Classroom Management Model

Brooke Wean
November 24, 2015

Effective classroom management is a very important part of the

classroom. According to our textbooks, An effectively managed classroom is one
that runs smoothly, with minimal confusion and downtime, and maximizes
opportunities for student learning (Evertson, C., & Emmer, E. Page 29). The goal
of the education system is to educate students and help them succeed. In order
for students to achieve the ultimate learning goal, the students must behave. A
students behavior in the classroom not only affects his/her academic success,
but it affects the success of the other students as well. If one student in the
classroom is misbehaving it distracts the other students and it causes the teacher
to spend his/her time correcting the misbehavior when he/she could be using that
time to teach to assist other students in learning. A well-managed classroom will
run more smoothly and help students better succeed.
Everyone involved in the students life plays a role in the students
learning. It is the responsibility of the county or the school to determine the
curriculum for the students to learn. It is also the role of the school to set up a
clean, healthy, and safe school environment. All students should feel safe at
school. It is the role of the teacher to teach the curriculum and create a caring,
safe classroom environment. The teacher should make time to care for the
students and try their best to meet the needs of each student. The teacher
should assign appropriate work for the school day and work to be done at home.
It is the role of the student to be responsible for his/her own belongings.
By this I mean keeping up with his/her supplies and remembering to take their
homework, books, etc. home and bring them back each day. At the elementary

level, students are responsible for completing the assigned work, however, they
cannot be held completely accountable for making time to do the work, cutting
out distractions during homework and such since they are still very young. With
that said, it is the role of the teacher and the parent to make sure that students
are keeping up with their work. Of course, the teacher has approximately 20
students to keep up with, so the parents of each student should be responsible
for his/her child and their work.
It is also the role of the parent to create an environment at home for the
child to succeed in. This could be having a desk for the student to work at or
having a quiet place for the student. It is difficult for children to sit down and
complete their homework with the TV going, siblings playing, or other
distractions. At the elementary level parents may also need to designate a time
for the student to do his/her work. An elementary student may not have the selfdiscipline to sit down before dinner and complete homework before watching TV
or other activities without being told to do so.
Something that I personally need to make my classroom work is structure.
In an elementary setting we do a lot of fun activities, and sometimes things get a
little out of order. Sometimes, that is okay, but I prefer things to be organized,
routine, and structured. By structured, I do not mean I want my students to feel
like they are in prison. What I do mean is that I want them to know our routine,
know what I expect, and carry out those expectations. When I picture myself
teaching in front of the classroom, I picture the students knowing whether it is
okay or not for them to get up and sharpen their pencil, walk over to the tissue

box, whisper to a neighbor, or drift off to sleep. I need my rules and expectations
to be up front and set in the mind of students to make things run smoothly. My
strong organizational skills will help me accomplish this in my classroom.
Something else that I need in my classroom is cooperation. Ideally, I need
cooperation from the students, the students caregivers, and the other school
faculty members. The students need to be willing to learn for me to help them
succeed. Even if a teacher has the utmost faith in a student, if he/she is not
willing to do the work, then he/she cannot succeed. Parent cooperation is super
helpful in the classroom. From my experiences working in day care facilities it is
great to have a parent that you can lean on to answer questions, ask for help, or
ask for opinions. Also, if the parents are supporting their child when it comes to
his/her learning, then it gives the child a better outlook on education. Cooperation
from school faculty members is very important. When teachers can lean on each
other it is a wonderful thing. Teachers should be able to work as a team and ask
each other for help, ask each other questions, and figure things out together. It is
also important for teachers to work well with the other school faculty members
such as custodians, principals, and resource specialists.
When it comes to grade level preference, I am back and forth. When I
began the teaching program, I was set on kindergarten or first grade. Now, I am
thinking that I may like teaching 1 content area in sixth grade. I like the idea of
kindergarten and first grade because I prefer younger kids. When the students
are younger they are often more excited about school and even if they arent,
their cuteness makes up for it. As I have been planning lessons and my first unit I

have started thinking I may enjoy a departmentalized upper grade level. I have
had placements in the younger grades and hopefully I will get to see what an
upper grade level might be like before my time at Bridgewater is up and I am sent
out into the real world.
In my classroom I prefer students who are fun to be around. Part of the
reason that I want to become a teacher is the fact that I love kids. I like kids who
are cute, funny, sweet, and have a sense of humor. Of course, there are serious
times in the classroom, but it is nice to have a laugh every now and then as well.
When it comes to academics, I prefer students who are right on grade level.
Students who are above grade level are great to have, but they often just fly
through assignments and activities. Students who are below grade level take a
lot of extra time and work. Of course, I am willing to put in this work as a teacher,
but ideally it would be great if all students were on grade level.
My class rules will be determined by what I think is appropriate for the
grade level. For younger grade levels the rules will be similar to: no talking when
the teacher is talking, be kind to others, follow directions, raise your hand to ask
questions, etc. Classroom rules for an upper grade levels will be similar to the
ones listed above. They may include more structure to them since the students
will be a little more mature. Fred Jones suggests that it is important for teachers
to teach their classroom rules as a lesson. This can take up a lot of class time,
but it will be beneficial later down the road (Fred Jones Tools for Teaching. Page
14).

I will use several strategies to prevent misbehavior such as Fred Jones

inner loop seating arrangement. Fred Jones recommends setting up the
classroom to have walkways throughout (Fred Jones Tools for Teaching. Page
11). Walkways allow the teacher to walk about and monitor what every student is
doing. Fred Jones also talks about teachers showing students that they mean
business. This means showing body language that insinuates that you are
serious (Fred Jones Tools for Teaching. Page 15).
When there are misbehaviors in my classroom I will handle them on a
case-by-case basis. I will attempt to use the restorative justice approach as best I
can. I really liked the idea of Judy Mullets conflict resolution mat. I think this
would be great for younger grades, because at their level they are learning how
to function in society and how they should properly communicate with other
individuals. This approach would be beneficial to younger students because it will
teach them to use these practices and skills throughout life. If a student is just
beyond my control, then I will hopefully have a colleague who will hold the
student in his/her classroom for a moment to calm down. A change of scenery
could help the student get back on the right track, and it would give the teacher a
small break. I would like to avoid sending students to the principals office as
much as possible.
When it comes to punishment and consequences it depends on each
instance. I do not think that punishment is really necessary in most cases. There
are natural consequences for most actions. In situations where the student does
something minor, he/she will feel the natural consequences just after having a

conference or talk with the teacher or parents. For young children especially
punishment is not super effective, because when a student is sitting in time out
during recess he/she is not spending the time thinking about the action that got
him/her there. The student is just counting the seconds until the time is up and
then it is forgotten about. In serious cases students may need punishment such
as suspension or revoked privileges.
I also believe in positive reinforcement behavior management more than
negative reinforcement. I like the idea of students earning things or privileges by
demonstrating good behavior instead of having things taken away when
demonstrating poor behavior. In some instances, privileges need to be taken
away. An example of this would be a student damaging a school computer, then
the student may not be able to use school computers anymore. In a placement
that I have been in the CT used an app called Class Dojo. When a student
demonstrated good behavior, they would earn a dojo point. The CT had set up a
system where a certain number of points a student earned would equal a prize.
Some examples of prizes were eating lunch with a friend and the teacher in the
classroom or bringing in an item for show and share. I like this system because it
focuses on rewarding students for good behavior. The app does allow teachers
to take points away, but it does not have to be that way.
In my classroom I think it would be possible to use a positive
reinforcement behavior management system along with restorative justice. With
both of these management systems at work students would be rewarded for
exceptional behavior and conflicts would be resolved peacefully. Students will

learn from their peers with this system. When one student sees another student
earn points or rewards, then the will strive to behave better themselves. When
problems arise in the classroom, we will handle them on a case-by-case basis,
figure out who the victim is, and how we can make all parties feel better with a
resolution. Students, especially at the younger level, will learn these problemsolving skills that they can use throughout their lives.

References
Evertson, C., & Emmer, E. (2013). Classroom Management for Elementary
Teachers (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.
Fred Jones Tools for Teaching. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2015.

Dear Parent/Guardian,
This school year in our classroom we are practicing a reward
system for demonstrating good behavior and a restorative justice
approach to solving problems. There is an app called Class Dojo that
we will use as a point system for rewarding good behavior. When a
student is spotted doing something nice for others, following
directions, working quietly, etc., then he/she will receive a dojo point.
Students will receive a reward for every 10 points earned. Some of the
rewards are: lunch in the classroom with the teacher, helper for the
day, and show and share. Class Dojo does have an app and accounts
can be shared with parents! If you are comfortable and/or interested in
this app you can send me an email and I will get you set up! Sharing
this app with you will allow you to see how many points your child has
at any time and what he/she earned the points for. You will not see
other students information.
A restorative justice problem solving approach will allow us to
solve conflicts peacefully in our classroom. When a student or students
are having an issue, we will talk about what the issue is, what went
wrong, who is hurt, and how we can fix it to make all people involved
feel better. Using this approach will teach students problem solving
skills that will be helpful for them outside of the classroom as well.
Our classroom is a community and all students are celebrated!
Together, as a team, we will work to ensure every student has the tools

for success in our classroom. If you have any questions feel free to
email me: bwean@eagels.bridgewater.edu.
Thank you,
Ms. Wean