SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN 1

Signature Assignment: Classroom Management Plan

Larissa Ballardo

California State University, Dominguez Hills

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The classroom assigned for my fieldwork is a Kindergarten classroom. The classroom is

inviting with spacious and vibrant features, including colorful bulletin boards containing student

work. There is a multi-colored rug that seats thirty students and five tables, with six to seven

seats for children to complete their school work. The teacher is positive and encouraging, yet has

set high expectations for all of her students to follow. There are rules and procedures that are

consistently practiced. The class is comprised of approximately twenty-five students.

Amongst these students, there are three students that have been identified or viewed as an

English Learner, one with special needs, and one having academic difficulty in some areas. The

English learner is a boy named “Christian” who was previously in Transitional Kindergarten, and

is a Kindergartener this year. In terms of academics, he is progressing well. He knows most of

the letters in the alphabet, although he identifies “b” for “d”. Linguistically, “Christian” is very

verbal. According to his teacher, he is developing in the English Language. “Christian” is an

enthusiastic learner and is excited to learn new concepts.

After conversing with the teacher, one student she identified for a possible SST referral is

a student named “Robert”. “Robert” is also a Kindergartener, who the teacher mentions to have

very little or no experience in academic and social activities and tasks. After further observation,

he demonstrates trouble completing tasks, for instance, he struggles using tools, materials, such

as crayons and pencils, and following sequential directions. In academics, “Robert” would need

extra support, practice, and experiences. I believe it would benefit him to work one-on-one with

an aide and the teacher, and expose him to activities that will assist him with his fine motor skills

and letter and phonemic awareness. Practicing these concepts at home will also benefit him.

Another student who is struggling academically is a boy named “Steven”. After

observing “Steven”, he seems to be having trouble academically with reading and math. He has
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difficulty utilizing his fine motor skills and identifying letters. When conducting my fieldwork, I

worked with students on practicing their current “rainbow lists” of sight words, and “Steven” is

on the first list and is only familiar with the word “a”. In math, he is able to count from 0-5,

however, he cannot write his numbers yet. According to his teacher, “Steven’s” development in

language ranges as lower average. He is somewhat verbal in the classroom by answering

questions with short sentence responses. I believe “Steven” needs more academic experiences at

school, some academic support, and practice at school and in the home.

My classroom management plan will be a routine and procedures based plan, gearing

towards the engagement focus. I plan to achieve cultural competence by learning and

understanding my own culture as well as biases of other culture. I will also implement cultural

competence by learning, understanding, and incorporating my students’ cultures through writing,

music, literature, and projects. This will also allow myself and my students to learn and

understand each student’s cultural values and beliefs (Pinto, 2013). Through this process, I hope

to achieve cultural proficiency and be able to provide equitable learning opportunities for diverse

learners.

My classroom will have set routines and procedures that are set from the moment my

students walk into our classroom. Pinto states “many successful teachers also prepare the room

to minimize disruptions, plan lessons to flow smoothly, and design routines to maintain

momentum.” (Pinto, 2013). At the beginning of every school day, my students will walk to the

classroom, and as they walk into the class, I plan to happily greet my students with a smile and

tell them “Good Morning. How are you today?”. my students will enter our classroom ready to

learn. The students will then put their backpacks on their assigned chairs and sit in their assigned

spot on the carpet. The school day will begin with a class community meeting, where students
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can share news, ask questions, and participate in relevant topics of discussion that are important

to students. After, instruction will start with a morning opening of warm-up activities such as

reading, journaling, or practice problems. In addition, throughout the school day, students will

have several opportunities to ask questions and participate by sharing or speaking about a

concept. My students will know that it is expected that one person will speak at a time and they

must listen respectively and wait patiently if they would like to comment or ask a question.

Students will also participate in a rotation of student jobs, including the line leader, door monitor,

paper collector, bathroom buddies, light monitor, and attendance monitor. This will promote

responsibility, leadership, and the helping of their classroom community and others.

When establishing the rules and discipline of my classroom, I plan to use the basis of

setting high and concise expectations. From the first day of school, my students will be informed

of my expectations, individually and as a class. Because research shows rules that are negotiated

by teachers and students are more meaningful and effective, I will also ask my students what

rules they believe should be added to our current list (Pinto, 2013). These guidelines will be

known as “Scholarly Look-Fors”, and will be presented in a positive manner; for example, one

“look for” may be always have eyes watching and ears listening. When establishing these

guidelines, I will also consider my students culturally diverse needs and make modifications to

the guidelines as needed. Once the “Scholarly Look-Fors” and expectations are set, I plan to

have them displayed on a poster as a visual aid and resource for the students that may need to be

reminded of our classroom expectations. My main expectations will be for students to respect

themselves, teachers, and fellow students at all times, for students to always try their best to

accomplish their goals, complete all their class work and homework and turn it in at the

designated time, and organize and take care of our classroom and materials. To manage these
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rules, I will consistently reinforce the expectations in a positive matter; for example, when a

student is having trouble following directions I will say “Remember our Scholarly Look-Fors,

look to the chart, it will help you”. In addition, Pinto suggests the strategy of the guided-choice

models where the teacher asks the student about their misbehavior and asks what other choices

they can make to get the back on track (Pinto, 2013). I will also try to implement this strategy to

allow students to be accountable for their behavior and actions in hopes to engage them in

responsibility. Monitoring my classroom will consist of teacher observation, positive feedback

and reinforcement, movement around the proximity of the classroom, and waiting patiently when

they need to give me their attention.

One of the main goals I want to set for my students is for them to learn to make good

choices and responsibility. To reach this goal, my classroom will have the emphasis of kindness

and respect for themselves and others in our classroom and school. When students are working

in partners or groups, I will strategically match students so they are able to work cooperatively

and successfully when completing a task. By students working together, they will be able to

engage in conversation and problem solving that will allow them to practice using their words in

a calm and respectful matter. Students will also learn to make positive choices and demonstrate

responsibility for themselves and their learning. I will have a pocket chart that merely focuses

on achieving responsibility, effort, and positive and kind behaviors. I will have a pocket chart

with each student’s name and each pocket will have three cards, green representing good

standing and “Ready to learn”, blue for “Excellent effort” and gold for “Super Star Scholar”. At

the end of the day, the students that have blue or gold cards in their pocket will receive a ticket to

enter the classroom’s end of the week raffle where they will have a chance to win a prize. By

having students begin their school day on green, they are given fair opportunity to demonstrate
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and be accountable for their positive behavior. If a student is having trouble following directions

or not demonstrating scholarly behavior in several instances, I will then talk with the student

individually about the situation and together brainstorm ideas of how to improve the behavior.

When utilizing this chart, I will be sure to keep track of my students and make sure all of my

students are being motivated, represented and acknowledged positively. I will also examine each

child and incorporate and respect their cultural values and family practices.

Instructional time is imperative for effective learning and I plan to provide the maximum

that will allow the best quality of instruction. Pinto states “many successful teachers also prepare

the room to minimize disruptions, plan lessons to flow smoothly, and design routines to maintain

momentum,” and I too believe this will allow my classroom to function efficiently (Pinto, 2013).

One strategy I will utilize is the use and practice of the daily routine and student procedures.

Since my students will have experienced the routine and practiced the procedures consistently,

they will have an idea of what is coming next and will continue without stopping and losing

valuable learning time. Along with this strategy, I will also use a noisemaker, such as a bell, to

get students attention and as a transition tool. For instance, I will ring a bell and students will

stop immediately and put their hands on their shoulders and have eyes on the teacher. I will try

to give clear and concise directions and students will be engaged and listening. A third strategy I

plan to use is to plan my lessons in accordance with time and the daily schedule in mind.

Although my lesson plans will be in great detail, I will practice my pacing while implementing

the lesson and keep timing in mind to make sure I have enough time to model and explain the

lesson.

Every classroom contains a variety of learners. Although I will provide scaffolding for all

students as needed, some students may need special accommodations for instruction. To
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accommodate diverse learners, I will utilize methods of differentiation that will meet the

individual needs of learners. When setting up small group or individual instruction, I will first

observe and use formative assessments and district and state assessments to form small groups or

individual instruction time. For English language learners, I will provide opportunities to

activate the learner’s background knowledge, provide visual aids, and real-life objects, to support

ideas and learning (Rose & Gravel, 2010). I will also provide gifted learners with opportunities

to challenge and expand their learning by giving them another task where they can demonstrate

accelerated content strategies. For special needs students, depending if there is an IEP in place, I

will follow the individualized plan and make the accommodations according to the learner’s

specific needs. I will manage these instructional times by setting aside a specific time within the

day to where I will work with them while other students are working independently.

Peer interaction is an important aspect of a student’s socialization and learning

experience. One strategy I plan to use is to engage students in group and partner work. In my

classroom, students will work in cooperative groups and shoulder partners, where they are given

a task, and have to work collaboratively to complete it. I believe this is an effective learning

strategy where students will reinforce their learning and can assist each other when they are

unsure of a concept. Another peer interaction strategy I plan is the “turn and talk strategy”.

During lessons, students will be able to “check for understanding” with a shoulder partner by

discussing any questions or clarifications they may have. A third strategy I will use is seating

children in small table groups, based on their academic and learning levels. For instance,

students who have trouble in certain content areas will be seated next to students that have a

better understanding of the content. The student will be able to assist the struggling student if

needed.
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Through rules, routines, procedures, interactions and consistent practice, I hope to create

the culture of a respectful classroom environment between students, the teacher, and other school

personnel. One aspect of creating this culture is to provide fair opportunities for all students. To

provide these opportunities of fairness, I will consider the individual student and what they

believe to be fair. Some students may need individualized opportunities, based on previous

behavior, reactions and experiences of fairness. To further explore this, I will conduct individual

“HAT” meetings where I can conference with students for approximately five minutes to discuss

how students are feeling and doing inside and outside the classroom. “HAT” (How are things?)

meetings provide an equitable opportunity for learners to obtain support to reach success. These

“HAT” meetings will occur on a rotation of meeting with a student every three weeks. (Pinto,

2013). In addition, these meetings will also give me great insight of the student’s thoughts, and if

the student seems to be in need of support, they can discuss and set individualized goals with

myself to meet their needs. To ensure fairness in my classroom, I will provide every one of my

students with consistent opportunities to actively participate in the classroom. For example, as

the class engages in a discussion, each student will be able to contribute to the conversation

when holding the talking stick. The talking stick will ensure an equitable amount of speaking

time for students and will allow the other students to listen intently to the speaker holding the

talking stick.

Parent communication and involvement can play a significant part in a student’s learning

and school experience. There are several strategies I would like to incorporate communication

with my student’s parents. First, I will meet with them during back to school night and inform

them of our classroom rules, routines, learning standards, and expectations, so they gain an

understanding of what their child will be performing in school. I will also attempt to provide
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various opportunities for parents to visit the classroom, where they can see their child’s

interaction in the classroom and can also partake in activities with their child, such as reading

together. Parent- conferences are also a method I will use because this allows a face to face

meeting, where the parent and I can discuss the progress of the student and if any interventions

have been put into place so the student will continue to succeed. During conferences, I can have

the opportunity to develop a rapport with the parents and possibly provide them with

opportunities to get involved in the school setting. Another strategy I believe will be effective is

Pinto’s “Sunshine calls” to tell of their child’s accomplishments and progress in the classroom

(Pinto, 2013). I would like to use “Class Dojo”, a technological method of communicating with

parents through messaging and images; for example, “Class Dojo” can provide parents with class

messages, individual messages and pictures of students of their school experiences. Parents are

also able to send messages to the teacher if they have questions, concerns, or positive messages.

If these methods of communication do not work for some parents, I will work with the parent to

make the appropriate accommodations to establish parent-teacher communication through

another technological means or a paper-based method.

Developing my classroom management plan will allow my students to have a productive

and rich learning experience. Through the routines, procedures, and clear expectations, students

will be able to learn valuable lessons and expand their knowledge. With these classroom aspects

in place, the goal for my Kindergarten students will to become engaged learners, with a love for

learning.
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References

Gravel, R., Rose, D. (2010). Technology and learning: meeting special student’s needs.

International encyclopedia of education, 1-13.

Pinto, L.E. (2013). From Discipline to culturally responsive engagement: 45 Classroom

management strategies. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin: Sage publications.