Alex Saint

Classroom Management Plan

When I graduate from the University of Montana, I want to be able to teach Junior
High or High School Theatre. This, like other classes comes with its own unique set of
challenges when it comes to classroom management. I have spent most of the semester
think about how I would use the strategies I have learned in class within my own classroom,
and I believe that I have come up with a solid plan. Below, I will discuss the six dimensions
of classroom management, and input my own ideas to implement my own plan. Overall, I
am working towards a student-centered plan that is suitable for a theatrical classroom, and
this plan shall reflect that.
Physical
For the physical dimension of classroom management, I will start with the layout of
the classroom. Theatre is an art that needs quite a bit of open space, so my classroom will
not have desks, but instead chairs arranged in a semi-circle. The rest of the room will
generally be kept bare, and that provides more room for the students to work. The open
space also gives the opportunity for students with exceptionalities to have more room to
move, if need be.
The classroom will need to have minimal distraction as well. Since this class
is focused on the students and their learning, it wouldnt be a good idea to have many
things that the students would be able to be overly distracted with. This conflicts, of course
with having prop pieces for the students to use, but there needs to be a balance in which the
students can access these materials if need be, but not always around to distract the students.
I would probably store most prop and set materials in a storage closet so that the students
can have access to these things, but they are also out of sight when the students need to be
more focused on themselves.
On the other hand, though, Theatre isnt really a technology heavy class, and I find
myself struggling to include technology in the classroom. I have been able to think of some
AT, such as physical room layouts and braille scripts for those with visual impairments,
and laptops, other typing devices for those unable to write notes, but other than that, most
of the class focuses on performing or outside representations of design.

I nstructional
As stated before, I have a student centered teaching philosophy. I believe that
students should be able to choose topics and projects that both fit within the curriculum and
cater to the students interests. I am a huge proponent of having the students in my class
assist in selection of the material that they will be rehearsing and working with over the
coming semester. If the students do not like or feel they had a choice in the material, then
they will gain no appreciation for it, and any connection with the material will be lost. I
also want the material and taught concepts to be able to reach all students, and I can do by
representing the information in multiple ways.
Theatre itself is inherently a multi-learning style field. The entire art is based around
representing information in many ways. There is the script, which is the written message of
the playwright, then, the actors speak the line, which allows the audience to hear the
message, and on top of that, they also show the message through movement and actions
shown on stage. Technical aspects of theatre also contribute to the representation of
material through lights, sounds, set, and costumes.
As I teacher I want to give my students the opportunity to represent what they have
learning through as many as these ways as they wish. I myself plan to show material
through at least three ways: through speaking, through a written handout, and through a
third way dependent on the material, be it through acting, building, or some other visual
aspect. On top of that, I want to give my students the same ability. Of course, there will be
specific assignments in which the student will need to perform, or design, depending on the
project, but when the opportunity is there for the students to show their learning through
acting, writing, or design, I want to give them the option to explore that facet of their
creativity.



Organizational
Theatre requires quite a bit of classroom organization, and the work environment
for the students needs to reflect that. As stated in the physical aspect, the classroom will
have an open layout which will give the students the room they need to not be restricted
within the classroom, but on top of that, the classroom will have the schedule for the days
rehearsal work written for the students to see when they enter the room. This will give the
students and idea of how the day will work, and how much time they will have for each
item on the list.
Next, I want students to be able to actively monitor their progress in the class.
Therefore, I want to be able to have a list of all the students grades available for the
students to see every few weeks. To keep confidentiality, though, each grade will not be
listed with the students name, but a unique I.D. that only the student knows. This will keep
the anonymity of the students while allowing them to keep track of their progress in the
class, as opposed to only finding out once or twice over the course of the class. With this,
the students will be able to know almost immediately when they need to work towards
raising their grade, or when they are doing just fine.
Another item I came across is the idea of collaboration. Theatre is usually an
elective class, and therefore doesnt have the enormous amount of standards to follow that
some of the other core subjects do. Because of that, I would love to look for ways to
collaborate with other teaching in incorporating certain aspects of other classes into the
theatre program. The first idea that comes to mind is using the theatrical version of English
literature that the students are working on in another class, or incorporating history by
exploring theatre that happened within the same time period as they are currently learning
about. Another option is to collaborate with the art classes and teacher(s) to help with the
design projects for the class, such as having the art classes assist in painting and building
the set and stage. Using these collaborations, I will be able to expand the students learning
on these topics, while at the same time assisting the other teachers in expanding the
representation of their material. While I am aware that this may not work for every class,
but I would like to try to make it work for as many classes as possible.

Procedural
Theatre has many important procedures, and a class devoted to theatre even more so.
There are many procedures that the students will encounter; such as classroom set up,
which includes arranging the chairs; stage set up/cleanup, which involves getting the stage
ready for performances; and of course, getting and cleaning design materials. All of these
procedures are necessary for the classroom to run, but all of them will take some time to
learn. It would not be a good idea to introduce all of these procedures at once, since it
would most likely overwhelm the students. So instead, I will introduce the procedures over
time, ideally in a way that lines up with the actual production schedule, so that the students
are not swamped with both classwork and classroom procedures.
When introducing these procedures, I will begin by discussing the procedure with
the class, then, I will model the procedure. This will allow the students to both hear and see
the procedure so that they get an idea on how the procedure is supposed to work. Then, I
will allow the students to practice the procedure themselves, so that they may get a feel for
it. Then, following that, the students will know the expectation from then on out regarding
these procedures, and when they need to use these procedures. This leaves the students with
an expectation of responsibility.
Behavioral
Rules within the class will be a combination of what I expect behaviorally from the
students, and what they also believe what should be expected of them. The rules will be
made within the first days of class through discussion that will involve the students ideas
and concerns as well as my own. One of the most common rules will be used is to respect
other students performances. Respect is a huge component of practicing theatre. This means
that students will quietly observe another students performance, and not disrupt the
performance of another student. Another rule that could be put place is to use appropriate
behavior when acting and selecting scenes. So many times do students want to be
humorous in a theatre class, but sometimes, this can get out of hand. The students need to
be able know when they want to do something as an actual character choice, or just to be
funny. Either way, some acting choices can lead to students crossing some boundaries that
are not appropriate for school, and students need to know that this is not appropriate within
the classroom.
If a student were to exhibit inappropriate behavior during class, I would ask the
student to try a different acting choice, and not bring the behavior to the forefront of the
class activity. Outside of class, I would talk to the student about his/her behavior, and how
the student might be able to correct this behavior in the future. I would make use of I
statements, as to not make the student feel defensive and accused for the behavior. If the
problem continues to persist, then I would work with the student to develop a plan to stop
the unwanted behavior from occurring. This way, the student is an active participant is
his/her own plan.
If a student seems to be struggling academically with this class, then I will use
more intensive instruction to see if that corrects the problem. If that is not the case, then
with guidance from the Principal and Special Ed. instructor, I will then begin to implement
other techniques more suited to this students learning style, while still working with the
other students in the class.
Overall, I have put a lot of thought into this plan, and at the same time, I realize that
is not set in stone. This plan may change over time depending on the needs of my students
and the needs of the school. While that may be the case, at least I have a starting point to
work my way through classroom management.





References For Classroom Management Strategies
Martin, Jack. Self-regulated learning, social cognitive theory and agency.2004. Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.
Schraw, Gregory, and Moshman, David. Metacognitive theories. 1995. Education
Psychological Review.
Page, Melissa, and Simmons, Amber M. Motivation students through power and choice.
2010. National Council of Teachers of English.
Kubow, Patricia K. and Kinney, Mark B. Fostering democracy in middle school classrooms.
2000. Washington, D.C. The Social Studies.
Hall, Philip S. and Nancy D. Building relationships with challenging children. 2000.
Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.
Mawhinney, Thomas S. and Sagan, Laura L. The power of personal relationships. 2007. The
Phi Delta Kappa.