Artifact I: Classroom Management

Angela Tortora
Regent University












As a classroom teacher, there are many responsibilities that the individual must perform
during a school day. The most crucial role a teacher must perform is classroom management.
According to Marzano and Marzano (2003), Effective teaching and learning cannot take place
in a poorly managed classroom (p. 1). Because classroom management is so crucial to the
success of the school day, teachers need to implement techniques and routines that will work in
the classroom.
One of the artifacts I submitted is a photograph of a list of classroom rules and the
consequences the students and I wrote together. At the beginning of the day, my students and I
were at the Morning Meeting and I wanted to create a list of rules and the consequences with
them. I discussed with the students the importance of having classroom rules and I asked them
what rules they thought would be fair. As a group, the students came to a decision and they
signed the chart paper to agree to the new rules. When I was thinking about making a list of class
rules and consequences, my faith impacted my decision-making process because I wanted to
impart morals in my students. A couple of the rules my students selected, such as being
thoughtful of others and respecting others, involve treating others with kindness. Above all other
morals, I want to instill kindness into my students by treating others the way they want to be
treated.
The reason I selected this artifact is because this chart paper with the rules listed on it
serves as a guide for instruction. It helps the classroom flow more smoothly. Because the
students signed the paper, it serves as a contract between me and the students. When the students
misbehave, I remind them of the classroom rules that they came up with. Research says, Student
participation in setting the expectations can increase their investment in them (Creating).
The other artifact I selected is a graphic organizer I did as a whole group during a science
lesson about matter. The graphic organizer is a K-W-L chart about matter. At the beginning of
the lesson, I asked the students to write what they know about matter and what they want to
know about matter. At the end of the lesson, I asked them to write what they learned from the
lesson, which served as a tool to assess how well the students grasped the lesson.
I selected this artifact because it is an excellent activity to plan and organize the lesson.
Using graphic organizers are beneficial because if they are implemented correctly, they can serve
to keep the students engaged, which means there will be fewer classroom management problems.
Based on research by Marzano and Marzano (2003), the first role that teachers play in
establishing good classroom management strategies is the use of cooperative learning and
graphic organizers; they know how best to use homework and how to use questions and advance
organizers (p. 3).
Both of the artifacts I selected for classroom management link to the Standards for
Student Teaching because I am learning and developing teaching techniques, diagnosing
teaching difficulties, and implementing changes as necessary. There were many strategies I
learned while I attended classes at Regent University, but as I am completing my student
teaching, I am able to take those practices and implement them into the classroom. While I have
been student teaching, I have come across many difficulties, but I have been able to evaluate
those difficulties and correct the students behaviors.

Reflection
I chose the artifact of the list of classroom rules and consequences because it is highly
important to set my expectations for the students. Establishing explicit behavioral expectations
entails outlining rules and consequences so that students understand exactly what behaviors are
allowed and what behaviors are prohibited (Creating). Setting up the classroom rules and the
consequences has been beneficial for me as the teacher because I have expectations for my
students and it is important for the students to be able to see the behavior I expect. The rules and
consequences have also been helpful because the students were allowed to give their input. It
was a group effort to create these rules and consequences. The students know when they are
doing something wrong and usually reminding them of the listed rules keeps them in check.
Having the students sign the paper is also effective because it holds the students accountable for
their actions.
I selected the artifact of the K-W-L graphic organizer because I wanted to show what my
students have been doing in the classroom. This graphic organizer worked very well as a way for
the students to write down their thoughts about what they know and it allowed them to write any
questions they may have. As Marzano and Marzano mentioned in their book, Classroom
Management that Works: Research-based Strategies for Every Teacher, graphic organizers are
beneficial for teachers to use because the organizers maintain student engagement; thus,
eliminating misbehavior due to off task students.
There are several connections to the Program Outcome and Standards these artifacts
make. I believe that these artifacts connect to learning and developing teaching techniques,
diagnosing teaching difficulties, and implementing changes as necessary. Both of the artifacts I
selected for classroom managementthe pictures of the rules and consequences and the K-W-L
chart-- link to the Standards for Student Teaching because as I am student teaching, I am
learning and developing new teaching techniques, diagnosing teaching difficulties, and
implementing changes as necessary. Classroom management has always been a struggle for me,
but while I have been student teaching, I have discovered my authoritative teacher voice. I
have also learned different techniques for maintaining order in the classroom. After asking for
the students attention, I have learned to make sure I actually have their attention. Furthermore,
there have been many difficulties in the classroom, such as students not understanding how to
solve a problem, differentiation for my gifted students as well as my special education students,
and technology glitches, to name a few examples. Overall, I have learned from this experience
how to become a better professional.



References
Creating and Implementing Effective Rules and Consequences. Retrieved September 30, 2014,
from http://wwfellowship.wayne.edu/induction/establishing_rules_and_consequences.pdf
Marzano, R. and Marzano, J. (2003). Classroom Management that Works: Research-based
Strategies for Every Teacher. Alexandria, VA: Association of Supervision and
Curriculum Development.
Artifacts