Bolls 5
Classroom Management Plan
Lydia Bolls
EDUC 351
November 21, 2011
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.
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.
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 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, 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 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 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.
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.