Educators value the success of all students. Educators care for students and act in their best interests.
“Educators have a privileged position of power and trust. Educators are responsible for the physical and emotional safety of students. Educators respect and value the diversity in their classrooms, schools and communities, inclusive of First Nations, Inuit and Métis, and other worldviews and perspectives. Educators foster students’ positive personal identity, mental and physical well-being, social and personal responsibility, and intellectual development. Educators engage students in meaningful participation in their own learning. Educators treat students equitably with acceptance, dignity and respect. Educators understand the importance of confidentiality, and protect student privacy, unless disclosure is required by law. Educators do not abuse or exploit students or minors for personal, sexual, ideological, material or other advantage.” (BCTC Professional Standards for BC Educators)
I had many challenges during my time as a classroom teacher; classroom management was by far my biggest challenge. In order to have an approach to classroom management that was pleasant, caring, respectful, and fair to all students, I knew that I had to first establish relationships with the class. Getting to know the students would take time, so the first thing I had to address was the violence that was happening in the class on a daily basis.
There were eight students with designations, and probably at least six others that could have had them. Out of the twenty students, ten of them should have been categorized as an “H”, in my opinion. Of the students that did have designations, each time there was an incident; it had to be written down and tracked. I had two EAs in the classroom that would help me with this. I got into the habit of carrying around a notebook so I could write down any incidences that would happen during day.
After my first week of teaching, I held a class meeting to discuss classroom rules and expectations for appropriate classroom behaviors. Instead of laying down the law and telling the students what I expected, I facilitated a discussion where the students decided what was appropriate and what was not. I wrote all of the ideas on the board and then later had posters made up and hung on the walls, stating the classroom expectations. After all of the students had contributed their ideas, I expressed that the most important expectation that I had was classroom safety.
Initially I had two EAs, one that was experienced, and one that was brand new. The new EA was not able to keep up with my “G” student, and it was decided by the admin to bring in a different EA that had worked with this student before, and already had a relationship with him. This was the best thing that happened for the class. Once the main student that was leaving the class stopped, it also had the effect of keeping the other students in the class. This was my second biggest priority, first keeping the student safe (from each other or otherwise), and then second, keeping the students in the class. Once I was able to accomplish these goals, I was able to start looking at actually teaching these students academics. You don’t realize how important social and emotional connections are until you work in a school.
