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Classroom Management: Developing Positive Relationships

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I am working on a course in classroom management. I am reading a book called Classroom Management Matters by Gianna Cassetta. I am supposed to write a reflection essay that discusses all of the strategies that an aspiring teacher should consider when trying to establish good classroom management. I have read through the chapter and identified the strategies that the author suggests. I have created a list of questions to guide the reflection essay and it is below. I need your help to elaborate on each question, providing research-based evidence and or real life example of how it will be applied it in a classroom.

1. Intro to why and how developing positive teacher-student relationships is important.
2. What is the Transactional theory (we are nice to people who are nice to us) and how does this apply to the classroom?
3. Girls typically have a more positive relationship with teachers than boys. Why? How can you develop a good relationships between boys and teachers?
4. How do you develop positive relationships with students with behavior problems?
5. What five personal traits should you know about a student in order to build a positive relationship? How would knowing these things help you to build a trusting relationship?
6. Why is it important for your students to love/like the teacher?
7. How and why do positive relationships help students learn?
8. Why should you examine the Teacher-Student relationships?
9. How would you evaluate how you interact?
10. What would you do if, when you redirect a student, the student does not adjust and move on?
11. How will I make sure that I know where I stand with students? How will I check-in to make sure that I am building positive relationships?
12. According to the text, here are some practical ways to build positive relationships. Elaborate on each with examples and evidence:
- Learn about students' lives outside of school. Family interviews are one way to do this. Elaborate on why and how it's important.
- How can you use what you learn about your students in family interviews to grow connections? Give an example of what you'd do as a teacher.
- How can you show students that you will keep them safe? How will you show students that you will look out for their emotional-physical well-being?
- How will you show students who are having a hard time that you care and are available? Some examples are student check-ins, lunch bunch, establishing a class helper. Elaborate on these and or add others.
- How can aspiring teachers validate their students feelings? Show empathy, be a good listener.
13. Take a moment to describe your most positive relationship. Why was it positive? How is it in alignment with the statement that all positive relationships result in the betterment of both parties?

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Solution Summary

This posting contains personal reflections on classroom management from an experienced educator, who answers pedagogical questions from a teacher in training.

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My Experiences with Classroom Management: Developing Positive Relationships

*Pay attention to this class! Often, the biggest obstacle for new teachers is an uneven, ineffective method of managing their classrooms. Do this well, and you will quickly become popular with administration, students, and parents. I cannot tell you how important that will be. Believe me; been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

Classroom Management is a lost art. In the 50s, the unwritten rule for teachers was, "Don't smile till Christmas." That authoritarian approach became very unpopular, and by the 70s, emotionally-driven, universal student-driven methods gave us "time-out." When that was proven ineffective, a hard-core "zero-tolerance" wave abounded in the 80s and 90s. Now, we are in a "Goldilocks" period: not too harsh, not too lenient. The focus has returned to successful teaching.

To be its most effective, classroom management should be unobtrusive, almost unnoticeable, with an emphasis that focuses on the lesson and the material being taught. A successful teacher can manage a classroom well without a casual observer even noticing.

Questions:

1. Intro to why and how developing positive teacher-student relationships is important.

You are not a student's friend, their parent, their doctor, or their partner-in-crime, although you may have to assume aspects of those positions along the way. You are their teacher; their loving, nurturing, healing co-conspirator of truth. Boundaries must be drawn, and these lines must be well-understood by you and the student. This is not to suggest that deep, important relationships cannot be created, however, boundaries must be established and recognized.

There is a teacher/student dichotomy that must be established. You, the teacher, are in charge. This is non-negotiable. This does not give you the right to be a megalomaniacal tyrant, however. Be open to discussion when appropriate, and respond to student needs. When these lines are drawn, great things will begin to happen in your classroom. The relationship IS important, as long as everyone understands that you are in charge. Without boundaries, a classroom devolves into chaos.

2. What is the Transactional theory (we are nice to people who are nice to us) and how does this apply to the classroom?

Transactional theory is all about observation and evaluation. You do well, you get an "A" or a gold star on a chart. This is an effective technique, especially at the beginning of the teacher/student relationship. Correct behavior earns a reward. It is a one-to-one type of correspondence. Do this, get that. In the long run, however, the goal is to evolve from transactional leadership to transformational leadership. This has to do with the nature of extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation. With extrinsic motivation, a person's actions are controlled by an external outcome, whereas intrinsic motivations are self-driven. Guiding students to do their best, not for a gold star on a chart, but for the feeling of satisfaction derived from success, should be every teacher's goal.

3. Girls typically have a more positive relationship with teachers than boys. Why? How can you develop a good relationships between boys and teachers?

Ignore gender differences at all costs!

A teacher's relationship with a student must be individualized past the student's gender. Does "Student A" read for fun? Does "Student B" like physical exercise? Does "Student C" have a great imagination? Does "Student D" dislike strict schedules? Answers to questions of this type will tell you much more about a student than gender alone. Relationships ...

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