Personal Style
I find that in regards to classroom management, I am both authoritarian and equalitarian.
Authoritarian
I expect the students to listen to my direction and follow it when I ask them to. I am the teacher; they are the student. I expect them to respect me and follow the guidelines I ask them to follow. They should view me as the adult in charge of the classroom, and should acknowledge that I have the final say in any given situation. |
Equalitarian
I also believe that the students should take responsibility in helping to set the tone of the classroom. They should work together to set goals for themselves, and they should strive to understand the reason behind every action or request. Our classroom should be a place where students explore and ask questions, and motivate each other to do the same. |
I have a very full personality. I am ambitious and bubbly and very highly motivated. My determination seeps into my classroom as I encourage my students to build their intrinsic motivation and set goals for themselves. I expect a lot out of myself, and I expect a lot out of my students. I believe that each student is capable of much more than they sometimes imagine, and I lovingly push students towards excellence and encourage them to never give up.
One weakness of this style is that I can sometimes be perceived as being headstrong. The last thing I would want is to intimidate any of my students and to overpower them, or to clash with another strong willed personality. To compensate for this potential weakness, I strive to meet briefly with each student individually on a semi regular basis. This allows for freedom and individuality in goal-setting academically and behaviorally. These individual meetings will be student-led to increase ownership of the topics discussed and to further the students leadership skills.
One weakness of this style is that I can sometimes be perceived as being headstrong. The last thing I would want is to intimidate any of my students and to overpower them, or to clash with another strong willed personality. To compensate for this potential weakness, I strive to meet briefly with each student individually on a semi regular basis. This allows for freedom and individuality in goal-setting academically and behaviorally. These individual meetings will be student-led to increase ownership of the topics discussed and to further the students leadership skills.
Teaching style ideas adapted from:
McGraw, P. (2004). Family first. New York: Free Press.