MANAGEMENT AND INSTRUCTIONAL PLAN

Class Rules/Expectations/Guidelines & Routines: Proactive Strategies

The major rule that I will have in my classroom will be showing respect to all members
of the class community. In a word web displayed on the overhead projector, I will map out the
associations that students have with the word respect so that we can come to conclusions about
what specific behaviors would display respect to one another in the classroom setting. I will
provide students with sentence starters for how they might respectfully contribute to class
discussion (Appendix C). By starting with this rule and its explanations, I hope to establish
stronger student-teacher and student-student relationships and ensure that everyone feels safe and
valued in our classroom environment. Students will also be required to follow all school rules,
which I will delineate for students on the first day of class.
As for expectations I will have in my classroom, I will anticipate that students have all
come to class prepared with the materials texts, pencils, journals, etc. that they need for the
days lesson. If students need to bring something they usually do not have in the classroom, then
I will specify this expectation in advance by telling students a class or two ahead of time and by
leaving a reminder on the board. Coming to class with all needed materials will maximize
instructional time and help transitions between stages of lessons to go more smoothly (Pianta,
Hamre, & Mintz, 2012). Additionally, I will expect students to take risks by asking questions and
trying new approaches to learning via their products for assessments and in-class activities. From
the beginning of the year, I will be careful to use language in accordance with a growth mindset
and praise students specifically for effort. These actions on my part are aimed to normalize
mistakes in the classroom and to help students develop their own growth mindsets about their
potential for achievement.

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I will also encourage students to take part in the development of classroom R/E/Gs.
While I will begin with a framework of those rules that are crucial to the success of our class, I
will expand upon these as explained in the previous paragraph with the example of the respect
word web so that students can see and understand the behaviors that they are supposed to enact
in accordance with each rule. I will allow students to discuss consequences for lesser rules, such
as what should happen if they forget to turn in a homework assignment the first time versus the
fourth time. Students may be more likely to adhere to these rules and their consequences if they
assisted in creating them, as this process will give them a sense of autonomy in the structure of
the classrooms behavior management policies. However, I will reassure students that breaking
more severe school rules, such as becoming violent in class, will result in set consequences
according to the school system.
In order to help maintain behavioral management in the classroom, I will use a number of
routines related to different activities that students will learn to anticipate in class. I will establish
daily instructional routines that aim to make the most out of class time, including do now
activities such as journal entries or brainstorming sessions at the beginning of class. Students will
first be shown how to look to the board for their do now instructions and then retrieve their
journals from their class bin if necessary for the activity. As the year progresses, they will
internalize these instructions and need fewer reminders as the weeks pass. In terms of
assessments, I will have several routines in place depending upon the type of assessment. For
formative assessments such as exit slips, I will show students where to turn these in at the end of
class perhaps to a tray on my desk at the front of the classroom. For more formal or summative
assessments such as quizzes and tests, I will explain to students that they will need to come
prepared for the test and retrieve a pencil or pen before the test begins. Reminders for such

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routines can be posted up in the classroom toward the beginning of the year and will be removed
when students learn to accomplish these tasks naturally.
As for behavioral management, I will have set routines in place to deal with less serious
forms of rule-breaking, such as talking during class. I will first give students a verbal warning,
which can be done quietly so that only the student hears. If the student still exhibits the same
behavior continuously, I will ask him/her to speak with me during lunch or free period. Removal
from class will be used as a last resort if the student consistently repeats the same problem
behavior and distracts other students from learning. However, I will attempt to avoid this action
plan, as there is a strong positive relationship between time engaged in academic learning and
student achievement (Gregory, Skiba, & Noguera, 2010, p. 60). I will strive to keep all of my
students in the classroom and participating in our learning activities, although exceptions may
exist if students need help from other professionals, such as a guidance counselor, in order to
work on their behaviors.
With these routines for instruction, assessment, and behavioral management in place, I
will be able to maximize instructional time in order to better achieve curriculum goals and
objectives. Enacting behavioral management routines in particular will help me to be consistent
with the goal of creating a safe, caring classroom environment (Weinstein & Novodvorsky,
2015, p. 297). As a result, students will feel a sense of affiliation and belonging in this classroom
where actions taken in response to misbehaviors are consistently fair. Periodically, I will allow
students some choice in the route that our routines take for the day; for example, I may give them
the opportunity to choose the do now assignment or discussion activity that they wish to take
part in. This change in the normal schedule will help to build adolescents sense of autonomy and

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power in the classroom, as they will periodically have a choice as to what direction they wish to
take their learning in.
In turn, students will learn personal responsibility alongside the power of choice that they
receive in the classroom. During group activities, students will display individual accountability
by being graded partially on their own contribution to a project in addition to the efforts of the
group as a whole. Thus, individual students will be required to complete an identifiable portion
of the work of their group (Weinstein & Novodvorsky, 2015). In order to help students work
together as a group, I will consistently model social and emotional learning competencies for
students, particularly self-management and self-regulation strategies (Jones et al., 2013). I will
show students how I might plan ahead in preparation for an upcoming group project or
individual assignment and ask them to create action plans with accompanying calendars to selfmanage their progress. I will also provide students with sentence starters as previously discussed
to give them helpful hints for how to regulate their reactions during group discussions and
respond respectfully to peers (Appendix C). Additionally, I will ask students to self-assess their
progression in these skills by filling out checklists or rubrics reflecting on their progress. These
periodic self-assessments will encourage students to monitor their own self-regulation and selfmanagement skills and decide how they can improve in future lessons.
My English content area will also impact the way that I focus on certain routines in my
classroom. As I plan to use many discussion formats where students explore different literary
works and concepts together in groups, my routines will necessitate showing students how to
move quietly and quickly to small group sessions from large class discussions. I will provide an
overview of my expectations for students during these routine times and will take notes during
the first couple of weeks of class to determine what routines students need more practice in.

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Then, we will review these routines again in a whole class format and practice, for example, a
think-pair-share activity to test students progress in moving from individual to paired to whole
class discussions. As for routines for assessment purposes, I will tell students in the first week of
class how and where to turn in homework assignments, as well as their journals used during
diagnostic do now activities and formative assessments such as exit slips. Additionally, I will
proactively tell them about periodic quizzes and tests they can expect at the ends of literary texts
or instructional units as well as routines for getting into testing mode in the classroom. For
example, I will likely ask students to move their desks from the normal interior loop arrangement
(Appendix A) so that there is space between desks for all students to work independently.
All of these aforementioned R/E/Gs will proactively address any behavioral issues that
may arise during class. Students will be aware of the expectations as well as the consequences
for them, as they will be involved in forming these guidelines themselves. Thus, they will feel a
sense of affirmation for their ideas in the R/E/G drafting process, as well as affiliation in
belonging to a caring and fair classroom community. These R/E/Gs and routines will help
students feel comfortable in a positive learning environment, as well as make my expectations
visible to students. Positive student-teacher relationships will be formed during this collaborative
process of forming and discussing R/E/Gs and their rationales.

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References
Estes, T. H., Mintz, S. L., & Gunter, M. A. (2011). Instruction: A models approach. Boston,
MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Gregory, A., Skiba, R. J., & Noguera, P. A. (2010). The achievement gap and the discipline gap:
Two sides of the same coin? Educational Researcher, 39(1), 59-68.
Jones, S. M., Bouffard, S. M., & Weissbourd, R. Educators social and emotional skills vital to
learning. Kappan, 94(8), 62-65.
Lemov, D. (2010). Teach like a champion: 49 techniques that put students on the path to college.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Olson, K. (2009). Wounded by school: Recapturing the joy in learning and standing up to old
school culture. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Pianta, R. C., Hamre, B. K. & Mintz, S. L. (2012). Classroom Assessment Scoring System
Secondary Manual. Charlottesville, VA: Curry School of Education.
Schlechty, P. C. (2011). Engaging students: The next level of working on the work. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Shevalier, R. & McKenzie, B. A. (2012). Culturally responsive teaching as an ethics- and carebased approach to urban education. Urban Education, 47(6), 1086-1105.
Tomlinson, C. A., & Imbeau, M. B. (2010). Leading and managing a differentiated classroom.
Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Weinstein, C. S. & Novodvorsky, I. (2015). Middle and secondary classroom management:
Lessons from research and practice. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

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Appendices
Appendix A
Fredric Joness Interior Loop Arrangement (Weinstein & Novodvorsky, 2015, p. 32)
WELCOME!

Key
Students desk
Chalkboard
Appendix B

Teachers desk

Doorway

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Seating for group work with equal numbers of students, such as cooperative learning activities
WELCOME!

Key
Students desk
Chalkboard
Appendix C

Teachers desk

Doorway

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Sentence Starters
Ask a Question:
-

Do you think
Why do you think
What makes you say
How does this relate to

Make a Comment:
-

I see where youre coming from, but I think it means

I understand why you would say that. However, I think
I like that idea, and it also reminds me of
I appreciate your comment/feedback. Thank you for

Clarify Something:
-

Im hearing you say this Is that what you meant?

Im sorry, could you repeat that?
Im not sure I understand your point.
Could you please repeat what you said? I didnt quite hear it.

Remember to:
Provide wait time. Let others in your group think for a while before you jump in.
If there is someone in your group who hasnt spoken, ask him/her for his/her opinion.
Be respectful to others opinions and backgrounds as we discussed during our class
norms.