A great influence on my worldview has been my upbringing and

for this reason I find that a lot of my ideals, morals, and tendencies of
behaviour align with biblical and faith based teachings. As I teach I
want to let my beliefs that I have developed about the world influence
the way I not only present information to my students but the way I run
my classroom and implement policy on conduct and covenant. My
policies will be based on the belief that I am a rational (most of the
time) and caring human being whose role is to be a positive
contribution to a community and society. I believe that bad things
happen in the world but maybe that there has always been good and
bad and they happen together, both for a reason: to help us grown,
learn, and know what it means to be part of humanity. I dont know if
we can fix the problems in the world but I think that our intentions to
make the world a better place and see the good in the world is vital to
our survival and quality of life. Ive always thought that there is a
strong correlation between positivity, optimism, hard work and selfcontentment.
These beliefs were definitely challenged through my intern
experience. It challenged me to think about positivity and optimism
and the reason behind these practices. How do we continue to practice
positivity after a life of unfortunate, hurtful, and destructive
experiences and circumstances? It is really hard for me to be positive
some times and often times my positive attitude is reflective of the

people with whom I surround myself. I find the events of the day or my
workload altering my positive attitude as well. I witnessed my teacher
constantly talking about positivity and optimism even though I saw no
evidence of peace or restoration in her life. It made me consider how
difficult it is for some people to be positive. But I think that it comes
with difficulty as most things do. Life isnt always going to be great and
things are going to be really hard sometimes. I think this is the case for
each individual, to some extent more than others, no matter what he
believes. Our job is to choose positivity and joy because as I mentioned
before, I believe it correlates with the quality of your life and your
ability to contribute positively to your society.
The best way to teach my students how to make the world a
better place, learn skills of optimism, positivity, and hard-work is to
provide them with an environment where they can feel safe and
valued. Smith, Fisher, and Frey speak to the importance in their book
Better Than Carrots or Sticks and the need for safe schoolsnot only
physically but psychologically as well(2015, p.15). I want my
classroom to be a place where they are not afraid to share their ideas
or inquire about truths; an environment that is encouraging and assists
in moulding them to be better people and positive contributors to a
society and community.
My worldview and beliefs about humanity and the world have
also been greatly affected by a variety of other cultures and my

experience spending some time living in a foreign country. Because of

these experiences and my interactions with many different types of
people, I greatly value the diversity in the world. For this reason, I
believe that part of my role as a teacher, as stated by Oakes, Lipton,
Anderson & Stillman, is to build on the funds of knowledge students
bring from home; provide experiences that allow for diverse ways of
learning (2013, p.65). This is part of the multiculturalism philosophy of
education and I want the environment and practices of my classroom
to reflect this diversity of culture as well.
I know that as I continue to grow and learn more about the world
my ideas about classroom conduct, content, and covenant may
change. However, there are some things that I strongly believe and
know for certain I will always find myself implementing in my
classroom.

In my future classroom I see these things as guidelines or a good

outline/map for specific rules. However, I think there is great
importance in the students having a say in the classroom rules and
behavioural expectations. Oakes, Lipton, Anderson& Stillman give a
great example of involving students in the rule making process.
Kimberly Mins procedure of developing classroom rules involves the
students: she originally gets a list from the school of things we are not
aloud to do. But this list is pretty negative, saying dont do this no

running etcetera. After reviewing this list, she then asks the students
what they can do. She states The words take on new meaning and the
students see the rules of the class as rules that we should abide by as
humans. It changes the perspective away from negativity to positivity.
This also helps the students begin to see the classroom working in a
democratic manner and see that the teacher authority respects their
voices. I think this is an important step in developing classroom
community and giving students more and more responsibility. It also
gives them ownership of their classroom space as an environment.
They design it as they want, given certain guidelines of course.
In order to direct this discussion I would give the students my overall
headings or pillars of policies for content, conduct, and covenant and
have them help brainstorm procedures that support these policies. In
this way Im still implementing what I believe is very important and
allowing my worldview and belief system to influence the way I
manage my classroom.

Sources Cited
Smith, D., Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2015). Better than carrots or sticks. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Oakes, J., Lipton, M., Anderson, L., & Stillman, J. (2013). Teaching to change the world (4thth ed.). Boulder, London:
Paradigm Publishers.

A. Content
a. Policies
i. We will acquire knowledge in many different ways i.e
visually, orally, through text and audio.
ii. What we learn will be valuable, useful, and
applicable to us.
iii. We will look at information from multiple
perspectives.
iv. Common Core State Standards will influence our
content.
b. Procedures
i. Teacher will:
1. Provide multiple means for representation to
accommodate a diverse set of learners.
2. Require tasks and present information that is
relevant to students.
3. Post CCSS and any other expectations in an
area at the front of the class.
ii. Students will be expected to:
1. Participate in work with partners, groups, and
individually
2. Ask the question: How does this benefit my
learning?

3. Understand what is expected (CCSS etc.)

before beginning learning task.
B. Covenant
a. Policies
i. Everyones ideas and opinions are valued.
ii. Each individual is responsible for his/her own actions.
iii. The classroom is a community where we will grown
and learn more about each other and the world we
live in.
b. Procedures
i. Teacher will:
1. Allow all students to share opinions and ideas.
2. Conference with students once a week for 10
minutes.
3. Be prepared to teach students.
ii. Students will be expected to:
1. Follow discussion guidelines.
2. Participate in discussions or share your thinking
in a way you feel comfortable.
3. Invite and encourage others to participate.

C. Conduct
a. Policies
i. The classroom is a safe place to learn and build
relationships.
ii. We work productively in the classroom.
iii. Each person is unique and deserves to be treated
with respect and with kindness.
iv. We address conflict through honest discussion.
b. Procedures
i. Teacher will:
1. Use a behavioural expectations system that
rewards positivity and kindness while

reminding students of behaviour that does not

align with class covenant.
2. Teach for 30 minutes followed by 10-minute
breaks to ensure students can focus and work
productively.
3. Address each student by name and use
positive and constructive language.
4. Keep the classroom clean and free of trash or
clutter.
5. Keep class supplies clearly labelled and in
common places.
6. Give adequate time for full class or individual
discussion regarding conflicts among students
or among teacher/student.
ii. Students will be expected to:
1. Walk in the classroom and in hallways.
2. Keep hands legs and body part to themselves.
3. Use time allotted to work and be productive.
4. Listen while other students, classmates, or
teacher is sharing or instructing.
5. Speak words that build others up and
encourage them.
6. Follow rules and instructions in order to be
productive and ensure a safe learning space.
7. Clean up after themselves.
8. Turn in homework by assigned due dates.
9. Speak the truth and communicate your feelings
honestly through dialogue and conversation.

Box: This is a box in the classroom where students will be encouraged

to write down instances or confrontations that have made them upset,

frustrate, angry, or hurt. They will write the names of the people
involved. I will then look through the box at the end of the day and be
able to plan how to approach these situations. If the disagreement is
between two students or multiple students, there will be time to have a
teacher facilitated discussion. The students will share their feelings and
perspectives of the story. We will work on apologizing and rebuilding
relationships. This practice supports building a safe and communal
environment in my classroom so students can better prepare to
acquire knowledge as well as conversational and constructive
confrontational skills.

3 bucket system: we will have three buckets and when students do not
follow the behaviour rules of the classroom, they will be asked to put a
popsicle stick with their name on it in the first bucket. This is the
warning bucket. If the behaviour continues, the students will move
their stick to the second bucket; lets chat. The student will then
have a conversation in private with the teacher to discuss behaviour.
The last bucket will be note home. The student will fill out a preconstructed letter informing parents about their behaviour at school.
The student will then return the letter next day with the parents
signature. Depending on the class, maybe more chances will be given
before a letter home. The bucket system can be adjusted by adding

more buckets. By students moving their own stick they will be able to
track their own progress and be more conscious of their actions. This
plays an important role in the student developing responsibility for
their actions and understanding consequences.

Another system we will use will allow students to keep track of their
good behaviour and positive attitude. They can earn monedas (it just
means loose change in Spanish and I cant think of a better word right
now) by using positive language, encouraging others, following
instructions, listening attentively. At the end of the day they will turn
them into a box where I will count them and colour in their progress on
a chart. There will be different markers or check points on the chart i.e:
Extra recess minutes, extra read aloud minutes, root beer float party,
no homework day, dance party, pajama day etc. I know this is playing
around with the reward system a little bit, which I dont want to rely
too heavily on. However, by compiling all the students tickets, it is
encouraging them to work as a team and work together for the benefit
of the entire class and not just one person individually. This is based
strongly off my belief that we are part of a community and we need to
learn how to be productive members of a society.

Finally, I want to have Guidelines for Good Discussion in my classroom,

of course. Again I want students to play a role in deciding these
guidelines, but ideally they would be as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Always respect each others ideas.

Invite someone to contribute by asking a question.
We give proof of listening.
We clarify, challenge, summarize and build on each others ideas.
Be prepared to change your mind.
Come to a shared agreement.

These guidelines were influenced by an oracy program at School

21 in Stratford, London:
http://www.voice21.org/single-post/2016/10/04/Oracy-at-School21-showcased-by-Edutopias-schools-that-work

My classroom
https://kaplan.roomstyler.com/rooms/16593019/kennedeys-classroom

Brain storming
Procedures
Products
1. rational

Policy statements and procedures:

1. general guidelines and rules
a. covenant management
b. content management
c. conduct management

Oakes, Lipton, Anderson & Stillman (p.65, 77)

The purpose of multicultural educational approach is to promote a just,
multicultural democracy through the recognition of diverse cultures.
The preferred curriculum is a broad array of knowledge in the
traditional subjects, with an emphasis on respectful understanding of
all cultures and people.

Role of the teacher: Build on the funds of knowledge students bring

from home; provide experinces that allow for diverse ways of learning

Role of student: actively construct knowledge by participating in ways

that connect home culture and language with school experiences.
(p.65)

decision-making and social action approach changes basic

assumptions of the curriculum and enables students to view concepts,
issues, themes, and problems from several ethnic perspectives. The
key curriculum issue involved in this approach is not the addition of a
long list of heroes and contribution, but the infusion of various
perspectives, frames of reference, and content from various groups
that will extend students understandings of the nature, development,
and complexity of U.S society. When studying different subject areas,
the emphasis is not on the ways in which various groups have
contributed to us culture. Rather how us culture and society emerged
from a complex synthesis and interaction of the diverse cultural
elements that orignigtaed within the various cultural racial ethnic and
religious groups that make up us society.

(87) Major goals are to teach students thinking and decision-making

skills to empower them and to help them acquire a sense of political
efficacy.

Chapter 8 : classrooms as communities

Kimberly Min
Kimberly Mins procedure of developing classroom rules involves the
students: she originally gets a list from the school of things we are not
aloud to do.
NoNo --Then she asks the students what they can do. She states The words
take on new meaning and the students see the rues of the class as
rules that we should abide by as humans. The students are not just
told no no no; rather love, be kind, etc. I think it shifts the
perspective. I have never had a list of rules posted on the door before
students walked in. I listen to their ideas and incorporate what I want
to see and what they want to see in the class. The students also begin
to see the classroom working in a democratic manner and see that I
respect their voices.

Assertive discipline (p.230)

teachers commicate clear expectations for students behavior and
establish classroom rules. They let students know the set of escalating

consequences for undersirable behavior and warn theat misbehaving

students will be identified publicly.