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Classroom management involves teacher actions to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation. (Burden 2010) There are several components I will address, who I am, the psychology of the student, the psychology of the teacher, the sociology of the students, the milieu, and how to teach. Who am I I am a mathematics education major attending Claflin University. Throughout my high school and college years I have won numerous awards for academics and sports such as cheerleading and track and field. I have been a cheering for thirteen years and running track for ten. Recently, I was named all-conference in the long jump and triple jump for the southern intercollegiate athletic conference, I became the 2012 SIAC conference champion in the triple jump with an automatic qualify mark for the division two NCAA national championship leaving me ranked at number four. Previously I was the two time winner of the indoor field athlete for the south. Being a member of a sports team has taught me numerous things; I have learned that I am better at taking constructive criticism. It also teaches me to be strong when I am down and tired and want to give up. I am able to adapt to any situation and become a team builder. I will always be driven to success, have great teamwork and leadership, be discipline, have good time management, a risk taker, and most importantly, able to deal with failure. However, if I am not aware of who I am I will not be able to know my students. Identity and integrity has much to do with our shadows, our wounds and fears, as with our strength and potential. My biggest weakness is being too nice. Being too nice may allow the students to believe that they can take advantage of me. One way I can use is to have control. Doing so, I will

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need to learn how to find a balance between having control and being strict. I believe I should still give students a chance to change their behavior, and at the same time not let them get away with anything; it will earn me respect. There is no such thing as a bad student. Every students is important, the ones who probably need the most help is the students who are unresponsive. Even though I may not see any progress I will keep trying. This is where my strength takes effect. All my life I have never been the type to give up, so why start now. Teachers see struggling students on a daily basis, there may even be more than one. Psychology of Students Educational psychology is an attempt to apply the psychological principles, theories, and technique to human behavior in educational situations. Students do not touch, see, or hear passively, instead they feel, look, and listen passively. The ability to gather and understand incoming information is limited. Students select information through an automatic and controlled process. They try to understand what they are sensing by taking little information and applying it with existing thoughts and preconceptions. Students direct their attention to particular subjects in the learning environment that they find interesting, important or unfamiliar. In any learning environment, students manage their limited cognitive resources be selecting information and using existing knowledge to structures to interpret information in ways that worked previously. A classroom environment that elicits positive emotional responses may enhance students learning. There are several types of learners that may be present in a classroom, visual learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic learners. Before teaching a lesson to a group of students you must first know what types of students you are dealing with. It may be a diverse group or a

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homogenous group. When presented to a diverse group you have to consider the different backgrounds and learning styles; when dealing with a homogenous group you may choose to emphasize one strategy over another. Visual learners learn through written word and are readers who take down every word, auditory learners are learners who learn through listening they are people who rather talk than write, and kinesthetic learner are hands on learners. Psychology of Teaching As a teacher it is inevitable to know and understand the psychology of students. As I learned in educational psychology and human growth and development class, it is vital to know the stages of Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson that we as human being go through. Educational psychology is a branch of psychological concerned with developing effective educational techniques and dealing with psychology problem in the school. Human growth and development is a course that informs you on the systematic changes and continuities in the individual that occurs between conception and death. The importance of educational psychology for a teacher can be divided into two aspects, to study teaching and learning situations and applications of teaching and learning principles. However, I will focus on the study of teaching and learning. To study teaching and learning situations a teacher has to deal carefully with a group of students as there is a wide variety of different abilities present. Therefore is it important to understand the individual difference of students regarding their ability, interests, attitudes & need at different levels of growth and development. A teacher must know the appropriate principles of teachinglearning, different approaches to teaching for better result of teaching-learning process. The knowledge of psychology is vital in developing a curriculum of different levels of students in different subjects, the developmental characteristic are also taken into account.

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There is a correlation between variations in the teacher behavior and the consequent learning of the students. In educational psychology, a teachers should be able to analyze their students mental process in order to understand their behaviors to reason why the act in such a way, and try to correct it with integrity. An important pedagogical method that should be used it to help students develop a sense of responsibility is to constantly encourage students. As Dr. Vanderburg mentioned in class, rules does not control you class its your classroom management. As far as coming up with rules for the school year, I would like to come up with classroom rules as a class. The responsibility will be shared between the students and the teacher. The teacher encourages the students to have little control over their behavior; this is known as the medium control approach. Some general rules that wish to have is equal respect between peers and teacher and to be courteous in all aspects. Classroom rules will be used for general behavioral standards or expectations to be followed in class. Sociology Sociology is the study of the development, organization, functioning, and classification of human societies. When teaching, you have to deal with people based on the environment you are located. Every one behaves differently in different settings. Teachers should teach students the difference between their home, school, and community setting can help determine which behavior is best for the classroom. There are some students who can adjust their behavior automatically, others have to be taught and practice. When students work in groups they tend to let their group makes their decision for them which may lead to peer pressure, individually students tend to depend on themselves as well as thinking.

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Cooperative learning is when students study in groups where the teacher acts as a guide rather than controlling agents. The approaches are based on the assumption that students learn best when they are actively engaged with others in small groups. Students are rewarded based in the quality and quantity of the task that they completed; this is a result according to a set standard of success. This approach awards students for being passive recipients of information and requires them compete for grade and teacher recognition. Cooperative learning is design to focus on result instead of performance. The academic performance is elevated, the students have a better attitude toward school, and racial and ethnic antagonism decreasing resulting in an increase in self-esteem. Milieu The classroom set up, working with families, modifying class work, and having important lines of communications is an important factor in the milieu. The milieu is the physical setting in which something occurs or develops, also known as the environment. In organizing your classroom, consider ways in which you can make students feel welcome, encourage involvement, and allows for learning experiences in a multitude of arrangements. As a teacher you should Examine the room and identify where you will stand or work when you address the entire classroom conduct lesson or give directions (Burden 2010). However when you determine how you should arrange your classroom a teacher should find a way to facilitate learning and to minimize interruptions and delays. Not all of the materials teachers use will be used every day; there should be a storage space for the materials used frequently as well as material infrequently used. Be sure bulletin boards are informative, relevant, aesthetic, and related to class activities. Constructive use of bulletin boards and wall space can contribute to a positive room environment (Burden 2010).

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It has been noted that when there is family involvement in a student schooling, the student tend to have a more positive attitude and behavior, better attendance and devoted more to homework and high academic achievement. Getting the parents involved in their childrens schooling will direct them down a path where they will be able to monitor their childs progress; it will also help the teacher understand them and their point of views. Working with students families will create an open two way communications that will establish a friendly relationship, help the teacher understand the students home condition, inform families of academic expectations and events as well as he student performance, enlist help from families about academic issues and dealing with their children, and inform families of disciplinary expectation and actions, Communicating with both the child and parent may help you as a teacher understand how to help the child succeed. It is a chance to find out if there is anything going on at home that may be impeding the child learning ability. You may also want to find out if there is anything going on at school that you are unaware of that can be affecting towards the success. Open lines of communication make sure that the parents understand that you desire to see each child succeed and work together to come up with solutions that may help their child in the classroom. The solutions should be for things to either be different at home and in the classroom. Students benefits from good communication and effective working relationships between home and school. How to Teach A teacher should provide a productive, safe environment, which is conducive to learning. Students should be welcomed and feel a sense of belonging to the class community. Every student is just as important as the next. It is important for teacher to help students become quality students and help them develop the characteristic traits of responsibility, trustworthiness,

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caring, and respectful. I hope to spark enthusiasm for learning by creating engaging lessons, reaching all types of learners. In order for this to be effective, there will be a need to differentiate instruction, use multiple modalities, and technology. Having students work independently, in collaborative groups, and in pairs will create a student-centered or constructivist style classroom where students are active participants in their learning, which allows students to make a deeper connection to curriculum. There are several types of classroom structure, competitive, individualistic, and cooperative. In my classroom I would like to use both individualistic and cooperative. Individualistic structure is when the learner perceives themselves as working for their own rewards and not concerned with the accomplishment of others. Cooperative structure, learners are working together with other students to gain reward and depend on the work of other students. As far as preparing my lesson plan, I will start by listing my goals and deciding how I will teach the lesson. I will then decide how to introduce the lesson and what ways I will assess the lesson. I will make sure that my lesson either use a collaborative and cooperative learning, the use of technology, and real life application problems.