I see now that I have been slipping into the pitfall of a
negative mindset. The idea of
managing students seems to connote that they are prone to misbehavior. It assumes the worst and therefore
makes me feel as if I am going into battle against a room of unruly
students. Simply changing the term
“classroom management” to “classroom leadership,” as Spencer does in his book,
reframes the situation altogether.
Leadership has positive connotations of students with potential. My job becomes guiding them instead of
controlling them and my outlook is suddenly brighter. It allows me to view my students through a lens of high
expectations rather than low. We become a learning community that
trusts one another, rather than a toxic environment of “me versus them.” Instead of approaching my work from a
position of fear, I can approach it from a position of anticipation. As Jenny Orr so wisely states: “Show people that
you have faith in them, be they students or employees, and the majority of the
time they will live up to that faith.”
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Management vs. Leadership: The Importance of Having a Positive Mindset
As a teacher-in-training, “classroom management” is a term
that gets thrown around a lot (striking fear in the hearts of many). We are carefully observed in
our student teaching to make sure we have it and we hear that it is a
guaranteed job interview topic. Until
being prompted by a professor to read two seasoned teachers’ opinions on this
topic this week (John Spencer’s book A Sustainable Start and Jenny Orr’s
blog, Elementary, My Dear, or Far From It), I had been sinking deeper and
deeper into trepidation mode as the question “Will I be able control them?” began
haunting my lesson planning, planting seeds of self-doubt and worry where none
had been before.
Like you, I find myself contemplating the many ways in which I will work to motivate students, create a positive culture, while still maintaining conrol in the classroom environment. As I search, I find myself asking,"Am I too strict or too weak?" or "Is it okay if my room or line is not always silent like the others?" There are many questions to consider as you search for an environment that works for your students, you, and administration/staff.
ReplyDeleteI am finding this to be quite a complicated thing to navigate. Just yesterday I was suddenly put in charge of my classroom for the whole day when my teacher called in sick and a sub could not be found. It was a great learning experience for me, but I found that without control of the classroom, little gets accomplished. Whenever the volume rose above a certain level, I began to fear the principal would drop by and judge me to be lacking in "classroom management" skills. The students were definitely testing my limits until I called them to a class meeting on the carpet to discuss our values as a classroom community. For the most part, they responded with maturity and the rest of the day ran much more smoothly. I could have just "brought the hammer down" on them, but that wouldn't feel very good for them or me. I was glad to be able to lead them in a respectful discussion about how we treat each other in our classroom.
ReplyDeleteAmy, Thank you for your kind words here. I look back at my first year of teaching and it pains me to remember how chaotic my classroom was. But most of the time that chaos was reasonably productive and happy. Unfortunately I didn't have the thoughtfulness, like you, to sit down with the kids and have a discussion about all of our expectations. I do now. We have those conversations about everything. I just wish I had learned to do so sooner.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing what switching a couple of words can do for my mindset! I work with a CT who follows this line thinking. She is not into punitive punishments and managing poor behavior. She instead, chooses to look at the choice students’ make, and their reason for making those choices. She will then have a conversation with them about their choice, and ask them what needs to happen next. She does not want to say, “Okay, you did this, now this is what is going to happen”, and be done. She feels like that is too easy on the student. By having a conversation and getting to the reason why the student did what they did, she can focus in on the choice that was made, and encourage them to make better choices in the future. Of course there are consequences to actions, and she lets the natural ones run their course, but her focus is on changing behavior. She does this by leading these students, not managing them.
ReplyDeleteIn thinking about my future classroom, this is the mindset and attitude I want to have with my students. Leading them, and teach them to be leaders as well.