Classroom Management Plan
Level 1: Creating a Community
The greatest asset of our classroom are the students. Respecting this asset means creating a community of collaborative learners which is the foundation of my classroom management plan. By focusing on collaborative learning, I hope to foster:
Level 2: Recovery
From the start, I intend to inform the students directly of my expectations of them and of myself. I believe all students have the ability to succeed and improve when given the support and chance to do so. Supporting the students means focusing on their strengths and seeing what they do well while minimizing or redirecting behaviors that detract the class from reaching its goals. Level 3: Life Skills & Long-Term Support
Students need to development critical life-long skills of how to properly and productively interact and engage with other people in social and work settings. In order for students to acquire these skills, I must provide a model and a space for them to do so. Not all students have the same access to learn how to develop these skills in other spaces which is why it is so important that they are able to do so in our classroom. Level 4: Somewhere Else Plan
Our classroom will have a diversity of learners with different strengths and challenges. Some students will need extra support in order to have equitable access to the same learning as other students. As a teacher who believes in providing an education to all students, I must learn to know my students as I know myself in moments of conflict. Furthermore, I must always remind myself that each moment I share with a student is part of a grander narrative in a student's life and educational experiences. What has happened before (whether I know it or not) has influenced where they are now, but how I respect the student will influence where they go from here. Level 5: Wraparound Support
As students are part of a community within our classroom, the students are also part of a larger community outside our classroom. If the student and I are not able to find a solution within the classroom space, a deeper problem may be at root of the issue that we alone cannot resolve As such, I must reach out to outside resources and communicate with all invested constituents to identify and administer the support the student may need beyond the classroom. References
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Strategies
1. Collaborative Class Agreements, in which students brainstorm their thoughts about the goals, rules/expectations, and consequences for themselves as students and for the instructor as their teacher. The teacher gauges levels of classroom agreement by blind votes. Each rules needs a majority consensus and teacher agreement to be included (Villa, Thousand, & Nevin, 2010). 2. Introductions to help with learning names through the use of customized name badges and interactive names games (i.e. students choose an adjective to describe themselves a hand movement or motion with it). Students must remember each other's names, adjectives, and gestures as they go around in a circle reciting each student before them. At the end, the teacher recites all student names, adjectives, and gestures (Wong & Wong, 1998). 3. Assign Community Roles for each person to perform for their table groups the first which empower students to feel that they are a contributing member of a learning community (Roll-Taker for the table, Materials-Gatherer for the table, Bathroom Monitor (Albert, L. 1996). 4. Daily Collaboration by seating students in groups (Villa, Thousand, & Nevin, 2010). 5. Consistent Routines that students come to predict and expect such as greeting students as they enter the classroom, taking roll at the beginning of class, completing the daily question, and having the agenda for the day written on the board (Wong & Wong, 2013). Strategies
1. Focus on Strengths, Not Weaknesses to let students know that what they are doing well is being recognized, rather than only calling attention to what they are not doing well. For example, if a student is typically tardy, I will tell them that I appreciate his/her attendance as being tardy is much better than being absent (Albert, L. 1996). 2. Use Humor and Compassion to diffuse situations and establish connections. The teacher is more relatable and human to students, and laughter helps release tension or stress (Olson, 2009). 3. Take A Moment to understand the motivation behind student behaviors to allow for a response that would address that particular individual and their needs (Albert, L. 1996). 4. Be In Proximity to students who may not be working on assignments, socializing, or misbehaving. Students are more likely to be on task when the teacher is close by and may be observing them closely (Claassen & Claassen, 2008). 5. Acknowledge Accomplishments with verbal praise and recognition when students do their best, complete an assignment, or achieve the score they worked toward (Olsen, 2009). 6. Revisit Class Agreements when classroom expectations are not being met by the students and/or me. If we are not reaching our goals we set out in the beginning, we must revisit them and evaluate whether or not the expectations were not feasible or if how we could do better to reach them (Villa, Thousand, & Nevin, 2010). Strategies
1. Validate that students' thoughts, opinions, and emotions are real and are being heard. They are entitled to their stance. Distinguish the difference between these feelings and any negative or inappropriate behaviors that result (Olson, 2009). 2. Listen, Rather Than Assume when students look upset, complain, or withdraw from interacting with the teacher or other students. Clarify what is going on, get input from the student about how they want they problem resolved (if possible), and act to the solve the problem in a diplomatic way (Olson, 2009). 3. Use "I" Statements to establish personal understanding of situations. Model for students how to express themselves to share their perspectives in a respectful way (Claassen & Claassen, 2008). 4. Project-Based Learning and Participation drives the curriculum rather than only traditional formal assessments. Students will participate in projects such as individual and group presentations, model construction, skits, debates, mock trials, etc. Students will use rubrics for self-assessments and assessments of their group or team members (McTighe & Wiggins, 2012). 5. Holding Accountability to students to come to class on time, turn in their work on time, show respect to their peers and the teacher (Wong & Wong, 2013). Strategies
1. Awareness of students who may need additional support such as students with Individualized Education Plans or 504 Plans and students who may be English Learners. Ensure that their accommodations are being met (Rebora, 2008). 2. Time-Ins rather than Time-Outs, where students who may be struggling can do to a designated part of the classroom to reflect and regain composure, calm themselves, and assess what needs to happen internally and externally for them to return back to their seat (Kohn, 2006). 3. Transform Conflict by recognizing that these moments of conflict are not isolated events but part of a larger and and on-going process that can exist beyond the classroom. I must seek the root cause of the issue at hand in order to allow positive outcomes to grow from moments of conflict (Lederach, 2003). Strategies
1. Team Approach to include students, parents, counselors, other teachers, and aides to assist students who are falling behind, failing to complete classwork and assignments, or request additional support (Pranis, 2015). 2. Action Plan where each person on the team has a role or task that much be completed by an agreed upon time frame. The tasks may be better communication between the teacher, student, and parent, changes to the classroom environment, reminder lists that are signed off, or weekly check-ins (Classen & Claassen, 2008). 3. Utilize SST Meetings to address the individual needs of a particular students and how those needs can be better addressed in class (Claassen & Claassen, 2008). 4. Peer Support to help maintain a sense of community within the classroom. Proficient students take on leadership roles, and students who may need help receive it from a fellow student (Villa, Thousand, & Nevin, 2010). Albert, Linda. (1996). Cooperative Discipline. Philadelphia, PA: American Guidance Service.
Claassen, R. & Claassen, R. (2008). Discipline that Restores: Strategies to create respect, cooperation, and responsibility in the classroom. South Carolina: Booksurge Publishing. Kohn, A. (1995). Discipline is the Problem, Not the Solution. Learning Magazine, October – November. Retrieved from http://www.alfiekohn.org/article/discipline-problem-solution/ Lederach, J. (2003). The Little Book of Conflict Transformation: Clear articulation of guiding principles by a pioneer in the field. The Little Books of Justice and Peacebuilding Series. Intercourse, PA: Good Books. McTighe, J. & Wiggins, G. (2012). Introduction to UbD – White Paper. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Retrieved from http://jaymctighe.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/UbD-White-Paper-June-20141.pdf Olson, K. (2009). Wounded By School. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Pranis, Kay. (2005). The Little Book of Circle Processes: A new/old approach to peacemaking. The Little Books of Justice and Peacebuilding Series. Intercourse, PA: Good Books. Rebora, A. (2008). Making a Difference: Carol Ann Tomlinson explains how differentiated instruction works and why we need it now. Education Week. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/tsb/articles/2008/09/10/01tomlinson.h02.html Villa, R.A. Thousand, J.S. & Nevin, A.I. (2010). Chapter 9: Students as Collaborators in Responsibility, Collaborating with Students in Instruction and Decision Making, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, p. 171-188. Permission granted to post chapter by Jacque Thousand, 2014. Wong, H. K., & Wong, R. T. (2013). The first days of school. Sunnyvale, Calif.: Harry K. Wong Publications. Chicago. |