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Alisha McFadyen

Anne Hewson

Classroom Management

Classroom Management Plan

November. 3rd 2017

As a teacher it is my goal to make my classroom a place that is warm, inviting,

and engaging for all students. Making a safe space that allows students to not only feel

welcome in all aspects of their learning, but also feel compelled to work at their own

pace, strengthening their learning abilities, will be a continuing goal of mine. Not only is

the environment of my classroom a specific goal, but also how I will be dealing with all

aspects of behavior, specifically though, how I will keep distraction and disruption to a

minimum. For my classroom specifically, there will be multiple ways in which I will

keep distraction and disruption to a minimum through things such as: presentation of

rules and procedures at the beginning of the year, allowing the students to help in the

making of consequences for the breaking/disruption of those rules, instilling learning

enhancing routines throughout each day, strategies intended for allocating proper

behavior within the classroom. I will discuss what I believe to be effective ways for

dealing with disruptions when they do, inevitably, happen.

One of the first things that I believe makes an effective teacher, along with an

effective way to keep students on-track, is through the presentation of rules and

procedures at the beginning of the year. As students come into my classroom, it is my

goal to make what I expect as a teacher known by having the students follow me in the

reading of the procedures I have placed on an eye-catching bulletin/bristol board within

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the classroom. However, the way that I would engage students throughout this

“beginning of the year” activity is by having the students help me in the making of

consequences. I believe an effective teacher should allow the students to help in decision

making, allowing them to feel included, while being more apt to respect you, as a teacher,

as well. Along with this, students coming together in the making of consequences, I

believe, will be more effective in the lessoning of disruption throughout the year, as the

students themselves, were the ones who made the consequences.

Along with the presentation of rules and the making of consequences, another

way that I intend to hold control of disruption throughout the classroom is through

routine. While establishing rules and procedures, I believe it an important task to start

instilling routines for everyday practice among the students. Having routines for the

morning, during lessons, between classes, and after school, allow for the students to

know what to except, being more apt to do the routines by themselves, in turn allowing

the students to feel more independent, as apposed to being told what to do everyday for

every task. This independence, in my opinion, allows students to feel more freedom and

less of a barrier when it comes to decision making, which would in turn lesson the

disruption of everyday activities. Along with this, routines allow students to know what

to expect for each school day, creating awareness for both the students and teacher.

Going off of routines, another important aspect of this classroom management

tool, and what I as a teacher intend to do, is to stick with it – routines, rules and

procedures, and consequences. I believe one of the most effective ways a teacher can

create an atmosphere in which they are both respected and not taken advantage of by

students is when a teacher “means business” – sticks with routines and consequences
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when disruption does, in fact, happen within the classroom. I believe sticking to your

word, as a teacher is one of the most important and effective tools within the classroom.

If this doesn’t happen, it allows for students to feel as though they can do what they want

when they want because the routine regarding rules, procedures, and consequences is not

instilled within the classroom.

Such as it is with routines, having strategies within the classroom also becomes an

effective tool when dealing with distraction and disruption within the classroom. Robert

Marzano, within the book titled A Handbook for Classroom Management that Works,

gives examples of “tangible rewards” to help in the assisting of proper behavior

throughout the classroom such as: point systems, end of the week parties for good

behavior, and “light charts”. Though I do not agree with most of the suggestions within

this section of the book, I believe it something that can be modified to fit a encouraging

learning environment, essentially being a strategy in prompting good behavior by being,

what Marzano states as “a healthy motivator” (43). For my classroom specifically, I

would use this type of system for involving everyone within the classroom. One way that

I would modify this idea of “tangible rewards” within the classroom is by involving the

students in an “end of the month party” that includes all students. The way I would

incorporate this would be by allowing the students to work together by presenting good

behavior, building up points throughout the month. If the class comes together and earns

enough points, then there is a class party on the last Friday of the month. I believe this to

be suitable, as it does not isolate anyone or make anyone feel left out, and it creates an

environment for students to work together as a team.

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The first section of this paper outlines the different strategies that, as a teacher, I

will use in my classroom to promote positive learning, student engagement, and a task

orientated environment. Although there are many ways to do this, ultimately lessoning

distraction and disruptive behavior, sometimes it is inevitable, and as a teacher it is my

goal to have strategies in place when dealing with these issues head on. One way that I

want to do this is by trying my best to understand students when things go wrong. Instead

of assuming, I want to ask why they are saying or doing the things that they are. When

doing this, I believe it important to not only get down to their level mentally, but

physically as well. Instead of talking above a student, kneeling down to their eye-level

and having that connection provides a safe space for students to communicate what they

are feeling, which is essentially the type of space I want my classroom to be.

Along with understanding and connecting with the student mentally, and

physically through eye-level, Alfie Kohn, in his book Beyond Discipline: From

Compliance to Community, suggests many ways in which teachers can handle problems

in the classroom, in which I have taken a few ideas that I would implement into my

classroom. Within Kohn’s book, specifically chapter 8, there are many different strategies

that teachers can use to help with behaviour problems that happen within the classroom

and school system. Some of the main strategies that Kohn suggests that I want to use for

classroom specifically are: maximizing student involvement, constructing an authentic

solution, and checking back later.

The first suggestion that I want to implement into my classroom that Kohn

suggest is the strategy of maximizing student involvement. Just like allowing students to

have input on the making of rules and consequences, maximizing student involvement
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when it comes to decisions on when misbehaviour occurs is equally important. Kohn

describes this strategy when stating that:

“One of many reasons this makes sense is that fewer problems are likely to occur in

such an environment. But when problems happen anyway, it is just as critical that

we maximize student involvement in deciding how to resolve them. Our immediate

response— to an individual student in a private conference or to a whole class in a

meeting— should be, “What do you think we can do to solve this problem?” Once

again, involving students is not just a nice thing to do; it’s far more likely to lead to

a meaningful, lasting solution than having the teacher decide unilaterally what must

be done” (125).

Much like maximizing student involvement, constructing an authentic solution is

essential when dealing with misbehaviour, and something that I, as a teacher, want to

strongly implement into my classroom. I don’t want to have “sit out in the halls” and

“write down what you did wrong” consequences. I want the solution to problems or

situations to be beneficial for the student, thus encouraging the authenticity. Kohn also

suggest this to be a good because “anything short of this is not real problem solving and

is not likely to produce worthwhile results” (126).

Lastly, I want to always make sure that as a teacher I check back with my

students. This is not only something I want to do on the regular, but also something that I

believe is extremely important when it comes to misbehaviour. Seeing if the student is

making progress, improvement, or if the solution did not work are all things that surface

when checking back is implemented within the classroom. Kohn also suggests this to be a

good idea to do as it allows the student to feel proud of him/herself if the solution was
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successful: “Alternatively, another conversation may be useful just to allow the child to

feel proud of himself for the resolution” (127).

Whether its presenting rules and procedures and having students collaborate on

consequences, having routines, and presenting tangible rewards, there are many ways in

which teachers can deal with and handle distraction and disruption. However, as a

teacher, I want to be different. Classroom management is not an easy thing to do – it

takes experience, patience, and learning along the way to find out what works for oneself

and their classroom. Having students feel safe and secure, along with enhancing an

encouraging and positive learning environment is my number one goal as a teacher, with

the rest being an area of learning, growing, and experiencing for myself.
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References

Kohn, A. (2006). Beyond discipline: from compliance to community. Alexandria, VA:

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Retrieved from

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unb/detail.action?docID=280293

Marzano, R J. (2005). A handbook for classroom management that works. Alexandria,

VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Retrieved from

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unb/detail.action?docID=289659