I endeavor to make my classroom a warm and inviting place, where the students feel they can be themselves without reproach or mocking from others. I encourage respect among my students and myself, as well as among the students themselves, as I believe that each student is a unique and wonderfully quirky human who deserves to be taken on their own merit and based on their own actions.
I do not want my students to feel as though the rules and regulations are more important than their well-being; however, I do make sure that they are aware that most of those rules are to keep them safe and as such are not just arbitrary things that I put into place for no good reason. I encourage my students to question why things are done and we work to find the answers together as a group.
I have seen many great ideas from my lead teacher, one of my favorites is an evolving seating arrangement that consists of two major seating arrangements that I alternate between weekly, sometimes even daily. Most often, I seat the students in groups of 3-5 that face inward, thus allowing me free movement around the room and allowing them access to collaboration. Occasionally they are placed in six rows of six facing each other and with enough space between rows and columns that I can still walk among them fairly easily; this is especially helpful for individual work days.
Finally, my classroom is a place or students to explore new ideas that they had not thought of, or that they thought too far beyond their reach. Along with unique personalities, each student has a unique set of needs and part of my job is to ensure that I help develop the whole person, not just their brain!
I do not want my students to feel as though the rules and regulations are more important than their well-being; however, I do make sure that they are aware that most of those rules are to keep them safe and as such are not just arbitrary things that I put into place for no good reason. I encourage my students to question why things are done and we work to find the answers together as a group.
I have seen many great ideas from my lead teacher, one of my favorites is an evolving seating arrangement that consists of two major seating arrangements that I alternate between weekly, sometimes even daily. Most often, I seat the students in groups of 3-5 that face inward, thus allowing me free movement around the room and allowing them access to collaboration. Occasionally they are placed in six rows of six facing each other and with enough space between rows and columns that I can still walk among them fairly easily; this is especially helpful for individual work days.
Finally, my classroom is a place or students to explore new ideas that they had not thought of, or that they thought too far beyond their reach. Along with unique personalities, each student has a unique set of needs and part of my job is to ensure that I help develop the whole person, not just their brain!