I really liked reading this article on classroom management in inclusive settings. It was helpful to see how certain parts of classroom management are affected by the laws in place to provide children with equal educational opportunities. I also like to be reminded of what we are striving for and aiming for in our inclusive classrooms.
Since I have returned to the wonderful world of student teaching, I sometimes feel like behavior management is taking over my life. When you are a student teacher, teacher assistant, etc. there are some points in the day that you need to monitor and help certain students that need more support while the classroom teacher is teaching. At this point in the year, I feel like the most difficult students in my class to teach are those with behavior problems, and sometimes they are the ones that I spend the most one on one time with in the classroom. Therefore, I am thankful for any support and advice on behavior management and improving knowledge and techniques.
I like how the article started off with the importance of promoting diversity and community. I feel like a lot of classrooms promote diversity and have good behavior management techniques, but the community aspect is lacking. I think that since the classroom is somewhere where we and the students spend so much time, it is crucial to promote community and friendships within the classroom setting. The article noted that a positive, supportive, and community classroom environment minimizes discipline issues because students feel welcomed, safe, and supported. I do however wonder sometimes how morning meeting, community meetings, etc. would fit into the time frames in most classrooms.
I also thought it was interesting how the article broke down messages being sent to students from classroom management techniques that are exclusive, unreliable, and unequal. I haven’t really thought about how something like the behavior management technique of the school or teacher can send the message to students that they are not a “full and rightful member of the class”. I like how Soodak notes, “acceptance of student diversity provides the groundwork for accommodating naturally occurring learning and behavioral differences among students.”
Basically I appreciated all of the other ideas in the article such as fostering friendships, encouraging collaboration between teachers and students (which I see a lot in my placement), creating a trusting environment for parents, interventions that reflect the values of inclusion, not losing sight of an individual’s history and context, and embracing natural consequences. When I read this article I had a few of my most difficult behavioral students in my mind throughout, and at some parts I thought the easy solutions seemed a little bit too easy. Behavior comes and goes and being aware, attentive, and thoughtful about our students is what helps us help them to be as successful as possible. Although we may think we have an answer and we may see results, some behavior issues we encounter need constant changing attention and changing support throughout the year.
Great post! I agree with you on a lot of things you talked about – at this point in student teaching, resources related to behavior management are always important. I liked how Soojak talked about fostering friendships and collaborations among staff and with parents in order to create a comfortable environment for all as well. I also liked how the author talked about positive reinforcement and natural consequences. I know in both of our placements, our CTs use some sort of money system, whereas sometimes it just seems more effective to use those natural consequences in addition to acknowledging more positive behavior.