for good class behavior. When the jar is filled, the class will receive some type of party. To help with transitions I use a timer to time our transitions. If the students finish in time, they will receive marbles for their marble jar. I also like to use a GO/STOP sign to help students remember when they can get up and when they need to stay seated during the class.

Even though I have all the positive supports set up, I often struggle with using them each day. Passing out tickets takes time and many times during the day I forget to pass them out. I also have a hard time being consistent. Some weeks I am good with tickets and marbles and sometimes I am not. It is a struggle to teach everything in the day and remember to use positive reinforcement. I know that using positive reinforcements will help my students concentrate and pay attention during class. Being fair to all students is also a struggle when using rewards. It is easy to give consequences to some students and not the others. It is definitely important to be fair and stay consistent with classroom management.

I want to improve my classroom management by using more positive supports each day. I want to stay fair and make sure all students are following the rules and routines set up at the beginning of the year. I also want to be more consistent with my tickets. It is important that all students have a chance to earn their tickets each day. Finally, I would like to implement some type of fees/fines for our token economy. When students disobey the rules we have set up, I think they should have to pay a fine or fee with the tickets instead of sitting out of recess. I want to work hard to improve my classroom management each and every year.