One concern I have about managing the learning environment is having to deal with bullying in the classroom. From what I have studied so far in the Teach-Now program, it is possible that one day I will have a situation where I am unaware that it is occurring and a student is afraid to inform me of the situation. In order to minimize the likelihood of this occurring, I will attempt to creative a positive and open environment in at least two way. For one, I will consider the physical environment and place posters which serve to remind all of the students that bullying is not acceptable and that coming forward to me is the best thing victims can do. The other strategy I will employ is to get feedback from students about how the class is going for them so I can support their social and emotional needs.
Another concern is that there will be times when the class is simply out of control and I am not able to get it back in order without calling for assistance. This was presented to me a few times in the Tough Young Teachers videos I viewed and the fear has stuck with me. To deal with this, however, I think I will take a preventative measure by first of all employing withitness to the best of my ability. Another strategy I can try to use is to greet the students at the door each day before having them sit down. I think this is a good way to personalize the class. In other words, if the students see me more as a person who knows their name and things about them, they might be less likely to disrupt class.
A third concern I have is not being able to calm down a single student who is out of control. This is a fear because personally I do not like physical confrontation and do not want to be put in a position that requires it. However, from what I have learned in this module I have ideas about how to handle this, if it were to occur. For example, I will avoid a competitive power struggle with the student and try to calm them down by repeating what they need to do (e.g., “You need to sit down”). Overall, I have to remember not to take it personally and reintegrate the student back into the classroom, when appropriate.
In conclusion, there will be elements of the classroom which I lose control of from time to time, but using the strategies in module four of the Teach-Now program should help me to mitigate them. I also think by engaging in some professional development activities such as registering for online webinars, or attending teaching workshops near where I teach, I can continue to build up a good supply of knowledge for managing the classroom, even if the concerns and fears continue to linger in the back of my mind.