Classroom Management Plan
By: Melissa Bechtold
Introduction
I have created a classroom management plan with preventative, supportive, and corrective techniques that are grounded in progressive and existentialism educational philosophies. I believe that the most important part of classroom management is the preventative and preparation portion where I will clearly identify the classroom rules, make connections with the students, make a strategic seating chart, teach to multiple intelligences, and keep the parents involved. The supportive routines and daily interactions I will use include praising positive behavior, greeting students as much as possible, social development, and establishing routines. When students are disrupting the learning environment I will use corrective strategies to distract the student, employ target-stop-do, keep my composure, allow students to take responsibility for their own actions, and I will not make empty threats. I believe that students misbehave for different reasons and I plan on recognizing those causes on a case-by-case basis just like students have different interests and abilities that I will aim at differentiating my lessons to.
Preventative
I want to create a positive learning environment where students feel comfortable and know what is expected of them so the first thing I will do to prepare my class is to create a syllabus to pass out to students on the first day of school. The syllabus will have my class rules clearly stated which is recommended by Lee and Marlene Canter in the assertive philosophy. This philosophy “advocated the use of clear rules of classroom behavior” (Charles, 2007, p.66) because if students do not know what they are expected to do, then I cannot demand anything from them behaviorally.
Also, I will encourage parent involvement as suggested in the win-win strategy by Kagan, Kyle, and Scott where “students, teachers, and parents are all working together on the same side to enhance the school experience for everyone” (Charles, 2007, p. 153). I have had the opportunity to substitute in schools with varying levels of parent involvement and have seen the positive advantages; “parents’ input, support, follow-through, and backup strengthen the likelihood of responsible student behavior” (Charles, 2007, p. 163). Some teachers have expressed to me that they do not like the parents being involved but I feel the opposite. In most cases, the guardians can be one more positive influence for inspiration to the student and I want each student to have as much support as possible.
The third preventative strategy I would like to implement is to make my classroom into a community. Alfie Kohn’s Beyond Discipline writes about the importance of community by describing it as “a place in which students feel cared about and are encouraged to care about each other. They experience a sense of being valued and respected; the children matter to one another and to the teacher” (Charles, 2007, p. 250). I have already created two lesson plans for community building activities to be used in the first couple days of school where the teacher is trying to get to know the students, the students want to know who their teacher is, and they want to know each other. For example, one lesson plan was a name toss game where students learn names of their peers and their interests. I feel that students will be more respectful and better-behaved when they feel like the teacher cares about them and of course, if they care about their teacher.
I want to avoid failure so that students do not “withdraw and quit trying, preferring to appear lazy rather than stupid” (Charles, 2007, p. 97) by “teaching to the various intelligences that allows students to use special talents they might have in different areas” (Charles, 2007, p. 97) as is suggested by the cooperative strategy. If I were to always ask my students to complete assignments by writing an essay, it would only be fair to those who were great writers. I recognize that there are many different ways for students to show me that they understand the material and I want to encourage them to use their strengths. For example, I could offer options to draw a picture or give an oral presentation. If I do not do that, I risk the chance that they do not want to look stupid so they simply stop trying.
Another preventative strategy I plan to employ is the use of seating charts. On the first day of school, I will let students pick their own seats which we will keep for the next couple of weeks. This way, I can easily identify who is friends and if they work well together or become trouble makers. Then, when I make my next seating chart, I can purposefully move those students away from each other so that they can focus better during class. I would like to switch the seating chart on a regular basis so that students have the opportunity to meet and work with other students, thus improving their social skills as well.
I will motivate students by selecting topics that “have personal importance and relevance to the students… [and] make class activities events students look forward to” (Charles, 2007, p. 180) like in the discipline with dignity strategy by Curwin and Mendler; albeit easier said than done. I believe the number one cause for students to misbehave is because they are bored. The more engaging I make the content and relevant to their personal lives, the more students can see what is in it for them. It also makes the material more tangible so that it can appeal to different intelligences.
The last type of preventative management I will try to implement is to offer an engaging curriculum; which is similar to the previous topic but more general. Naturally, I understand that not all students are going to come in with an affinity towards math but I want to challenge students to work out problems and see the benefits of understanding new concepts. The win-win philosophy explains that “most classroom misbehavior can be prevented if the teacher [makes]…an interesting and challenging curriculum [and]… adapts the curriculum to student interests and needs” (Charles, 2007, p. 155). As a new teacher, I naturally have to put more effort into the preparation portion of my lesson plan than more experienced educators.
Supportive
The first type of supportive strategy that I will use is to praise positive behavior. I have been taught as a manager to “Oreo” feedback by having two positive things to say for every one negative thing. The assertive strategy of classroom management describes, “Positive recognition refers to giving sincere personal attention to students who behave in keeping with class expectations. Positive recognition should be used frequently, as it tends to increase self-esteem, encourage good behavior, and build a positive class-room climate” (Charles, 2007 p. 67). I want to create an encouraging and optimistic environment and that cannot be done if the only feedback students hear is negative.
Secondly, I want to greet as many students as possible, as early as possible. I like to stand at the door and say “hi” to my students as they come into class. Clayton Cook at the University of Washington describes that a greeting at the door could be a “positive verbal or non-verbal interactions with students as they enter the classroom to establish a positive climate and provide behavior specific praise” (Cook, p.1). This sends the message that I know the student is here and should make them feel more accountable for their actions from that point forward.
Next, I will have social development skills during class by allowing time for students to work together collaboratively. Alfie Kohn’s Beyond Discipline values conflict between students, explaining that “student growth toward kindness, happiness, and self-fulfillment depends more on working closely with fellow students, including disagreeing and arguing with them” (Charles, 2007, p. 247). I like how this new independence will help develop life skills and is tied into the existentialism philosophy. I feel that working in groups is a good way to allow students to interact with one another in a productive way. If you imagine a classroom where students are never allowed to talk to one another, it would probably be terribly boring. Of course, this does not mean that all of the work should be shared but I would have to find the right balance of group work versus individual work.
The last method of supportive management I would like to employ is having a routine. I do not want to have a routine to the point where it is boring and predictable but rather so that students know what to expect. I have not decided what that routine will be exactly but probably an agenda written on the board, students arrive to class and get started on a sponge activity while I check that they have completed their homework from the night before, we answer questions about the homework and then move on to whatever topic we are covering for the day. This will encourage students to come into class and be ready to start learning right away since they know that we will generally start class with a sponge activity but it will not be boring since the way in which I teach new material can be different every day.
Corrective
The first corrective teaching tactic I will use is learned responsibility from the win-win philosophy. Kagan, Kyle, and Scott explain that “learned responsibility, … results from continually emphasizing self-management and autonomous proactive life skills” (Charles, 2007, p. 153). Unlike the authors of this philosophy, I do not think that this can work for every student. However, I think that some people are capable to learning from their own mistakes and will take it upon themselves to regret whatever inappropriate action they exhibited. This type of discipline works in conjunction to the progressive and existentialist philosophies because the students need to take responsibility for their own actions and learn who they are in school.
Secondly, as a teacher, I need to be composed and exhibit professionalism at all times. The cooperative strategy by Linda Albert says to “take charge of your negative emotions. Even when you feel angry, frustrated, or hurt, you can still respond calmly, objectively, and noncombatively. Doing so reduces student antagonism and helps everyone calm down” (Charles, 2007, p. 98) I have already begun to learn this type of conduct by being a restaurant manager for several years. Teachers should not let students break their composure but rather, stay in control and lead by example.
Another method I learned from the cooperative strategy was to be respectful. Hopefully, the preventative strategy of creating a community within your classroom has already begun the process of creating a mutual respect between the students with their peers and with the teacher. Alfred describes, “respectful means the consequence is invoked in a friendly but firm matter, with no blaming, shaming, or preaching” (Charles, 2007, p. 99). When a student does some action that needs correcting, the teacher can still go about disciplining them in a respectful manner so that they are not embarrassed.
Part of being respectful means “maintain[ing] the conviction that all students can change” (Charles, 2007, p. 181) as is described in the discipline with dignity management philosophy. This means that I will try to start fresh every day. I do not want the students to feel like there are going to be labeled as a “bad kid” for doing something wrong one time. Overall, giving students the opportunity to have a clean slate is part of my theme of maintaining respect among all of the classroom participants.
One more corrective strategy I learned from a teacher at my site and cooperative discipline was not to make empty threats. I have been told that if you tell a student something, the worst thing you can do is not follow through. “Reliably enforced means teachers invoke consequences and follow through in a consistent matter” (Charles, 2007, p.99), because if you are not reliable then students will think that they can get away with bad actions in the future and your inactions could be perceived as “playing favorites.” Being reliable is so important that it is also covered in discipline with dignity by Curwin and Mendler, who encourage teachers to “develop a repertoire of effective discipline strategies and use them patiently and persistently” (Charles, 2007, p. 181).Being dependable with my steps of correction is one of the most important parts of my classroom management strategy.
Conclusion
There are a lot of elements to my classroom management plan; which is separated into preventative, supportive, and corrective strategies. My educational philosophy is a mix of progressive and existentialism where students’ lives are the focus of my teaching. To me, this means that when I am planning my lessons, I am making the material relevant and curriculum engaging by attempting to orient my class to their lives and interests. During class I am teaching students the skills that they will take with them after high school including social development. Lastly, when corrective action is necessary, I hope that I am guiding students to be respectful towards others and take responsibility for their actions which is another life-long learning skill that I hope students will practice after graduation or leaving my class. I aim to make all of these elements cohesive and understandable in my classroom.
Charles, C.M. (2007). Building Classroom Management, 9th ed., Pearson: New York, NY.
Cook, C.R. “Positive Greetings at the Door.” Retrieved from http://www.sjcoe.org/selpa/files/tiers/pcm16/Positive_Greetings_at_the_Door_script.doc.pdf
By: Melissa Bechtold
Introduction
I have created a classroom management plan with preventative, supportive, and corrective techniques that are grounded in progressive and existentialism educational philosophies. I believe that the most important part of classroom management is the preventative and preparation portion where I will clearly identify the classroom rules, make connections with the students, make a strategic seating chart, teach to multiple intelligences, and keep the parents involved. The supportive routines and daily interactions I will use include praising positive behavior, greeting students as much as possible, social development, and establishing routines. When students are disrupting the learning environment I will use corrective strategies to distract the student, employ target-stop-do, keep my composure, allow students to take responsibility for their own actions, and I will not make empty threats. I believe that students misbehave for different reasons and I plan on recognizing those causes on a case-by-case basis just like students have different interests and abilities that I will aim at differentiating my lessons to.
Preventative
I want to create a positive learning environment where students feel comfortable and know what is expected of them so the first thing I will do to prepare my class is to create a syllabus to pass out to students on the first day of school. The syllabus will have my class rules clearly stated which is recommended by Lee and Marlene Canter in the assertive philosophy. This philosophy “advocated the use of clear rules of classroom behavior” (Charles, 2007, p.66) because if students do not know what they are expected to do, then I cannot demand anything from them behaviorally.
Also, I will encourage parent involvement as suggested in the win-win strategy by Kagan, Kyle, and Scott where “students, teachers, and parents are all working together on the same side to enhance the school experience for everyone” (Charles, 2007, p. 153). I have had the opportunity to substitute in schools with varying levels of parent involvement and have seen the positive advantages; “parents’ input, support, follow-through, and backup strengthen the likelihood of responsible student behavior” (Charles, 2007, p. 163). Some teachers have expressed to me that they do not like the parents being involved but I feel the opposite. In most cases, the guardians can be one more positive influence for inspiration to the student and I want each student to have as much support as possible.
The third preventative strategy I would like to implement is to make my classroom into a community. Alfie Kohn’s Beyond Discipline writes about the importance of community by describing it as “a place in which students feel cared about and are encouraged to care about each other. They experience a sense of being valued and respected; the children matter to one another and to the teacher” (Charles, 2007, p. 250). I have already created two lesson plans for community building activities to be used in the first couple days of school where the teacher is trying to get to know the students, the students want to know who their teacher is, and they want to know each other. For example, one lesson plan was a name toss game where students learn names of their peers and their interests. I feel that students will be more respectful and better-behaved when they feel like the teacher cares about them and of course, if they care about their teacher.
I want to avoid failure so that students do not “withdraw and quit trying, preferring to appear lazy rather than stupid” (Charles, 2007, p. 97) by “teaching to the various intelligences that allows students to use special talents they might have in different areas” (Charles, 2007, p. 97) as is suggested by the cooperative strategy. If I were to always ask my students to complete assignments by writing an essay, it would only be fair to those who were great writers. I recognize that there are many different ways for students to show me that they understand the material and I want to encourage them to use their strengths. For example, I could offer options to draw a picture or give an oral presentation. If I do not do that, I risk the chance that they do not want to look stupid so they simply stop trying.
Another preventative strategy I plan to employ is the use of seating charts. On the first day of school, I will let students pick their own seats which we will keep for the next couple of weeks. This way, I can easily identify who is friends and if they work well together or become trouble makers. Then, when I make my next seating chart, I can purposefully move those students away from each other so that they can focus better during class. I would like to switch the seating chart on a regular basis so that students have the opportunity to meet and work with other students, thus improving their social skills as well.
I will motivate students by selecting topics that “have personal importance and relevance to the students… [and] make class activities events students look forward to” (Charles, 2007, p. 180) like in the discipline with dignity strategy by Curwin and Mendler; albeit easier said than done. I believe the number one cause for students to misbehave is because they are bored. The more engaging I make the content and relevant to their personal lives, the more students can see what is in it for them. It also makes the material more tangible so that it can appeal to different intelligences.
The last type of preventative management I will try to implement is to offer an engaging curriculum; which is similar to the previous topic but more general. Naturally, I understand that not all students are going to come in with an affinity towards math but I want to challenge students to work out problems and see the benefits of understanding new concepts. The win-win philosophy explains that “most classroom misbehavior can be prevented if the teacher [makes]…an interesting and challenging curriculum [and]… adapts the curriculum to student interests and needs” (Charles, 2007, p. 155). As a new teacher, I naturally have to put more effort into the preparation portion of my lesson plan than more experienced educators.
Supportive
The first type of supportive strategy that I will use is to praise positive behavior. I have been taught as a manager to “Oreo” feedback by having two positive things to say for every one negative thing. The assertive strategy of classroom management describes, “Positive recognition refers to giving sincere personal attention to students who behave in keeping with class expectations. Positive recognition should be used frequently, as it tends to increase self-esteem, encourage good behavior, and build a positive class-room climate” (Charles, 2007 p. 67). I want to create an encouraging and optimistic environment and that cannot be done if the only feedback students hear is negative.
Secondly, I want to greet as many students as possible, as early as possible. I like to stand at the door and say “hi” to my students as they come into class. Clayton Cook at the University of Washington describes that a greeting at the door could be a “positive verbal or non-verbal interactions with students as they enter the classroom to establish a positive climate and provide behavior specific praise” (Cook, p.1). This sends the message that I know the student is here and should make them feel more accountable for their actions from that point forward.
Next, I will have social development skills during class by allowing time for students to work together collaboratively. Alfie Kohn’s Beyond Discipline values conflict between students, explaining that “student growth toward kindness, happiness, and self-fulfillment depends more on working closely with fellow students, including disagreeing and arguing with them” (Charles, 2007, p. 247). I like how this new independence will help develop life skills and is tied into the existentialism philosophy. I feel that working in groups is a good way to allow students to interact with one another in a productive way. If you imagine a classroom where students are never allowed to talk to one another, it would probably be terribly boring. Of course, this does not mean that all of the work should be shared but I would have to find the right balance of group work versus individual work.
The last method of supportive management I would like to employ is having a routine. I do not want to have a routine to the point where it is boring and predictable but rather so that students know what to expect. I have not decided what that routine will be exactly but probably an agenda written on the board, students arrive to class and get started on a sponge activity while I check that they have completed their homework from the night before, we answer questions about the homework and then move on to whatever topic we are covering for the day. This will encourage students to come into class and be ready to start learning right away since they know that we will generally start class with a sponge activity but it will not be boring since the way in which I teach new material can be different every day.
Corrective
The first corrective teaching tactic I will use is learned responsibility from the win-win philosophy. Kagan, Kyle, and Scott explain that “learned responsibility, … results from continually emphasizing self-management and autonomous proactive life skills” (Charles, 2007, p. 153). Unlike the authors of this philosophy, I do not think that this can work for every student. However, I think that some people are capable to learning from their own mistakes and will take it upon themselves to regret whatever inappropriate action they exhibited. This type of discipline works in conjunction to the progressive and existentialist philosophies because the students need to take responsibility for their own actions and learn who they are in school.
Secondly, as a teacher, I need to be composed and exhibit professionalism at all times. The cooperative strategy by Linda Albert says to “take charge of your negative emotions. Even when you feel angry, frustrated, or hurt, you can still respond calmly, objectively, and noncombatively. Doing so reduces student antagonism and helps everyone calm down” (Charles, 2007, p. 98) I have already begun to learn this type of conduct by being a restaurant manager for several years. Teachers should not let students break their composure but rather, stay in control and lead by example.
Another method I learned from the cooperative strategy was to be respectful. Hopefully, the preventative strategy of creating a community within your classroom has already begun the process of creating a mutual respect between the students with their peers and with the teacher. Alfred describes, “respectful means the consequence is invoked in a friendly but firm matter, with no blaming, shaming, or preaching” (Charles, 2007, p. 99). When a student does some action that needs correcting, the teacher can still go about disciplining them in a respectful manner so that they are not embarrassed.
Part of being respectful means “maintain[ing] the conviction that all students can change” (Charles, 2007, p. 181) as is described in the discipline with dignity management philosophy. This means that I will try to start fresh every day. I do not want the students to feel like there are going to be labeled as a “bad kid” for doing something wrong one time. Overall, giving students the opportunity to have a clean slate is part of my theme of maintaining respect among all of the classroom participants.
One more corrective strategy I learned from a teacher at my site and cooperative discipline was not to make empty threats. I have been told that if you tell a student something, the worst thing you can do is not follow through. “Reliably enforced means teachers invoke consequences and follow through in a consistent matter” (Charles, 2007, p.99), because if you are not reliable then students will think that they can get away with bad actions in the future and your inactions could be perceived as “playing favorites.” Being reliable is so important that it is also covered in discipline with dignity by Curwin and Mendler, who encourage teachers to “develop a repertoire of effective discipline strategies and use them patiently and persistently” (Charles, 2007, p. 181).Being dependable with my steps of correction is one of the most important parts of my classroom management strategy.
Conclusion
There are a lot of elements to my classroom management plan; which is separated into preventative, supportive, and corrective strategies. My educational philosophy is a mix of progressive and existentialism where students’ lives are the focus of my teaching. To me, this means that when I am planning my lessons, I am making the material relevant and curriculum engaging by attempting to orient my class to their lives and interests. During class I am teaching students the skills that they will take with them after high school including social development. Lastly, when corrective action is necessary, I hope that I am guiding students to be respectful towards others and take responsibility for their actions which is another life-long learning skill that I hope students will practice after graduation or leaving my class. I aim to make all of these elements cohesive and understandable in my classroom.
Charles, C.M. (2007). Building Classroom Management, 9th ed., Pearson: New York, NY.
Cook, C.R. “Positive Greetings at the Door.” Retrieved from http://www.sjcoe.org/selpa/files/tiers/pcm16/Positive_Greetings_at_the_Door_script.doc.pdf