About Me
Hello! My name is Samantha Gerretz and I am a current senior at West Chester University. I am a student teacher in 3rd grade studying in Early Grades Prep PreK-4. The following information is my philosophy in teaching and what I believe in classroom management.
My Teaching Philosophies
Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement is adding a desirable stimulus (a reward) after a behavior to make that behavior more likely to happen again.
- This means a lot to me as a student and even as an adult. Being told you are doing something right makes you feel good and you want to drive to feel that again. When the teacher tells you are doing something right and even gives a small reward (a high five or a thumbs up) it makes you feel good inside.
Linda Albert
Albert’s cooperative discipline theory and the Three C’s (capable, connected, contributing) helps enforce positive reinforcement. Her teaching principles are mostly about students feeling they belong, they choose the behavior but the teacher can influence it, and developing consequences with the class. If the students know what their consequences are, they are most likely not going to do it. If the students do something in the class and get something in reward (a prize) then they are going to keep doing it. (Albert, 2005, p. 199-201)
The Canters
The Canters are known for their assertive discipline theory. They believe that positive reinforcement is the most critical but overlooked component in classroom management. They believe in using praise, privileges and rewards as a way for classroom management. They also believe that clear communication and defining expectations is crucial to classroom management (DuBois).
B.F. Skinner
Skinner believes in behavior shaped by reinforcement. Reinforcement increases the chance a behavior will happen again and it must be immediate to be effective. Skinner describes constant reinforcement to teach new behaviors and intermittent reinforcement to maintain behaviors. In the classroom it can be shown as praising students right after doing something correctly and skills are to be taught step-by-step through reinforcement (McLeod, 2025).
How this will be shown in my classroom
In my future classroom I am going to have a ticketing system. My mentor teacher right now has one and I really want to do one. Every time the students answer a question they get a ticket. Those tickets can be put into a bin and be drawn at the end of the month to get a prize and a sticker if they want to save them. The more they save, the better chance of getting picked. When I was in 4th grade, my teacher had one and there was a chance to have lunch with him, which we all wanted. This caused us to keep doing what is expected of us in hopes of getting more tickets. This theme is something I definitely want to do in my future classroom.
In my future classroom I want to do on a regular basis giving high fives, thumbs up, saying “good job, great, I love that answer”, etc. In my student teaching placement I have developed the routine of constantly giving high fives out when a student gets a correct answer, they are getting their work done correctly, and when they have a high streak on their math games. It shows that I am proud of them for doing these activities.
Discipline & Management
Discipline is the corrective action that enforces rules, maintains order, and fosters self-control. Management is the process of planning, organizing, and directing resources to achieve objectives, focusing on routines, and preventing issues.
- Discipline and management is something every classroom is going to need no matter what grade. If the teacher is going to start something new, it is always going to be reminded of what the expectations are and what happens if a student does not follow the rules.
Jacob Kounin
Kounin believes in controlling misbehavior by keeping students actively engaged in classroom activities. Kounin describes teachers being good in management and are able to attend two or more events simultaneously. Kounin also emphasizes preventive management over reactive management. This means he believes effective discipline is achieved through high-quality instruction, especially utilizing smoothness, momentum and overlapping to keep students engaged and preventing disruptions before they occur (Sweetland).
B.F. Skinner
Skinner believes that strengthening the desired behavior is by providing reinforcement immediately when it is noted. You should not let it go to deal with it later. His analysis includes three events, the ABC. A (Anticendent), B (Behavior), C (Consequence). Skinner notes that behavior is often reinforcing stimuli received immediately after an organism performs an act (Sweetland).
Haim Ginott
Ginott believes instructional management should focus on shaping behavior through communication and reinforcement and to address the situation, not the character of the student. Ginott also believes in speaking to misbehaving students as you would like to be spoken to yourself, in the situation. He also thinks that teachers should use “I-Messages” rather than “You-Messages” when expressing their feelings to a student when misbehavior occurs (Sweetland).
How this will be shown in my classroom
In my future classroom I plan on setting my expectations from day one and make the students aware of the consequences. I also do want to be able to allow students to comment on what they think the consequences should be. The previous statement goes in line with discipline and management. If a student becomes upset with something that happened in school, I want to have a calm down corner or a quiet space for them to be alone and allow them to figure out their emotions. This will help me be able to communicate with the student when they are less upset and we can both figure out what they should receive based on what happened in the classroom
Teacher Accountability
Teacher accountability is when educators are responsible for student learning, performance, and adherence to professional standards.
- This is one of the main jobs of being a teacher. Teachers are held to a standard of helping students meet their academic goals. This is something every teacher should believe in.
Rudolf Dreikurs
Dreikurs theories are often adapted from psychotherapist, Alfred Adler. He believes that students' reasoning for misbehavior is resulted from feelings of lack of significance in the classroom. It is the teachers responsibility to have every student feel welcomed in their classroom (Lang). He also believes that discipline is based on mutual respect, which motivates students to behave constructively out of a heightened sense of social interest (Sweetland). Dreikurs believes that every classroom should be a democratic classroom. A democratic classroom is a “student-centered learning environment based on collaboration, shared power, and mutual respect, where students help set rules, choose learning activities, and engage in critical thinking (CU).”
Fritz Redl & William W. Wattenberg
Redl and Wattenberg believe that students behave differently when they are in a group than they would individually. Due to this, teachers need to manipulate the whole group of students rather than individuals (Hoerger). The teachers need to assess group dynamics and peer pressure and design appropriate behavior plans to deal with inappropriate behaviors. The students still need to be held responsible for their own behavior (Hoerger).
The Canters
The Canters main idea was on assertiveness and classroom discipline. They want their idea for classroom discipline to have the teacher in charge, but not in a hostile or authoritarian manner (Sweetland). They believe that you need to identify students’ personal needs and show your understanding and willingness to help them. Both the teacher and students have to respect each other in order for the classroom to run smoothly.
How this will be shown in my classroom
In my future classroom I want to be able to know my students personally and be able to tell what they need in a certain circumstance. In my student teaching placement I was able to figure out a new seating chart based on what the students' needs are and be able to stay focused with the other students around them. I also want my students to stand up for themselves and be able to communicate with me on why they think that way. I love when students stand up for themselves and express their reasoning with me or with the whole class. It shows that they are not afraid to express themselves to the teacher. This goes along with student mutual respect along with the teacher.
References:
Chapter 12. (n.d.). In Linda Albert’s Cooperative Discipline (pp. 199–201). essay.
CU. (2025). Democratizing School Policy. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Y8kDLQcJM
DuBois, S. and H. (n.d.). Assertive Discipline. Assertive discipline - canter. https://home.uncg.edu/~bblevin/class_management/models/ad.html
Hoerger, J. (n.d.). Behaviour management plan. https://behaviourmanagementintheclassroom.weebly.com/
Lang, D. (2020, May 18). 1960s: Dreikurs. Parenting and Family Diversity Issues. https://iastate.pressbooks.pub/parentingfamilydiversity/chapter/dreikurs/
McLeod, S. (2025, October 17). Operant conditioning in psychology: B.F. Skinner theory. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
Sweetland, R. (n.d.). Theorists: Main ideas and principal teachings: Discipline & management. https://www.homeofbob.com/cman/general/astTheorists.html
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