Rachel Jung

Professor Sjoerdsma

EDUC 302

April 30, 2017

Leading and Managing a Classroom Learning Community

From my Christian perspective, I believe that man and woman are the creatures of God,

equal human-beings, and precious beings who have equal rights to practice freedom in this

world. I believe that God is in control of this world and that people have right to choose what

they want to do. As a Christian, our role in this world is to live, think, act, and talk like Jesus

Christ, to believe in Him with our all hearts, and to spread the Gospel of God to the world. As a

future educator, I have been struggling, acknowledging, being thankful, and finally believing in

God with all my heart, and putting continuous effort to strengthen my faith. By seeing my faith

and effort to live like Jesus, students will begin to realize how they should behave themselves

and try to model their teacher.

I believe that a true educator is one that helps students become competent, discerning,

responsible, and responsive disciples (Van Brummelen, 2002, p.g. 8). To help them become

these disciples, it is important to learn first and then to react to the knowledge and learning they

have gained. The purpose of learning is to gain discernment, to improve social skills, to have

knowledge of this world, God, and His kingdom, and to find ones vocation in this world.

Therefore, human beings come to learn as they go through these processes and abundant

experiences with lots of successes and failures. As a teacher encourages learners to learn actively,

think critically, and be responsible for their behaviors, the learners will be able to go through
many struggles and achievements, and gain valuable experiences to move a step forward to

become the disciple of God.

Students learning outcome turns out effectively to those who receive positive and

supportive learning environment. As Froyen and Iverson mentioned, to foster and support

learning, it is important that a teacher shows positive behavior, talks with a positive language,

and allows students think in positive ways about themselves, their neighbors (friends), and their

community (school) (1999, p.g. 49). In that way, students will react positively and efficiently on

learning and gaining knowledge. Both teachers and students should be equally treated,

welcomed, loved, and cared by each other to contribute to a positive learning environment like

the relationship between Jesus and His disciples.

As a future educator, I would like to have specific guidelines and rules for covenant

management, content management, and conduct management to make a learning community as

Christian community that God resides within. For covenant management where the teacher and

the students aim for the relationship like human and Jesus, I would like to use the agreement

bridge introduced in the book called, Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids. It is a

game that unites challenging kids with their teachers in collaborative problem solving (Biffle,

2015, p.g.139). If the student shows improper behaviors to the community or to the neighbor,

then the student will get to talk with the teacher by going through six processes. The processes

are divided into 6 steps: hello, problem, swap, smart, foolish, and change (p.g.141). First, the

student and the teacher shares anything about themselves except the problem that the student

had. Then, the teacher starts to describe the problem from his or her point of view (problem),

describe the problem from the students perspective, ask what smart choices/ foolish choices

could the student make about the problem, and allow the student talk about what he or she would
be willing to change (p.g.141). This activity will tighten the relationship between the teacher and

the student filled with care and love for each other as they get to share about themselves and

think the problem from each others point of view. Like Jesus who sacrificed for our sins and

showed His infinite love toward us, I believe that the teacher should also show love and interest

to the students truly and deeply.

For content management, having engaged and fun lessons and providing welcoming

learning environment are necessary. Froyen and Iverson suggested to make the classroom a

place where children feel at home and as if they are the most important beings in the classroom

(1999, p. 49). Providing safe and welcoming environment for the students is crucial to achieve

positive learning outcome for each student as they will think themselves as important beings and

try to do their best to success in learning. To make the lesson more engaging to the students,

furthermore, I will include memory gestures to draw their attention. When I indicate students

losing their attention, I will catch their attention by shouting class, class and then students will

reply me back and give their attention by saying yes, yes. Also having autonomy-supporting

classroom where students bring their self-determination to be engaged and interested with their

curiosity to learn is one of my ideal classroom for content management. Therefore, the teacher

will provide ample time for learning, improve the quality of time use by keeping students

actively engaged, make sure participation structures are clear, and encourage the students self-

management and responsibility as they come to learn (Oakes, Lipton, Anderson, and Stillman,

2013, p.g. 536). For engaging lessons, I will have visual aids, musical activities, and physical

activities that encourage students to learn specific topic in different perspectives. In this way,

students will be able to remember the lessons for a long period of time. Students are expected to
participate actively with learning, to enjoy their learning time, and to give their active reaction

and feedback toward learning.

For conduct management, I would make a class rule and rehearse it at least once a day

with gestures so that the students will be reminded how to behave in the classroom. The teacher

will make a class rule by stating it positively and using good communication skills. To manage a

classroom, having communication with students is very important for foundational management

at the three levels of prevention, brief intervention, and remediation and it prevents problems

from occurring (Froyen& Iverson, 1999, p.g.83). For prevention, I will have a behavior chart to

labeled with seven levels: super student, great job, good choices, ready to learn, think about it,

teachers choice, and parent contact. Students can keep clip up or clip down depending on

whether they keep the class rule. This will allow students to monitor their behavior and to

manage themselves to make the clip go up and get a reward. For brief intervention, I would use

three warning rule that if a student gets three warnings then, they will be sent to the principal and

will have some time to reflect on what they did wrong and how they could have done better. As

to remediate their conduct, I will use the agreement bridge that I mentioned earlier. As I

communicate and make a class rule with students, showing respect and being cautious about

words are key to manage their behavior. Young children learn and grow by hearing the words

that their teachers use toward them. Therefore, the teacher will make sure to always use positive

and good words to the students and the students are expected to follow the class rule and respect

their teacher, friends, and the community they belong to.

 -The classroom will be set up with different learning areas. Group of students will sit on

the kidney table so that everyone can see the teacher and the overhead projector. The kidney

table will be big enough so that 5-7 students can sit comfortably without having any trouble with

their movements. This area is used when students have learning time with the teacher. In the

back, they can read books on the sofa and that area is only for the reading place. On the circle

rug, they can play games, do computers, and other activities such as small group lessons or

tutoring session. I separated the classroom into three stations: learning area, reading area, and

playing area. This would allow students to focus and enjoy more deeply on the specific area

without getting distracted or bothered from other materials. They will be able to concentrate on

learning, reading, or playing at a different time. In this way, students will begin to form

relationship on their own and with other peers by managing each others behavior and attention

effectively when they are told to participate in different activities in different places.
Reference:

Froyen, Len A., and Annette M. Iverson. Schoolwide and classroom management. 3rd ed.,

Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall, 1999.

Oakes, J., Lipton, M., Anderson, A. & Stillman, J. (2012). Teaching to change the world (4th

ed.). Boulder, CO: Paradigm.

Van Brummelen, H. (2002). Setting out a curriculum path. In Steppingstones to curriculum

(p.8,9,19). United States of America: Purposeful Design Publications.

Woolfolk, A. (2013). Educational Psychology (12th ed.). NJ: Pearson Education.