Parents

I think that a very important aspect of a successful classroom is keeping the parents of the students satisfied. Every parent wants to see that their daughter or son is constantly learning new things and that he or she is taking something away from class on a daily basis.

I think that a good way to keep the parents "in the loop" is to send home a weekly news letter. At the beginning of each week, the teacher can send each student home with a news letter summarizing what was learned during the previous week, and break down what will be learned e
ach day during the current week. They could list the in-class assignments, homework, and maybe some extra activities that the parents can work on with the students if the student is still struggling or wants a little bit of extra practice.

As a teacher, another way to keep the parents of your students satisfied is to provide them with your email. By doing this, the parents can contact the teacher whenever they need to with questions about the class, their child's grade(s), and any other questions or concerns that they may have. The teacher should always be available to not only the students, but also the parents of the students. If a parent wants to meet with a teacher after school, then the teacher should make herself available to meet with this parent and address the issue(s).

I remember when I was in elementary school, that we had open houses once each term. During the open house, my parents were able to come to my classroom and see what I had been working on throughout the term. After they viewed my portfolio and all of my work, they were able to have an individual meeting with my teacher discussing my progress and any concerns that either my teacher or my parents had for me. I think that this was helpful for my parents because by the time I got home from school everyday, the last thing that I wanted to talk about was what I did in school that day. At that point, I was ready to kick my shoes off and relax!

Classroom Management

Every teacher needs to be able to manage their classroom. Organization is an important component to this. Teachers should have an organized classroom, with an organized schedule. Students should be able to find a schedule somewhere in the classroom that lays out the day's activities. The teacher needs to be sure to make it clear to the students that she is the teacher. She is the one in charge of the class, not them. There should also be a place in the classroom where the class rules are posted, giving each student the opportunity to follow these rules. There should be consequences for breaking the rules and rewards for following them. Just because the rules are created for the students does not mean that the teacher should not have to follow them. If a teacher expects her students to treat each other with respect and to treat her with respect, then the students can expect to be treated with respect from the teacher.

They key to success in a classroom is proper management and organization. Students can help teachers with this by following whichever system(s) the teacher may have in place for the classroom. The teacher and her students should work together to create a positive working and learning environment for everyone. Everything in a classroom effects the next thing, so it is important that the teacher stays organized and on track with her own things, in addition to the progress of each student.

I remember when I was in high school, I took an advanced math class because I had always done very well in math. My teacher that year was a first time teacher in my town, but he had worked in a nearby town the year before. The reason he did not work in that other town anymore was because he got fired because he had no classroom management skills and did not teach his classes to the best of his ability. When he got to my school, the same thing happened. He would write something on the board, not explain it, and move on. He had no method for teaching or grading, he would not stay after with students, he did not go through the different methods in the book in order, and caused problems for many of the students. This was really frustrating to many students because it was extremely difficult to learn in his classroom and we basically had to teach everything to ourselves at home.

As a future teacher, I want to be able to have visuals all around my classroom for my students. I want to have a clean, organized classroom that creates a positive learning environment for each and every one of my students. I think that it would be a good idea to have a list of rules on the wall, and for each student to have some type of reward system for following the rules. I also think that it is important that I make myself available to my students and that I come to class prepared to answer questions that the students might have. Since everyone learns differently, I think that it is important to be able to assist each student in his or her own personal needs. There should be resources such as books and technology in the classroom for students to use, and the classroom should be inviting.