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Classroom Management Plan

Lydia Bolls

EDUC 351

November 21, 2011

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Descriptive Statement

The purpose of this document is to enlighten others of my beliefs, values and outlooks on

classroom management. This document is also to inform others of my classroom management

philosophy and will provide many of my procedures and routines that I will be addressing in my

classroom. I believe that having a classroom management plan is very important so that the

students in my classroom are able to learn effectively. No teacher will end up having the same

classroom management plan; it all depends on their personal teaching style and their philosophy.

Having an effective classroom management plan will make teaching less stressful for teachers

and decrease behavior issues in the classroom.

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Philosophy of Classroom Management

My philosophy for classroom management comes from a variety of many different

theorists that have some of the same ideas about classroom behavior management as I do. Some

of their philosophies and practices explain ways to have a more effective and cooperating

classroom. I believe in having a strong effective classroom management plan that will help make

my class run smoothly and not having too many behavioral issues from my students. Students

showing respect and being responsible are key factors in creating a warm and friendly learning

environment. As an educator, I will make sure to show my students respect so that I and

everyone else in the class will receive it in return. Some of the theorists such as Harry and

Rosemary Wong, B.F. Skinner, and Spencer Kagan are just a few of the many theorists whose

ideas and practices are close to mine. In the next couple of paragraphs, I will explain my top ten

beliefs for having a positive and safe learning environment for my students.

My Top Ten Beliefs

1. My first belief is that teachers should train their students into having the correct behavior

in the classroom. This coincides with B.F. Skinner’s belief in shaping student behavior by

reinforcements. He believes that teachers should shape the preferred behavior that they would

like their students to have. If teachers review the type of behavior they would like to see over and

over again than students should get the idea in their heads and obey the rules and regulations of

the classroom. I will make sure to review with my students over and over again the correct

behavior that students should have in the classroom. They will learn that respecting themselves

and others is very important. I will shape my students into being responsible and to have respect

for not only themselves but for their peers and myself.

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2. I believe that there should be some sort of punishment or consequence for students that

constantly misbehave. If students are constantly misbehaving and can’t seem to stay focused,

there should be consequences that they must abide by. Rules and consequences will be posted

around the classroom for students to see. I will have a behavior stop light in the front of my

classroom that will include the three colors red, yellow and green. At the beginning of each day

all students will start on the green light and as the day progresses the students who are constantly

misbehaving will be moved to yellow and then finally red if behavior is getting out of hand. Next

to each color there will be the consequence that comes with them landing their name on that

particular color. Green will mean you’re doing great! Yellow will mean warning: work on your

behavior. The last color which is red will mean you aren’t following the classroom rules: a note

home to parents. Hopefully this behavior stoplight will prevent many behavior problems in the

classroom. This belief goes along with B.F. Skinner who feels that punishments and

consequences should decrease the possibility of bad behavior happening again.

3. Start procedures and routines at the beginning of the school year to have a more effective

learning environment. I believe that if students are taught the procedures and routines during the

first couple of weeks then the classroom will be more successful and run much smoother. Harry

and Rosemary Wong believe that teachers need classroom procedures whenever they want their

students to do something. They believed that the procedures and routines should first be

explained, then rehearsed and lastly reinforced. These procedures and routines should be done

within the first two weeks of school so that students get an early sense of what your expectations

are.

4. Inform your students on what your expectations are. Thinking that your students will

automatically know how to behave in a classroom is not a good thing to do. Their previous

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teachers may have had different expectations and they need to know the new expectations of the

classroom they are currently in. In the first week of classes, I will inform my students what I am

expecting from them. I will go over rules of the classroom, consequences and goals. These

should be reviewed at least once a day for the entire first and second week of school depending

on the grade level. Students should be able to recite the rules of the classroom and know what

they mean. Ronald Morrish also had this same belief.

5. The rules and the consequences for broken rules should be clear. Rules should not be

changed too often. This will confuse students and have a negative outcome. Having rules in the

classroom should prevent students from misbehaving. The rules will not completely stop all

behavior issues but it should keep the amount of issues at a lower number. Students should

always know what the consequence of their misbehavior is. In my classroom I will have a

behavior stop light displayed that shows different consequences for each color. Students will

learn these in the first week of school.

6. Another belief that I wish to address in my classroom is recognizing individuals and

praising them. I feel that recognizing individuals in the classroom is important because students

that are doing well should be proud of their good work. It boosts their self-esteem and students

will feel that their good work is valued. For the students who are misbehaving and noticing that

they aren’t being recognized will hopefully motivate them to want to do better. I believe that

students will lose interest in the classroom if they aren’t being recognized for the good things

they do. My students will be recognized with either awards or stickers. It does not take much of

the teacher to do either. This belief also goes along with B.F. Skinner’s belief in rewarding

students. At the end of each week, I will recognize one student who has showed respect,

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responsibility and the correct behavior all week long. This student’s picture will be posted on the

student of the week bulletin board.

7. Harry and Rosemary Wong believed that a class will run so much smoother if teachers

have strong and steady procedures. They also believed that anytime teachers want their students

to do something that there should be some sort of classroom procedure. I agree with their

philosophy because if students are always kept busy and have a procedure for everything there

will be less time for them to misbehave. It is extremely important that procedures are taught at

the very beginning of the school year so students will be able to practice it and be familiar with

it.

8. I believe that students should be awarded for their good behavior. B.F. Skinner also

believed in rewarding students when showing correct behavior. In my classroom, I will have a

behavior chart taped on every students’ desk. The behavior chart will consist of many boxes and

the students’ name. Students will receive a sticker whenever I notice they are doing really well

by being respectful and responsible. At the end of each month, whoever has their behavior chart

filled with stickers will receive a prize from the treasure chest box. If the misbehaved students

are seeing that the good behaving students are getting rewarded for their behavior, than hopefully

this will influence them to want to do good things and stay on task.

9. Spencer Kagan believed that it’s important to know why students are misbehaving and

doing the things that they are doing. The seven student positions are a great way to help prevent

problems from the same students all the time. Once a student starts misbehaving, I will talk to

that student to see why he/she is behaving like that way. After asking the student at least twice to

stop the misbehavior and reminding them to follow the classroom rules, I will pull the student

aside to ask why he/she isn’t having a good day. I will remind them that they need to take

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responsibility for their actions and if they are having issues then to come talk to me and let me

know what it is I can do to help them.

10. I believe in having morning work ready whenever my students come into the classroom

every day. Every morning that my students come in, they are to read at least 1 book. If they

finish that one book before morning announcements are made and before I’ve told them what to

start on next, they are to continue reading with another book. Some days, I will have other

worksheets ready on student’s desk that they must complete when they are finished with the

morning routine of sharpening pencils and turning in homework. This will keep students engaged

and on task, it shows responsibility, and will prepare them for the first lesson. The classroom

helper will collect all morning work when told to do so by the teacher.

These Top Ten Beliefs will help me with creating a friendly and positive learning

environment for my students. With my students respecting themselves and others in the

classroom, taking responsibility for their actions and obeying all rules, I should have a well-

managed classroom. Many of the theorists mentioned above have positive attitudes and beliefs

that show their yearning of wanting an effective learning environment. By putting all of their

beliefs/ideas together as one big piece I should have fewer classroom behavioral issues. Another

factor that will help me with creating a positive learning environment is including procedures

and routines into my classroom. Having procedures and routines gets rid or wasted time, keeps

students focused on what needs to get done.

Procedures and Routines

1. Getting attention/ signaling for quiet

Getting attention and signaling for quiet is really important in a classroom. I feel that all

teachers should have some sort of signal that catches student’s attention quickly. For my

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attention getter I will say “who’s excited to learn?” I will then raise my hand and the students

should follow by raising their hands. This should get the students to stop whatever they are doing

and keep quiet. Once they hear me say this, all of the students should be absolutely quiet, look up

at me and raise their hands. A second attention getter that I will have in my classroom is saying

“1, 2, 3 stop, look and listen. As soon as the students hear this, they should stop everything that

they are doing, direct all attention towards me and listen to what I have to say. I will practice the

first attention getting in the beginning and the second one a couple weeks after to see which one

is more effective. Getting the classrooms attention is very important in classroom management

because sometimes the students can be too loud and teachers need a fast way to get their

attention and getting them back on task. If students are lining up for lunch, getting ready to go

home or just simply getting too loud this is a good way to get their full attention and get them to

be quiet.

2. Turning in student work

Student Role: Students must turn in homework at the beginning of the day. There will be

a homework tray where students will put their paper. This way students homework will not get

lost if put somewhere else. During the day there will be a classroom helper that will collect

worksheets at the end of each lesson/ activity. There will also be classwork trays close to the

teacher’s desk where the classroom helper will put papers. Students must be responsible and

make sure that work is turned in on time and not lost. For homework, if students get their

homework checked and signed every day of the week, on that Friday they will get a piece of

candy.

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Teacher Role: If there is ever any late work, I must write “late” on before they can put

their work in the tray. Make sure work is graded and returned to students. Teacher must also set

up the trays.

3. Beginning of the day

Student Role: As my students start arriving to school and coming into the classroom, they

should start the morning routine. Students need to enter the room quietly and respectively, empty

their book bag of all homework and notes that need to be turned in. Students will turn in

homework in the labeled tray on the teacher’s desk. They will then need to sharpen two pencils,

move their names on the attendance/ lunch chart and sit at their desks. Once the students are at

their desks they should take out books and start to read until everyone else in the classroom is

done and the morning announcements have been read. The students reading in the mornings will

keep them busy while the teacher is handling attendance and the lunch count on the computer.

Teacher Role: At the beginning of the day, the teacher should greet the students at the

door by saying “good morning!” and ask “how are you doing?” Once all of the students have

arrived, the teacher needs to record the attendance and lunch count. The teacher will then ask

students if everyone made sure to have two pencils sharpened. At the beginning of the school the

teacher should post the morning routines up on the wall for students to be able to see every day

when they enter the classroom.

4. Classroom Helpers

Student role: Everyday there will be a student assigned to be the classroom helper. Their

job is to pass out materials needed for lessons, collect completed work at the end of lessons and

to make sure that all students have completed their morning work by having 2 pencils sharpened

and their name is moved on the attendance chart. Having classroom helpers are important

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because this helps students to learn responsibility and it helps teachers with time management

because sometimes it is hard to have to do every single thing with over 20 students.

Teacher Role: Assign a classroom helper each day. Make sure that everyone gets a turn.

Do not keep picking the same student every day. Inform classroom helpers of what their duties

are.

5. Communication with parents

Student Role: The students are to make sure that they remember to take their Friday

Folders home with them every Friday. They must also make sure that a parent or guardian takes

out all important documents that are to stay at home. The students must not go inside the folders

and take out parent papers, this way nothing will get lost.

Teacher Role: Having a strong relationship with my students’ parents is very important. It

is the teachers’ job to keep the parents updated on their child’s behavior, academics and other

important things going on in the classroom. Every Friday, I will send a Friday Folder home with

each and every one of my students. In the folder will include their child’s behavior chart, the

schools weekly newsletter, graded work, a lunch money envelope, and any other important

papers that need to be sent home. There will also be space for the parents to write a note back to

the teacher if they would like to do so asking questions and clarifying things written by the

teacher.

6. Lining up

Students will be given a line up order at the beginning of the school year. They will line

up in alphabetical order during lunch time, bathroom breaks, and specials. Two weeks or so after

school has started, I will switch the lineup order depending on behavior. If I notice that there are

two students who are always talking to each other and playing around I will move them to a

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different spot in line. It is important to keep some sort of line up order because students like to

race to beat other students and line and there are always problems with students butting. This

way there will be fewer issues of butting and racing to line up.

These six procedures and routines mentioned above are ones that I will address in my

classroom. They are important to me and I feel that they will help with classroom management.

Implementation of Classroom Management Practices

Classroom rules/expectations:

Expected behavior during cooperative learning is important for students to know.

Teachers should always inform their students of what is expected of them at all times. They

should know and be familiar with the rules of the classroom and how they are expected to

behave. Students should know that cooperative learning time is important and should be taken

seriously. Students should behave respectively and show that positive attitude that teachers

would like to see. When the teacher is teaching, students should be paying attention, keeping

quiet unless called on and raising their hands when asked for an answer. Students should know

that blurting out answers, playing with things in their desk and talking to other students isn’t

acceptable when the teacher is teaching.

My students and I will generate classroom rules that will help create a positive learning

environment. I will allow my students to help me create some of the classroom rules because I

feel that it will help with building responsibility. I believe that if students help create classroom

rules than they will be more prone to following them and having a deeper understanding of their

importance. Above I have mentioned many different theorists and their beliefs and how they

connect to what I want my classroom to look like. Most of my top ten beliefs focus around

showing my students respect and expecting it in return, taking responsibility and creating a safe

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learning environment. At the beginning of the school year, I will make sure to have at least 3

classroom rules already created. I will then allow my students to come up with two more rules

for the classroom. As mentioned before, I want my students to learn responsibility and feel like

they are a part of the classroom community. I will also show respect to my students and let them

know that I expect it in return and not just me but also their peers. I will explain to my students

why rules are important and why they must follow then in order for the class to run smoothly.

At the beginning of the school year, I will create signs for the classroom rules, laminate

them and post them on the wall of the classroom where everyone can see them. I will explain

each and every rule/procedure to my students. We will then practice the routines and procedures.

Every day of the first week of school is when we will rehearse the procedures and routines. I will

also reinforce the rules, procedures and routines as much as possible so that my students get into

the habit and I do not need to remind them of what needs to be done.

Once students understand the rules of the classroom, I will then explain the consequences

of breaking the rules. These will also be posted on the wall on the behavior stoplight mentioned

above. I will show students the behavior stoplight and how they each have a pin that could be

moved depending on their behavior. I will break down each consequence for rule breaking and

see if students have any questions.

Next, I would explain the reward system. I will explain to students that each of them have

a behavior chart on their desk. Throughout the day if I notice any good behavior they have the

chance of earning a sticker. At the end of the month if their whole chart is filled, they get to

choose a prize out of the treasure chest. I will explain to them that it is their responsibility to be

on their best behavior and that they are responsible for their actions.

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As a teacher, I will make sure that all of my lessons are engaging and interesting for my

students. I believe that students learn best when they are having fun. If I keep my students

engaged and focused there will be fewer behavior issues in the classroom. Students that have

extra downtime are usually the ones misbehaving and doing things that they should not be doing.

This isn’t true in all cases but this is what I’ve noticed the most. Some students also misbehave

and get off task because they are bored with a lesson that the teacher is teaching. This is the main

reason that I would like to make my lessons engaging and fun. As a student, I never like to just

sit and listen to a teacher talk. I like to be able to get up, move around and do hands on activities.

In my Top Ten Beliefs, I mentioned recognizing students and praising them. When I

recognize and praise my hard working students this will motivate them to continue to do well.

When they see that the hard work they are doing is being recognized their self-esteem is boosted

and they will feel good about what they are doing right. This will encourage them to want to

learn more and get better and better at everything they are doing, academically and behavior

wise.

Classroom Management Style:

Preventive:

In order for me to have a preventive classroom management style, I feel that rules and

expectations should be introduced the first couple days of school. This way, students know what

behavior is expected of them and prevents misbehavior from occurring. I will make sure to

provide my students with engaging activities and my lessons will include Gardner’s multiple

intelligences. The students being actively engaged will prevent behavioral issues.

Supportive:

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A supportive classroom management style is helping students get back on task and

keeping focus. When I notice that a student is off task and starting to behave, I will give him/her

a certain look. As the student and I make eye contact, the misbehavior should stop and the

student should get back on task. If this does not work, I can get closer to the student which

should also stop misbehavior. Once the misbehavior stops I will go back to where I was standing

or simply just walk around the classroom to get other students attention. I’ve seen this work in

many classrooms and believe that it is very effective.

Corrective:

A corrective classroom management style is where the teacher handles the matter of

students not following the rules. If a student breaks a rule he/she must accept the consequence

since they chose not to obey the rules of the classroom. After they have broken one rule, they

must correct their behavior so that they will not get in trouble again. This goes with the behavior

stoplight. At first they are on green, if they misbehave and get more than one warning they will

be moved to yellow and have to face the consequences that come along with being moved to that

color. Once they noticed that their name has been moved to yellow, hopefully they will correct

their behavior and think about what they can do to make it better so that they will not be moved

to the last color which is red.

Misbehavior that occurs within my classroom needs to be addressed immediately. Having

to face consequences will help my students want to improve their behavior. Teachers must make

sure that they follow through with the consequences. If you continue to let the students get away

with the misbehavior they will continue to do it until it has gotten out of hand. At the beginning

of the year I will inform my students that misbehavior will not be accepted in our classroom.

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Miss Bolls Classroom

Speaking Chair Windows Cabinets

Computers

Bean Bag seats

Students’ Desk

Smart board

Cubbies

Behavior Stoplight

Bookshelf Student of the week board

Bulletin Board Entrance

Teachers Desk

Sharing Rug/ Read Aloud

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Parent Letter:

Dear Parent/ Guardian,

Hi! My name is Lydia Bolls, and I will be your child’s classroom teacher for this school year. I am happy to have your child in my classroom and look forward to working with you and your child during this amazing learning experience! I am sending this letter home to tell parents a little bit about myself, my classroom procedure/ routines and what my expectations are.

I believe in providing my students with a safe and positive leaning environment. Today in class, we went over the rules and procedures of the classroom. My main belief is that students respect themselves and one another and that they also develop responsibility. Students are responsible for their actions and if they chose to misbehave there are consequences they must follow. I would like for my students to learn as much as possible and misbehavior can prevent them from many learning experiences. As a whole class we have come up with 5 important rules that they must follow:1. Be Respectful- not hurting others, being honest, and showing kindness.2. Be Responsible- being responsible for your own actions3. Be Safe- No hurting others, No running, Keep hands and feet to yourself 4. Use kind words- No name calling 5. Work quietly

In my classroom I have a behavior stoplight that includes the 3 colors green, yellow and red. For each color there is a consequence on the side of it.

Red: Note home to parents

Miss 10 minutes of Recess

Yellow: Miss 5 minutes of recess

Warning! Work on your behavior

Green: You’re doing great!

Students will also have behavior charts on their desks. Each day they will have the opportunity to earn stickers for good behavior. At the end of the month if their whole chart is filled they will get to pick a prize from the treasure chest that I have in my classroom. Every Friday your child will also be sent home with a Friday Folder. In this Friday Folder will be your child’s behavior chart, the schools weekly newsletter, graded work, a lunch money envelope, and any other important papers that need to be sent home. There will also be space for you to write a note back to me if you have any questions and or concerns. I believe that parent involvement is really important and have ways that you can come and volunteer in the classroom.

Like stated above, I look forward to working with you and your child and I am very excited for this school year! If you have any questions or concerns you can contact me at my school email which lbbolls@spartans.manchester.edu or by calling my school phone (123-456-7890) I will respond as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

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Lydia Bolls

References

Charles, C.M. (2011). Building classroom discipline. 10th Edition. Boston: Pearson Education.