Lainey Boyer

R&R
EDU 344
Standard 5: Creating a Positive Classroom Environment
The teacher candidate encourages active engagement in learning, positive social interaction, and self-
motivation through utilizing their knowledge of individual and group motivation and behavior to
generate a positive classroom environment.
Quality Indicator 5C1: Classroom management, motivation and engagement
The important relationships between classroom management, engagement strategies and techniques,
and motivation are recognized by the teacher candidate.
Quality Indicator 5C2: Managing time, space, transitions, and activities
The teacher candidate identifies the inevitability of space, transitions, managing time, and activities.
Quality Indicator 5C3: Classroom, school and community culture
The classroom, school and community culture influencing student relationships and impacting the
classroom environment and learning needs to be comprehended by the teacher candidate.
Rationale
To demonstrate my mastery of standard five and the related quality indicators, I have chosen my
classroom management plan. Due to the fact that the maintenance of a positive classroom environment
is essential for each students academic success, this standard is significantly important for teachers to
keep in mind while creating a management plan. A classroom routine should be structured in a way that
is fair and consistent among each student. Every student should feel comfortable and welcomed by both
their teacher and their peers. My personal Classroom Management Plan written for Elementary
Differentiation and Classroom Management includes my classroom management philosophy, classroom
rules, seating arrangement, behavior chart, rewards, class incentives, and accommodations. Although
each of these components to my plan play an important part to the whole, I believe that the behavior
chart, classroom rules, seating arrangement, and the rewards and incentives best fit the expectations of
this standard and indicators. Motivation and engagement of students is gained through allowing them
the chance to be rewarded and praised for being well-behaved. I believe that the class-wide incentives
included in my plan encourage the class to work together towards behavioral goals, which gives each
student the feeling that they are an important part in contributing to the goals being reached.
Management of time and space is done through strategically planning a classroom arrangement. I think
that grouping student desks together helps them to feel more like they belong by surrounding them
with their peers. Flexible grouping allows for students to collaborate efficiently and encourages team
work among students. Creating an open classroom that is spacious and uncluttered, yet inviting,
allows for eased transitions. Carpet areas where students can come together as a group to discuss and
learn are incorporated in my classroom arrangement because they provide students with a chance to
come together comfortably to learn socially. Social learning should inspire students to feel a sense of
community among their peers. I think that my management plan allows for students to build
relationships through this sense of community by laying a foundation in which students will learn
together, work together, and reach for goals together.

Reflection
My knowledge of standard five and quality indicators is that a positive classroom environment should
encourage engagement, social interaction, and self-motivation. I can achieve this positive environment
in my own classroom by maintaining classroom management and managing time. I am able to realize
that each classroom will be filled with students from different backgrounds and experiences, so a
management plan should be open to modifications. I think that the components of the Management
Plan that permitted me to build a better understanding of classroom management were the implication
of classroom rules and the classroom arrangement. There are many different theories behind how rules
and regulations should be enforced in a classroom, so it was an interesting task to come up with how I
would want them implemented in my own classroom. Likewise, once I really stopped to think about how
crucial the arrangement of a classroom is to the academic success of each student, this task was also
eye-opening for me. Now, I recognize that any ways in which you can get your students involved and
responsible for their own actions and behavior will create engagement, because students find pride in
owning their successes. One strength of my management plan would definitely be the various ways in
which I have allowed students to learn socially and work towards goals together through incentives. I
have learned that students have a lot of power and influence over their peers behavior choices, which is
my reasoning behind providing classroom incentives that depend on the behavior of every individual in
the class. A weakness of my plan is that it doesnt allow students to redeem themselves. After seeing
artifacts that my peers created, I particularly took notice in the behavioral charts that permitted second
chances to students. For example, if a student had to clip down meaning they were being warned,
they could earn the chance to clip back up with good behavior. The knowledge that I have gained
through the creation of a classroom management plan has helped me to become better prepared to
construct an effective plan for my future classroom. Writing to this standard and indicators has aided in
my recognition of how important a classroom management plan is to a positive, social learning
environment.