Classroom management

This weeks blog is about classroom management. This is a weird topic for me because of the examples of classroom management that I have had in the past. In high school I had super strict teachers who liked to run their classroom on a schedule, but I also had teachers who were so relaxed and just went with the flow of how the day was going. On certain days I liked one over the other, or a mixture of both. Of course on the days I didn't feel like doing crap or accomplishing anything I liked the lazy classroom structure, but on other days that I really wanted to get work done I liked my teachers with schedules.

For my classroom in the future there are few things regarding classroom management that I really want to do. First, I really want to have structure, but I want that structure to be flexible. I do not want to have to plan out every little thing of the day, I want to be able to go with the flow if something comes up that needs to be addressed. I also want the environment of my classroom to be fun and inviting. I want to teach Psychology or Sociology, which are both fun topics, so that is exactly how my classroom should be. Now I know that leaves room for students to not take me or the class seriously, and I do not want that to happen. To manage my classroom I want to do a few things like my Practicum teacher as well. He almost always does in class assignments and doesn't assign much homework. I like that, because when I watch the students almost all of them seem like they are paying attention and actively mentally engaged which is great. He also calls on the students a lot and encourages classroom discussion which I also really like. I want to walk around my classroom and form appropriate relationships with my students as well. I had great professional relationships with some of my high school teachers, and those are the ones that have influenced me the most in deciding to become a teacher. So I really want to do the same for my students in the future.

Another thing that I will really need to watch in my classroom is nonverbals. I know that I am not always aware of what my facial expressions or body language say to other people, and my friends point it out all the time. I don't know if it's just that I am somewhat of an awkward person at times, or if I am truly not aware of what I'm doing at times. Regardless, I will need to learn to play close attention to that.

I know there are a couple more things that I could do to improve classroom management in my classroom in the future, but hopefully that is good enough for now.