“Our students will not care how much we know, until they know how much we care” - Craig & Gould - 2007 To make learning in my class meaningful and effective, I need to provide a safe environment for all my students where they feel welcome and recognized and know they can learn and succeed. They will have to play their part to keep this environment working. My teaching centers around real world experiences of the students, giving them a chance for inquiry and responsibility for finding answers to their questions themselves. My class room management plan follows this idea, and first of all requires my students to co-create a caring community, where they all feel they belong. To create this positive classroom climate and community, students will from day one get to know each other and me. I will contribute by delivering interesting and challenging instruction. Students will be held to high expectations.
If students do not participate according to our plan, they will first be reminded quietly, and hopefully self-correct without classroom disturbance. That maybe “the look”, demonstrating my presence during classroom circulation, or pointing to our displayed social contract. Hopefully these subtle methods have an effect, or more involved actions have to be taken to ensure that the learning in the classroom is not disturbed.