Signature Assignment:

Classroom Management Plan

Shannon Sipes

Arizona State University

 Philosophy of Education

My name is Shannon Sipes and, throughout my years of education, I always found myself

separating my school life from my personal life. I was always the student who powered through

lesson plans just so that I could get good grades and go on a celebratory ice cream date with my

parents, but I never actually understood the significance or relatability of what I was learning in

school to my everyday life outside of the classroom walls. Because of this, I found myself

questioning the importance of school and dreading having to spend 7 hours of my day tied to a

desk, when I could be outside experiencing life. Then I met my first chemistry instructor,

Professor Gregg. Through his references to outside examples and his passion for science, he

opened up my eyes to the fact that science is the magnificent reason behind life. From the

construction of the iPhone in my hand, to the reason behind why it rains, to the cure for the cold I

had a few days prior, science is the backbone for understanding our day-to-day lives.

Additionally, Professor Gregg commonly used kinesthetic teaching methods, which always made

me feel excited to go to school every day because it showed me that school could be just as fun

as tie-dying shirts with a friend after class. It is because of Professor Gregg and how he

enthusiastically taught me how fun, relatable, and important science is that I am becoming a

science teacher. Similar to him, I want to inspire students to love coming to class and to create an

educational environment that is anxiety-free, filled with interactive learning, and that resonates

with my students. One of the main aspects of science that I love is how unifying it is. No matter

how diverse a classroom of students can be, we all are human beings made with the same bodily

components necessary to live who are learning, struggling, and growing together. We are all in

one classroom for the same purpose: to grow as learners and to grow as people. I believe that,
regardless of background, race, gender, skill, etc., every student deserves the best educational

environment that can be given to them so that they can learn to love coming to school together

just as I have.

Classroom Layout

As a student enters into the classroom, they will place their backpacks on and beneath the

large table in the South-East corner of the classroom. This will minimize the congestion within

the classroom commonly caused my backpacks being on the ground. Next to the backpack

station towards the south side is a drawer filled with previously completed materials for students

who were absent for a class or if they accidentally lost an activity sheet/ISN paper.

In the front of the class mounted on the wall is a SmartBoard (positioned in the center of

both rows of desks) with its projector mounted to the ceiling above the desks. Next to the
SmartBoard in the South direction is a medium-sized whiteboard. This whiteboard is sectioned

(by black masking tape) into sections with 3 headings being: “Learning Goal”, “Agenda”, and

“Homework”. Each section below the heading will be filled in with a dry-erase marker and will

be different each day. The learning goal section will have the standard/objective that we are

working on that specific day. The agenda will detail the expected plan/lesson for the class period.

The homework section will have homework reminders with their due dates and will also have

any reminders, such as upcoming exam or quiz dates.

There are a total of 8 large, long desks that all face the front of the room towards the

SmartBoard. The desks seat 4 students each and allow for the ability to easily do both partner

work and group work or discussion. The desks are facing the primary area for instruction but

also allow for viewing of the large whiteboard to their left. The two front desks will be reserved

initially for students who need to sit close to the SmartBoard (such as vision or hearing

impairments) or who need to sit closer to the teacher to avoid distractions (such as students with

ADD, ADHD, or who have difficulty with distractions or sitting in the back of the classroom).

Considering there will be times during the semester where students will be doing group

activities/labs, there is a round table with electric outlets within the table to allow for electronic

setup (such as laptops) located in the south-east corner in front of the backpack station. This

table can also be useful for groups of students who need additional help from a co-teacher.

Having the activity/additional help table positioned towards the back of the class will allow for

decreased distraction of other students.

 Located in the North-West corner of the classroom is the cart filled with Chromebooks.

The cart will be locked unless the students are to be using them for activities, research, learning

labs, interactive study tools (such as Quizlet), etc.

Next to the computer cart are 4 individual filing cabinets that contain student

work/graded materials. Towards the East of the filing cabinets are 4 mounted regular cabinets.

One cabinet will be dedicated for student project materials that they will be completing in class

and will not be taking home. The other 3 cabinets will be dedicated for class

materials/demonstrations, such as real rocks to pass around during the rock/mineral unit. On the

same wall and closest to the door is a pencil sharpener and a sink, which will be useful during

crafting activities and labs to help clean up prior to leaving the classroom.

The teacher station consists of a teacher desk with a computer (compatible with the

SmartBoard setup which will allow for projection of the computer screen) and a document

camera on top of the desk. The document camera will allow for the teacher to project individual

assignments/paper activities to help demonstrate guided practice. The desk has drawers built in

that contain sectioned drawer inserts. Within the drawers would be an array of teacher/student

materials, such as pencils, tape, markers, stapler, etc. Behind the teacher’s desk are a few

drawers that will contain lesson material and sample work. Additionally, there is a teacher

cabinet/dresser that will be locked and will include electronics (both personal and electronics

taken away from students misusing them), food/snacks (for students who have not eaten or as a

reward for good behavior), and confidential materials (such as IEP’s or health information). The

teacher’s station is positioned with enough space between the teacher’s desk and the students
desks so that, when students approach the teacher to discuss personal questions, other students

are unable to overhear sensitive topics, as recommended by Emmer (2009).

There are 2 large trash cans within the classroom, one by the teacher station and one

close by the door. Having both trashcans on opposite sides of the classroom would allow for

students to throw away trash without needing to travel too far and create traffic.

Next to the trash can located by the door is the bookshelf that contains the textbook used within

the science courses, organized by period with period one’s textbooks being on the top shelf,

period two’s textbooks on the second shelf, etc.

There will be multiple posters hanging on the walls of the classroom in varied locations

and will include motivational quotes/sayings and material relevant to the large topics covered

throughout the semester (such as a diagram of the Earth, the rock cycle, a diagram of plate

tectonics, the framework for the scientific method, etc.). There will be a bulletin board above the

backpack station that will include school spirit information, homework session information,

holiday information, etc. Additionally, there will be a poster hung by the door in the North-East

corner that will outline the emergency exit plan, which will be discussed at the beginning of the

semester. The last important poster will be located on the West wall towards the North-West

corner and this poster will outline the classroom rules, which will be covered on the first few

days of class and will be periodically referenced to as need be.

 Procedures and Routines

Beginning class:

Every class will begin by using the Threshold Technique, described in the Teach Like a

Champion book, where the teacher will greet each student as they walk into the classroom by

allowing for them to do a handshake, high five, or wave and saying “Hi [student’s name]” and

each student will sit in their assigned seats for the day after dropping their backpacks off in the

designated backpack station. On every Monday, we will begin the class by doing some minor

yoga and deep breathing for 2 minutes to start the week off by being relaxed. On every Friday,

we will begin the class by doing ‘The Hot Seat ‘, which is where one student sits in a chair at the

front of the class and 5 students get called on to ask the student questions, such as “What is your

favorite movie”, “What did you do this weekend”, etc, to help students get to know one another

and foster relationships within the classroom. As stated by Hay (2005), students building peer

relationships is an important component to educational achievement and building empathy and

connections and thus “The Hot Seat” activity will positively impact the students. The student in

the hot seat will be allowed to not answer questions that make them feel uncomfortable if they

choose. On every day (following Monday and Friday’s beginning activity), students will be

required to answer an OA question projected on the board in their interactive science notebooks.

Ending class:

At the end of each class, I will review the information on the standards, homework, and

agenda for that class to allow for students to summarize what we did in class that day and to

discuss the homework/upcoming reminders that they need to be preparing for, such as interactive
science notebook check dates, upcoming quizzes/exam dates, etc. Following this, the students

will put away materials used in their proper locations and will then get their backpacks as they

are dismissed and exit the classroom.

Transition:

● If students are performing group activities, they will work with the people at their same

table (totaling 4 students per group) and will have 20 seconds to position their chairs for

group discussion (facing one another). They will be allowed to move their chairs to better

facilitate group work and allow for them to see each member of the group for group

discussions. If they are completing group projects, they can move about their own table

freely so that each student can have an opportunity to add to the project. Once group

work time is up, the students will be allowed 20 seconds to put their seats back in the

regular formation and sit back facing the front of the class quietly. Once they have done

so, each student will raise their hand to signify they are done and ready to move to the

next portion of the class lesson.

Managing work:

● If homework is due, student will be directed to pass their homework to the left of their

table and then to the front-most table, where it will be collected by me. Homework will

be collected after the opening assignment.

● If there are papers or other materials to be passed out to the students, they will be handed

out to the students by placing 8 of the papers/materials at the edge of each table on the
 South side. The materials will then be passed to the right so that each student has the

needed materials.

Student absences:

If a student is absent from class and has an excused absence, he/she will be allowed to

make up the work missed and will be required to meet with me at the end of the class. All

documents/activities/PDFs completed during each class will be posted on my website, along with

any powerpoints presented and a description of the homework required for completion. This will

allow for students and parents to see what was missed the same day of the absence. Upon return,

students will have one school day to finish the work that they missed and will be required to turn

in their homework first thing during the following class period.

Late work:

Regular written homework turned in one day late will be reduced by 50% and will not be

accepted more than one day late.

Projects and activities (such as powerpoint presentations, essays, or science projects) will be

eligible for up to a week extension, depending on the intensity of the project, but will be docked

10% of the grade per day not turned in.

Grading/recording work:

● Every regular homework assignment will be graded within 2 days of submitting and

entered into the school’s grading system for viewing once completed. All homework
 assignments will be handed back the following day and if students have questions

regarding grading details, they can ask their questions at the end of class.

● Projects, activities, essays, exams, and larger assignments will be graded within one week

of submission and graded material will also be entered on the school’s grading system.

Communicating with parents:

On the first day of class, students will be given a paper to be signed and returned that

outlines the course guidelines, topics to be covered, information to access their child’s grades via

the school’s grading system, and contact information (including phone number and email

address). Parents will be encouraged to send emails or call with any concerns or to conversate in

general. They will also be encouraged to check my website to see what their child is learning

each day during class. Utilizing a classroom website increases efficiency within the classroom

(via the use of hyperlinks), creates connections (among teachers, students, and their parents), and

integrates technology into the students learning (Moulton, 2008).

Diverse learners:

Classroom procedures will be displayed on a colorful posterboard with large font so that

individuals will be able to read the procedures at any time if they need to review them. The

colorful and fun nature of the poster will allow for the procedures to not be so intimidating or

cause students to become overwhelmed. Additionally, the classroom procedures will be practiced

diligently and slowly for the first two weeks of class to allow for students to get adjusted to the

methods used and be able to kinesthetically learn the procedures.

 Rules and Consequences

Rules:

Consequences:

The process that will be followed for negative behavior (ie. not following the rules) will

be the strategy of 100%, as discussed within the Teach Like a Champion Book (Lemov, 2010),

which is a proven strategy to help discourage negative behavior without going straight to
punishment. This strategy suggests that, prior to giving a consequence, the teacher must follow

these steps:

1. Nonverbal intervention

2. Positive group correction

3. Anonymous individual correction

4. Private individual correction

5. Lightening quick public correction

6. Consequence

This strategy allows for students to not become embarrassed or anxious if they are having

an off day behavior-wise, which is extremely important to me and aligns with my philosophy of

education of creating an anxiety-free environment.

Each student in class will be given a character card, which is a colored piece of cardstock

with a personalized teacher sticker on it (to show authenticity of the character card, which will

not allow for it to be duplicated) that contains 2 tables (positives and infractions) and has the

rules listed at the top of the character card with the numbers listed next to them (as above). When

a student demonstrates positive behavior, the teacher will fill out a row in the positives section of

the character card and will list the date, the number/code they were demonstrating well (as listed

above) and a signature. When a student violates one of the rules, the teacher will follow the

100% strategy prior to giving the student a consequence. If the student continues the negative

behavior, the teacher will ask for the student’s character card and will fill in one of the infraction

rows with the date, the number of the rule that was broken, and a signature. If the student

receives 2 infractions in one class, the student will be asked to step out into the hallway and the
teacher will talk to them about their behavior and ask how they can prevent it from happening

again. If the student receives 3 infractions in class, they will be sent to the principal's office and

will receive a call home to their parents to discuss the negative behavior. At the end of each

quarter, if the student has more infractions than positives listed on their character card, they will

lose the privilege of getting the End of the Quarter Reward, which will either be a pizza/food

party for 30 minutes of class, 30 minutes of game time, a movie or episode of an appropriate

show, etc. Because of my philosophy of education emphasizing the importance of diversity and

comfortability within my classroom, inflicting emotional mistreatment/bullying of any kind will

not be tolerated and will receive an immediate infraction and a conversation in the hallway to

discuss the incident and come up with an apology for the student that was targeted.

Character Card Example:

Diverse learners:

Diverse learner needs will be met by explicitly covering the rules every day for the first

week, to allow for optimal memorization through repetition. Providing oral and written

instructions will also be beneficial for diverse learners when covering the rules of the classroom,

which will resonate with students who have better auditory perception and students who have

better visual perception (Gore, 2010). Additionally, students with organizational or memory

challenges will be allowed to keep their Character Card in the classroom in a designated file to

avoid chances of misplacing or forgetting the card. Lastly, the teacher will provide examples and

nonexamples when discussing the rules to enhance the understanding of what each rule means.
 References

Moulton, J. (2008, February 19). The Classroom Web Page: A Must-Have in 2008. Retrieved

November 24, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/classroom-web-page

Hay, D. F. (2005, March). Peer relations | Early Peer Relations and their Impact on Children's

Development. Retrieved November 24, 2017, from http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/

peer-relations/according-experts/early-peer-relations-and-their-impact-childrens-develop

ment

Emmer, E. T., & Evertson, C. M. (2009). ​Classroom management for middle and high school

teachers​ (9th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Lemov, D. (2010). ​Teach like a champion: 49 techniques that put students on the path to college​.

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub.

Gore, M. C. (2010). ​Inclusion strategies for secondary classrooms: keys for struggling learners​.

Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.