The foundation of my beliefs about both teaching in general and classroom management specifically stems from the simple but important idea that children are also people and want to be treated as such. I believe that the classroom setting, everything from student grouping models to the availability of materials, should be reflective of a place where twenty or so people spend the majority of their day. I believe in teaching every one of my students as individuals, with the right and responsibility to contribute, to share ideas and beliefs, to be accountable for their own actions, to acknowledge strengths and weaknesses, and to interact positively with others. As a teacher, I recognize that my students will spend much of their time with me, and as such, I strive to be responsive not only to the cognitive learning needs of each child, but to each individual's unique physical, social, and emotional needs as well. My approach to classroom management is based on a referent authority base, so I hope to build relationships with my students that will encourage them to try their best and act positively.

Beliefs and Ideals

Parental Involvement
Photos in the common domain
Schools help to support their neighborhood and community, and communities help to support schools (Machen, Wilson, & Notar, 2005). Parents are a key factor in this symbiotic relationship. Parental involvement in the classroom is important for several reasons. It shows students that their parents care about their education, keeps parents in the loop about their child's current units of study so that they can enrich their child's learning at home, helps to synchronize behavioral improvement systems between home and school, can promote better social skills, encourages joint collaboration with parents and school faculty and staff to achieve shared goals, may improve academic achievement, and more (Nokali, Bachman, & Vortuba-Drzal, 2010; Machen, Wilson, & Notar, 2005). To encourage parental involvement, I will arrange several 'Parent Days' throughout the school year for parents to come in and share about themselves, I will maintain an open invitation for parents to visit or volunteer whenever they would like during the school day, I will provide parents with bi-weekly updates on their child's academic and behavioral progress, and I or my students will update the What's Happening blog area of this website at least once a week with information about what units we're working on, any special things that have happened that week, pictures of student projects, etc. A print newsletter will be sent home to parents who do not have regular Internet access.

Movement in the Classroom
I believe that students learn best when their bodies are as active as their minds. Sitting in a desk all day is not engaging or enjoyable. Moderate exercise has been shown to improve cognition, increase brain volume in areas of the brain involved in executive processing, enhance phonemic ability, and more (Ploughman, 2008). Physical activity not only improves physical and mental health, but brain function and cognition as well (Hillman, Erickson, & Kramer, 2008). Therefore, my classroom will incorporate brain blasts (see Desautels, 2015 for information and examples) between lessons, many lessons will be based on the principles of action-based learning (see ​http://abllab.com/ and Maese, 2015 for more information), students will not be asked to sit at their desks all day (see my Classroom Design page and Smith, 2014 for more detail), recess will be as plentiful as practical, and food and exercise will never be used as rewards or punishments, respectively (see "Alternatives to Food Rewards", 2011).
Photo in the common domain

Student Choice
Photos in the common domain
I believe in the power of student choice. This can apply to many areas of the school day. It can apply to classroom management by using student choice (as in,  "[Name], you can stop [disruptive behavior], or you can [consequence], the choice is yours.") to redirect disruptive behaviors (Burden, 2013, p. 215). It can be used with students with special needs who may respond best if given choices about what or how they complete their work, such as students with oppositional defiant disorder (Junkulis, Kulhawik, & Roeschley, C. Thaler, n.d.). It can also used broadly as a general philosophy of classroom. My classroom will be largely student-directed, in that I believe:
"...(1) students must have the primary responsibility for controlling their behavior, and (2) students are capable of controlling their behavior if given the opportunity to do so" (Levin & Nolan, 2014, p. 99).
I also believe that student choice is also essential when it comes to academic content. Standards must be addressed, but they can be addressed in different ways or at different paces depending on students' interests and needs (see below for more). With this in mind, I hope to incorporate some of the concepts of student choice and pacing found in Montessori or Personalized Learning schools into my own classroom (see my Models page for more information on what I like about those models of education).

Beyond Standards
To be added.
Photos in the common domain
About Us. (2010). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://abllab.com/about-us/
Alternatives to Food Rewards. (2011). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/hsmrs/Connecticut/Food_As_Reward.pdf
Hillman, C., Erickson, K., & Kramer, A. (2008). Be smart, exercise your heart: Exercise effects on brain and cognition. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9, 58-65.
Maese, R. (2015, October 20). In these schools, students don't sit still. Retrieved December 2, 2015
Machen, S., Wilson, J., & Notar, C. (2005). Parental Involvement in the Classroom.Journal of Instructional Psychology, 32(1), 13-16.
Nokali, N., Bachman, H., & Votruba-Drzal, E. (2010). Parent Involvement and Children’s Academic and Social Development in Elementary School. Child Development, 81, 988-1005.
Ploughman, M. (2008). Exercise is brain food: The effects of physical activity on cognitive function. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 11(3), 236-240.
Smith, L. (2014, December 1). Forget the neat rows of desks, Michigan Center students stay on task in alternative seating. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
Last updated: 01/2016