Ashley Bell Classroom Management Plan November 29, 2012 University of Utah

Philosophical Model of Classroom Management and Discipline ! I want to create a model of a classroom where I act as the tour guide for the

students learning. I believe that students learn best through imitation and modeling. I believe it is crucial to be explicit with children and explain and provide them with examples. According to Bandura (class notes, Sept 20, 2012) social learning in a classroom emphasizes that modeling is an essential element of learning. As a teacher I will be the model to the students and then they will be able to jump off and continue their learning. ! I also believe that the Theoretical model of Behavior is critical in a classroom.

Parlor, Skinner and Watson (class notes, Sept 20, 2012) pioneered the idea that students need to view things from a functional perspective that can be viewed and observed. As a teacher, I believe that this needs to take place everyday in the classroom. Students need to understand why they are completing the particular task at hand and how it applies to their own life. School and teaching is about creating and shaping the citizens of the future. School is a place of learning but also a place of training. If a particular task is completed, something will be rewarded, whether it being intrinsic or extrinsic rewards. Many things in life are based upon this concept, so I believe it should be integrated into the management of a classroom. ! The idea of positive behavior supports is also essential in a classroom. I believe

students need to be the center of the planning in a classroom and there must be supports available to help each one. Students should be recognized for the great things they accomplish in the classroom. The benecial factor regarding positive behavior supports is for example when one student is praised for doing something like reading

quietly, a student next to the student behaving well, will mimic the student doing the correct behavior. In doing this I will be praising the student doing the correct thing, instead of being negative with the student that is not. Physical Environment ! In a dream world, I would love to have a nice open classroom, where there is

plenty of workspace for my children. I would love to be able to have a corner of the classroom that is a reading nook for my students. I want it to be a place where my students can go and enjoy reading. It would be a place they could go to if they nished their work early or if they needed a minute to cool down and reset. I plan to have the presence of collaboration in the classroom. I will do this by having desk arranged in a table, or have student work tables where my students will sit, then my students are in the conguration to work together when appropriate. ! I want a classroom where my students feel safe and comfortable to be

themselves. I will want my students to understand that the classroom is just as much theirs as it is mine. I will explain what parts of the classroom are dedicated to me, such as curriculum type stuff, technology and my desk area, but I will want the students to know the rest of the classroom is available to them. ! I would love a classroom that has the ability to use technology. I believe a smart-

board and projector system is a great way to teach and reach students. Smart-boards can be interactive and are a great way to be environmentally friendly as well. Using a smart-board allows the ability to save the information that is created on the board to look back on at later times.

I want my classroom to my safe. That will be one of my number one priority. My

students should be able to move around and exit the classroom in safe manner in ever case of an emergency. My students should know that they are in environment where their basic needs are met. (See last page for classroom map) Student Behavior ! In order for a classroom to run effectively there has to be guidelines, rules and

procedures established. For students to learn there must be a structure created and set in place. According to extensive research, there are many benets to helping students understand and accept classroom and school behaviors. In schools where classroom and school-wide behavior expectations are taught, practiced and retaught when students follow these clear guidelines, there is a signicant reduction in classroom disruptions (Jones, 2011, pg. 92). ! It is crucial to create and establish student behavior beginning the rst day of

school. I think that rules and procedures need to be taught right at the beginning, and students need to be held to those expectations. I believe by constantly modeling and explaining to students what is expected of them can be the greatest way in teaching how it should be done. Setting high expectations for students will hopefully lead students to creating habits, so in return the classroom will run more smoothly and affectively. ! When creating classroom rules, I believe students should be involved in the

process. I believe students need to feel that they are involved and then they will take ownership in the decisions. According to Jones (2011), when creating classroom rules,

it is important to develop rules that all students agree to follow as well as helping ensure a safe, caring environment (pg. 94). I believe once rules are established in the classroom, the teacher needs to spend time with the students helping them understand the rules. This can be done through extensive modeling and what it looks like and what it does not look like, then through upholding the rules, students will help create a caring and supportive environment. ! I believe procedures is another huge aspect in how the classroom runs.

Procedures need to be established the rst day of school. Procedures need to be practiced and modeled several times, and then the students need to be held to those standards. Students need to know the procedures to everything in the classroom, such as how they need to ask to use the restroom, how to line up for recess, what to do when their pencil breaks or how to ask for help. Developing these procedures starting the rst day of school, I believe will help ensure better student behavior as well as waste less valuable instruction time. ! The last aspect I believe is valuable in student behavior, is behavior plans and

objectives for the classroom. I believe students need to be noticed when they are behaving correctly. A great way to do this is through a clip chart. The clip chart is created so that students can work up. All the students start in the middle at a section called ready to learn. Then they can either move up or down depending on their behavior. The benecial factor to this chart is that if a student moves down for misbehaving, they still have the chance to behave correctly and move up. This way students can determine their outcome and feel a sense of responsibility for themselves. I also believe it is important to set behavior objectives in every activity that takes place

in the classroom. This way, the tone of the behavior is set, and hopefully less behavior issues will happen through the course of a lesson. (class notes, Oct. 4, 2012). ! In the end, I want a classroom where things run as smoothly as possible to

create more instructional time. I believe that this is done, by rst explicitly explaining and modeling classroom rules, procedures and expectations at the beginning of the year and slowly backing off on constantly reminding the students what it should look like and sound like and instead, holding them to those high expectations that were set and created at the beginning of the year. Respectful, Supportive Learning Environment ! I believe that creating a supportive, safe, caring classroom is extremely important

to the comfort and learning levels of the students. According to Woolfolf and Weinstein (2006) students prefer and respond to teachers that 1) establish caring relationships with students; 2) set limits and create a safe environment without being rigid, threatening, or punitive; and 3) made learning fun (Jones, 2011, p. 19). These three ideas I plan to focus and strive for as a teacher. ! From the rst day of school I believe it is crucial to create a supportive and safe

community in the classroom. This will be done by doing get to you you activities and spending time talking with the students. I plan to allow each of the students having time to explain themselves to their peers through all about me activities. I also plan as the teacher taking time to get to know each of my students individually. I plan to do this by reviewing their cumulative folders, spending time talking to them and hopefully getting to know their parents. I want my students to know that I care about each of them and want them to succeed.

David Parker (class notes, Nov. 8, 2012) explained the importance of listening to

students. I want my students to know that I will not judge them. I want them to know they can come and talk to me about anything and that I plan to look out for their best interests. The stronger relationship I build with my students the more I will be able to ask of them. The only way to build those relationships is by getting to know my students individually and mainly listening to them. ! I believe students need to be in a classroom that is more positive than negative

and where clear expectations are set and explicit feedback is provided to them (class notes, Oct. 4, 2012). Students needs to know what is expected of them, or they will not know what they truly need to accomplish. Students need to understand why a particular task at hand is occurring and how it will help them. I want my students to feel comfortable in making mistakes, because I believe that is where real learning occurs. When a mistake is made and then explained and xed, I believe it resonates more within a person. ! I not only want my students to know that I care about them, but that their peers

do as well. I believe a classroom that is built around the sense of community is where students are really going to succeed. I will need to focus on developing a classroom in this way by using strategies to allow students to get to know, support and work together. Research has showed that classrooms that are created around this showed improved academic performance but also this type of classroom can feel like a healthy family that can help decrease incidents of racism, harassment, and stereotyping, so in return students learn patience and compassion and develop an appreciation for the value of individual learners (Jones, 2011, p. 42).

How fantastic it would be for students to have the feeling of family in the

classroom and I believe that can be done by creating a supportive environment through a variety of activities, discussions and modeling of how we can be that way with one another. I believe in doing that I need to be the role model and be the rst one to help my students understand that I care about their success in the classroom. I will do that through getting to know my students, being positive, communicating high expectations with them, being descriptive, listening to them and being sensitive to each students backgrounds. (class notes, Oct. 4, 2012). Manage and Facilitate Instruction ! I believe managing and facilitating in the classroom comes down to student

engagement and knowing your students learning needs. I believe Brinkman, Forlini and Williams (2010) concept of The Big 8 of maximizing student engagement is a great format to follow when wanting to manage and facilitate the instruction taking place in the classroom. The Big 8 focuses on the aspects of the classroom dealing with expectations, time limits, cueing, prompts, proximity, signals, voice and tasking and I believe all 8 of these things play key and important roles to instruction in the classroom. ! I believe expectations is one of the rst things that needs to be set in place

before instruction occurs. Students need to know what it expected of them, and what will occur if they do not meet those expectations. ! Cues, attention prompts and signals all need to be developed in a classroom for

instruction to move smoothly. I plan to make sure to cue my students throughout a lesson. This can be done through complimenting a student for sitting quietly or reminding a student to focus up on the board. Attention prompts and signals are

essential to not wasting time, but students need to know the signals. Students need to know what to do if they need help or are nished. In schools, raising our hand is something that is engrained from day one, and I plan on instilling that within my students. I want them to know if they want to say something or need something to raise their hand. I also like the idea of when students are working independently to see 3 before me, meaning ask a neighbor, friend or someone nished before coming and talking to me. (class notes, Nov. 15, 2012). This then allows for me not to have as many students asking for me and being able to focus my attention on those students that need extra help. Last, attention prompts are big indictors in helping transition and move forward smoothly. I think its important to create prompts like class, class, class where then students say yes, yes yes and then you have their attention. In doing this less time is wasted on waiting. I do believe although that as a teacher, I can not talk over my students. If they want to waste my time, I will waste theirs. I want my students to know that when it is my time to talk, they need to focus on me and I plan to hold my students to that expectation. ! In the world of teaching, I can plan all I want, but my lessons are not always

going to pan out the way I want them too. So, I believe I need to be comfortable with being exible in my teaching and knowing what to do when I need to be. The lesson just might not be connecting with the students or a technology component goes out. I need to be prepared in what to do next by either having an alternate lesson or a different way to teach the lesson without the technological component. ! I would love a classroom that is full of technology like a smart-board, projector,

elmo and such because I believe this technology is so valuable in the world of education

now. So many different activities and lessons can be used using the smart-board. I love being able to project the computer up on the smart-board and create interactive lessons with my students. For example, during math, students are able to use online manipulatives to solve problems on the smart-board, and each of the students are able to see what the one student is doing on the board. This way the lesson becomes much more interactive for the whole class and participation levels will be higher. Promote Classroom Safety and Wellness ! I believe one of the number one things for students to learn, is for them to feel

safe in their learning. If a students basic needs are not met, they are not going to be able to focus on learning. I plan on creating a classroom that is safe and this is created around procedures, arrangement of classroom and the control level. ! Procedures are not just in place so that the day runs smoothly, but they are also

set in order to keep students safe. Students walk down the hall in a single le, so that they do not hurt themselves or others around them. I will need to explain that concept to my students; that we create the procedures and rules in the class and school in order for things to run smoothly, but also to keep each of them safe. ! The arrangement of the classroom is also important in the safe and wellness of

my students. They need to have a clear exit from the classroom and understand that the classroom is set up the way it is in order for their well being. Students need to understand how playing on their chairs is not safe and how they could really hurt themselves if they do not follow the rules. ! I want my students to know that I enjoy them and that I want to see them

succeed. Students need to feel a sense of power and efcacy in the classroom and I

can help create this by providing an environment for them where they know their opinion and thoughts matter. Students need to know that they have choice in their safety and wellness in the classroom and that they are team members with me in creating that environment. I do not want a classroom where I have total control all the time. As long as my students are being safe, I want them to explore learning on their own. I plan to help my students understand that by creating activities and lessons where they can push their learning into elements where they have a sense of choice in what they learn too (class notes, Sept. 13, 2012). Interact with Colleagues, Parents and others to Achieve Classroom Management Objectives ! In the world of education collaboration is essential. It would be too difcult to do

everything on my own. Interacting with colleagues and parents is almost as important as working with my students. My colleagues, parents and community members will be my support system throughout the school year. ! In a perfect world, I would love to have high parental involvement, but that is not

usually the situation. It all depends on the area and demographics of the school I am teaching in. I would love to have parents come in and read with students, do activities or just help around the classroom. Even sending stuff home with parents to do for the classroom would be benecial, but if I am in a school that this is not the case, I would want to make sure I had some type of form of communication with parents. I really like the idea of creating a classroom website or blog complied of all the different stuff going on in the classroom. Through the website I could set up a calendar of upcoming events and activities in the classroom, les of homework, or general concepts that are being

learned in the classroom. I also like the idea of sending home a weekly, or monthly newsletters to parents. These could include items from the website, upcoming dates things to be working on at home or what is or has been occurring in the classroom. With these newsletters, I would need to make sure to translate them for families that do not speak English as a rst language at home (Jones, 2011). Doing this shows that I care for my students and their cultural and linguistically backgrounds. ! Teachers are always bouncing ideas off of other people, what better people to do

this with than colleagues and grade level teams. I think is is important to be apart of the school community and spend time with the people that work in the school. I plan to eat lunch in the faculty room and even occasionally in the lunchroom. I will make sure to attend all types of meetings that are crucial to the school. I would want to get involved with different school committees. I plan to spend planning time with my grade level team. Through my experience I have seen how benecial it is to work with those in your same grade. Bounce ideas of each other, help plan the curriculum together and discuss ways to better serve the students. I believe a grade level team is truly a little family with the goal to be there for you in all types of situations. ! Classroom management is a crucial and essential part of the classroom and

teaching. When a classroom management system is in place, the school day will run much smoother for both myself and the students. I believe that parts of my classroom management system will change year to year depending on the school I am teaching in and the students that are apart of my class. I believe I will have the same type of philosophy, control levels and many rules and procedures, but I am also aware of the need to be exible in the world of education. It is essential to me to keep that in mind

and be willing to make and be aware of those changes and tweaks that need to be made.

Resources Brinkman, Forlini, Williams. 2010. The Big 8: Maximizing Student Engagement. Class Acts: Every Teachers Guide to Activate Learning: Lavendar Hill Press. Caldwell, D. 2012. Class Notes. Jones, V. (2011). Practical Classroom Management, Boston, MA: Pearson.