No longer suppressing the inclination to smile

Ben Guest Assignment: Write a post about the teacher skills that you would like to work on this June at the MTC Extended School Year Program.

During my first year, I worked very hard on maintaining an extremely orderly classroom, and for the most part, I think I managed to pull it off fairly successfully. My students knew my expectations, and even more importantly, they knew the consequences for not meeting them. Through sternness and writing assignments, I scared them into obedience for the first half of the year, and by the end, these tactics were no longer necessary. My students knew the routine, and for the most part, they came to respect me enough to not cross the lines I had laid down.

One skill I would like to build on during summer school this year is adding more positive reinforcement into my teaching style right from the beginning. During my first year I strongly believed that being strict and offering praise were conflicting ideals, never meant to exist at the same time. Because of this, I started out my year as mean as I could be, and then once I had had them trained, I drastically loosened up. It worked for me, but I much prefer the relationship I had with my students by the end of the year. I think this kind of relationship can be achieved much sooner if both styles of teaching are blended early in the year. As opposed to looking at it as having to choose between the two, I'd like to explore using more of a balance of the two during summer school. I think that this will lead to a better classroom environmental, more quickly than viewing consequences and rewards separate practices.

Of course I'm no expert, but I do think that my year's worth of experience has taught me that as long as you're consistent and immediate in giving out consequences, you do not necessarily have to be mean while doing so. After a year of teaching, I know that the students will only go as far as you let them, and as long as any issues are stopped in their tracks as soon as they start, I think I can pull of showing off more of my actual personality in the classroom earlier on in the game. I guess in short, this summer I would like to try being more of myself in the classroom, as in being more positive and offering more praise, while at the same time maintaining my ability to lay down the law when need be.