Managing a Classroom Environment

Running head: MANAGING A CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
Managing a classroom environment
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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MANAGING A CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
An examination of the positive and proactive methods used by the teacher to
develop a positive classroom environment to support the diverse students’
academic and social development
The role of a teacher in the life of an individual is paramount. A child attends school from
a very early age. Before he or she goes to attend school, a child is influenced more by the family
members and the people in the neighborhood (Lyons, Arthur-Kelly & Ford, 2015). This is
significant as the influences of the family members on the personality development of a child is
preponderant. However, people often fail to realize that the activities of the teachers are also
significant. A child spends much of his or her time in the educational institutions. They are
constantly under the guidance of the teachers (Page & Jones, 2018). In the school, a child
intermixes and connects with a lot of different people, either of their own age or those senior or
junior to them. Their behaviors with these people and the way they interact with the teachers. All
depends upon the lessons they receive from their teachers and by imitating the character of their
parents that they observe at home. This is significant because a positive environment in the
classroom and well as an optimistic environment in the home plays a deep role in helping to
develop a positive character of an individual (Burden, 2016). On the other hand, it has often been
observed that a negative environment at home and also in school seriously undermines the
development of a positive character of a student and results in his or her bouts of misbehavior
with the other members of the society.
In the case study provided, it is observed that Mr. New is a class teacher of the fourth
standard, where twenty eight students are under his care. Around eight of the students in his

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MANAGING A CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
classroom are aboriginals while three are ESL students. One of the students, known as Ben, was
the troublemaker of the class. In the case study, a day has been defined where Mr. New
undertook a group reading activity in the classroom. In this activity, the students were required to
form groups whereby each of them had to work in association with the other in order to make the
activity a success. Before the activity started, Ben created a series of troubles, such as pushing
certain kids, trying to start an argument. All of this infuriated Mr. New and he took to
reprimanding Ben in front of the other students which was not well received by Ben. He started
to create more troubles rather than trying to mend his behavior, as a reaction to the condemnation
received from his teacher. Ben even went to the extent to try to sabotage the activity of the group
with whom he was working.
Analyzing this case study it is observed that the maintenance of a positive and proactive
environment in the classroom is vital for the development of a child, both educationally and
social development. For instance, when Mr. New scolded Ben in front of the entire class for the
first time, there were other students who mocked Ben for being scolded. Mocking has a severe
negative impact on the personality development of any individual (Adoniou & Gallagher, 2017).
Young children are always on the need for attention and recognition from their elders. This is a
part of their cognitive development that can be observed in the ages from four years to nine years
and remains even beyond. The fact that Ben was reprimanded my Mr. New in front of everyone
can be seen to be the point when he was humiliated for his incompetency in front of his
classmates (Regina, Joseph & Daniel, 2016).
Another point of departure can be noticed during the time when Mr. New announced in
his class that there would be group activity taking place that day and in order to make it a success
he wanted to garner some ideas from the students. When he asked the class to come forward and

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MANAGING A CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
stand around him. Ben tried to move fast and in the process, he ended up pushing certain kids.
This may have been completely unintentional in nature and could have happened with anybody
but since Ben was known in his class to be the notorious one, everyone started to blame him,
assuming that he did it intentionally. Furthermore, even Mr. New again reprimanded Ben for his
actions. Being a young child, he may not have understood the thought process being Mr. New’s
actions and behavior (Dicke et al., 2015). He only knew the fact that he was being scolded and
humiliated in front of other people.
The case study points towards the need for a positive environment in the classroom. The
case of Ben shows that any scolding and reprimanding that a teacher does in front of other
children is received in a negative manner by the concerned individual (Knight, 2018). Students
are likely to cause trouble as they are growing children and hence, might not be aware about the
requisites of the society and how to behave in a proper manner. This does not mean that they
should be scolded or punished for their activities (Pas et al., 2015). The need is to make them
understand about their wrongdoings and ensure that such misbehavior would not occur in the
future. For the prevalence of this situation, it is necessary that the teacher maintains a healthy and
friendly relation in the classroom (Charles & Cole, 2019). The students should be encouraged to
approach their teachers for any problems they face in their life, whether personal or related to the
school (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016).
In this context, the Lyford Model can be implemented in the classroom environment.
Lyford Model aids in the scaffolding of the classroom activities in such a manner that every child
feels involved in the process (König & Kramer, 2016). If an individual feels that a responsibility
has been entrusted to him or her, then it is likely that the individual will feel empowered and