Austin Bogina

Classroom Management Reflection

9/11/2016

While reflecting back on my classroom management plan that I created two years ago, I
was pleasantly surprised to find myself still agreeing with a majority of what I had developed.
My two strongest areas are my classroom procedures and my introductory letter to parents. My
rules and guidelines and the policies I developed have adapted to some extent with my internship
and student teaching experiences but still remain as solid starting blocks for my teaching career.
Beginning with my classroom procedures and rules/guidelines I opened with the start of
the day when the students first enter the classroom. They will be expected to enter the room and
go directly to their cubbies to empty their bags and neatly gather their daily belongings. Once
they have everything in hand they will then return to their desk and remove all homework,
handouts, etc. and place them in the turn-in tray at the front of the classroom. I then went into
the specifics of what I expect from returned homework to avoid any accusations of students
turning it in and then it being my fault that I lost it. When turning in homework the students will
be expected to have the date in the upper left hand corner, the title of the assignment in the
middle, and their name in the upper right hand corner. All papers will be neatly stacked all
facing up and the same direction to keep everything organized.
Once the students have everything turned in and all their daily supplies are at their desk
they will need to visit the Lunch Board by the door at the front. On the board will be a magnet
with every students name on one which the students can then move to the correct location for
what meal they will be eating that day. They will have the choice of Lunch 1 which is the
main lunch, Lunch 2 which is the secondary lunch, and finally Lunchbox for all those that
brought their lunch. Above Lunch 1 and Lunch 2 will be what each of the meal choices

consists of so each student will be able to decide on their own what they will be eating that day.
Students eating the Lunch 2 meal will also know that when it is lunch time they must get a
lunch slip located directly below the board that shows the lunchroom workers which meal they
receive.
At all times students will be expected to use their whisper voices unless we are all
working together in a full-class discussion. This especially holds true at the start of the day when
our morning procedures are complete because on the Smart Board will be a Morning Wake-Up
activity that the students will be expected to work on until I am ready to begin the days actual
lesson. While this activity is going on the students will also be able to inform me of any doctors
appointments, changes to bus or parent pick-up at the end of the day, or other items such as this
so that the proper accommodations can be made beforehand instead of right when they are
leaving.
When it comes to my classroom rules the main emphasis is on respect. The students will
respect their classmates, their teachers, and also themselves at all times with no exceptions. I
will create a welcoming and friendly environment in my classroom so I need my students to not
take advantage of that and to be able to make the right choices for it to work. Another rule that I
will have in place is words before pictures because we will do plenty of writing and drawling
in our class but the students must understand that the words come first. I also have a rule about
students displaying proper learning posture while seated at their desks to ensure full attention is
on me and the lesson. My students will learn that before you talk, listen because often times
their questions or remarks are already comments that I will be making myself throughout the
lesson.

Finally, I picked this rule up during my Pre-Lab experience with Mrs. Debbie Restivo
several years ago and its having the students address teachers with yes maam, no maam and
yes sir, no sir. I was so impressed that she was able to teach her fourth graders this level of
respect for their teachers and supervisors that I knew I had to keep it as an optional rule for my
own classroom in the future. Whether or not I implement this rule will be determined by what
grade of students I get hired to teach so for now I will keep an asterisk by it.
After reviewing my Welcome Letter to Parents I was filled with a sense of nostalgia
because I can still remember sitting down two years ago to create that letter. I felt like I was
successful in grasping the parents attention by stating to them right from the start that their child,
themselves, and I would all three be working as a team during the school year. I know I wanted
my students parents to understand that they would be a vital part to the academic success of
their child and that I needed to be able to count on them for us to have a successful school year. I
also felt like I gave the parents a solid background on who I am and what I have done up till this
point. Finally, I knew I nailed the letter when I saw how I included important dates such as the
schools Open House date and time as well as the date and time for the first day of school.
For the second part of this assignment, the reflection on my current classroom
management, I am realizing that I need to focus more on developing several of these areas now
while student teaching. For starters, I personally feel that my classroom management when it
comes to discipline and authority is dreadful. I have constantly struggled with knowing where
to draw the line between where I stop being their teacher and turn into their friend. Another area
where my classroom management needs work is with my own confidence in leading a classroom
full of students. Experience will be a prime factor is growing this area but I will admit that I
have developed as I have progressed through the education program, just not as much as I had

hoped. Another area of classroom management that I still need to improve on is time
management. I struggle with time management both inside and outside of school so this is
something that I must focus on day-in and day-out.
From this past Fridays presentation I realized that I do a good job of factoring in the
easily overlooked tasks throughout the day and also prioritizing them in order of importance. I
also maintain an orderly classroom while remaining fair, positive, and constant at all times. I
pride myself in praising my students successes nearly too often because I believe in celebrating
the small victories. While I do my best each day to make learning fun I do understand that there
are going to be days where I must rely on just presenting the information.
Being a male in an elementary classroom presents several inconveniences and issues that
could otherwise be avoided, I am learning each day the ways that insure positive feedback from
my students. I have a naturally deep voice at most times so I understand I must pay attention to
the level I keep my voice at throughout the day. I have yet to have to really raise my voice to my
students so I am truthfully eagerly awaiting that day so I will finally know if it makes a
difference or not. Also, I enjoy constantly moving around the room and interacting with every
student because it gives me an opportunity to get to know my students through one-on-one
communication.
Finally, after listening to Dr. Dockers speak on Friday I feel that one of the most powerful
takeaways was her list titled Top 13 of Management. Several of my favorite items on the list
are now ones I am already implementing into my own classroom management plan. On the list
was dont take misbehavior personally which is something that I have needed to hear for a
very long time. Another, think about the why of behavior allows me to process the actions that

the student displayed to attempt to find what triggered the behavior which will ideally show me
how to avoid a similar issue in the future. Lastly, pick your battles is a personal favorite
outside of the classroom so I was thrilled to see that it is an acceptable management technique
even inside the classroom. If I am pushing a student to finish an assignment independently and
once they are finished they move around the room to get some of their jitters out then I am not
going to then get on them for doing so. I want to win the big battles with my students so to do
that I cannot fuss over all of the small miscellaneous issues because I must always remember that
my students are still young kids.
To conclude, Fridays classroom management presentations paired with my reflection on
my own previously developed management plan have been beyond beneficial for my continued
growth and development in this profession. I have already begun noticing myself thinking ahead
to how I can enhance my classroom management at all times of the day. It seems that what I
needed more than anything was being refreshed on proper classroom management techniques
and tools that I could use throughout the day. I am now eager to see how my classroom plans
develops till the end of the semester before I get a classroom of my own. Overall, I believe that
with a few adaptions I will have the opportunity to begin my teaching career with a welldeveloped and thorough classroom management plan that will have me prepared for almost
anything.