During my placement, my Associate Teacher (AT) taught a class with a lot of “chaos” going on. The learning needs were diverse, and there were more than eight students with IEPs. Many supply teachers found the class tough, and behaviour could escalate quickly. My AT described it as “Whac-A-Mole”—you respond to one issue, and another pops up right away. Observing that, I felt nervous and wondered if I could handle a class like this myself, especially when even experienced teachers seemed helpless. With the goal of achieving “unachievable”, I quickly went through in my head the very lesson that I had before to teach us how to manage classes.

Searching through the courses, finally, in my Learning and Development course, I remembered about reward systems and behaviourism—especially B. F. Skinner’s operant conditioning. It helped me see why only reacting to misbehaviour can feel endless. If a disruption gets a student's attention, power to escape from work, or peer approval, the behaviour can accidentally get reinforced. That changed my mindset: instead of constantly “putting out fires,” I needed to prevent them by building structure, relationships, and routines that students could count on.

So I made a plan to start each of my classes with clear classroom agreements for one week. I would revisit them whenever needed. I didn’t just list rules. I explained the purpose behind each one. I invited students to give real examples of what the agreement looked like in action. I had them restate and define each rule using their own words. I wanted them to say it and mean it. This ensured learning time, safety, and respect. Over time, consistency helped. Expectations were taught and reinforced clearly.

   I also focused intentionally on building a safe, positive classroom climate. I used ice-breakers (shared by my Foundations lecturer, John Masciarelli) to help students learn about one another’s interests and identities. My hope was that if students felt more connected—to each other and to me—there would be less conflict and more cooperation. Gradually, I noticed students were more willing to participate and communicate appropriately, and I saw signs of improvement reflected in feedback shared with school administrators.

  Another thing I learned quickly was how much seating plans matter. Strategic seating can cut down noise and stop off-task behaviour from spreading. At the same time, I noticed some students resisted seat changes because sitting with friends felt comfortable and safe. In the future, I want to switch their attention from being separated from their friends to experiencing a fun themed grouping system (like Harry Potter houses or other fun team identities). When they find their group identities meaningful and positive, students are often more willing to accept where they sit and commit to their groups.

  When it came to reinforcement, I started with a point system, but I found it hard to keep up with in a fast-moving class. I switched to simpler motivators—stickers, small rewards, hands-on activities, and games—to keep students engaged. It worked in the short term: the students often came up to me and seemed excited to participate. But I also noticed a downside: some students began calling to me from outside the room, expecting rewards. That taught me how quickly tangible reinforcement can turn into something students demand instead of something that supports learning.

  To respond, I reframed rewards as “earned opportunities” connected to learning goals—not automatic gifts. I told students they could earn rewards after class by challenging themselves with math or science questions. This helped shift the focus to effort and persistence. Moving forward, I want to rely more on specific verbal feedback and clear success criteria. For example: “You stayed focused for the whole work period,” or “You worked respectfully with your group, and slowly reduce gift rewards so students build more internal motivation and self-regulation.

Overall, this experience taught me that classroom management isn’t about controlling students. It’s about helping students to find their internal voices by designing predictable structures, building real relationships, and using reinforcement with care.