Success in classroom environments

Success

Describe your most meaningful accomplishment in the classroom that positively impacted students. What key strategies contributed to your success? How did you track your progress to ensure that you were successful?

I have had many meaningful moments in the classroom, but my most meaningful accomplishment in the classroom was when I was able to help a student with a learning disability. I have worked with children with various disabilities on many occasions. I have learned that creating an inclusive classroom environment is the most important step that teachers can take, and that simple steps such as how to arrange the chairs makes a big difference. However, this occasion was particularly challenging. A student who had a mild case of autism suddenly started to exhibit aggressive behavior. Something in the lesson triggered an emotional outburst, and he would not take comfort in anything any other student was saying. He finally slapped a fellow student, and that was when I knew things were out of control and I had to intervene. I firmly took the student aside, but remained calm. Something told me not to make a scene, and not embarrass any of the students. While telling the class to go on with their learning activity, which was about boats, I took the autistic child aside and gave him a learning game to play on the computer while he calmed down and forgot about the triggering incident. After about five minutes I walked over and calmly said his name before invading his space. I said, "You are angry, aren't you?" He said that he was, but he did not look up. I finally told him that it was alright, and that he did not have to participate in the lesson but that he should tell me what was bothering him.

The strategies that were key to my success in this case included confidence and calm demeanor. My students will only become more emotionally aroused if I am angry or upset at what is going on. Therefore, I have made a point to adapt a calm classroom management scheme. Furthermore, I used the technological tools in my classroom to help with classroom management. The autistic child was one who I knew felt more comfortable with computers vs. people. I tracked my progress by keeping an eye on the child, who never had another outburst again in my classroom. The other kids forgave him, too.

How do you define and measure success in a class of students at various levels of learning and backgrounds? Whose responsibility is it to ensure that all students are achieving at the highest level? Explain.

Success is to be defined differently for each student. No two people have the same idea of what success means. Therefore, it might be a helpful classroom exercise to ask children directly what success means to them. Some will say money, others will say having a good career. Defining and measuring success in a classroom has more to do than just with grades, just as success in the adult world has more to do that just with money. Some students will view success in the classroom as improvement from one lesson to the next. Other students will view success as the ability to master a task, or to overcome a fear or weakness. Some students will define success as overcoming shyness. I define success as having each child reach his or her highest potential on any given day. When my students enjoy learning, then I feel successful. Grades reflect how well the students perform on tests, not how well they have internalized the information they learned, and not how the students actually enjoyed the process of learning. It is my responsibility to ensure that all students are achieving their fullest potential. Sometimes that means simple victories, like mastering a scale on the guitar. In some cases, it means getting a child who has behavioral problems to work in a team or group.