Jackie Klein

EDUC 132
May 14, 2014
Classroom Management Plan
Throughout my years in the education program, nothing has terrified me more than classroom
management. Countless times I have heard, Your first year of teaching is just about surviving. Mostly,
this is due to classroom management issues. In order to alleviate some of my own worry, and to knock
out an assignment at the same time, Im going to lay out some of my plans and aspirations so the first
time Im in charge of a classroom I dont hyperventilate and bolt for the door.

Part 1: Management Style and Philosophical Beliefs:

Its important to have first established a set of philosophical beliefs regarding education and
classroom management. Reading Discipline with Dignity was very helpful to me in several ways. It first
discussed the ideals and optimism of first year teachers: Realize you will not reach every child, but act
as though you will. This went a long way for me in understanding I cannot burden myself and be
Superman to every student that comes through my door. But at the same time, it is my energy and
attitude that comes across to students most. As Parker Palmer, author of The Courage to Teach and
numerous other works, said, We teach who we are. While I of course will utilize other theorists and
models, just this basic understanding shapes so much of what I want to be as a teacher.
As for my style, according to the quiz and my first artifact, I am an authoritative teacher, in
theory. I add the qualifier because although I recognize that what I think I will do and what action I will
actually take when placed in front of 30 students is another matter entirely. I think the most essential
part of this was the description, The authoritative teacher is also open to considerable verbal
interaction, including debates. That really rings true for me, as Im all about discussion and questioning.
As I have heard from numerous sources, poor classroom management is the number one reason
new teachers are not renewed after a year. Of course, keeping the job isnt the most important reason
to develop good classroom management skills. When a teacher has a well-run classroom, everything
goes smoothly (or at least, fewer things go wrong). Having students know what to expect from you goes
a long way in making your job easier, in terms of behavior management, routines and norms, and
student expectations. The better established expectations and environment are, the less time you have
to spend on management, the more time you have to spend on content.

Part 2: Establishing a Positive Classroom Culture

My main concern in a classroom as an English teacher is establishing an environment in which
students feel safe to contribute in discussion and in their writing. As my second artifact suggests, it is
important to have boundaries that are all based on respect for others and self. I might even give some
time to explicitly teach the differences in dialogue and debate, as well as how to give constructive
comments. I think its important to note that when it comes to another students work, there is a no-
tolerance policy on inappropriate behavior.
As for my response in discussion and writing particularly, I developed a system that I liked in a
practicum. When set to the task of grading student narratives on perseverance, many students shared
deeply personal information. It felt almost wrong to be grading their adherence to the theme in such
cases. My solution was to react honestly as a reader in the margins of the paper (Oh no! Thats so
cool!) and to always thank them at some point for sharing. The actual grading and academic
commentary I did on a separate rubric. While this would be a lot of work for EVERY writing assignment, I
think its important on assignments in which I explicitly ask them to share about themselves.

Part 3: Developing Classroom Rules and Procedures

Confession time: I am a miserably unorganized person. I start the beginning of every new
endeavor bright eyed and bushy tailed, arms packed with labelers, binder clips, and Post-It notes of
varying shapes and colors. A few weeks in, I inevitably throw my arms up in frustration. However, I hope
to keep my classroom organized with a specific organization station for my students. Here, they will
know where to find late work, extra copies, a basket to turn in work, and things of that ilk. I have also
been told that an accordion folder is a teachers best friend for keeping track of grading.
I also want to establish a daily norm that occurs at the beginning of class. Knowing that there
will be something to complete at the beginning of class allows for both structure and independence as
Discipline with Dignity and several other scholars discuss. I think it would work well to have a rotating
norm one day might be journaling, the next might using a Word Wall, a quick write, SSR, etc. This
could serve both as an anticipatory activity or review of previous lessons, or as another way to address
the content.
A way to address both student organization and a daily norm is through the use of an alphabox
like the one in my third artifact. It could be used to for students to keep track of important concepts
from a novel or to strengthen daily vocabulary. Even though they may seem elementary, if used well, I
think they can be really helpful in giving students independence while maintaining a certain amount of
structure.

Part 4: Classroom Layout

My first decision in making my classroom was that I wanted to have individual student desks so I
could more easily rearrange them depending on the days activities. My artifact also features that
organization station I keep talking about. I also really wanted a reading corner with plenty of books
because it serves to remind students that reading is supposed to be enjoyable. It also creates a more
inviting, safe environment. I also included dual Smart boards and computers to more easily integrate
technology. Although not pictured, I plan to include plenty of environmental print including learning
objectives, posters, and students work.

Part 5: Monitoring the Classroom and Responding to Student Misbehavior

As discussed in class, having a good environment and relationships with students is a majority of
the work done in classroom management. One way to take action against misbehavior discussed in my
artifact from Discipline with Dignity was reframing a situation to give it a positive spin. By expressing the
behavior in a better light, the student is more willing to react positively. This also falls in line with my
central philosophies of classroom management that attitude in a classroom can go a long way.
I do understand however that this technique will not always work, nor will it always be
appropriate. As I get older (specifically, farther away from the age of my students), I understand more
exactly the power of proximity, the mention of a name, and the increasingly effective Mom-look. For my
first year especially, I think I will probably utilize the see me after class line so that I have more time to
think about consequences and get back to the group lesson immediately rather than risk starting a
power struggle.

Parents as Partners:

Second confession time: Until this unit, I kind of thought of parents are the necessary evil of
teaching. As a practicum student, I have heard of literally no positive interaction a teacher had with
parents. From what I could tell, they either almost totally absent in their childs education or total
helicopter parents. But boom, in comes Dr. Hodgkinson to tell me how wrong I was. Parents and school
staff should be equal partners, and all parents want the best for their children. Even though these arent
100% accurate all of the time, I should learn to expect this from them because attitude makes so much
of a difference.
One way I can do this is by supplying parents with information about my units before I do them,
namely media I choose to use, like my artifact. This gives parents an idea of what to expect and also
shows my respect for them as a companion in their childs learning process. It also shows that I am
flexible to accommodating their beliefs within reason and that I too only have the best intentions.
December 2002 30
Alphaboxes
The Book
The Reader(s)
A B C D
E F G H
I J K L
M N O P
Q R S T
U V W XYZ
Source for template: Hoyt, Linda. 1999. Revisit, Reflect, Retell: Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension. Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH.