ms. jordan’s classroom management plan kelli jordan educ...

Running Head: MS. JORDAN’S CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN 1

Ms. Jordan’s Classroom Management Plan

Kelli Jordan

EDUC 360

January 8, 2011

Ms. Jordan’s Classroom Management Plan 2

Philosophy of Classroom Management

Classroom management is one of the most important aspects in teaching. A teacher

could know everything about the content but if he or she is not capable of managing his or her

classroom in an effective manner, nothing will ever be accomplished. Teachers should never

think of classroom management as just handling misbehavior, it incorporates everything from the

classroom arrangement, to the rules, to the curriculum, to the daily lessons. In order to have the

best classroom management, teachers should understand the management philosophies of

various theorists and choose a style that best matches their personality. My own philosophy

corresponds with the theories of Alfie Kohn, Linda Albert, William Glasser, and Spencer Kagan.

Ever since I started taking personality tests, specifically those that involve the traits from

Myers Briggs Personality Tests, I have found that I can be classified as a protector and inspector

(Schindler, J., & Yang, H., 2004). My tests always reveal me as an introvert, sensate,

feeler/thinker, and judger. I agree with all of these. Ever since I was little, I have been rather

shy and not very open with people I do not know very well. Around friends and family,

however, I am more engaging and talkative. I pay attention to the emotions of those around me

and dislike upsetting people. I will even spend a lot of time thinking over the reactions of

someone and worry they are possibly upset with me. I prefer to help those around me in any way

I am capable and enjoy obtaining the satisfaction of having helped them. Specifically when it

comes to students, I love seeing the “light bulb” moments they have when learning new material.

It makes me feel better as I teach them new ideas and concepts in mathematics.

Since I started school, I remember teachers being strict with rules and punishments for

breaking the rules they set-up in their own classrooms. Once I was in high school, however, the

rules seemed to be a part of the background. All of the students within the school knew what


was expected of them on a daily basis and occasionally were allowed to establish their own rules

in a classroom. As a potential high school teacher, I would prefer to have students deciding the

rules of the classroom but will reserve the right to change or discard rules they may create. I

want my students to have responsibility in my classroom as it will prepare them for life beyond

school. Although I believe there is room for a democratic environment within my classroom, I

believe that students need some structure. I do recognize that this comes from my own

personality in preferring to have a structured environment when I am in an educational setting.

Thus, there will be certain procedures that will be very structured for students on a daily basis.

This includes how homework will be completed and what materials should be brought to class

daily.

My philosophy overall, is that in high school students should be given more

responsibility and freedom than they received in the lower grades. I believe they are entitled to

help determine the rules in the classroom but I, as a structured person, will provide policies for

them that may be negotiated if students complain. Although I would always hope that my

students would behave, I do understand that many times misbehavior occurs because they are

trying to meet a physical, social, or emotional need they have. Some teachers believe in reward

systems to encourage appropriate behavior, I believe that offering rewards for good behavior is a

bad habit for the sake of your students. Giving them praise for appropriate behavior is what I

prefer to use and give, and I believe sometimes students need to be punished for misbehaving.

The most important thing I believe in is respect and it should be gained on both sides. I

believe that as long as I show and have respect for my students they will have respect for me as

their teacher. This directly correlates with the ideas of theorist Alfie Kohn and his beyond

discipline. Kohn also believes the teacher should work to make the classroom a community. I


firmly agree with this because students who feel safe and comfortable in an environment are

more willing and likely to learn than those who are in a room with a teacher who constantly

yells. Kohn’s ideas of instruction develop from his ideas of a caring classroom community.

While this is a time where the curriculum and standards are strongly upheld, it is hard to

completely follow Kohn’s ideas. I do believe that I can work to enhance the individuality of all

of my students by knowing their learning styles and finding a way to incorporate all of those

styles within a week’s time. This can be done through activities and incorporating Gardener’s

multiple intelligences (Charles, C. & Senter, G., 2008, p. 84-89).

Another piece to my classroom management philosophy is that a teacher cannot control a

student’s actions. It is up to the student to control themselves and the more the teacher tries to

control his or her behavior, the less respect the instructor is showing the individual. This piece

of my philosophy incorporates William Glasser’s choice theory. Choice theory revolves around

the idea that no one can control our behavior except ourselves. In order to provide the best

education possible it then becomes the teacher’s job to provide a quality curriculum, quality

teaching, and establish a quality classroom. Unfortunately, it is not possible in today’s society

for a teacher to follow Glasser’s idea of a quality curriculum as it requires students to learn a few

things very well and we have many standards that students must master in a particular grade or

class. Thus, my classroom will focus on providing quality teaching and establishing a quality

classroom (Charles, C. & Senter, G., 2008, p. 73-78).

Quality teaching according to Glasser is a supportive classroom environment where

students feel encouraged to do the best they can and have work to do that is useful and they can

correct. This is exactly how I want my classroom to be set-up. I want students to work to the

best of their abilities to achieve high standards and feel comfortable answering questions in the


classroom. A large part of how I teach is through asking students questions while we work

through a math problem. As I ask individuals questions, I will not tell them they are wrong or be

cruel to them for a wrong answer, I will help them see that they were on the right track in some

way and then ask them if they can figure out the answer from where they made the error. I will

not allow other students to put down their peers for a wrong answer either. Finally, with Glasser

comes the quality classroom which requires the teacher to make sure the students know they are

all on the same side working together. Also, just like Kohn, Glasser believes in the Golden Rule

of courtesy. I believe the Golden Rule correlates with my ideas of respect and see that this fits

well into my philosophy (Charles, C. & Senter, G., 2008, p. 73-78).

My ideas that students should feel competent and not afraid to give a wrong answer in the

classroom also tie into Linda Albert’s theory on cooperative discipline. The three C’s of Albert’s

theory are capable, connected, and contributing. Making students feel capable in my classroom

involves letting them make mistakes, such as with answering questions wrong, building their

confidence, making progress tangible, and recognizing achievement. I believe that all three of

these are already incorporated into my teaching style (Charles, C. & Senter, G., 2008, p. 96-99).

I praise students when they give correct answers and assist them with finding the right answer

when they are wrong. My greatest desire is to see all of my students succeed and find ways to

help them all understand mathematical concepts.

Just as capable fit into my ideas of a classroom environment, so does connecting.

Students should feel safe and cared for in my classroom. I believe that my personality already

works to do that through paying attention to the emotions of others and protecting those around

me. I will also work to make the students feel connected through appreciation of what they have

accomplished. Through students helping to develop the classroom rules, I make them feel as if


they are contributing to the classroom which is Albert’s third C (Charles, C. & Senter, G., 2008,

p. 96-99). I will always encourage my students in any way that I am capable. I want them to

succeed in all they do.

The final theorist that corresponds with my ideas and many of those already mentioned is

Spencer Kagan with win-win discipline. Just like Glasser, Kagan believes that teachers and

students should work cooperatively and teachers should always think of themselves as being on

the same side as the students. It should never be that the teacher is against the students. This

theory allows students to gain responsibility by taking control of their actions and finding

positive ways to contribute to the classroom while meeting their personal needs. Kagan believes

that students hold one or more of seven positions when misbehaving in the classroom. These

positions are attention-seeking, avoiding failure, being angry, control seeking, overly energetic,

bored, and uninformed. I believe that these seven positions can tell you where a student is

coming from and although I do not believe you can force them to change their behavior, I do

believe that through showing respect for the student and talking to him or her that you can help

them find other ways to meet personal needs (Charles, C. & Senter, G., 2008, p. 151-165).

With win-win discipline it is important to set-up preventative measures that enable you to

have limited amount of disruptions from misbehaviors within your classroom. I can do this

through my teaching style and reminding myself to always be energetic and passionate about the

material I am teaching to my students on a particular day. I will also include cooperative

learning to allow students to engage in small groups and learn from their peers. There are times

where I have learned that peers can be of more help to a student than the teacher. Classmates can

explain something in a way a teacher would have never thought of, which then allows the student

to understand the material (Charles, C. & Senter, G., 2008, p. 151-165).


While organizing my classroom and setting up my own strategies for engaging my

students, I must work to prevent disciplinary situations. I understand that there will always be

times where students misbehave. From the ideas of Kagan, Albert, and my own experiences, I

believe I have found the system I will use to stop misbehavior when it occurs. My first step will

be to give the student a nonverbal signal that he or she should stop what he or she is doing. This

may be a look, moving closer to them, or tapping on the student’s desk. If that does not stop the

behavior I will use “I messages” and stay objective in stating what I do not appreciate about what

the student is doing. If the student continues to misbehave, he or she will receive a verbal

warning which will be executed if the misbehavior continues as I do not want students thinking I

do not mean what I say.

If the behavior still continues, the student will go through my consequence system or be

given a consequence that is reasonable, respectful, and related to their behavior. Although, it

should be recognized that some misbehaviors will bypass certain areas of the consequence

system based upon the act. If a student has a continuous problem with misbehaving I will use

Kagan’s theory of win-win discipline to sit down with him or her and develop a contract to

encourage him or her to act appropriately in the classroom. This in turn gives them more

responsibility and shows that I respect the student and believe he or she is capable of acting

appropriately.

The pieces from Kagan, Albert, Glasser, Kohn, and my personal experiences all work

together to create the way in which I will run and manage my classroom. My philosophy of

classroom management will be an important aspect in my teaching. I firmly believe that through

this plan, I will be able to create a positive, caring, environment for my students. This


philosophy must then be incorporated into my established classroom rules which will be

necessary for at least the first few years I teach.


Classroom Rules

Rules established for my personal classroom should work to create a positive

environment. Respect is the number one rule as I value respect above many other things. I also

want my students to have structure in what is expected of them which brings me to my second

rule: being prepared for class every day. Mathematics is not an easy subject and requires people

to go back and change numbers that may have been miscalculated which is why I require

students to write in pencil. Pens become rather messy when you must scratch out numbers that

are incorrect. My consequences are established to encourage students to behave appropriately.

Any threat of punishment that may be made by me within my classroom will be enforced to

show students that inappropriate behavior is not accepted.

Ms. Jordan’s Classroom Rules and Policies

RULES

1. Be respectful of yourself and others

a. Listen when other people are speaking

b. Be polite: bullying and swearing are unacceptable

2. Be prepared for class everyday

a. Bring a pencil, paper, textbook, calculator, and homework with you everyday

b. Be ready to discuss the homework in class and ask questions if you do not

understand

3. Follow all school policies

Consequences for Infractions

Offense 1. Verbal warning

Offense 2. Student-teacher meeting

Offense 3. Detention

Offense 4. Parental Notification

Offense 5. Administrative Involvement

*Further Actions will be taken if deemed necessary

HOMEWORK POLICIES

1) Homework should be completed by the beginning of class the day after assigned unless

otherwise noted.


2) Homework should only be done in pencil. If it is completed in pen, a 3-point deduction will

be taken from the assignment.

3) Homework should be neat, easy to read, and easy to follow. If I am unable to understand

what you wrote or follow your work, your score for the problem(s) will be reduced.

4) Each day an assignment is late, the final score will be reduced by 10%.

5) Each assignment should include the following heading in the top right corner:

Your Name

Class Name and Period

Date Due

Assignment

6) Homework is assigned to give you practice on the material taught in class, any students

caught cheating on homework will receive a 0 for the assignment.

7) If you are absent, it is your responsibility to make up the assignment that you missed.

Assignments will be posted on the bulletin board for you to find out what you missed. Each

day you are absent you have one extra day for the homework.

8) Any assignments that were due the day you missed are due the day you return. Exceptions

may only be made at the discretion of the teacher.

9) If you are taking a field trip, you must request the homework before your field trip is to take

place. All of the homework assigned during your field trip will be due the day you return to

class.

Grades

Your final grade for the course will be weighted in the following categories:

Tests 30%

Homework 30%

Quizzes 20%

Worksheets 10%

Writing Assignments 5%

Participation 5%

Grading Scale

Grades will be distributed following the school scale.

A 94-100% A- 90-93%

B+ 87-89% B 84-86%

B- 80-83% C+ 77-79%

C 74-76% C- 70-73%

D+ 67-69% D 64-66%

D- 60-63% F 0-59%


Procedures and Routines

While rules and policies set standards for students, it is also important for a teacher to

have regular routines and procedures for students. These routines will lower the tendency for

students to misbehave as they will be geared toward the beginning and the end of the period.

Listed below are four procedures and routines I will apply in my classroom.

Attendance – Attendance is an important piece to learning new material each day.

Students who show up to class on time prepared to participate in the lesson of the day will be

more apt to learn and understand the new material presented to them. Thus in my class, students

will be expected to be in their seats ready to start class when the bell rings. This will allow me to

quickly take attendance and start the lesson for the day. Based upon the school policy, tardies

will be counted each day. A student will be considered tardy if he or she is not in the room when

the bell is finished ringing. A student will be considered absent from class if he or she misses

more than two-thirds of the class period unless an exception has been made. All other policies

for attendance will be based upon the rules established by the school. The tardy policy will be

stated to the class and only added to the classroom rules if absolutely necessary.

Dismissal – The end of class is a transition to a student’s next period class. The end of

the bell does announce the end of the timed class period; however, as the teacher, I reserve the

right to hold students if necessary and provide passes to their next class. Students will be

dismissed by the teacher in my classroom; it will not be the bell. Occasionally the time planned

for an activity or lecture will not be enough, students will not be allowed to get out of their seats

when the bell rings if the teacher is quickly finishing a lecture. Overall, I expect to be finished

by the time the bell rings and will not need to hold students any longer.


Selecting groups – Group collaboration teaches students how to work together as a team.

In today’s world, students must be prepared to work in teams on the job and in college which is

why it becomes an important part of education in the primary and secondary levels. In my

classroom, groups will typically be formed from a random process, with the teacher reserving the

right to change groups if people absolutely cannot work together or if two people will cause too

many problems. When students have time to work on homework at the end of class they will be

able to select their own groups and when doing other small projects. When working in groups

students are expected to remain on task and complete the necessary work. All members should

be participating which is why students will receive an individual and group grade.

Communication with parents – Parent/guardian support is an important part of a

successful education. I believe that the more parents are involved in their students’ lives, the

more likely it is for students to meet high expectations. In order to communicate with parents, I

will establish a website that displays the assignments for the week, upcoming tests, sample

review material for tests, and helpful tips for completing math homework and studying for tests.

I will also make sure I e-mail or call parents/guardians when their son or daughter has done great

things in class. Parents and guardians deserve to know when their students are accomplishing

great things. At the high school age they rarely keep in contact with the teachers and are only

notified when their student has misbehaved. Parents and guardians should know the good and

the bad when it comes to the education of their child. The next page contains the letter I will

send home to parents to introduce myself and my classroom.


Parent Letter

January 8, 2011

Dear Parent or Guardian:

Welcome to another school year! My name is Kelli Jordan and I will be your child’s mathematics teacher

for the year. I personally have a strong desire to learn and hope to instill the same passion in your

students.

I understand that students often express a dislike toward mathematics and hope that over the course of

the year I will be able to change their opinion. Mathematics is an interesting subject and is

implemented in everyday lives. I plan to show your child the value of mathematics and help them have

a successful year. I believe every student is capable of learning, and I will help in any way that I can to

make sure your child succeeds.

I have included my classroom rules and policies and the homework policies which were discussed on the

first day of school. Your student’s first assignment in my class is to share this letter with you and discuss

the rules and policies of my classroom. This is worth 5 points. Once you have discussed them, please

sign and return the slip at the bottom to acknowledge that you did speak with your child and

understand the policies in my classroom.

I will be available every morning at 7:30 to help your child if it is needed. If arrangements are made

ahead of time I can also be available after school.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or give

me a call at <<insert school phone number and extension here>>. With your help and support, I know

this will be a successful year. I look forward to working with you and your child.

Sincerely,

Kelli Jordan

My student, ______________________, and I have read and understand the classroom rules and

(Student’s Name)

procedures for Miss Jordan’s mathematics class.

Your name:___________________________________ and __________________________________.

(Printed) (Signed)

Please provide the best way for me to contact you and when below:

mailto:[email protected]


Classroom Arrangement

My classroom arrangement seen in the picture below is ideal for my teaching style and

plans for classroom activities. Overall, many days will have teacher-led instruction with time

then spent on an activity or homework. Students will be able to push desks together when

necessary but overall the set-up I have chosen will allow easy access around the rest of the room

and a clear line of vision to see the board. I used this set-up to enable myself to be able to see all

of my students while I am lecturing or at my desk. My main and preferred method of teaching is

to have teacher-led instruction that engages students through asking questions throughout the

entire lecture and having them participate by coming to the board to practice problems. Students

will need to take notes as we go through material on the board. The seating arrangement allows

them to see the board easily and allows them to hear their peers and myself when we have

discussions about various problems.


References

Charles, C.M., & Senter, G.W. (2008). Building classroom discipline. New York: Allyn &

Bacon.

Schindler, J., & Yang, H. (2004, October 25). Paragon learning style inventory. Retrieved from

http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/jshindl/plsi/16TYPE.htm

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