Danielle Brewer

St. Thomas University

Fall Term, 2017

Classroom Management Plan: A Community Built on Respect

Teachers are much more then gatekeepers of knowledge as they are often reduced to.

Teachers encourage students to be themselves and create environments students want

to be in. Teachers give confidence and act as good role models that challenge and

inspire their students. They are honest, fair and willingly put in a lot of work often without

recognition. Teaching requires a lot of dedication and passion for the subject matter and

students and I am committed to being to influencing life long learners as a legendary

teacher. However, in order to be that legendary teacher, you need to build a sense of

community in your classroom with respect as the foundation. In my classroom

management plan that follows, you will see how I intend to make that happen.

Beginning of the year

At the beginning of the year it is important to lay the framework for your classroom. It is

at this time that you set what will be the social normative in your working and your

students learning environment.

Rules

When making a list of rules and procedures in the classroom I feel that having input

from the students would be extremely beneficial. If expectations are created with

student input, they are more likely to take pride in following the rules they collaboratively

created. In a classroom the students and I are to work as a team. Without their

cooperation it makes it harder for me to teach and them to learn. (Marzano, 2005)

These guidelines will have to be within reason and students must know why the

guidelines are in place. Rules will be direct and to the point emphasizing appropriate

behavior. If rules are vague students can misconstrue the intention of the rule. As the

obedience model states, following rules without knowing why they are following them is

not good for children. They require feedback to reinforce appropriate and inappropriate

behavior. (Marzano, 2005)

Rules will be established based on the needs of the individual class. I don’t believe that

setting a limit on rules is beneficial because it limits the potential for management. Rules

will need to be posted in visible area that students are focusing on frequently (the front

of the classroom). (Marzano, 2005)

Talking Circles

With weekly gatherings students develop a strengthened sense of community that they

take pride in which discourages misbehaviour. Talking circles are also useful as they

allow everyone who wishes to speak a chance to be heard without interruptions as only

the student with the designated object (I would use a class/school mascot stuffed

animal) can speak until the object is passed. With such a strong sense of respect
stemming form the circle, misbehaviour will likely also decrease. As an added bonus,

due to this level of respect and community in these talking circles students who are

otherwise shy are more likely to share. This transition into trusting your peers and

gaining confidence translates not only into connections between students but also into

the learning process as students won’t be as afraid to try new things or to become

frustrated when they find their work difficult. (Triplett, 2005)

Beginning of class

Routines

When starting a lesson, it is beneficial to open with an audio cue, such as a clap that the

class repeats to help students gain focus as class is about to begin. This clap would be

created as a class at the beginning of the school year so that the students feel pride in it

as it is unique to them. Though introduced at the beginning, his would become part of

our daily routine that would continue to the end of the academic year.

Routines are great for minimizing the waste of time and helps students and the teacher

be most productive. Implementing routines at the start and end of periods would help

students the greatest by allowing them to know what to expect day to day. Giving

students an indication of the amount of time left to complete a task will also help

transition both students with exceptionalities and students without. Here it is best to not

only tell students how much time is left but to show them with a count down timer

(typically on the smartboard) so that they have a visual representation and can learn to

manage their own time in the process. (Marzano, 2005)

Giving lists of tasks for the day that the students and I could check off together as a

group would make students feel like they are accomplishing more. At the beginning of

the class teachers should establish this list and write and or represent the activities of

the lesson on the board to provide a visual checklist for students to refer back to. In

opening the lesson, you should also tell students what they’re going to learn and what

your expectations are. This sets the class up for a period of minimal distractions as

students know exactly hat they should be doing before even beginning.

Routine will also be established by having semi-assigned seating. Desks will be

arranged in four groupings and students will be given a colour the first day of school that

corresponds with a table grouping for which they are asked to sit at. Students can pick

the seat they want in that grouping to give choice so that they an take pride in the space

that they chose. Students will be strategically grouped together based on academic and

social needs to promote a well-balanced classroom. Changes to the seating plan will be

made as needed to best fit students needs.

During a lesson

When conducting a lesson, it is important to foremost be engaging. Most students do

not wish to sit through a lecture style instructional period, so I will work hard to have

meaningful components in mine. My instructions will be simple and structured, and my

planning will include different kinds of activities to keep interest and engagement high.

Discipline with Dignity

I love the idea that under this approach the best practice when disciplining is to

understand that both in-school and out of school factors contribute to misbehaviour and,
intervention must be tailored for the student based on each factor. It is important to

realize that though two students may be expressing the same bad behaviour, their root

causes are most likely completely different and therefor their discipline should be to.

(Curwin, 2008)

The discipline with dignity approach reminds us as educators to know the signs. By

knowing even just a few of the signs of outside factors producing in-school behaviour,

Teachers can better equip themselves to treat a child with dignity in a moment of

behavioural misconduct as they would have an understanding of the underlying issue.

The discipline with dignity approach is based on prevention, action, resolution and from

research seems to be highly effective. It is said to help prevent behavioural outbursts

from re-occurring by building respect between teacher and student, stop misbehaviour

as it happens without damaging the dignity of the student and create a deeper

understanding of your students needs; all which sound excellent for teachers to better

manage their classrooms. (Curwin, 2008)

Tangible Rewards

Inclusion is my biggest passion and with that in mind the Class Poster Touchdown

reward system is one that I find refreshing and positive for all learners. Promotion of

good behaviour aside, this strategy allows an excellent teaching moment with your

students to share about the importance of encouraging your peers and working as a

team. School can be difficult so working together to benefit more then just yourself is a

life skill that I know I will be working hard to develop in all my students at any grade

level. The touchdown reward system motivates students to help those in their group be

at their best. This allows the group as a whole to be rewarded for their efforts at the end
of the week. This strategy would also help level the playing field by having students with

varying degree of challenges intermixed with students that you can count on to remain

good role models. Because the behavioural challenges would be spread out the

likelihood of the same group winning each week would be slim and therefor more

students would be able to be rewarded throughout the year. In this system students are

also encouraged to thank their teammates for helping them out and being a positive

light in their life that week. That is such a beautiful thing to think about. Here you are

creating a more caring classroom and a sense of family that might be new to some

students and beneficial for all. This system is a good classroom management technique

as it gives students a motivator to model good behaviour and in turn generates a

positive working and learning environment. (Marzano, 2005)

When a Student is Off Task

Focus Fish are a great alternative to the high school version of a guideline infraction

slip. This elementary focusing tool is one that was created and tested by me as a non-

confrontational way to address misbehaviour, unfocused students or general minor non-

compliances with school or classroom rules. A focus fish is a small fish piece of paper

that is colored either blue or orange or pink. The blue means time to refocus. This is

given to a student who seems to be in their own world and needs to be brought back

into the lesson or activity. Orange is given to students who need to be reminded that

they are misbehaving and or disrupting the learning environment of others and lastly a

pink fish is an indicator that you are to speak to the teacher after class to explain what is

happening in your world that is causing you to act in such a way. This fish is given out at

the teachers’ discretion and could be for anything from homework not being completed
to repeated misbehaviour. The colours meaning will be posted in the classroom by our

class rules for reference and reminder of what our expected behaviour is.

All focus fish are to be placed on the corner of the students’ desks discreetly as it keeps

the dignity of the student and the respect between you and the student unharmed.

Exceptionalities

Students with exceptionalities will be accommodated for on a needs basis that is unique

to that child. I believe in New Brunswick’s vision of inclusive schools and wish to be a

positively contributing force in support of this. As an example of how I would

accommodate for one of the most common exceptionalities in classrooms today

(inattentive ADHD) I have included a brief example. If a student with ADHD seems to be

zoned out of your lesson, a discrete cue set up with the student who has ADHD

beforehand, such as a touch on the shoulder or placing a sticky note on their desk, to

remind the student to stay on task and bring them back to the lesson. This very simple

technique is a good way to make sure that everyone is getting the most out of class

time.

Post Problem

In the event that a problem occurs it will be documented. Minor guideline infractions will

be described in short and serious ones in full detail in a documentation binder kept by

myself and supply teachers throughout the year. This helps when parents or

administration question your decision or reasoning in regard to coming up with

appropriate consequences for students’ actions. Documentation lays credibility to your

claim and therefor I will document every guideline infraction, call home, trip to the office

and disciplinary action to have readily available upon request.

Closing Note

In conclusion, I am confident that my classroom management plan is a good base to

enter into a classroom with. My plan will continuously be modified based on the

changing needs of my students, but one thing will always remain. When you walk into

my classroom, it will be clear to see that we are working together to foster life long

learners in a community built on respect.

 References

Curwin, R. L., Mendler, A. N., & Mendler, B. D. (2008). Discipline with dignity:

New challenges, new solutions. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and

Curriculum Development.

Marzano, R. J., & Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

(2005). A handbook for classroom management that works. Alexandria, Va: Association

for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Triplett, C.F. (2005). Talking Circle: Creating Community in our Elementary

Classrooms. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 18(2), pp. 4-8.