Classroom Safety

In Chapter 19 of "Starting With..." it discusses some guidelines for developing a safe environment in the classroom for your students. These parameters must meet the physical, emotional and social needs of the students while providing a meaningful art experience. Aspects of classroom management, discipline, student teacher relationships, classroom procedures and safety precautions should all be considered.

Classroom management:

• This includes considerations as far as what kind of environment the teacher wants to provide for their students. This environment is maintained through rules, consequences, atmosphere (noise level, music, treatment of students toward their peers)
• In my classroom I hope to have a fun atmosphere for my students to experience art, while maintaining a sense of order and emotional and physical safety. I would love to provide music for my students to listen to whether that be a classroom choice or allowing individual students to listen to their own music. Rules will be discussed at the beginning of the term, allowing input from the students as what they feel will give them the most positive experience. Similarly the consequences for breaking the rules will be discussed with some room for input from the students. Ultimately the final decisions will be made by me.

Discipline

• This includes considering the rules and consequences discussed by the class, understanding the role of the teacher in classroom disruptions, how to respond to misbehaviors and how to prevent these discipline problems,
• In my classroom I hope to have an understanding with my students that the rules and consequences are in place so that everyone can have a positive learning experience so that emotional and physical safety is always considered. When incidents do occur I will reflect on how my teaching has contributed to the situation. When I respond to the behavior I will be sure to do it in a way that does not bring negative attention to the student. Prevention of problems is the best solution to keeping the classroom a positive environment. Some things I can do to prevent disruptions are keeping a constant check on the energy in the room and making adjustments as needed to noise level, peer interactions and interest in the activity. I believe that discipline problems most often occur when the students are uninterested or invested in their projects, so ultimately having fun projects will keep the classroom under control.

Student Teacher Relationships

• Having a positive student teacher interaction includes fair problem solving, clear parameters for behavior, adequate time for projects, positive feedback, respect for differences, feeling of respect both ways and a nurturing atmosphere.

Classroom Procedures

• This includes having set routines for lessons including set up of materials, signals for students' attention, noise level expectations, movement boundaries, areas for materials, expectations for those who finnish early and cleanup procedures.
• I believe having expectations practiced and clear from the beginning as well as enforced every single time will create a positive learning environment for students.

Safety Precautions

• These precautions include art materials safety, understanding the physical abilities of the students, exposure to dangerous materials, storage of materials and classroom set up.
• For safety to be fully considered both the teacher and the students need to be educated about the risks and proper procedures of art materials within the classroom. The physical set up of the classroom is also important as lack of cleanliness can be a physical safety hazard.