ClassroomManagementPlan

KoltonBoyer

1.ManagementStyleandPhilosophicalBeliefs:

ClassroomManagementStyleScore
OneofthemajorobservationsthatIhavemadeinpracticumsandfrommy
studentteachingclassroomisthatoneofthebestwaystomaintainaproductiveand
positiveatmosphereisbuildingstrongrelationshipswithstudents.Havingastrong
presence,orassertivebehavior,intheclassroom,likeIsawfirsthand,wasinstrumental
inthemaintenanceofaharmoniousclassroom.Thisassertivebehaviorisdescribedas
theabilitytostandupforoneslegitimaterightsinwaysthatmakeitlesslikelythat
otherswillignoreorcircumventthem(Emmer,Everston&Worsham,2003).Duringmy
courseworkasignificantstatisticthatInoticedwasthat,8outof10saytheycouldbe
moreeffectiveteachersiftheydidnothavetospendsomuchtimeondisruptive
students.
TobetterunderstandmyspecificclassroommanagementstyleItookan
assessmenttofindmyclassroommanagementstylepreferenceswhichyielded
interestingresults.OfeachfourtypesbeingassessedforAuthoritarian,Authoritative,
Democratic,andLaissezfairetherecouldbeapossible15points.ThecategoryIgot
thehighestscoreinisAuthoritativewithascoreof15.Thenextwasdemocraticwith9.
Iscored4outof15pointsinbothAuthoritarianandLaissezFairequestions.Whatthis
meanstomeisanaffirmationofwhatIthought.Igenerallythinkthatitisbesttolet
studentshavefreedomintheclassroomtotalkwithpeersandsuch,butthereneedsto
beanunderstandingandexpectationofgettingworkdone.
WhileIbelievethatstudentsshouldhavetheabilitytoworkindependently,andin
groups,withminimalinterventiontherewillbetimesinwhichstudentswillstrayfrom

theirtasks.CantersassertivedisciplinemodelisoneoftheclosestapproachesIhave
foundtomybeliefsduetotheexpectationofgoodbehaviorandtherecognitionofboth
goodandbadbehaviors.AnotherisJonesapproachtousingnonverbalcues,butI
disagreewiththestancethatthestudentsshouldntberewardeduntiltheybehave
properly.Therearetimeswhenstudentsneedtobepraisedfortaskssothattheycan
haveawintogetbackonagoodcourse.OneofthemainpartsoftheJonesmodel
thatIdolikeisthatitrevolvesaroundfloatingthroughouttheclassroomtouseproximity
tohelpkeepstudentsontask.Anymoreseriousofviolationsoftheestablished
classroomrules/policieswouldbedealtwithbasedontheseverity.
2.EstablishingaPositiveClassroomCulture

Todevelopapositiveclassroomculturethereneedstobetwoapproaches.One
aspectiscreatinganenvironmentthatisfun,rigorous,andsafe.Theotheristo

establishfairpoliciesandruleswiththestudentsinput.AtthestartoftheschoolyearI
wouldliketogivethestudentsasurveyabouttheirinterests.Thissurveywouldbeboth
academicandpersonalsothatIcangetasenseofwhatisimportanttoeachstudent.
Thesurveywouldalsoservetoestablishtheresourcesavailabletothestudent.To
createamorerigorousenvironmentIwouldhavethestudentscompleteaconceptmap
sothatpreexistingknowledgeamongstallofthestudentscanbecoveredmuchmore
quickly.
Makingtheclassroomsafeisgoingtobedriventhroughpoliciesandpractices.
Lettingstudentsknowthatcriticalbehaviorisokay,butpersonalattacksarenot,would
beonewaytohelpwithcreateasafeenvironment.Whileacertainamountofstudent
safetycanbeaffordedinthepolicies,creatinggoodpracticeswillgofurtherforstudents
longtermbehaviors.Givingthestudentchancestousetechnologyanddiscussion
appropriately,withscaffolding,theywillderivemorelongtermbenefit.

3.DevelopingClassroomRulesandProcedures:

OneofthefirstactivitiesIwoulddowithstudentsistocreaterulesandpolicies
fortheclassroom.Theirinputwouldbevaluableforboththerulesthemselvesaswell
asfortherepercussions.Thesubjectswewouldcomeupwithrulesandrepercussions
forwouldbe:
1. Tardiness
2. Profanity
3. Outbursts
4. HallPasses
5. Latework
6. FoodandDrinks
7. Expectationsforindependentwork
8. Expectationsforwhenthereisasubstitute

9. ExtraTime
Thestudentswouldbeabletosetreasonableexpectationsfortheirclass.Inthefuture
therulesfromotherclassescouldbereadtogivethemanideaofwhatdirectionto
take.Studentswouldalsoneedtosettheexpectationfordisciplineaswell.When
detentionsarebroughtin,whenparentsarecontacted,etc.Tohelpavoidtherebeing
downtime,Iwouldliketohaveafullsemesterprojectthatthestudentsarebuilding
towardssothattheycanworkonpartsofitduringdowntime.Thissemesterproject
wouldhelpsubstitutesguidetheclassduringdowntimeaswell.Theworkedwould
alsobemoreproductivethanjustnormalbusywork.
Therearesomerulesthatwouldbegiventostudentsduetobeingtiedtoschool
policies.Otherswouldbedependentoniftheclassisblended.Iftheclassisblended
someoftherulesIwouldhavewouldbe:
1. Allactivitiesandcommentsneedtoberespectful.

2. Youmustreportanyactivityyoufinddisrespectful.
3. Allinformationusedneedstobecitedappropriately.
4. Allassignmentsaredueby11:59pmonthedatelistedinthesyllabusorgivenin
class.
5. Unlessyouaretoldotherwise,allcourseworkdoneonlinecanbereviewedby
peers.
6. Ifyouhavedifficultywithanytechnologyitisyourresponsibilitytoreportthe
problembeforetheduedate.
Otherdisciplinaryinfractionsthataremuchmoreseverelikeweapons,drugs,or
bullying/harassmentwouldbehandledinconjunctionwithadministration.Lesser
disciplinaryissueswouldbehandledattheclassroomlevel.
Theuseoftechnologyinclasswouldalsohaveguidedlines.Therewouldbea
definiteBYOD(bringyourowndevice)mindsetintheclass,butsomedaysitsimply
wouldnotbeneeded.Theuseofashoeorganizerwouldprovideasafeplacefor
studentstokeeptheirdevices.Thetrafficlightwouldalsogivestudentsnonverbal
cuesastowhentheirdeviceshouldbeusedornotused.Ifthereisaclothespinnext
tothecolorinthetrafficlighttheuseoftechnologywouldbedictated.

4.ClassroomLayout

IntheclassroomIwentwith6tablesthatallowformovementaroundthe
studentsfromavarietyofangles.Thesmallcentraltableismeanttoprovideaplace
demonstrationsoflabsafetyortofacilitatefishbowlexercises.Theotherrectangular
tablescouldalsoberotatedtoformanoverallhexagonthatwouldbeusedforround
tablediscussions.Alsointheidealizedroomisanookthatcouldaccommodated
oneononeswherethestudentisshieldedfromtherestoftheclass,buttheteacher
canstillhavelineofsight.Thenookwouldalsoallowanareaforsmallgroupworkora
placewherestudentscouldhavelessinputstodistractthem.Inonecorneristhe
teacher'sdeskthatallowsforseparationoflabmaterials.Thistotalclassroomlayoutis
meanttobecollaborativewhileprovidingspaceforindividualizedattention.Thereare
alsotwopresentationpointssothatdifferingviewscanbepresentedinthecaseof
classroomdiscussions.


5.MonitoringtheClassroomandRespondingtoStudentMisbehavior

Monitoringwhatcancauseaproblem,Helpingstudentsfeelsecuresothey
notjusttheavailablewhatisvisible.dontfeelliketheyhavetobehave
poorly

Tohelppreventpoorbehavioritisimportanttosetstudentsupforsuccess.On
thefirstdayofclassitisimportanttohelpstudentsunderstandexpectationsofrules
andpolicies.Creatingaseatingchartthatdiscouragespoorbehaviorisanotherwayto
helppreventstudentsfrommakingabadchoice.
Inallpracticalsensetherearegoingtobetimesinwhichstudentsmisbehave,it
isinevitable.Ifpreventionhasfailed,whichitwill,oneofthefirststepsIwouldtakeisto
reactimmediately.Thisispossiblebyhavingwithitnessaboutwhatisgoingoninthe
class.Toreactquicklyitisimportanttobeactivelyengagedwiththeclassandmove
around.Anotherwaytohelpcorrectbehaviorsistolookforthereasonthebehavioris
happening.AsdescribedinMarzanosbooktheabilitytolookforthereasonbehindthe
behaviorisimportantforobjectivelylookingatthemisbehavior.Oncethebehavioris
identifieditispossibletoidentifywhatcantriggerthebehaviorinanattempttoprevent
it.Itisalsoimportanttoevaluatewhatbehaviorsneedtobeconfronted.Therearegoing
tobestudentsthataremotivatedbyattentionandorpowerthatwillwanttocreate

conflict.Thebestwaytodiffusethesesituationsistogivethestudentsperceived
choicesandallowthemachancetoselfregulate.
Studentsneedtounderstandtheconsequencesofmisbehavior.Ideallythe
studentswillhavehadachancetohelpdeveloptherulesandtheresultsofmisbehavior
atthebeginningofthesemesteroryear.Theconsequencesshouldbeobjective.
Whilethereshouldbeuniformitythereshouldbediscussionswithstudentsina
oneononesettingtoseewhatcausedtheproblemandtomakesureitdoesn'thappen
movingforward.

6.ParentsasPartners

Parentinvolvementisgoingtobeonethecornerstonestomyoverallclassroom
managementplan.Mostparentswantthebestfortheirchildandfeelamissiftheydon't
dowell.Ifthoseparentsareinvolvedintheirchildseducationtheycanhelptoensure
betterresults.AccordingtoaHuffingtonPostarticlebyAlexKuczynskiBrown
Nearly
onequarter23percentofAmericansattributetheirfailuretocompletehighschool
toalackofparentalsupportorencouragement,(
KuczynskiBrown
,2012).
Thefirststeptomakingaconnectiontoparentswouldbetohavethemfillouta
survey.Thissurveywouldhelptoestablishsomemainpointsofcommonality.The
questionswouldbeliketheonesintheattachedartifact.Asecondstepwouldbeto
keepparentsintheloop.Insectionthreethereisalateworkpassthatincludesparent
interaction.Thestudentswouldneedtogetaparentsignatureinordertogettheninety
percentcredit.Thirdwouldbeaconductingparentteacherconferenceswithout
surprises.Theideaoftheconferencewouldnotbetosurpriseparentswithgoodor
badnews,itwouldbetodiscusswaystohelpeachstudent.Theconferencesshould
alsobeachanceforparentstoaskquestions.
WiththeprevalentuseofLMSsIwouldliketoallowparentsaccesstothe
coursecalendarifthesystemallowedit.Anotherwaytohelpstudentsthroughparent
involvementwouldbetoprovidethemwithatestprep/reviews.Thesepreps/reviews
wouldhavequestionsthatcouldhelptheparentsquiztheirstudents.Itwouldbe
importanttoprovidebulletedanswerssothattheparentsareabletomakesurethe
studentshavethecorrectanswers.

References

Emmer,E.T.,Everston,C.M.,&Worsham,M.E.(2003)Classroommanagementfor
secondary (6thed).Boston:Allyn&Bacon

KuczynskiBrown,A.(2012,November15).HighSchoolDropoutsWorsenedByLack
OfSupport,BecomingAParent:Survey.RetrievedMay12,2015,from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/15/lackofsupportbecoming_n_213796
1.html