Ellen

Bruegger

Classroom Management Plan

1. Management Style



It is vital that teachers (especially new teachers) have strong classroom
management skills because classroom management is at the heart of teaching. Lack of
classroom management skills is the number one reason teachers leave the profession; this
is no surprise because a teachers inability to manage students and a classroom indicates
an inability to educate students. A teacher who is deft at not only controlling but also
managing their classroom has more opportunities to educate their students because they
are not wasting time trying to control behavior.


After utilizing the handout titled, What is Your Classroom Management Profile? I
determined that my classroom management style was authoritative with a bit of
democratic sprinkled in. I wholeheartedly believe that students need to have limits placed
on them but also think that the rationale behind the limits needs to be explained and
discussed. I believe it is important to promote students independence and learning and
will do this by welcoming questions and debate (not arguing) throughout class while also
reinforcing appropriate social skills. I want to develop positive relationships with my
students and am willing to have fun and joke around but will always be sure to remain my
professionalism and not allow boundaries to be crossed.

2. Establishing a Positive Classroom Culture


At the basis of my plan to create a positive classroom environment is learning and
incorporating students interests. At the beginning of the school year I will have students
complete an interest survey. This survey will be used to tailor the curriculum to include
students interests and also an assessment of students prior knowledge of topic we will be
covering.

Aside from helping me create a classroom climate that gives students some power
the student interest survey will help me get to know student individually in ways I may not
have in class. The more I know about students the more important and accepted they can
feel in my classroom and gives me the opportunity to gear instruction toward these
interests.


Name: _______________________________________________
Date: ________________________________________________

Interest Survey: Social Studies

Thank you for answering this survey honestly, with thought, and taking the time to
explain why when it is asked.
1. What do you think is the purpose of learning social studies?



2.
In past years what has been one of your most favorite social studies
topics? Why? Name three facts about this topic.




3.
In the past what has been one of your least favorite social studies topics? Why?




4.
What topics are you most excited to learn about this year in social studies?



5.
How do you feel about using technology in the classroom? What ways would like to
see technology be used this year in social studies? Do you feel you are a good typist? What
computer programs are you comfortable using (ex: Word, Powerpoint, Blogger, Wordel,
Popplet, Prezi, Ecxel, Bibme). Please list any other programs you would like to use in social
studies this year.




6.
If you could meet one historical figure and take them to lunch for some
conversation, who would it be? Why? Where would you take them for lunch? Why there?
List three questions you would ask them.

7.
Which of the following topics looks interesting to you? You may pick (circle) as
many or as few as you want. Please put question marks (?) beside any topics you have
never heard of.

a. Civil War
b. Slavery
c. The Amendments to the United States Constitution
d. The Bill of Rights

e. Cattle Trails
f. The Reconstruction
g. The Holocaust
h. The Cuban Missile Crisis
i.

Immigration

j.

The Jazz Age

k. Inventors
l.

The Korean War

m. The War in Iraq

n. 9/11
o. Geography / Map Skills
p. Native Americans
q. World War I
r. World War II
s. The Great Depression
t. The Cold War
u. Civil Rights
v. Technology
w. Geography and Map Skills
x. The Vietnam War
3. Developing Classroom Rules and Procedures



When it comes to establishing classroom rules I will do it on my own prior to the
beginning of school and will only make changes if it becomes necessary. Classroom rules
will be written broadly and I will use as few as possible. However, classroom procedures
will be specific, as will consequences for choosing not to follow them. By making classroom
procedures clear to both students I hope to eliminate time wasted completing daily
activities. Examples of procedures I will utilize are as follows:

Preparedness: Students are expected to come to class every day prepared to learn! This
means, homework turned in, in their seat when the bell rings, with their student planner,
class binder, with a pen and pencil working on the daily bell ringer activity.

Students will receive a weekly participation grade; failure to come to class prepared will
result in the loss of one point daily.

Leaving the Classroom: Students should make every attempt possible to take care of
personal business during passing time. However, I understand that emergencies happen
and students may need to leave the classroom to go to the office/nurse/bathroom.

If a student needs to leave the room he/she must raise their hand and ask permission from
the instructor and have their student planner with them so I may write a pass. Failure to
bring your planner to class MAY result in denial of a pass. Students who take advantage of
the privilege to leave the classroom may lose the privilege.

Food and Drinks: Students are allowed to bring water only to class and will not be allowed
to fill them during class. Snacks will be allowed as long it is not a distraction to the class
and it is cleaned up. Students who do not clean up after themselves may lose the privilege
to bring snacks or water to class. If there is a spill please alert me and clean it up!

Extra Credit: Extra credit will be assigned or given at the teachers discretion. Students
may turn in unused late work passes to receive extra credit at the end of the semester.
However, in order to qualify for extra credit a student must have no missing assignments!

Turning in Homework: Homework is to be turned in at the beginning of class; once class
has started anything turned in will be counted as late. Turn in homework in your hour bin.

Absences: Upon returning to class it is the students responsibility to obtain any missed
work. First look for missed handouts in the absent bin for your hour, then follow up with
the teacher. Arrangements for making up quizzes and exams are to be made immediately, I
will not track you down. If a student fails to make arrangements within a week of
returning to class they will receive a zero on the quiz or exam. Students will have the
number of days they were absent to complete missed work (5 days absent = 5 days to turn
in assignments.)

The teacher should be informed of planned absences prior to leaving so the student can
receive any assignments that need to be completed.

Unexcused absences will result in a zero on everything completed that day in class.




Tardiness: It is expected that students arrive to class on time and prepared to work and
learn. If you are late to class sign in and note whether or not you have a pass. If you do,
leave it in the tardy pass box.

Excessive tardiness (3+) will result in a consequence, such as detention.

Late Work: At the beginning of each semester students will get 3 Late Work Passes, these
passes allow students to turn in 3 assignments 1 day late and receive full credit. These
passes can be saved and used for extra credit points on a summative assessment. Every
day late an assignment is turned in without a late pass will result in 10% point loss.

My classroom will run on a similar daily basis. Consistency can be beneficial for all students
but especially for those with special needs. When students arrive to class they will turn in
any homework in the appropriate homework bin, sit in their seats and begin their daily bell
ringer. I will be positioned near the door to be able to greet students as they come in.
During the bell ringer is when students may ask me any questions they may have. The daily
agenda and the learning objective we are currently working on will be posted on the board
in the front of the classroom. Once the bell ring is completed we will begin all planned
activities for the day. Down time during class is to be used by students to either complete
homework or assigned readings for this class; it is not a time to finished homework for
another class!

4. Classroom Layout

The illustration above shows a potential layout for my ideal classroom. Having
students sit at tables instead of desks indicates that cooperative learning and group work
will frequently occur and discussion among classmates is welcome. But by having all the
tables and students face forward it also directs the students attention to the front of the
room; the front of the room will also be my home while instructing. Obviously I will be
moving around the classroom but the front of the room is where students will look to see
the daily agenda, learning objectives and to get on task. The shelves in the back of the
classroom will be where students turn in homework, and check for work when absent.
They will also hold any extra classroom materials I have such as, extra textbooks, paper,
pencils, markers, and the class library.

I believe that I will leave my classroom in this layout for most of the year, moving
only if it proves ineffective or is necessary for group work or classroom discussion. My desk
will be off to the side of the room but situated in the front of the classroom, this placement
allows me to watch over the classroom and also take a secondary role when students may
be leading the learning. Students work will be showcased on bulletin boards throughout
the classroom. I would like my classroom to have as much technology as possible, the
ultimate goal being either a 1-1 school or having a classroom set of laptops.

This layout will make enforcing my classroom policies and procedures much easier.
It will be very obvious if and when students arrive to class late or attempt to turn in
homework after class has started. Another way I could make monitoring homework more
efficient is to place a shelf by my desk in the front of the room.

5. Monitoring the Classroom and Responding to Student Misbehavior

Many of the strategies I plan to use to monitor student behavior are also best
practice for teachers, such as frequently moving about the classroom, and establishing a
classroom routine to limit misbehavior during transition times. Also during time when I am
not physically instructing the class, like class presentations, group work, student behavior
may be included on grading rubrics I am utilizing. Getting to know my students and who or
what causes them to misbehave and responding appropriately will also be an important
tool, this will also include developing seating charts with student relationships in mind.

When students are off tasks the first technique I will use to bring them back in is a
verbal statement like, ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention? It is also
important to note that this will not be yelled but spoken in my teacher voice. If this is
unsuccessful I will then simply wait for the students attention, or begin using proximity to
alert students that I need their attention.

If and when students misbehave I will utilize the Hierarchy of Responses to
Disruptive Behavior. This tool is conducive to my classroom management style because
limits and rule are made clear by my intervention but students are given the choice
whether to correct their behavior or continue misbehavior and receive further
consequences. Before assigning actual consequences for misbehavior I will first use both
nonverbal and verbal interventions to try and bring the student back on task. However,
when I am unable to bring students back on task or the students misbehavior is so
profound that it warrants immediate consequences I will first try to assign consequence
within the classroom and only involve outside resources such as the principal, parents,
school security officer if necessary.

Student behaviors that are unacceptable and not tolerated in my classroom would
be misbehavior associated with bullying, disrespectful actions during group discussion or a
guest speaker, violence, cheating (depending on the grade level of the student), and
rudeness. At the beginning of the year my expectations for student behavior will be made
clear to both students and parents to avoid any confusion.

6. Parents as Partners


I would like to include parents as much as possible in my classroom, as volunteers
during class field trips or activities that require lots of scaffolding for students, and also as
experts on topics we are covering in the clasroom. In order to keep parents and students
informed of classroom activities I plan on writing a newsletter every unit, this will allow
parents to know what their child is learning about in class and be aware of any upcoming
major assignments or projects. The newsletter will also be augmented by a classroom blog
where classes activities are updated on a more frequent basis.



Parents will be contacted personally at least twice a semester for positive reasons,
such as their students exemplary participation, work or behavior. Parents will only be
contacted for negative reasons at need, by contacting parents before for positive reasons I
hope to build a rapport with them to help us work together when dealing with any negative
issues. Parent-teacher conference style will be determined by the reason or need for the
conference. If a conference is being held because of a students misbehavior, failing grade or
other problems I believe it is important to involve the student and encourage them to take
ownership and accept responsibility for their actions and behaviors. However, it is
important to make sure the student knows that the conference is not a punishment and we
will not be discussing punishments for them but trying to work together to overcome the
issues the student is having. If the conference is just apart of school-wide conferences I do
not think it is as important to have the students present.

When engaging with highly involved parents I believe it will be important to note
the importance of their childs independence and making sure they have that freedom. If
the parents wants to be involved in the classroom I would allow it on a basis that I have
determined appropriate, for example once a week, or maybe encourage the parent to
volunteer when their child was not in my class. This way the parent would have a good idea
of what is going on in the classroom without always being present with their child.
Engaging under involved parents will be a more sensitive matter, I would make sure the
parents know all of the resources available to them to be able to keep up with their
students education. Also I would try to learn more about the parents themselves and try to
find ways they could become more involved, such as inviting the parents of an immigrant
family to come to class to speak to students or scheduling events and meetings in times that
work with the parents schedules.