My Classroom Management Plan and Philosophy
Below you will find my plan for managing my classroom and my philosophy. The plan starts at the bottom at Level 1 and moves upward to Level 5. Many different strategies are listed to accommodate all of my students since every one of them is unique.
Level 1: I believe in cultivating a classroom built on honesty, respect, and trust. I will learn all of my students’ names and have all of my students learn each others’ names by playing name games in the beginning of the year. Each day, I will greet as many students as I can when they enter my classroom. By differentiating my instruction (Tomlinson, 2001) to cater to as many students as possible to accommodate all different types of learners (Gardner, 1983), I will be able to meet my students’ needs. I will always keep Maslow’s Hierarchy (Maslow, 1943) in mind to better understand my students and get to the root of any problems they may be having. To show respect for my students, checking in with my students constantly to show I care about them. At the core of my philosophy is this: There’s no such thing as a bad kid, just kids who make bad choices. I believe students are responsible for their own behavior and that class time is a time for learning. To ensure students understand and are likely to follow the class rules I will only have three major rules in my classroom, 1. Respect, 2. Listen, and 3. Try. To eliminate confusion, I will make sure my expectations are clear by posting and discussing an agenda with every lesson. Should any behavior issues arise, students will have input in solving these problems. Thus, I will hold class discussions when necessary for those issues. Additionally, to ensure my class is an efficient learning community, I will make sure that rules and consequences are clearly posted and followed. If there is any problem, I promise to listen to my students and will use positive discipline to empower students to make good choices.
Level 2: Because I want my students to not be afraid to make mistakes, all students start with a clean slate every day. Should any issues arise, I will enforce logical consequences consistently by following through the rules and consequences stated at the beginning of the year (Wong, 1991). To help keep students on track, I will politely and discreetly give reminders to students to behave appropriately and that they are responsible for their behavior. Some examples of these reminders include standing near them, walking around the room to address students directly, giving eye contact/gestures, pointing to the class rules, and removing any distractions. I will also make sure that I clearly indicate to students what the problem is and give them a chance to correct their behavior—perhaps in a small conversation either in class or after class. Should the problem continue to occur, I will have a longer conversation with the student to find the cause of the behavior and, if necessary, help him/her create a step-by-step plan.
Level 3: In my classroom, every student’s voice is valuable and worth hearing. I will instill core values of respect, honesty, caring, responsibility, and fairness in my classroom by including those aspects in my class rules. Should a student have any problems they are dealing with, my door is always open. Additionally, my students will be coached in how to practice active listening skills and using “I” statements when interacting with peers. Because I want my students to be contributing members of my class and encourage creativity, my students will collaborate with their peers daily (Olson, 2009) to gain new perspectives doing activities such as Think, Pair, Share (Lyman, 1981). Additionally, students will be able to express their ideas and respect others’ opinions. Should students become frustrated in my class, we will discuss calm-down techniques and other ways to solve problems.
Level 4: Should a student take away other students’ learning, he/she may need to take a moment to compose him/herself. He/she may be invited to step outside and return to class when he/she is ready to learn, take a walk around the building, to another teacher’s room, a counselor’s office, or an AP’s office to discuss strategies to help them be successful. Some issues may be tabled for later and students may be given another place to think about their actions. In every instance, students will involved in problem-solving and correcting their behavior (Kohn, 2008).
Level 5: Because teachers and students are all on the same team, all will be part of the problem-solving team. Although I will encourage students to exercise self-discipline, there may come a time where further action may be necessary. If the other levels have not worked and repeated requests to cease the behavior are ignored, I may call home, hold an SST (Student Success Team) meeting, request a family conference (Claassen, 2008), create a behavior contract with the student (Wong, 1991), or be forced to follow the school’s authority structure (discipline plan which includes referrals, suspensions, and expulsions).
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