I believe that classroom management is essential to order instead of chaos, but should also provide opportunities for movement and ownership. While my name is on the door, students should feel like the classroom is a place for them to learn and be empowered to make use of the various items present in the classroom in order to facilitate that, such as physical tools, decorative and informational wall elements, word walls, technology and each other as instruments of learning.

I firmly believe that without the positive environment, learning is severely restricted or perhaps stagnated. It is also something that can be felt in the space. When I walk into a classroom, I can immediately identify the “feel” it has. I am certain that students can feel it too.

I teach a diverse population of learners across Grades 9-12, as well as students enrolled in Early College courses such as SLS1101 (College Success) and SLS1261 (Leadership Development). These students represent a wide range of academic abilities, cultural backgrounds, personal experiences, and future aspirations. Some are highly motivated and college-bound. Others are trying to find themselves and will pursue the military or vocational schools for training. Even others will go directly into the workforce.

Students in these courses possess different levels of readiness, confidence, and independence for my course as well as courses beyond mine. Some of these students thrive when working independently while others need the stimulation of collaboration.  

The classroom demographic includes English Language Learners, students designated as ESE, as well as mainstream students. Recognizing and valuing these differences is essential to creating an equitable and inclusive environment where every student can thrive. The accommodations provided as well helps these students feel like they can be successful. The classroom culture emphasizes respect, engagement, leadership, and personal growth. Students are expected to listen while others are talking and I model this behavior whenever I have the floor.

My goal is to cultivate a classroom environment that is conducive not only to higher and deeper levels of learning, but one that is also conducive to insightful and intelligent conversations that stretch student thinking and offer challenges that are relevant to their lives. My goal is to highlight the power of diversity. Truly, diversity, the idea that we have similarities but we also have differences in our paths, our stories and subsequently our viewpoints and opinions,  creates a necessary distinction between us. 

Students may not feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas out of fear of having to do what they’ve never done. Thus, noting its importance, both in student sharing and student skill development, I work hard to establish precedent for sharing, even in life and its impact. Sharing stimulates others to share, it inspires thinking and collaboration. Sharing reinforces that we cannot do it alone - no single person has all of the information.

My classroom expectations will align directly with the school's code of conduct while being presented in a clear, student-friendly manner centered on respect, responsibility, integrity, and readiness to learn. It is easy to assume that students come equipped with training and practice in doing what is “right” but often this is not taught as out should be at home. Although certain expectations are non-negotiable, I believe students should first be given opportunities to correct their choices independently, developing the self-discipline and decision-making skills necessary for success beyond the classroom. This is the way I challenge them and I do this generally without involving administration or parents because ultimately self-regulation is something that students need to develop. The best way to develop that is to be presented with the responsibility to do so. 

Clear expectations, proactive relationship-building, and consistent routines help prevent many behavioral concerns. At the same time, I maintain firm boundaries regarding safety, respect, and other non-negotiables, ensuring that all students learn in a secure, structured, and supportive environment. Students know where the bar is when it comes to expectations and they also know that certain forms of communication from me, to include not saying anything, means they need to address a particular area or action and make the necessary change.

I believe teaching and learning should vary, from creation of content, to already existing content, from approach to instruction in innovative ways to traditional forms of delivering instruction…from tools and techniques embraced to approaches that are innovative and authentic. Further, the method of students interacting with content, opportunities for practice and means to assess, evaluate and reinforce content should also be varied as much as possible. I often beg the question - can students demonstrate a strong understanding of content through (1) multiple choice items (2) being asked to compose a full written response to clearly express their ideas and/or (3) through the creation of a product that is process-oriented? I fully believe that true mastery of content can be defined by one’s ability to masterfully demonstrate content understanding by means of all three of these areas. Perhaps the expectation can be adapted to the best two out of three. Nevertheless, if a student can achieve all three, then they have a solid content understanding. 

Technology will be intentionally integrated to enhance engagement, accessibility, and collaboration across learning environments. Technology is only as good as one’s ability to interpret its potential uses, consider how using it may help students learn or demonstrate learning by way of benchmarks and support the overall goal of learning. Whether learning in person (generally all high school classes I teach) or online (early college courses), students will have opportunities to interact, create, and demonstrate understanding using technology that supports communication, critical thinking, and real-world application. While technology is intentionally integrated, there will also be opportunities to engage outside of technology that support the learning process. 

The advancement of technology has led to augmented and virtual reality being available in various forms, applications and sites, and growing. The Meta Quest headsets now align with various applications that could facilitate collaboration and communication amongst students. I have tested this out firsthand with an application called Curio. The Meta Glasses have broken down barriers for students who speak different languages or for those who may be hard of hearing. The Meta Glasses use augmented reality to increase communication ability and accessibility to learning. 

Learning is the priority. Facilitating learning is the priority. Augmented and stretching students in the learning process is also a priority. It is not about a grade as much as it is about student growth and development. If we are grade focused, then I believe we lose the crux of education and we miss out on the opportunity to focus on the human element - cultivating students who will be lifelong learners, who are guided by an intrinsic desire to learn more and do more, not simply the transactional relationship that seems to exist in some educational environments. 

While I do believe I am self-aware and able to adapt to what is needed in the moment, delineating these ideas and how classroom management influences the ability of teachers to take off the restrictive braces and allow for a moving and engaging learning environment is essential to how I would press forward.