Classroom Management Plan

Stacie Sessions

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN Philosophical Model

Each teacher has their own way of managing their classroom. Each is unique and specific to the teacher based upon their perspective of how the students should learn and how they should be disciplined. There are three models of discipline in which teachers can fall into. These models include: the guiding model, the interacting model, and the intervening model. The guiding model is when the degree of control from the teacher is low and from the students is high. The interacting model is when the degree of control from the teacher and from the students is about the same. The intervening model is when the degree of control from the teacher is high and from the students is low. My philosophical model is mostly the interacting model with occasions of drifting into the other two models based upon instruction and experiences for that specific day. I do like having control over the classroom but I feel it is important for the students to have a say in what is occurring as well. I also want students to understand there is order to things and there are basic rules which needed to be followed in order for things to run smoothly. There are limits and boundaries to things but these boundaries still provide a wide area for creativity and imagination from the student. When it comes to students making mistakes, I like to help them become successful. If I feel a student has the ability to figure it out themselves or a peer can help them, I suggest they take some time to think about it. If students need help with something they cannot solve on their own or need a lot of help, I want to be willing to sit down and have a conversation with them. Throughout student teaching so far, I have learned to encourage students to make decisions which will make them successful. One of the main times I say this is when the students are lining up to go to lunch, lab, or P.E. I have had students who recognized they will talk with those

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around them so, in order to be successful at keeping zero voice in the hall, they place themselves in the line around people whom they will not talk with. One last thing I like to encourage is that students are social with each other. I enjoy having times during my lessons where students can discuss topics with their peers. Topics vary between content based questions to personalized questions. It is important for students to create relationships with their peers. Students should have the opportunity to get-to-know all the students in their class and talk with their peers on a daily basis. This helps increase students social skills as well as get a new point of view about a topic. By having students communicate with one another, I am not requiring they become the best of friend. I am just encouraging them to get to know their peers and create a community of learners. Organization of Classroom The way the classroom is set up can have a major effect on how the students learn in the classroom. The physical environment can determine how well students are going to pay attention, interact with their peers, and complete their work. In my classroom, I want my desks situated so students will have the opportunity to work in partners or groups as needed, I can walk around and monitor the students, and so students wont get distracted while working. I want the desks placed in groups so students have the ability to get into groups as needed. My teachers desk will be in a front corner. This will allow me to have quick access to materials and be able to see my students easily. I would like a front table where a document camera would be placed. This would allow me to be able to be close to the students. I would love to have a reading area in my classroom in one of the back corners with chairs, a couch, or pillows for the students to use. I would like this area to seem isolated so the

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN students are away from distractions while they are reading. I would also like to have computers in my classroom as well. I would like to have a station for them so the students have access to the computers as needed. Lastly, I would like some tables around the room which will fit 5-6 students. This would be helpful when it comes time for group work or when I need to pull students to work with. When looking at all the materials I would have, I would like to have a lot of cupboards. This would eliminate the amount of seen materials around the room. I would also like a large

bookshelf to store textbooks and other books on. This will help keep the books organized and out of the way, but also allow the students see what books they are possibly going to read that year. Around my teachers desk, I would like to have a filing cabinet or two so I can place my paper inside them. I would also like to have a little counter space around my desk so I have extra room to place materials. I would like to have quite a few bulletin boards around my room. On the bulletin boards, I would like to place posters dealing with content being covered in the class at that time. I would also like to place reading information on a bulletin board. In one classroom I visited, I saw a great bulletin board which contained information about their reading focus. It contain their theme, essential question, comprehension skill learning, what graphic organizers they would use, vocabulary expected to learn, information about the story they were reading, and a writing prompt. This allowed the students to see exactly what they would be focusing on during the reading.

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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN Management of Behavior The most important thing to focus on during the first few days of class is the rules, routines, and procedures used in your classroom. When dealing with rules, I will teach my students about the schoolwide rules. It is important for students to first understand what is

expected of them at all times while they are in the school. Next I will discuss the classroom rules. I want my students to be able to create the classroom rules. This creates a classroom community and makes the rules more meaningful to the students. I will let students suggest rules and the class will vote upon which rules they would like to have. Throughout teaching students about rules, I want to teach them the rules using visual, auditory, and kinesthetic elements. This will help the students learn the rules quicker and remember them. When teaching the students about the routines and procedures, it is important to show the students where the procedures take place. I have watched teachers who tell students about routines but dont move out of the front of the classroom. If students are being taught about when to sharpen their pencil, the teacher should go to the pencil sharpener rather than just point to it. This action directs student attention to the item being talked about. Depending upon the routine being taught, I would have the students practice the routine. This allows the teacher to see how well they already know the routine. The next thing I would teach the students is about how behavior will be measured in the classroom. At Monroe Elementary School, we have a schoolwide card/clip system. I would like to have a system similar to this in my classroom. I would explicitly teach the students about the system by giving them examples of what would result in a card change on different levels. I would also give them a copy to keep in their binder. This would remind them of the expectations and if they had any questions, they have something to refer to. I would also make sure there is a

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN sign or banner hanging in the classroom as another reminder to the students. I would next teach my students about the rewards in the classroom and schoolwide. This allows them to see what they can earn if they follow the rules and always try to achieve their personal best. Respectful Supportive Learning Environment

One of the main things I want my students to understand is that they can talk to me about whatever. I want to have a strong teacher-student relationship. This starts by me working to get to know my students as individuals. I want to get to know my students as they are outside of the classroom. I would like to use them in story problems which relate to what they like to do. I feel this would excite them and make them more engaged. I also want to make sure my students understand who I am. I will share personal things with them so they can get to know me outside of the classroom. Throughout the school year, I want to maintain a positive environment. I want to make sure my students know they can succeed at whatever they do and that they should never be afraid to ask for help. I dont want my students to ever feel like they are stupid. To create this environment, I will teach upfront what I expect of students when others are sharing and answer a question. I want all students to respect others by listening, answering questions, and respect others responses. Students are expected to not argue with students about responses, but to share their perspective in a meaningful way. It is important to me that students pay attention to instruction while I am talking. I have learned through student teaching that students are engaged through activities that are made exciting and that dont take a ton of time. I will make sure to create some way to hook my students at the beginning of the lesson. I also would like to break my instruction time into 15-20

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN minute intervals. This will allow my students to only need to focus on one activity for a shorter time period. This will help keep my students engaged. The last thing I want to do is have a fast paced instruction. I have learned my pace is slower and I would like to keep the pace moving. This will tell my students they dont have to mess around or else they will fall behind. One other thing I would like to do when it comes to assignments is to give back quick and effective feedback. I want my students to know I take the time to look at their assignments. Of course it is unrealistic to grade all the assignments that students turn in. However, I would like to comment on most of the assignments my students turn in. I also would like to talk with students individually on bigger projects to give them corrective feedback. This will help my students become successful in the classroom. Management and Facilitation of Instruction

The Big 8 have helped me figure out what is needed in the classroom while teaching. The Big 8 include: expectations, time limits, cueing, attention prompts, proximity, signals, voice, and tasking. These eight strategies have helped me become a better teacher. I am still working on the strategies but I have seen how I have grown as a teacher and how much better my instruction has become. In my classroom, there are some main strategies of the Big 8 I want to make sure I implement. Two of the Big 8 strategies I find most important are proximity and cueing. Proximity involves walking around the classroom strategically to make sure all students are on task. Cueing involves giving positive statements to students. These strategies have worked in my classroom so far and I know they will continue to work in my future classroom. In order to implement proximity, my classroom is going to need to be set up appropriately. I will need to make sure the

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN desks are organized and there is space so I have the ability to walk around all of the desks. This

will allow me to see who is on task, who isnt on task, and who needs help. I will also use cueing while walking around. I would like to be able to use mostly individualized cueing to a student. However, as needed, I can use cuing for the whole class. Another Big 8 strategy I feel is important to have in the classroom is voice. Voice is the tone of the voice which the teacher uses while teaching. This is one thing I have struggled with so far but want to improve upon. It is important for the teacher to sound excited about the topic and show the students youre excited. Tone of voice can help engage students into the topic being taught. By raising and lowering your voice throughout the teaching of the lesson, it makes the lesson fun and interesting. I will make sure I do this in the classroom by listening to myself and even videotaping myself teach. I learned a lot about voice through videotaping myself. One last Big 8 strategy I find really important is to tell the students your expectations of them. If students are not told what is expected of them, they cannot be expected to fulfill your wishes. I will make sure to model what I want my students to do in different situation, especially during the first week of school. Students need someone to model for them in order to understand exactly what they are required to do. This helps them learn quickly and understand the expectations. I am also going to make sure my expectations of daily activities are posted around the classroom. Promotion of Safety and Wellness It is important to me to make sure my students feel safe and welcome in the classroom. To do this, I want to start off by sending a letter to the students before school even starts and introduce myself to them. This will allow the students to get some sense of who I am before the

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN start school. I also want to make sure I get to know the students quickly. This will create a student-teacher relationship in which will hopefully allow the students to feel comfortable with myself and make them willing to talk to me about whatever their needs are.

During the first few weeks of school, I want to make sure I establish clear expectations in the classroom. By setting rules and limits, students will understand what is tolerated in the classroom and what is not allowed. I also want to explicitly explain the behavior management system I have in my classroom. This will teach the students about the ground rules in my classroom and what I expect of them. I will continue to teach the students my expectations by modeling my expectations throughout the school year. Throughout the school year, I will make sure students are having the opportunity to share their thoughts without having to worry about someone making fun of them. I will have consequences in place for those who dont comply. I also dont want my student exclude others so I will teach about including everyone and have consequences in place for those who dont follow those expectations. I dont expect the students to be the best of friends, but I do expect them to treat each other as they would a friend. Interaction with Colleagues, Parents, and Others I would love to have a relationship with my colleagues, parents, and other people throughout the community. Creating relationships with the people around you provides you with a great resource to various materials and help. Having a relationship with those in your school is very important. A teachers job is hard but when you have others to help you, it makes it a lot easier. Teachers can talk with each other about content and instructional methods and create ideas together. Teachers can also share ideas about what materials or strategies they have used. I

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN have had the opportunity to observe a couple different classrooms while student teaching and I have received so many new ideas to incorporate into my classroom. It is also important to communicate with coaches and the administration. Coaches are able to come in and assist you with ideas to make your instruction better. They also help you create goals for yourself to accomplish. In order for teachers to help their students succeed, it is important to communicate with

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parents. By letting parents know what is going on in the classroom, they will hopefully talk with their child about their school work. As a teacher, I want to send home a newsletter to the parents. This newsletter will tell them what their child will be learning, what assignments are coming due, and things they can do with their child to help them. I also want to send emails or make phone calls with parents periodically throughout the year. I would like to let parents know how their child is doing and what I am seeing from them. I would also like to ask parents what I can do to help them or their child. I feel it is also important to look to resources out in the community which you can use in your classroom. There are many great people who can come in and talk to your students about what they are learning. There are also many great places you can take your students to who will increase their knowledge on a subject. Growing up in Murray, I remember going to the Murray Nature Center several times. I learned a lot about the wetlands, microorganisms, weather, seasons, and many more topics from one community resource. Places like this add a lot to the students knowledge. While teaching, I want to find the community resources around the school area and use them to help my students learn. I also want to see what options there are for guest speakers to come in to talk to the students as well.