Throughout my beginning and advanced student teaching, I learned first-hand the importance of creating what I call a classroom community. To facilitate a positive learning environment, the teacher must begin the school year with specific student expectations and rules. By creating such an environment, students know what behavior will and will not be tolerated by the teacher and other students. Not only should the rules be set, but also an understanding for caring, respect, and fairness by all in the classroom. When such rules, regulations, and guidelines are presented to the students, students feel more comfortable within the classroom and ultimately are more eager to learn and be engaged in academic instruction. For example, in the first grade class that I student taught, I incorporated a rain stick as an attention getter. When I used it to make noise, the students understood that they had to be quiet immediately. If they failed to quiet themselves, they would have to put their heads down for a specified amount of time. Occasionally, a student continued to disobey during class, and when that happened, he or she was not allowed to take part in recess, PE, or free time.
During my beginning student teaching experience, I immediately felt comfortable in the classroom as I worked to provide a positive social environment. What I noticed was that the teacher had created a wonderful classroom atmosphere and a great report between himself and his students. The students were very respectful of each other, their teacher, and every person who entered the room. I attribute this behavior to great classroom management skills, simple but specific classroom rules, and the constant enforcement of such rules. Through this teacher’s example, I learned to set my expectations of student behavior immediately, and reinforce those expectations continuously. This constant enforcement of classroom rules in a necessity for a cooperative and positive social environment in the classroom.