Laura Montes | Lhm468 | EDC 331E

Management Plan
Classroom Management Philosophy:

Teaching is more than showing up for work and imparting knowledge to your students.

Teaching is a combination of purposeful and thoughtful actions that create a positive and

encouraging learning environment for your kids. Therefore, classroom management is more than

just being able to have control of your students and to be able to know how to discipline.

Classroom management is having the ability to manage your classroom so that everyone has an

opportunity to learn.

Classroom management includes having a structured day to day routine so everyone

knows what is expected of them, yielding no confusion and more time for learning. It requires

not only the students to be prepared every day, but the teacher as well. This means, the class must

be organized, the lesson must be ready, and the teacher themselves must be set to provide the

best possible education for their students. The teacher must come to class well prepared and

organized, ready to know what their ultimate goal for their students to achieve is. Objectives

must first be identified then displayed while clearly explained so the desired result and goal for

the students is always known. When the environment is organized and the teacher is too, it

maximizes student learning and minimizes student misbehavior (Wong, p. 99).

Classroom management also includes having high expectations for all students, creating a

welcoming environment and showing you care for your students. It is essential to create a

classroom that has a good balance between authority and freedom. Students are able to explore

and become independent thinkers when you humanize the relationship you create with them. You

will learn to communicate more effectively with your students rather than have a constant power

struggle with them. When you begin to not only know but care about your students, you gain an

understanding for their actions and who they are as a human being rather than just your student.
Laura Montes | Lhm468 | EDC 331E

All of these aspects come together to construct a positive and productive attitude towards

education for your students. With classroom management, every student is given the opportunity

to succeed.

Expectations & Rules:

Setting clear expectations from the first day I meet my students is vital in order to have a

structured and work-oriented classroom for the rest of the year. Having high expectations for all

students can also construct a positive environment as well as a positive attitude towards

education for my students. As Wong stressed, children who are expected by their teachers to

gain intellectually in fact do show greater intellectual gains after one year than do children of

whom are not expected (pg. 42). I will make sure to maintain high expectations for all of my

students in order to create a constructive and productive classroom filled with diligent students.

By modeling these positive expectations for my students, they will begin to have promising

expectations for each other as well as for themselves, creating an encouraging environment.

Rules are important in order to create structure within the classroom. We will therefore as

a class, create a classroom constitution that will focus around respect, preparedness, following

directions, and kindness that we can all then sign off together. By allowing my students to create

the rules with me, they will be encouraged to have self-discipline and be more willing to follow

the rules they have helped put together themselves. We will come up with a list of 3 to 5 simple

but clear rules that will be seen as limits or boundaries rather than as orders or punishments. It

has been emphasized that you can create a stronger classroom community when you allow your

students to actively and meaningfully participate in setting rules (Pinto, p. 82). The students

will be more willing to obey the rules when they are a part of the process of creating them.
Laura Montes | Lhm468 | EDC 331E

Everyone holds accountability for following the rules that they have helped create. Ultimately,

these set of rules or expectations will create a work-oriented atmosphere that will help maintain

positive behavior and decrease inappropriate behavior.

Pinto points out in chapter 2 that too much emphasis on control is a leash that restricts

curiosity, creativity, and active learning through experimentation (pg. 27). It is important to

have a classroom with structure, but that does not mean that the teacher must control everything.

When a teacher wants to hold all of the power or authority, it negatively impacts the students. As

Pinto explains, if we wish our students to explore and develop themselves, they must have

freedom with less authority (pg. 30). Students are unable to become independent thinkers when

they are constantly being told what to do. It is essential to have a classroom that has a good

balance between authority and freedom.

Consequences & Rewards:

When it comes to having consequences for my students, it is vital for them to understand

that they should be seen as results of their actions and choices rather than as a punishment. These

consequences will be discussed as we create the rules and expectations for the class so they will

be clearly communicated and understood before any misbehaviors occur. These consequences

will consist of four infractions that will be clearly communicated not only to the students, but to

the parents as well.

The infractions include:

First infraction: Warning (name on clipboard)

Laura Montes | Lhm468 | EDC 331E

Second infraction: Student/Teacher conference (Student will either in written or verbal

form explain the circumstances while demonstrating the understanding of the rule and what led

them to breaking it.)

Third infraction: Contact Parent/Guardian

Fourth infraction: Behavioral Referral/Principals office

For good behavior, they will receive comments such as you took a risk in your thinking

or you were courageous. These comments can be great motivation for them to engage in more

positive behavior and will encourage students to work towards academic goals rather than

material goals. In order for students to be encouraged to work as a class towards a collective

goal, I will allow them to receive 10 minutes of free time each day if all students cooperatively

work together to make sure all students are work-oriented throughout the day. This will not only

create a productive environment, but will develop self-discipline within the students while

creating a community as well. It is crucial to be consistent with these consequences and rewards

in order for the students to take them seriously and so they will also feel a sense of consistency

within the classroom. A classroom that has more structure will yield less confusion, and therefore

more time for learning.

As a teacher, I should be conscious of the emotions and feelings of my students. In order

to be aware of these emotions, I will allow opportunities for my students to share their thoughts

and feelings whenever needed. This will let me come to their actions and reactions with

understanding rather than with judgement. I will be proactive when it comes to consequences,

rather than reactive.

For students who may have a hard time following the rules and expectations, I will set up

an action plan that the student and I can go over together. They will have the opportunity to tell
Laura Montes | Lhm468 | EDC 331E

me what the problem is, what may be causing that problem, and ultimately they will construct a

plan for how they can solve that problem. We will work together to come to a solution and sign

off on the plan together. If the plan does not work, we can either try it again, or modify it to find

another possible solution.

Procedures & Routines:

Routines and procedures are necessary to create a classroom that will function efficiently

and ultimately enhance time for learning. When you have procedures in place, it will create a

structured environment that lowers a majority of the behavior problems that occur within a

classroom. It is vital to have these in place and ready to teach on the first day of school so they

can be rehearsed for the first few weeks of school. They will be consistent and reinforced several

times in order to construct an optimum learning environment for the students. On the first day as

well as the first few weeks of school, we will go over procedures such as:

- How students should enter the classroom.

- Being prepared for class to start (including two pencils sharpened so they will

not have to sharpen throughout the day)

- Knowing signals/phrases that I give that signify:
o Position 1: That I need their eyes on me/speaker, hands should be

resting, voices at a level 0

o Position 2: That they need to stand up and push their seats in, while

voices at a level 0
o Position 3: That they need to line up, while voices at a level 0
o Turn and Talk: That they can work as a group/partners, voices at a

level 2
- Knowing signals/phrases that they should give that signify:
o Fingers crossed: They need to go to the restroom.
o Thumbs Up: They need help/ have a question.
Laura Montes | Lhm468 | EDC 331E

o Thumb to Heart: They understand (thumb up)/ dont understand

(thumb down) the material.

o Peace Sign: They are ready to move on.
- Raising hand and listening while others speak.
- Working as a group.
- Getting in line to go to recess/lunch/specials.
- Walking through the halls quietly and orderly.
- Efficiently going to the restroom.
- Passing out papers.
- Getting materials out quickly and orderly.
- Getting homework/materials

Having procedures and routines allows students to have a sense of predictability rather

than confusion. When students know what to expect and do in different situations or scenarios,

they are able to learn how to work productively no matter what the circumstances are. It also

allows more time to work as a community. We will work together to create a work-oriented

classroom where we make supporting and working together a priority.