Because they are children and for not other reason they have dignity and worth simply because they are.  Barbra Coloroso

 I believe that being an educator is just an extension of parenting.  I became a parent in January of 2000, as the world embarked on a new millennium, I embarked on perhaps the greatest journey of my life.  I have three younger sisters, I have baby sat from the time I was 10 until I was 25, I nannied for two different families; when our son was born I had an "AH HA" moment.  I did not "get" parenting until I had my own child.  
    I was introduced to Barbra Coloroso three years before I had my own children and her message resonated with me.  I strive everyday to be a backbone parent, and as every parent experiences, some days are better than others.
    I feel that the message that she delivers in her book Kids are Worth it!  Giving your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline  is the message I want to give my own children as well as the students in my life.
    The following is the philosophy of classroom management that I subscribe to:

Niyimpa kor ntsetse ba 
" It takes an entire village to raise a child" 
African Proverb

3 Tenants:
1) Kids are worth it
2) I will not treat a child in a way I myself would not want to be treated
3) If it works, and leaves a child's and my own dignity intact, do it.

Classroom Environment

    Empowering our children involves first giving them a secure, safe, nurturing environment - offering them unconditional love, caring touch, tenderness, and concern for their physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.  Within that environment, children can begin to make choices and decisions and mistakes, assume responsibilities and become actively involved [classroom] members.  Engaging them in critical reflection, teaching them always to be aware of the consequences of their actions on others, showing them how to accept responsibility for their accomplishments and mistakes - all this empowers them to become responsible, resilient, resourceful, compassionate individuals who can act in their own best interests, stand up for themselves, and exercise their own rights while respecting the rights and legitimate needs of others (Coloroso, 2001, p 18).

    

Critical Life Messages

1) I believe in you
2) I trust you
3) I know you can handle life situations
4) You are listened to
5) You are cared for
6) You are very important to me

In my classroom mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities.  The consequences for behaviour are either natural or reasonable.  Students will be asked to identify what they have done wrong, they will take ownership of the problem and work with me to come up with solutions to the problem.  THIER DIGINTY IS LEFT INTACT (Coloroso, 2001, p 37).

Students are accepted as they are and are invited and encouraged to be more than they ever thought they could be. 

Learning takes place in an atmosphere of ACCEPTANCE  and HIGH EXPECTATION

Student will be spoken with, not to; listened to, not ignored.

DISCIPLINE: is a process that gives life to learning; it is restorative, and it invites reconciliation.  Its goal is to instruct, to teach, to guide and to help children develop self-discipline - an ordering of the self from the inside, not an imposition from the outside (Coloroso, 2001, p 79).

4 Steps of Discipline
1) Show children what they have done wrong
2) Give them ownership of the problem
3) Help them find ways of solving the problem
4) Leave their dignity intact

These steps can be taken further if the actions are significantly serious.  The three Rs - Restitution, Resolution, and Reconciliation are tools that can help the healing process under serious circumstances:
RESTITUTION involves fixing both the physical and personal damage.
RESOLUTION involves figuring out ways to keep this from happening again.  Without this step the repentance is merely an apology to be repeated again.  A plan and a commitment is required for closure.
RECONCILIATION is the process of healing the person you have harmed.

As children develop their own inner discipline, they begin to understand that all of their actions have consequences, that they are capable of taking ownership for what they do, and that they are just as capable of taking full responsibility for the problems they have created - not because they fear reprisal or punishment, but because it is THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

It is my goal to act with consistency, firmness and fairness in a peaceful environment that allows for my students to construct their own sense of true self.  I conduct myself in such a manner that at the end of the day I can look the parents of my students in the eye and say, "I did the best I could for your child today."