Aimee Adams

CI 4343.4370
Classroom Management Essay
Due: Feb. 26th, 2015
Management with Positivity in Mind
When referring to a wild classroom, the movie Kindergarten Cop
with Arnold Schwarzenegger comes to mind. It depicted young
students wreaking havoc by presenting multiple behavioral issues:
yelling, running, destruction of property, and general messiness. When
Schwarzenegger enters the room, he immediately loses his temper and
verbally accosts the students. This is obviously a dramatization, but
also an example of poor classroom management. Its clear why a
defined management style is required, in an effort to avoid such a
situation. However, with as many issues have arisen in education, so
have a plethora of classroom management styles and techniques. After
reading Burdens Classroom Management: Creating a Successful K-12
Learning Community, Discipline with Dignity, as presented by Richard
Curwin, resonated with my personal classroom management
philosophy.
As established by many a foundations class, rules and order
have a symbiotic relationship. Usually, one cannot exist without the
order. Thats why the traditional procedure of presenting rules on the
first class day, reiteration of rules throughout the school year, and
reinforcement of correlating disciplinary measures are followed.
However, within that context, there is a variance of control in several

aspects: teacher control, student control, and degree of concern for

students thoughts, feelings, and preferences (Burden). With
Discipline with Dignity, it is considered a Medium Control Approach,
because while there are established rules and order, teachers give up
power to involve students in the decision-making.
First, Discipline with Dignity establishes a premise to
misbehavior: student boredom, feelings of unclear limits, lack of
acceptable outlets for feelings, and attacks on dignity (Burden). So,
with an approach to have an environment conducive to learning,
Discipline with Dignity requires a three-dimensional discipline plan. It
can be broken into three components, prevention, action, and
resolution. Within the three-dimensional plan, everything from
prevention of discipline problems, to action when misbehavior
happens, to ways to resolve problems is addressed, and calls on the
students to develop a discipline plan (Burden). It falls under the
pretense in which, if students have control and understanding of the
discipline plan, they less likely to resist and present further disciplinary
issues. With this management plan, it reinforces that discipline is a
learning process rather than a system of retributionwhich sets the
student on a precedent that inappropriate behavior will be addressed.
It further requires responsibility to follow the agreed upon terms that
has been established for the classroom. The previously agreed upon
terms is referred to as the social contract, [which is the] development

of consequences that are predictable, allow the contract to change

with class needs, and sage guards to protect [students'] dignity,
increase communication, and to integrate discipline methodology with
the teaching of content (Burden).
With the details of Discipline with Dignity established, the
application of which in my classroom will be presented in several ways:
an in-class discussion regarding expectations and the coinciding rules.
On the first day of classes, I will present my overall expectations of my
choir. I will then invite the students to discuss rules that would
contribute and support those expectations. By giving them a guideline
as a foundation, students can claim ownership within the classroom.
Further, Id invite the student to contemplate appropriate disciplinary
measures appropriate to misbehaviors. Much like the standard
expectations, Id present a guide of disciplinary measures, ranging
from a verbal warning to expulsion. I, again, would encourage shared
decision making among students to assign appropriate disciplinary
measures to their determined rules. With this approach, students have
effectively chosen the rules and disciplinary actions within their own
classroom, and are less likely to disregard their own rules. This action
is simply dual respect, both between the teacher and the student.
To apply context to this Classroom Management Philosophy, I will
use an example. On the first day of choir, at any given campus, I
intend to introduce the following expectations as a guideline:

1. We are PREPARED
2.We are RESPECTFUL
3. We give our best at all times.
Anything less is detrimental to yourself, your classmates, and to the
hard work the entire ensemble works toward.
Always aspire for improvement.
4. We participate in WHOLE LISTENING.
Listening is at the crux of what we do in the choir room. Listen with an
open heart. Commit to all requests and suggestions: better music will be
made this way. We become better people when we drop any false pretense,
and just work together, so lets aspire to that.

From those expectations, the students could derive their own rules. An
example of one, in relation to expectation number one would be to
have all items put away in cubbies, and to have our music every day in
class. That would be a clearly defined rule, generated by the students
cooperation. Based off of the typical disciplinary measures commonly
used, the students may deem a verbal warning for failure to bring
music to class.
So, following with Discipline with Dignity management plan, in
the occurrence of a student not following an established
rule/expectation, the student will be approached, with dignity. Students
will be addressed with a quiet voice, within close proximity, called
attention to the students misbehavior, i.e. leaving music at home, and
asked for the appropriate disciplinary measure that correlated with that
particular rule. This way, the students are not only aware of the
expectation that has not been met, but knowing that they determined
the appropriate actions.

With the guidance of Discipline with Dignity, as outlined by

Curwin in Burdens Classroom Management: Creating a Successful K-12
Learning Community, I am confident that this classroom management
guide will foster a respectful and nurturing educational enviorment.