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Running head: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT/MOTIVATION AND DISCIPLINE PLAN

Classroom Management/Motivation and Discipline Plan

Sarah Haveman

EDCI 2440 Classroom Management

Tracie Pollard

November 4, 2018
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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT/MOTIVATION AND DISCIPLINE PLAN

By researching the different classroom management plans that are being used by current

teachers, I have found some that I think could be useful in my own classroom and some that I

probably wouldn’t use. One classroom management motivation plan that I found from my

research is called the miracle motivation plan. This plan uses punch cards for motivating the

students to have good behavior. If a student has shown good behavior, then the student can earn

one punch on their card. Even if it’s just a small behavior that the teacher noticed like a student

not shouting out for three minutes. Each individual student has their own punch card and the

students get to pick what they want they reward to be. After the punch card is filled than the

student can earn their reward and pick a new goal/reward to work to. The punch cards can be

hung from a bulletin board in the classroom, so the students can have a visual reminder to work

towards their goal every day. I feel this is a great plan because it’s a positive reinforcement plan

and it keeps the student’s motivated. Having the students pick out their own goal helps keeps

them motivated because it’s something they are looking forward too and not just something the

teacher picked out. Another motivation plan that I found was called the caught being good

program. This teacher creates paper slips to give to her students if they are caught being good.

The slips go in a box and the teacher draws at the end of the day for a small prize. I feel that this

can be a good plan if it is executed in the right way. If the same students are being put into the

box every day because they show good behavior, the other students in the classroom are going to

start losing motivation and not try their best to get their name put into the box. If I was using this

plan, I would make sure that each day there was a different student in the classroom who won the

prize, so each student knows that they are being recognized for their good behavior. I probably

wouldn’t use this plan in my classroom because it would be a lot to handle. I feel that doing a
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class reward would be easier to do because then the class can be rewarded when they are all

showing good behavior.

One classroom management discipline plan that I found was called the card system. This

plan is used by having five cards that will be displayed in a pocket chart with each student’s

name on it. The cards consist of five different colors, green is the student is doing great, yellow

is for a warning, red means parents will be notified, purple means the student has lost privileges,

and orange means go to the principal. Every student starts the day out with a green card and

throughout the day if a student is being disrespectful the teacher will ask the student to flip their

card to the next color. I don’t really like this plan because you’re calling out students in front of

the whole class and students can become really embarrassed or hurt about that. It also doesn’t

help to change student’s behavior, a lot of time the same students will have to flip their card

every day. I personally wouldn’t want to use this plan in my classroom because I feel that it

wouldn’t help the students in anyway. Another discipline plan that I found is to make a contract

with your students. This contract will state the rules of the classroom and what will happen if the

rules are broken. The contract can either be a class contract or an individual contract with each

student that states the same rules and consequences. I think the individual plans would be great

to use in the classroom because then each student knows they are responsible for following those

rules. By using this plan, it helps to eliminate calling students out in front of the whole class.

Instead the situations can be handled with a one on one conversation with the student.

By doing this research on the different classroom management plans I really got a feel for

all the different plans that teachers are using. It also helped me to see the plans that I think would

work good in the classroom and some that wouldn’t work so well. I am excited to try some of

these different plans out when I start teaching.

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Classroom Motivation/Reward Plans

1. Table Points

This plan involves seating the students in groups at tables and each group competes

against each other to win the most points each day. The teacher will assign points

throughout the day to the tables that are following directions and showing good

behavior. I would use this plan in my classroom because even though the students

aren’t winning any prizes it still motivates them to win the most tally’s.

2. Students vs. Teacher

This one is similar to the table points instead it’s the class competing against the

teacher. If the class is on task and working hard then the class can earn a tally but if

the class isn’t doing what they should be than the teacher gets a tally. I think this a

fun way to keep the students on task and to make it more motivating. The teacher can

give a reward after the class has shown that they can win the most tally’s after ten

days or so.

3. Stick Stars

This is a cup of sticks with each student’s name on it and every so often the teacher

will shake the cup letting the students know that they are going to draw a name out of

the cup. If the students name is who called is on task they go up and get a sticker if

they aren’t on task the teacher will simply say without using the students name that

the student wasn’t on task and draw again. I think this is a great way to keep the

students on task and to redirect the class if they aren’t paying attention.
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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT/MOTIVATION AND DISCIPLINE PLAN

4. Warm and Fuzzy

This is a jar that’s in the classroom called the “warm and fuzzy jar” and it’s a way to

reward the entire class for good behavior. When the teacher feels warm and fuzzy on

the inside for showing great behavior a fuzzy ball is put into the box and when the jar

is filled to the top, the class will be rewarded together. I feel this is a great way to

keep the whole class motivated on using good behavior.

5. Compliment Chain

This is made from a chain of paper links that is hung from the ceiling. Whenever the

class gets a compliment from another teacher or staff member a link is added to the

chain and when the chain reaches the floor the students get a reward like a popcorn

party or pizza party. I really like this plan because it helps to promote good behavior

and it gives the students an incentive to use good behavior outside the classroom as

well as inside.

6. Class Auction

The teacher hands out classroom dollars to students that are on task, working quietly,

following directions, etc. Students keep track of the own money and about once a

month there is a class auction where the students can trade in their money for

different prizes. I think this is a really great idea to keep the students motivated and it

rewards their good behavior.

Classroom Procedures

7. Establish Classroom Rules and Procedures

This is super important in the classroom because if the students don’t know the rules

and procedures in the classroom then they won’t know what you expect of them. It’s
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a great way to write out the rules and procedures together as a class so they have a

part in it and they will understand what is expected of them. I really like this idea and

will use it in my classroom.

8. Hand Signals

Instead or raising their hands or blurting out if they can use the restroom or get a

drink, they can use hand signals to ask their question. For example, they can put up

one finger if they need to go the bathroom and two fingers if they need to get a drink.

I would let my students go to the bathroom anytime they needed to, so I would have

them hold up their finger just to let me know what they are doing. I feel that this will

help with all the little distractions that occur throughout the day.

9. Having a check out system

It can be a struggle to keep track of where all your students are so having a check out

system when they leave the classroom can be very beneficial. This system is called

the Where Am I cups. The teacher will have different color cups with restroom,

nurse, office, etc. labeled on each cup so if the student needs to leave the room, they

can put the cup on their desk, so the teacher knows where they went. I feel this is very

important because teachers should know where each of their students are at every

point of the day.

10. Classroom Jobs

There can be five or six classroom jobs like teacher’s helper, line leader, lunch

carrier, etc. that can be given to different students each week. This will help keep the

classroom running smoothly because it transfers some of the responsibility to the

students. An easy way to do this is hang up the student’s photo with their job labeled
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underneath it for that week and switch the pictures every week. I think it’s a good

idea to use classroom jobs because it helps to eliminate the students asking to be this

or do that because they already know whose job it is.

11. Using fingers for multi-step directions

Sometimes it can be hard for students to understand what order the directions were

given, or they could not be listening when it’s told the first time. An easy way to fix

that is to hold up one finger when step one is being told and then have the students

repeat the step back to you. Then hold up two fingers for step too and continue the

process until you’ve gone over all the steps. Then after the teacher has gone over it

have them hold up their fingers for each step and repeat it back to you. I think this is a

great way to keep the students from getting mixed up on directions.

12. Seating Arrangement

It is best to have the students in desks, so they can work together, and they can switch

seats. It’s best not to have assign seating because the students need to interact with

everyone in the classroom and it’s easier to move students around if they are being a

distraction or not working well with another student. I will definitely use tables in my

classroom, so my students can interact with one another and work together in groups

or pairs.

Behavioral Intervention Plans

13. Appointment Book

This can be used if a student is off task or not showing good behavior, the teacher can

tell them to make an appointment in the book and they can have a one on one

conversation about it later. I really like this idea because it helps eliminate calling
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students out in front of the class and it gives the teacher an opportunity to talk with

the student about their behavior or the situation. It’s also great if students need to talk

with the teacher, they can make their own appointment in the book.

14. Token Reinforcement

Each student will start the day out with five tokens on their desk. If the student shows

undesirable behavior, then a token will be removed from his desk. The students can

earn back their tokens throughout the day by showing better behavior and being on

task. This is a great reinforcer to use in the classroom because it’s an induvial

reminder to the students that they need to show good behavior.

15. Management Magnets

There are four different rows of magnets on the board, green is for good behavior, the

first yellow is for a 1st warning, the 2nd yellow is a punishment, and the last is red

which means a note gets sent home to the parents explaining the behavior. Each

student has their own magnet and every day the student’s magnet starts out on green

and undesirable behavior results in moving the magnet down. I would use this plan in

my classroom, but I would make it so that the magnets weren’t placed on the board

for all the students to see.

Transitions/Keeping the Students on Task

16. Lights Out

If the students are being to noisy or being off task, the teacher can flip the lights off to

get the students attention. This will allow for redirection and get the students back on

track. You can also use this method when transitioning to the next thing, when the

lights are turned off it will let the students know that it is time to clean up and move
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to the next thing. I have seen this used in the classroom and I feel that it works very

well.

17. Handclapping

This is great to use if the students are unfocused and not paying attention. The teacher

can have a saying that says if you can hear me clap twice, or you can clap your hands

in a certain pattern and the students will have to repeat it back to you. This helps to

get the students back on track and focused.

18. Songs

Songs are great to use when transiting to the next thing, cleaning up, or lining up to

leave the classroom. Students love to sing the songs with you and it helps to make the

process of transitioning so much easier. Once the students are familiar with the songs,

they will know what to do when they hear each song. I feel that using songs would be

really helpful in the classroom because then you don’t have to remind the students a

bunch on what they should be doing, because the song should let them know what the

teacher wants from them.

19. Timers

Timers are great to use when transitioning to the next thing on the schedule. It lets the

students see how much time they have left to work on something and when the timer

goes off, they know that its time to clean up. If the students feel that they need a few

more minutes to finish something up, then the teacher can give them five more

minutes to finish.
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20. The Whisper Trick

This can be used if the students are being very noisy on a certain day, then the teacher

can tell them that today is going to be a whisper day. This means that everyone in the

classroom needs to use a whisper voice and needs to be really quiet if they want to

hear the directions. I think this would be a great plan to try in the classroom and see

how well it works.