If I were to ask you who the angriest teacher you ever had was, who pops into your head? Personally, I never want to be remembered as the angry teacher. I want to be the teacher who is firm but fun, who students enjoy being around and also know they need to listen to. Of course, that sounds easier when you aren’t in a classroom hearing your name called a hundred times an hour. Kids can test your patience, and something that stood out to me in week 7 was the importance of having compassion and keeping your cool when you start to feel frustrated.
From working as an EA, I already had a pretty good understanding of classroom management. I have seen what works and what exactly can happen when things aren’t working. This week helped me better understand the strategies behind those experiences.
About two years ago, I was split between two classrooms that had completely different classroom management. In one, the teacher clearly loved her students and could find something good in every one of them. She was always ready to offer praise and kindness, but she clearly really struggled to set boundaries. It seemed like she worried that being firm or getting upset with the students would make her mean. When things became overwhelming, she very often just gave in to what students wanted to do, whether that was play on the chromebooks, go outside in the middle of the day, or simply do whatever they wanted to. The room almost always felt chaotic, and she would always resort to yelling as a result of her frustration and anxiety. It happened so frequently that students barely reacted to her yelling anymore. The kids ruled that classroom, they had control, knew it, and took advantage of it.
The other classroom had a teacher who made her expectations clear from the beginning. Students knew where materials belonged, how to line up, and what to do during transitions. She spent time teaching these routines daily and consistently followed through with any discipline or consequences. By a few weeks into the school year, the students needed very few reminders because they knew what was expected. If they did act out, the teacher was quick to correct or discipline.
What I admired most was that even though she had many rules and expectations in her classroom, she was still a very fun teacher. Even I as an EA looked forward to being in her classroom. She celebrated exciting moments like accomplishments or birthdays, knew her students well, was not afraid to dance and be silly with them, made activities fun and engaging and made it clear that she cared about her students. She could be firm without turning every situation into a confrontation. Being in her classroom helped me see that setting boundaries does not make you an unkind teacher.
I also learned a lot about myself during that time. In the classroom that had less structure, I often helped manage the class so we could get through activities or the day. The mutual positive relationships I built with students made a huge difference. Not only did I genuinely deeply care about them, but they genuinely cared about me. Seeing them take time to ask me how my weekend was, or ask about my favourite things was heart warming. In this class I rarely needed to raise my voice, and I tried my best to follow through on what I said. I wasn’t perfect, I'm constantly learning, but those experiences helped me figure out what felt effective and natural to me.
This connects to the idea from this week’s DDD presentation that classroom management includes creating a positive learning environment. I want students to feel comfortable and happy in my classroom. Honestly, I want them to like me, too. But I also understand that sometimes caring about them means saying no or holding a boundary they aren’t happy about.
Something I want to remember in my own classroom is to give students breaks. There is so much pressure to fit everything into the day that it can be easy to forget how much we ask of children. They spend hours listening, working, and following directions, school is basically their full time job. Sometimes they need to move, laugh, or take a minute before getting back to learning.
I’m still figuring out exactly what my classroom will look like. But I want it to be a place where students can have fun, feel cared for, and know what is expected of them. And when my patience is running low, I hope I remember to take a breath before I respond.
Sydney Hamilton
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