My ideal classroom would be set up the same way as my AP German classroom. When you first walked into that room you were greeted by colorful and humorous posters, which made it feel more welcoming and relaxing than my typical high school classroom. I want my future classroom to have this same aura. I would like to have the desks set up in small groups so that small group discussion can be efficient and so that kids can really bond with the peers at their tables and feel more comfortable sharing their ideas. I want my walls to be covered in humorous English themed posters, so that when their mind eventually wanders they won't be thinking about other subjects. I want an old fashioned chalk board at the front of the classroom and a white board in the back so that I can move from front to back and keep kids engaged and keep me from losing my mind standing still all day.
As for classroom discipline the most immediate experience that pops into my head occurred in my freshman year. We were in Biology and the topic of the day was evolution. Our teacher had started her lecture with a sort of general disclaimer that while you didn't have to agree with her she did have to teach it to you. The warning didn't sink in with one of the students. His dad was a pastor at a local church and this kid got very worked up about the creationism/evolution debate and essentially broke down in a faith crisis in the middle of class. He was very argumentative and confrontational and he kept asking questions she couldn't possibly answer before she yelled at him to leave the room if he had such a problem with it. He burst into tears in the middle of class and she sent him to the principal and made us spend the rest of class watching a video.
I feel like this wasn't very effective for a lot of reasons. Number one is that she let the situation escalate to the point of no return. The kid she had the altercation with was very well liked by everyone, so naturally we all took his side. This situation made us lose all respect for her and I remember that after that the rest of her class was a bit of a joke. Number two is that it made it nearly impossible for the kid to do well in her class after this. When you get in a screaming match with a teacher you can't go back to that teacher for help if you're having difficulty with a concept. Another reason it was ineffective is that it changed her relationship with the whole class, not just this one kid. I feel like if you, the teacher, are having trouble with a student it would be more effective to deal with it one on one, because that way what you say to that student only changes that one relationship. Her very public altercation made the rest of us begin to see her as just another adult looking to make our lives difficult, whereas before she'd been a fairly decent, if dry, teacher.
When it comes to classroom management, I think the most important take-away for me is to avoid public punitives. I remember when I was in high school that image was everything and I can imagine nothing more embarrassing than being yelled at by a teacher in front of everyone, I think it would be helpful to be aware that sometimes kids have other issues in their lives that mya be affecting their performance in school, so taking the moment to talk to a kid after class, even if you have to write a note explaining their tardiness, could really make a difference.
The simple rules I would use would be something to the effect of Listen, Learn, Laugh. Essentially, if students listen to me, then they learn with me, and then they can laugh with me. I want my classroom to be fun, but we can only have fun if they listen when I talk and they respect me, just like I want to be able to respect them.
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