The success of my goals within my teaching philosophy lies in the importance of respect in the classroom. Respect fits into every aspect of my philosophy, and it is at the center of every lesson and interaction. If students are feeling safe enough to self-express, be vulnerable, and talk about or create something they are passionate about, there needs to be that foundation of respect and understanding for one another. My job as a teacher is not solely to teach art, it is to facilitate the work that goes into becoming a kind, caring and successful person within a society. My classroom management always roots back to this because students deserve a learning space where their learning won't be interrupted, where they feel safe, and have a clear understanding of expectations so that they are never unhappily surprised, and so that my instruction never becomes teacher-centered because of constant redirection.

        My classroom management style has been formed over many years of coaching where I spent time building teams and noticing what supports or what breaks them down. However, there is a whole other level I've had to develop in a classroom setting that works beyond relationship building. Through the observation of my mentor teachers, I have seen many different ways to go about "managing" this other level, but it seems that routine is one of the biggest factors in classroom management. The students that know what to be doing during all parts of the day seem to have more understanding towards the teacher and are able to learn without questioning "why" or "how" every three seconds of my instruction. 

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Here are some examples of how I successfully create routine/ clear expectations:

1. Starbucks Mode:

For our warm-up in my drawing class, during student teaching, I would tell the students every day to not talk during this time so that their brains can simply focus on the creative mind making art rather than talking or impressing their peers through conversation. We called it the Art Zone, a place where our brains forget about what's happening around us or outside of the art classroom, and we can simply worry about making art. I wanted to support this more, so  I implemented "Starbucks Mode", a time when students pretend they are in a Starbucks. We talked about how in Starbucks people listen to music, so students could have one earbud in. Also, everyone in Starbucks is a stranger, and no one wants to be the weird person who talks to strangers. Students knew that if they talked in Starbucks mode they would be asked to move the first time, and if they continued to talk they'd lose their privilege to listen to music in my class for that day.

         

Having these clear expectations and consequences allowed for successful focus time, and if students did not follow the expectation they did not freak out when they had to face the consequences.

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   2. Classroom Expectations Made by Students (Student-Centered):

The first week of classes is dedicated to relationship-building and community-building. Some art might be made, but students need to know what to expect and what is expected in order to be able to learn proper techniques or history and apply them to bigger projects they will make in the future.

 

My mentor teacher used a program that provides questions for students to answer, which would be later used to create class "rules" made by my students' answers. Inspired by this, in my own instruction I basically asked students things like how they want to be treated by the teacher and classmates, what to do if a conflict arises or they feel bad about a grade they got, and what will make art class great for them. Once students provided answers, the whole class voted on which words would go on the class expectation poster that they'd all sign later. I believe that if students choose their expectations, they are more likely to follow them and be understanding of the consequences that follow if they don't. This understanding is really important because it is a part of the foundation for having positive relationships with students.

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