Students create an identity and sense of self-perception within the classroom throughout their

entire academic experience. As a young student, necessary life skills are acquired through interaction,

collaboration, and experience from both peers and educators. These skills are taught, as well as learned.

In my classroom, I will not only develop a collection of rules that promote a safe and productive classroom

environment but will also establish positive learning expectations for students to reach their highest

potentials. One of the strongest findings in educational research and literature is that when teachers hold

high expectations for students, those students are much more likely to learn academic and behavioral

skills (Barbetta et al., 2005; Darch & Kame’enui, 2004). These expectations create a positive learning

environment for all. Fulfilling and exceeding expectations develops a sense of pride within the student

that can then be translated into real-world experiences.

Developing and maintaining positive relationships with students shows the respect and

compassion that I know will be translated to one another. This mutual respect will create the positive

behavior interactions between both teacher and student, as well as student to student, that I will have in

my classroom. In order to ensure that this respect is being spread throughout my classroom, I will state

expected behaviors positively to my students at the beginning of the school year. Stating explicitly what

positive behavior looks like and sounds like sets the tone and takes away the opportunities for students to

alter their own understanding.

Classroom rules need to be observable for students to reassure their understanding if questions

arise. Having these rules on display allows the teacher to emphasize to students when rules are not being

followed. Communicating these rules with developmentally appropriate language allows students to

create their own understanding of what the expectations are. Once behavioral expectations and rules

have been established and taught, procedures for correction of behavioral errors and re-teaching of

behavioral skills will be implemented immediately to ensure that students are fully understanding what is

being required of them in order to maintain a safe learning environment.