Classroom Management Plan

Sami Cowan

University of Utah
Preamble
I love kids and I want their education to be meaningful. Regardless of gender,
culture, background, or language spoken, everyone deserves to have a meaningful
education. My classroom will be a place where all students feel welcome, valued,
and loved. We will work together to create a positive classroom environment where
we can all feel comfortable taking risks and expanding our knowledge. I want my
students to grow and learn not only academically, but also how to take charge,
become leaders, and make a positive difference in the world.
Learning is a fluid process, and all students learn in a different way. As a
teacher, I will provide content in a variety of ways to find what works best with
students. I want students to achieve their highest potential, which I understand
looks different depending on the student. I want my students to understand that our
brains are always growing and that mistakes help that growth occur. While it is my
job to teach them, I will be learning from them as well. They will have say in certain
aspects of the classroom and can help find ways to improve learning throughout the
year. We will work together to learn new concepts and to grow to be not only better
students and learners, but better people as well.

Preventative Techniques
 Maintaining a positive classroom environment
o The driving force of my classroom management plan comes from the
idea of maintaining a positive classroom environment. Responding in
a negative way to behavior problems will create a hostile
environment, which can result in students resenting both the teacher
and their peers. If students are uncomfortable in the place they spend
a majority of their time, it will spiral from there. It is important that
students be held accountable for their actions, but it is the teacher’s
job to help students focus on the positive attributes of their peers, and
to not dwell on the negative.
 Building community
o A classroom community goes right along with maintaining a positive
classroom environment. The two coincide; if you have a classroom
community, the environment of your classroom is more likely to be
positive. Building community comes in many different forms. Through
teaching students how to speak to each other with respect, by reading
and reflecting on books about relevant topics in students lives, by
helping students become more mindful of those around them and the
situations they are going through, by setting up a class appreciation
jar and reading through it weekly, etc. As a teacher, it is also
important to take part in the community. Do the same things you ask
your students to do. Working side by side with students, encouraging
them to work together and appreciate each other and take part in
their learning will help all students feel like they belong.
 Team building
 o Team building games can be used as quick brain breaks and help
promote the positive classroom community that we strive for. We will
incorporate many games from PlayWorks in our classroom.
 Community jobs
o Giving students a role in the classroom helps them to feel important,
and can also be used as an intervention technique incentive. If they
are struggling with behavior, their job can be viewed as a privilege. It
can be a way to teach kids that as they get older, they aren’t entitled to
their job, and that they have to work for it. Students will be paid for
their jobs through either a classroom or school wide reward system. I
will remind students of their jobs on Mondays and Tuesdays, but for
the rest of the week it is their responsibility to take care of it. If the job
isn’t done, they won’t get paid. An example of the jobs students will
hold in my classroom include (but aren’t limited to):
 Fearless Leader
 End of the Line
 Desk Fairy
 Environmentalist
 Paper Passer
 Community meetings
o Every day we will have a community meeting in our classroom. We
will use this time to share how we are doing, discuss problems and
solutions happening around us, play team building games, read books,
and build a positive class community. It is my goal to have our
community meetings run along this schedule:
 Self Start Journal Entry
 Daily Affirmations:
 I am important
 I am strong
 I am smart
 I am unique
 I am confident
 I am loved
 I believe in myself
 I can do hard things
 I can be what I dream to be
 I am the future
 I will change the world!
 Journal Entry Discussion
 Book Read/Team Building Activity/Role Play
 Class rules
o Students will work together to come up with our class rules, though I
will help guide their discussion to achieve goals that focus on
kindness, respect, and inclusiveness.
 Greet students before and after school
 o Greeting students before and after school will help create a positive
classroom environment and will let students know that I care about
all of them.
 Engaging and relevant curriculum
o If students are not engaged problem behaviors will occur. I will design
my curriculum to be relevant to my students. We will focus on their
likes, where they are from, problems they are facing, etc. I will also
plan curriculum to be fun for students. Rather than lessons being
teacher centered, I want students to participate as much as possible.
 Transitions
o Students can become very off task while transitioning to new
activities. It is my job to teach what is expected, and how transitions
can run smoothly. I will use countdowns, songs, and prompts to teach
students how to get from point A to point B in an appropriate manner.
 Classroom setup
o Classroom set up is a huge part of classroom management. It is my job
to take note of how students work together and adjust where they sit
in accordance. Desks or tables will be set up in a way that I am able to
walk around the room easily, and access all students without
difficulty.
 Teaching procedures
o Explicitly teaching what listening looks like, sounds like, and feels like
o Gentle reminders/class class
o Teach how to report instances- what is tattling and what is not
 Be a role model
o I will model the expectations I set for my students. If I ask them not to
talk in the halls, neither will I, etc. I want students to view me as
someone who they can learn from to be kind and respectful. The
energy and behavior I bring into the classroom will hopefully reflect
on them in a positive way.
 Clear Expectations
o Before we do anything, I will tell my students exactly what I expect of
them. We will walk through the assignment, discuss noise level,
whether or not they will be working with a partner, what to do after
they are finished, etc. There will be no room for students to question
what they should be doing, which will help prevent behavior
problems.
 Partner and Group Work
o For the most part, humans are social creatures. Building in group and
partner work will give students a chance to talk and work with others
and keep them engaged, preventing students from talking out as much
during instructional time.
 Class and Teacher Points
o This point system will prompt students to stay on task during class. I
will have two columns on the board where I will mark points. One for
 the class, one for the teacher. When the students are on task, listening
well, or showing positive behavior, they will get a point. When I have
to stop and wait to continue on with a lesson, I will get a point. As a
class, we will work together to set an appropriate reward. Rewards
can include class parties, 15 minutes of free time, or an activity of
their choosing. At the end of the week or after an appropriate amount
of time, if the students have more points than I do, they will earn their
reward. This reward system holds the class as a whole accountable,
and by giving myself points instead of taking away points, I am not
taking away anything the students have earned.
 Growth Mindset
o I want my students to understand that our brains are always growing
and that mistakes take us further in life. Often times students get
upset when they get an answer wrong, creating a distraction for the
class. Teaching students that mistakes actually help them learn better
will prevent disruptions of the sort.

Supportive Techniques
 Positive Reinforcement
o Positive reinforcement focuses on praising the students who are
doing the correct thing rather than calling out students who are off
task. For example, if Student A is off task, but Student B, who is sitting
next to them, is sitting quietly and paying attention, praising Student
B for being on task will encourage students to do the same while still
keeping the environment positive. The main goal of using positive
reinforcement is to create a domino affect. Students will want to be
praised as well, or they will realize they are not on task and change
their behavior.
 Proximity
o When a student is off task, instead of embarrassing them and calling
them out for their behavior, you can position yourself near that
student. Once the student realizes you are standing right next to them,
they are more likely to stop what they are doing.
 Brain breaks
o School is long, and after being taught new, challenging information for
so long students can become restless. When you sense this is
beginning to occur, giving students a brain break by allowing them to
watch a video, get up and dance or get their wiggles out, or playing a
quick game will help redirect their behavior and help them to
continue on with the day without problems.
 Verbal and Nonverbal Cues
o I will use both verbal and nonverbal cues to redirect behavior in a
positive way. Verbal cues such as “class, class,” and “listening
positions,” will be my way of refocusing the group, and nonverbal cues
 such as “gentle reminders,” will be students’ way of holding each
other accountable during class and in the halls.

Intervention Techniques
 Conflict Resolution (Role Play)
o During our morning meetings we will often take times to practice
conflict resolution. This will be done through role play, where I or
students will act out a problem (either something relevant to them, or
something that has happened recently), and the class will work
together to find solutions to the problem presented. This can also be
done with students one on one, where students can role play the
situation and respond in a more appropriate way to learn how to
handle a similar situation in the future.
 Buddy Teacher (Teasing, Tattling, Defiance)
o If a student becomes too much of a distraction to the class, have a
system set up with another teacher so the student can go there to
calm down. I will teach students that this is meant to help students
calm down and return to the class ready to learn. While in the buddy
class the student will sit quietly and collect him or herself. Follow up
with the student later in the day.
 Behavior Contracts
o Create a behavior contract with students who have continual behavior
problems. Work with the student to identify what they need to focus
on, and help them to create an appropriate reward and consequence
system. The contract will include a morning, afternoon, and specials
(music, p.e, art, etc.) portion, and will be filled out each day. I will
discuss with the student at the end of each time period and let them
know how they are doing.
 Student Reflection
o Before sending students to a buddy class, I will have a reflection desk
set up in my classroom. Students will have to fill out a reflection paper
when they are asked to sit at the desk, and answer questions such as,
“What happened? Why did I choose to respond the way that I did?
How could I respond in a positive way?” After taking time to calm
down and fill the paper out, they will turn their reflection into a
basket before returning to their desks.

Procedures
 Hand signals
o We will have hand signals for:
 Questions: Students will raise their hands, holding up all five
fingers.
 Restroom: Students will use the ASL sign for the letter ‘R.’
 Drink: Students will hold up the ASL sign for the letter ‘W.’
 Tissue: Students will hold up two fingers.
  Pencil: If students need to switch out their pencils, they will
hold up four fingers
o In response, I will use the following signals back
 Yes, you have permission: Thumbs up
 No, you do not have permission: Thumbs down
 Wait for further instruction: Thumb in the middle
 Fearless Leader
o As a community job, each week we will have a new Fearless Leader.
The Fearless Leader gets everyone lined up, makes eye contact with
everyone in the line to determine if they are quiet and ready to go, and
then gives me a thumbs up when we are ready to leave the classroom.
This job encourages the fact that everyone will be a leader at times,
and everyone will be a follower as well. If students are talking in line
before we leave, the fearless leader will give them a gentle reminder,
which is a tap on the shoulder and then a ‘quiet’ signal.
 Sharpening Pencils
o We will have a pencil hospital in our classroom, which will have a
drawer of healthy (sharpened) pencils, and pencils that need to see
the doctor (unsharpened, broken, etc.). Students will be given 3-5
sharpened pencils at the beginning of the year to keep in a pencil
pouch. Students must use all of their pencils before returning them all
to the pencil hospital and taking new ones. Students will be able to get
pencils during quiet work time, or when the teacher is not currently
teaching.
 Morning Routine
o Students will have some sort of self-starter when they first enter the
classroom in the morning. They will put their things away, sit down,
and begin working on their self-start silently and continue to work on
it until announcements are over.
 Quiet Work
o If a student finishes an assignment before the time given is up, they
will work on quiet work at their desk. I will provide activities for
students to do that they can keep in a work folder, or they can do a
silent activity such as coloring, writing, or reading until it is time to
move onto the next activity.
 Bathroom/Water Breaks
o While I am teaching, students will not be able to leave the classroom
to use the restroom unless it is an emergency. I will explain to
students that honesty is extremely important, and that they cannot
say it is an emergency if it is not. Other than that, students are free to
use the restroom and get a drink of water if they ask during a time
where I am not up teaching. I will be mindful of how long I have been
teaching and allow bathroom breaks when needed.
 Walking in the hall
 o I will teach my students that in order to be respectful of the other
classes, we need to walk down the hall quietly and in a line. We will
practice how to walk down the hall, and students will use gentle
reminders to hold each other accountable.
 Community Meeting Beanbag Toss
o During our community meeting, we will use a beanbag to signify
whose turn it is to talk. If you don’t have the beanbag, you don’t have
permission to talk, and whoever has the beanbag must make sure that
before they begin talking, everyone is being respectful.
 Mastery System
o Periodically throughout lessons, and again at the end of a lesson, I will
ask students how they are feeling about a topic. They will put their
hands up to their chests and hold up 0-3 fingers to let me know how
they are doing.
 0 fingers means they aren’t understanding at all and need extra
assistance
 1 finger means they kind of understand but cannot yet do it on
their own
 2 means they feel pretty confident that they understand and do
it on their own
 3 means they have mastered it and can teach a friend
 Homework Folders
o Every day students will bring their homework folders to and from
school. One side of the folder will be for papers that can go home, and
one side will be for homework or papers that need to be returned to
school. I will put their weekly homework in their folder on Monday
and while they have all week to complete it, the folders must be
returned every day. In the morning, they will put their folders in a
“Homework Folder” basket, and they will be passed out at the end of
the day to put any papers they can take home in them.

Communication with Parents/Guardians

 Letter to Parents
o At the beginning of the school year I will send a letter to parents
providing my contact information, the best times to reach me, our
schedule, and a little bit about me and what my goals are for their
child for the year.
 Emails and Phone Calls
o Parents are welcome to email me any time, though I will not respond
until after the school day is over. I will check my email before I leave
the classroom every day. Parents are also welcome to call me before
and after school, and if there is an emergency during the school day
they are welcome to call the school.
 Class Website
 o I will have a class website where I post student work, our weekly
objectives, and overall what we are doing in the class. This will be
updated on Fridays. Accommodations can be made for parents who do
not have access to a computer.
 Parent Teacher Conferences
o Aside from the scheduled SEPs, parents are welcome to schedule
conferences with me to discuss anything they would like to address
about their child. During conferences I will be honest with parents,
ask for their help, and include many positives as well as challenges I
have experienced with their child.
 Parent Volunteers
o I will express to parents that they are always welcome to come
volunteer in our classroom, and that they should contact me if they
have any time or interest in doing so. I would love to get parents
involved in their children’s schooling as much as possible.
Sources
 Heyn, Paige. EDU 5310. Theories of Classroom Management.
 McCandless, Peggy. EDU 5310. Theories of Classroom Management.
 Middleton, Jordyn. EDU 5310. Theories of Classroom Management.
 Williams, Brooke. Nibley Park Elementary School. Second Grade.
 Wilson, M. B. (2015). Teasing, Tattling, Defiance and More: Positive
Approaches to 10 Common Classroom Behaviors. Turners Falls: Center for
Responsive Schools.