Classroom Management
Area #1: Procedures/Structures/Routines
- Beginning Routine/Start of Class: Students will put their personal items away in their backpack and/or locker. I will great them at the door, then they will find their spots to sit. They will start the day by immediately completing the warm-up questions or brain teaser once they have gotten settled. I will take attendance and handle any situations that may need to be handled before the day starts.
- Quiet/Attention Signals: I will use call and response attention getters to gain attention. An example is I would say "hocus pocus," then the students would respond with "everybody focus." Another example that I like is clapping in a specific pattern, then the students respond with the same pattern. I will explicitly teach these behaviors in a lesson.
- Physical Transitions (groups, pairs, labs, activities, carpet): When students are working in groups or pairs, I will number them off based on the number of groups is best fit for the activity. I will dismiss them based on numbers, names, or by the table they are sitting at. They will move directly to the spot that their group is meeting.
- Dismissal or Lining Up: Students will be dismissed from their tables when I call their name. I may also ask a get-to-know-you question for them to answer as I call their names. After they answer the questions, they will put all of their supplies away, clean up their areas, and gather their personal items to bring home.
- Non-Verbal Cues (visuals, hand gestures, music): I will use anchor charts, posters, hand-signals, and physical movement around the classroom support learning. Soft, calming music can be a great way to help students focus during assignment and assessments.
- Giving Directions: Directions will be given at the beginning of each lesson verbally and visually. I will model the expectations and provide opportunities for students to practice the expectations.
- Checking for Understanding: I will check for understanding throughout and at the end of the lesson. I will use a variety of strategies, including informal observations, hand-signals, journaling, and online resources. These assessments will be recorded in either an online document or a physical binder.
- Holding Ground/No Arguing: It is my priority to assume the best about students. If I assign a consequence to a situation dealing with misbehavior, I will make sure to follow through with the consequence. Doing so enforces structure in the classroom. If a student chooses to argue, I will refer to my hierarchy of consequences (listed below).
- Raising Hands to Speak: I will teach students which situations students are expected to raise their hands to speak. Some situations may be more suited for students to call out their answers without raising their hands. In these situations, I will gesture to students in a way that that understand what to do. If students call out in class, I will remind them of the expectations. Depending on the situation, I will place sticky notes as reminders on individual students' desks.
It is important to start the year by creating clear expectations for the classroom. Developing classroom procedures and expectations creates an environment that is safe and promotes learning. I plan on involving students in this process of creating rules for us to follow throughout the year. One way I would do this is by having each learner make a list of how they believe a respectful, responsible student, teacher, and class as a whole should behave. Then, I would look through their lists and construct a few overarching rules that encompass their beliefs. I would show these rules to the class and we would have a discussion about what they truly mean. I will create a visual for the classroom expectations for both myself and the students to reference throughout the year. Teaching procedures is similar to teaching content in any other subject. It is important to explicitly teach procedures and provide opportunities for students to practice them. When students successfully implement specific procedures, I would provide positive feedback and praise to promote similar behavior in the future. I have linked an example of a procedural lesson plan that I developed in my EDFN/SEED 440 (Classroom Management) course.
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Procedural Lesson Plan | |
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Area #2: Engagement & Participation
- Variety (three or more activities per hour): Including a range of engaging activities helps increase student interest. Doing so also makes sure a variety of learning styles are accounted for. I will consider the types of activities that I include in each lesson to ensure I am including different strategies and activities.
- Collaboration (Students Talking/Peer Discussions): Collaboration is an essential aspect of learning. I will include group activities and discussions to provide the opportunity for students to hear other perspectives and ideas.
- Movement (two or more times per hour): Children require at least 60 minutes of movement per day and it is beneficial for it to be spread out over a period of time. They also learn better when applying movement to learning. I will integrate movement into my lessons in a variety of methods, including hand motions, moving around the classroom, and explorations of our environment.
- Total Participation (all students think, write, share, or answer simultaneously): It is important for all students to participate, so I enjoy using strategies that ensure each person is learning. Some examples are think-pair-share, fist-to-five, whiteboard answers, journaling, creating videos, and more.
- Rigor (higher order thinking and tasks required): As students are answering questions and completing assignments/activities, I will provide guiding questions to promote deeper thinking. The criteria for each assignment will be designed for students to think deeply about their thoughts and answers.
- Instruction (explain, model, guided practice, independent practice): It is important to provide a variety of instructional techniques when teaching, instead of only direct instruction. When applying scaffolding, the teacher should slowly increase the rigor and independent practice for specific information, so students feel prepared to execute the skill on their own.
- Questioning/Probing: I will include open-ended questions throughout each lesson. During discussions and assignments, I will provide additional questions and feedback to help students think about their reasoning behind their answers.
- Group Work (roles and productivity): Working with others is an important skill for students to develop. I will place students in different groups over time, so they have the opportunity to work with a variety of their peers. When a group activity is assigned, each student will play a specific part and the group members will provide feedback. This is to ensure each person is collaborating and deserving of the groups' grade.
Engagement and participation are some of the most important aspects of teaching and learning. In order for students to truly digest and learn content, they need to find lessons engaging and want to participate. Some strategies that I find important to promote this are to plan for different learning styles by presenting information in a variety of formats, provide many opportunities for checking for understanding, and communicating with one another to hear multiple perspectives. Each student has their own experiences and individual learning styles. I make it my goal in every lesson to emphasize on student strengths. For example, I might present information with a question to help students brainstorm based on the content they will be learning. Then, I could teach and model the information while verbally expressing my own thought process. With scaffolding, students would then have the opportunity to learn with their peers through a hands-on activity. After exploring the information with a group, I would check for understanding with an individual formative assessment. Throughout this process, I would be guiding discussions and providing feedback where necessary. This is an example of how I might plan a lesson that is student-centered and promotes individual learning. This model fits with the "I Do, You Do, We Do" strategy,Movement is also an essential strategy for moving information from short-term memory to long-term memory. This could be as simple as having students place a hand on their head to show they are ready to move on or it could be physically moving their bodies to different areas of the room to answer a question. Below is an example of a lesson plan that I created during my ELED 320 (K-8 Science Methods) course where I implemented these strategies.
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Sounds Lesson Plan | |
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Area #3: Rapport/Connection
- Teacher Warmth/Friendliness/Approachability: When students feel safe and comfortable around their teacher they are more likely to enjoy school and learning. This results in more productivity and less misbehavior.
- Teacher Enthusiasm/Energy/Excitement/Joy: When the teacher shows that they are excited about a lesson, it is beneficial for students because it helps them become interested to learn.
- Teacher Humor/Laughter: Showing personality and making the classroom an enjoyable place are important aspects of school. The teacher can encourage this by including jokes and humor in lessons.
- Teacher Knowledge of individual students’ interests: In order for a teacher to successfully understand their students, they should get to know them and their interests inside and outside of school. I plan on including a variety of exciting activities for students to show their personalities in my lessons.
- Teacher Respect and Appreciation for students: Not only should students respect their teacher, but the teacher should also show respect back to their students. Students are capable human beings who deserve mutual respect.
- Teacher Encouragement of students: Encouragement is needed for people of all ages. I will support and provide kind words for students throughout the school year. My goal is to help students reach intrinsic motivation and notice their own self-worth.
- Teacher sensitivity to student cultures and backgrounds: Our cultures and background are a huge part of who we are as people. Teachers should get to know these aspects of their students and find ways to incorporate aspects of student cultures in the classroom. When students see that they are represented in their environment, it shows that they are welcome and seen by the people around them.
Creating relationships with each student is extremely important for successful learning. According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, children need to feel safe and supported in their environment before they are able to learn additional information. I start getting to know my students from day one and continue throughout the year. Not only do I want to learn information about my students, but I will also share information about my own life. Relationships go two-ways, so I think it is important for them to also see me as a person and not just a teacher. I will encourage students throughout the school day and be support for them when they have questions or need someone to talk to. I also think it is important for my students' families to have opportunities to be involved in our classroom. I hope that finding ways to incorporate their families' cultures and experiences into the classroom will help students understand that I want to get to know them. Some examples of how I plan to develop close relationships with my students are by greeting them at the door when they enter the classroom each day, designating a time for sharing stories of what they did outside of school the day before, hanging up student work around the classroom, providing opportunities for students to share photos and bring in items from their home lives to share with the class, and more. I have attached a "Meet the Teacher" letter that I created in my EDFN/SEED 440 (Classroom Management) course to introduce myself before school starts.
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Meet The Teacher Intro Letter | |
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Area #4: Behavior Intervention/Consequences
- Regular use of gentle redirects (proximity, warnings, the look): It is important to start by providing gentle redirects when a student first misbehaves. We all make mistakes and sometimes a simple reminder is all that is needed. This could be a reminder to the whole class, a quick look at the student, standing near the student, or placing a hand on their desk.
- Consequences are reasonable and equitable: The consequence assigned to a situation should be logical and directly relate to the misbehavior. To do this, the teacher should consider the purpose behind the consequence and determine if their choice matches their intensions.
- Consequences are given as choices (you have a choice right now...): Consequences are given to teach students that their actions and choices have matching results. I will make sure to remind students that they have the ability to make positive or negative choices throughout the year.
- Teacher uses soft eyes, soft voice during conflicts: When giving consequences, I am always on the student's side. To help the student remember this, I will use a kind voice and intentionally think about softening my face and eyes to show that I am not angry. I will also remind them that I care about them and am proving them with a consequence to help them learn.
- Teacher is firm, but also calm and compassionate (doesn’t yell or intimidate): It is important for the teacher to show the student that they mean what they say in a firm tone and then follow through with the consequence. However, it is also important for the teacher to speak in a calm voice that shows the student they are having a productive conversation.
- Consistent follow through with consequences once they are earned (doesn’t make the same request over and over): In order to ensure that there is structure in the classroom, the teacher needs to follow through with the consequences they say will happen. I have listed a tiered list of consequences. If one request is not successful, I will move on to another, instead of restating the same request multiple times.
- Arguments/debates are delayed, done in private: I will pull a student to the side or outside of the classroom away from other students when having a conversation about a misbehavior. It is not productive for a teacher to embarrass a student in front of their peers. This would also be distracting to others' learning too. Instead, I will find a time after the student has had time to cool down before having a private conversation.
- Progression up hierarchy is swift but fair: Having a set hierarchy of consequences is beneficial for both the teacher and students. Having a pre-designed list makes decision making simpler for the teacher and more fair for students. Progressively increasing the severity of a consequence helps the students make direct connections from their choice of misbehaving to a given consequence.
Behavior intervention and consequences are important for a classroom to have structure and for students to know that they are safe. Earlier I explained the process for developing and teaching classroom expectations and procedures. If these expectations are not followed, it is difficult for students to learn. The purpose of consequences is to teach students a lesson that will hopefully result in more positive actions in the classroom. It is always important to first assume the best about students. There is usually a reason behind their actions and the teacher should work with the student to figure out the underlying reason. The student should be aware that the consequence resulted from their own choices. When determining which consequence to use, it is useful to determine the situation, the number of times it has occurred, the individual student, and the context. This should be a tiered system that includes each consequence becoming more severe as the behavior continues. Having multiple choices for each tier is beneficial because the teacher can choose one that is best fit for the specific situation. I have attached an example of a tiered list of consequences that I created in my EDFN/SEED 440 (Classroom Management) course that I might use in my own classroom. I will always make sure that the student is aware that I am on their side and I care about them.
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Tiered Hierarchy of Consequences | |
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