Classroom Management Plan Nicole Short EDUC 360
The purpose of this classroom management plan is to address my philosophy and beliefs about discipline, state classroom procedures, and the implementation of the classroom management practices. I discuss my philosophy and beliefs of classroom management by taking a look at the theories and beliefs of a number of popular behavioral theorists. I will then address a number of her classroom procedures and what each of these procedures entails. Finally I will address how the classroom management plan will be implemented, including detailed explanations of the expectations and strategies for the classroom. Philosophy of Classroom Management As an educator, it is the teacher s job to provide students with the best education possible. In the midst of this process, the teacher needs to maintain a safe, healthy, and positive learning environment. In order for this to happen, the teacher needs an effective classroom management plan established. This plan needs to state the teacher s beliefs and how the plan will be carried out in his or her classroom. As a teacher I have established what my top ten beliefs of classroom management are after learning about a number of behavioral theorists. One of my top ten beliefs comes from the theorist Ronald Morrish. In his theory he discussed the development of teacher- student relationships. Morrish believed that teachers should look at the things the student does right and not what he or she did wrong. When the student makes a mistake, the teacher needs to wipe the slate clean and not hold the misbehavior against the student. Far too often teachers keep the misbehaviors in mind and that can cause friction between the teacher and the student because the teacher is always thinking about the misbehavior and not the positive things the student does. Also Morrish said that students learn better by watching rather than hearing.
With this, teachers need to always keep in mind that they are setting an example for their students. Teachers need to model the behavior they expect from their students. William Glasser also discussed Teacher- student relationships in his theory. Glasser believed that teachers and students need to work together to manage behavior. He said to let students help establish classroom rules. This allows the teacher to keep the students accountable for the rules they have set in place. However, when allowing the students to help set rules, the teacher needs to have in mind how he or she wants the classroom to function. The teacher can over-ride a rule if the teacher thinks it is inappropriate. Once the rules have been set, Glasser said to have the students sign a copy of the rules stating that they agree to abide by them. When misbehavior occurs, Glasser believed the teacher and the student need to work together in order to fix the behavior. Spencer Kagan also has a view on relationships, which is shown in his three pillars theory. The three pillars consist of the idea that everyone is on the same side. This means teachers, parents, and students all work together. Working together to find a solution is the second pillar. Teachers and students work together to find solutions to behavioral problems. And the third pillar is learned responsibility. Through the other two pillars the student learns the responsibilities that he or she has in the classroom. I agree with Morrish, Glasser, and Kagan and their views on teacher- student relationships within the classroom. By working with the student when misbehavior occurs, the student does not feel that you as a teacher are out to get them. They realize that if they do something wrong, the teacher will not yell at them, but rather discuss the misbehavior and
figure out how to fix it. I want my students to know that I want to help them correct their misbehavior and that I do not want to yell at them or punish them. Another of my top ten beliefs comes from Harry and Rosemary Wong s theory of classroom management. Wong said that you should have a maximum of five positively stated rules. I agree with this because by stating the rules in a positive way, it shows the students what you expect them to do in the classroom. It is more direct than having rules that say not to do something. If the rules are stated in a positive way, it is more of a reminder or an encouragement for the student rather than a command. Wong also states that within the first few days of school the teacher needs to go through the rules and procedures of the classroom. The teacher needs to make sure the rules and procedures are clear so the students know what is expected of them. This can tie into the positively stated rules because the rules show what is expected of the student rather than what the student should not do. Wong has another aspect of their theory that I support. The point Wong makes is getting the students started at the beginning of the day and how to eliminate the misbehavior at the start of the day. Wong said that at the beginning of the day, the students should know what procedures to follow, which were clearly stated in the first few days of school, and they should have morning work on their desk ready for them to complete in the first few minutes of class. By giving the students morning work, it allows the student to review material from the previous day and it gives them something to work on that will eliminate the time they would have to misbehave. Fred Jones discussed how to eliminate time wasting in the classroom. Jones believed that within the school day, the students should not have time to mess around or misbehave
between activities. Transition periods are when most students find time to talk or misbehave. If transition times are quick and the procedures for the transition times are clear, the teacher will not have to worry about time being wasted by students misbehavior. Another way Jones has found that will help eliminate misbehavior and time wasting was by using the Praise, Prompt, Leave method when dealing with helpless handraising. Jones stated that when a teacher spends a long amount of time helping one student with a question, the other students sit there wasting time or waiting. With Jones s Praise, Prompt, Leave method, the teacher spends around twenty seconds with a student who needs help. This gives the teacher time to help multiple students and allows the students to keep working. In this method Jones said that you first praise the student for something they are doing well. The second step is to prompt. This is where the teacher may direct the student to a specific part of a problem or have him or her use a visual instructional plan, or VIP for help. The last step is to leave. The teacher should leave immediately after prompting the student. This allows time to work with other students. If I am not getting tied down by having to spend a long amount of time working with one student to answer their question, I am able to help more students with the questions they have. This helps me keep my students on task and working instead of having them sit there and wait, which can lead to misbehavior. I feel this is a good way to prevent unwanted misbehavior from students during the time that they are to be working on a task. The students are also more likely to complete the task and not have to finish it later or take it home as homework. The VIP s are also a good idea to help the students with their work. If the students can see how the problem is worked out step by step, they may be able to
answer their own question and not need my help. This allows them to continue to work and not have to wait for me to get to them to answer a question. Procedures and Routines Beginning of the day: When students arrive to the classroom, students will find and remove their name from the attendance board and place it in the basket to show they are here. They will then go to their desk and get out their homework folder. They will leave the folder on their desk and put their belongings in their cubby. Once their belongings are in their cubby, students will turn in their homework to the homework tray located on the table by the teacher s desk. Notes for the office or for the teacher go into the folder located next to the homework tray. This folder will be labeled notes so the students know what is to be placed in the folder. After homework is in the tray, students will put their homework folder in their desk and begin working on the morning assignment the teacher placed on their desk after school on the previous day. Students will be expected to be in their seats with their things put away and working on morning work when the bell rings to start the school day. Attendance: There will be an attendance board located on the back wall of the classroom. Each student s name will Velcro to the board so that it can be removed. When students arrive at the classroom in the morning, they are to find their name on the attendance board and remove it. They should place their name in the basket on the floor next to the board. By removing their name, it will show that they are here. Any names left on the board will show who is not here. This makes taking attendance quick and easy. The teacher does not need to take time out of instruction time in order to take attendance. The teacher will replace all the names back onto the board before the students arrive at school the next day.
Turning in work: Each subject area will have a colored tray. The students will turn in their work to the correct colored tray when they are finished. The trays will be located on the table next to the teacher s desk along with the tray where homework will be collected. This makes it easier to find assignments because they are separated according to subject area. This makes the grading process easier because the day s activities are not mixed together. Distributing materials: Students will help distribute materials and hand out assignments. The teacher will choose students to help with this task by posting on the Helpers Chart who are the helpers for the week. By having the students distribute the papers and materials, I am able to continue giving directions or answering questions about the activity. Classroom helpers: There will be a Helpers Chart located on the wall next to the Attendance board in the back of the classroom. The chart will list the titles of all the classroom jobs. The teacher will write the name of each helper next to a job. Each week the teacher will choose different helpers for the jobs. Each student will get a chance to work each job throughout the school year. The jobs will include line leader, mail assistant who will put graded papers and notes in each student s mailbox, board eraser who will make sure the board is erased at the end of the day, floor monitor who will check the floor at the end of the day to make sure students have kept their desk area clean, light helper who will turn out the lights when the class leaves the room, paper passers who will help pass out papers and materials to the class. Students will be expected to complete their jobs each day. By giving students class jobs it allows the students to have some responsibility in the classroom. Selecting groups: The teacher will use different methods to choose groups for classroom activities. The teacher can randomly draw sticks that have student s names on them, assign the
groups by placing certain students together, of can allow the students to pick their groups. The method of assigning groups will depend on the type of activity. The teacher chooses the method they feel will be best in order to make groups for the activity. This allows the teacher the opportunity of separating those that cannot work together, keep students from always choosing the same people to be in their groups, and can allow for free choice by the students. Implementation of Practices The classroom rules and expectation will be discussed and agreed upon by both teacher and students. The students will be able to give their opinions on what they believe classroom rules and expectations should be. The teacher will already have established how she wants her classroom to function. The teacher will expect students to use good listening skills when someone is talking, follow directions when they are given, respect themselves and others, respect the property and belongings of others, and use kind words. The teacher will then select a few students to come and write the rules on a poster board that will be hung up in the classroom. Each student will sign the poster agreeing to abide by the rules and expectations the class has chosen. The poster will be displayed in the classroom as a reminder to the students of the rules and that they agreed to follow the rules. To ensure that learning takes place and that students are engaged, the teacher will use a variety of teaching method when presenting lessons. This will allow the students to learn in different ways and for students with different learning styles to learn in the ways that work best of them. Lessons will be engaging by limiting the length of time the teacher spends lecturing and allowing the students opportunities to be active learners.
In order to prevent misbehavior in the classroom, my goal is to eliminate any wasted time. This includes time between activities and time wasted while students are sitting in their seats waiting for me to answer questions during work time. I plan to do this by setting clear expectations on transitioning between activities. Students will know that transitions need to be done quickly and quietly. They are put their materials from the previous activity away and either get out new materials or line up quietly. I also plan to use Fred Jones method of Praise, Prompt, Leave during student work time. This will help me to get to all the students that have questions so that I do not spend all of my time helping one student while the others sit in their seats waiting. This allows the students to utilize their work time instead of sitting and waiting to have a question answered. If misbehavior does occur there are steps that will be taken. The teacher and student will discuss the misbehavior and what needs to be done to help prevent the misbehavior from reoccurring. The teacher and student will discuss the consequences of the misbehavior and what will be done as a result of the misbehavior. This can include consequences such as loss of recess time, a letter of apology, or a note or phone call home, depending on the severity of the misbehavior. This will help correct the behavior and prevent it from reoccurring.
Dear parents, Welcome to the start of another great school year. I have many fun and exciting things planned for my class this year and cannot wait to get started. My hope is for a fun and safe year. In order to be safe we need to work together, student, teacher, and parents, to insure that. I have set up a classroom management plan to help with the safety and learning of your student. This classroom management plan outlines my personal beliefs and philosophy when it comes to managing my classroom. I believe that we all need to work together to ensure the success of your student this school year. I believe that we are a team and by working as a team we can accomplish good things. I have in mind the way that I would like my classroom to be run, however, I feel the students need to be able to have their input heard when it comes to writing up the rules. On the first day of school, the class and I will discuss together what we believe the rules for the classroom should be. Once we all have come to an agreement, the rules will be written on a poster and the students will sign the bottom of the poster stating that they agreed to the rules and will abide by them. These rules will then be posted on the wall as a reminder to the students. If misbehavior does occur, the student and I will discuss the behavior and come to a conclusion on how the misbehavior should be handled. Consequences for misbehavior may include loss of recess, a letter of apology, or a note or phone call home. The consequence will be determined by the severity of the misbehavior. I have a number of classroom procedures in place to make sure the school day runs smoothly and that the students can have the best opportunity to learn. The students are expected to follow these procedures so that we can get through all the activities I have planned for the day. These procedures will be explained to the students on the first day of school and will be implemented throughout the school year. These procedures are set in place to create a positive learning environment for the students. I look forward to working with you and your student this school year. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me by phone, letter, or email. My job is to make sure that your student gets a quality education and that they grow as the school year progresses. Let s have a great start to the school year! Your teacher, Miss Short