Classroom Decision Making

As teachers, there is a main concern to think about in the classroom which is decision making due to its huge importance on the learning process. In fact, most teachers before were not aware of this important issue although, they were making decisions the same as teachers nowadays do. But, it was not obvious for them that these decisions is something to think deeply about them, plan for them and know their consequences to be able to make the best choice. They were only taking decisions because of authority they have and based on their view for what is right and what is wrong. However, nowadays this view should totally be cancelled. Decision making is something that should be based on many essential factors and based on professional planning, schools, curricula, programs and educational policy. Thus, official standards and schools policy should be clear enough for teachers, who in turn should be aware and skillful in making decisions that should be appropriate and give the best results for the learning process. 

School Counseling

Counselors are no longer Guidance counselors focused on graduation and course selection for students. They are professional school counselors who focus on the academic, personal, social and career development of all students. Counselors are nowadays are vital members of the school who are trained and continually educated. They always aim for collaboration with students who in elementary schools start to develop their self concept, self confidence and to develop as decision makers.
A main factors that affect this development are family and school because they are the main social groups that raise children, impose and disclose different thoughts and behaviors on them. That is why it is important to have school counseling that provide a program of education, prevention and intervention, academics, career and personal and social life to aid for future success. School counseling helps also in classroom guidance to support organizational studies, test taking skills, goal setting, decision taking, career awareness, exploration, planning, understanding self-another, peers relationships, and putting strategies in  way to help the student as a whole social, emotional, and academic person. 

Factors Affecting Planning

As teachers we have much to consider when planning lessons as well as instructions. Below are some of the initial areas that each teacher needs to think about where in general they are equally important. However, teachers can indicate the priorities between them based on their students' needs. That is why it is important for teachers, especially at the beginnings to write down their thoughts about each factor to help them focus on what is more important in their different situations.

Student consideration: students always should be the main focus for teachers because what teachers know about them individually and as a group can make huge difference in the plan. This range of knowledge can help teachers being able to motivate students, teach them what they need and what accommodations are needed for special students.

Time consideration: time is a main factor for planning where teachers will be able to know the time available for them to assign their explanations, activities, instructions. Thus teachers should know about the holidays, extracurricular activities and give his plan a little more time than needed in case of any interference occurred.

Content considerations: teachers should be aware of the ideas and concepts that are involved in his lesson, the main skills that he need to teach and the main prerequisite skills that students already know to build new knowledge on. It is important also to use the suitable methods for learning a specific content in the best way.

Teacher considerations: this factor is about the level of knowledge that teachers have regarding a certain topic and related materials. Also, what matters is to invest this knowledge for presenting the topics in terms that students will understand.