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Alexandra Connelly
Classroom Management Plan
EDUC 201A
Classroom Management in the Instructional Context
Dr. Martin

Table of Contents

Letter to Parents. 3-5

Classroom Rules..6-7
Organizing Paperwork.8-9
Emotional Feeling..10
Student Diversity..11-12
Sense of Community..13
Work Spaces.........14-15
Dcor16-17
Family Involvement.18
Classroom Diagram.19

Ms. Alexandra Connelly

Elon Elementary School
Email: afconnelly@amherstschools.edu
Phone: 434-384-5696

August 29
Dear Parents of Room 14,
I am so very excited to have your children in my class this year! I intend us
to have a fun and exciting year full of learning! I would like to intrude myself. I am
Alexandra Connelly. I have been teaching the first and second grade here at Elon
Elementary for three years. I completed my undergraduate degree at Lynchburg
College in Lynchburg, Virginia and then went on to complete my Masters Degree
of Education in Science there.
I want to keep an open channel of communication with you. I will be
sending periodic news-letters and flyers home with the students in their planners
throughout this academic year. If you have any questions about the work we are
doing in class, upcoming advents, or any concerns, please feel free to reach me
through email. Again, my email is afconnelly@amherstschools.edu or call after the
end of day dismissal between 3:30-5:00 at 434-384-5696.
Also, at the end of each grading period, I will be available for conferences
following the send out of report cards. If a conference needs to happen before then,
we will find a time that works for us both. Please dont hesitate to contact me. I
will be making phone calls home periodically throughout the year to keep you
updated on your childs progress.

My goal is to enrich the minds of all of the kids through learning activities
and foster community in our classroom. In order to do this, I have some
expectations and responsibilities for my students. If you would please go over this
short list with your child and have them return the bottom portion signed, I would
greatly appreciate it.
1. Students are to return homework promptly on the due date and have their
agendas signed nightly. Students are also expected to work on their studies at
home as well as in class.
2. Respect each others space. Keep your hands and hurtful words to yourself.
I am a believer in positive reinforcement for children. I want to praise and reward
your child often. I feel a good learning environment is one of affection and
gratification. However, if a student chooses to break my rules, there will be an
appropriate consequence following warnings. I want to create a positive class and
successful year for your child. Lets work together so that the entire class is
successful this year.
Again, please do not hesitate to contact me with concerns, comments, or questions.
This will be a team effort for your child and I appreciate your input.

Sincerely,

Alexandra Connelly

Please sign and have your child return the bottom portion of this letter to me.

I have read Ms. Connellys classroom management plan and have discussed it with
my child.
Parent/Guardian
Signature______________________________ Date_________________
Comments:

Classroom Rules for Ms. Connellys 3rd Grade

I plan for this to be a fun year full of learning and excitement. In order for us to
have a terrific year, you need to do your part, and I will do mine. There are a few
rules I will expect you to follow throughout the year. As a class, we are responsible
for respecting each other. These are a few guidelines that will help us throughout
the year remember that we all have the right to learn. We will be spending a lot of
time together this year and I want to make it the best year possible. Here are a few
general rules for my class:
1.

Respect each others space. If a problem emerges, we will use words to

solve our problems. Physical fights, touching, poking, hitting, kicking, biting, etc.
will not be acceptable. We will respect each other verbally as well. I will not
tolerate name calling, the spreading of rumors, lying, or any other language that
can hurt someone else. You may think just because you didnt punch someone in
the face, you didnt really hurt him or her. I do not see it this way. We will respect
each other in all matters.
If a problem with either of these confrontations emerges, there will be
consequences. If it is a physical altercation, I will immediately send you to the
principals office for her determination of consequence. If it is something that hurt
someone elses feelings or is inappropriate, I will give you a warning the first time

unless there is more of a problem that needs to be fixed. If the verbal disrespect
continues, I will resort to taking recess, then a referral to the office.
2.

Wait your turn: shouting in class can be disruptive. We each will get a turn to

be heard, so please raise your hand or answer in the w-ay I ask you to.
If this is a consistent problem, I will have a discussion with the adult at your house
about the outbursts.
3.

Turn in your homework each morning and get your agendas signed every

night. This will help me keep in touch with the adults at your house.
I will deduct 5 minutes of recess if you do not have completed homework or your
agenda signed.
4.

No cheating. Be honest. Cheating is copying someone elses answers or

giving answers to someone without my permission. Cheating is also using the

internet or some other source to look up information during an assignment or test
without my permission. Please do not cheat. I will have to report any cheating to
the principal.

Organizing Paperwork
Keeping paper work organized is extremely important. If you lose
something, the childs grade will not be reflected accurately. The school system,
from the independent school to the state you work in, requires the teacher to have
folders or binders for each students academic and behavioral reports. This will
help administrators, parents, and future teachers better assess the childs progress.
Being an elementary school teacher, I will be swamped with lots of papers. Some
will be of major importance, such as tests and projects. Other work, like homework
and minor class activities, will hold importance, but will be used as daily trackers
instead of assessment.
For the homework and class activities, I plan to have a set of trays near the
back of the class room, if that is where my coat racks are located. I will have a tray
labeled for each days work. In the morning, the students will unpack their back
packs and as they put them up, they can place their homework sheets in the tray. As
the day progresses, I will have either my students place their work in the tray for
that day or I will collect the papers and put them in there. Some homework, such as
spelling sentences, will have to be done in a notebook. At the end of every week,
when I collect the planners, I will have a place on the back table for the planners
and the notebooks to go so I can check the progress over the weekend.

For tests, I will collect them and put them in my personal folder to take
home and grade that night. I plan to return the tests to the students, have them take
them home to be signed, and returned to me within two days. They will put these
on my desk. I will have a filing cabinet organized for graded tests to go in based
on the unit we are in. All other homework that needs to be kept will go in a
corresponding folder in the lower file cabinet. The grades of these papers will be
recorded in my hand written grade book as well as the digital grade book.
However, for the purpose of talking with an administrator or parent, I think it is a
solid idea to keep the major papers on hand.
Also, there will need to be storage space in my class not only for this paper
work the students will complete, but for the assignments themselves to be stored
in. I will have shelves or cabinets to store these papers, with see-through containers
containing each units handouts.
I will update my student records based on the influx of papers and graded
materials I receive as well as by my personal observation records regularly. I will
keep these files in a locked cabinet in the back of the room.

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Emotional Feeling
I want my classroom to be a safe and comfortable place for my students. I
want to create an environment of excitement, yet a place of warmth for them. For
this environment to be generated, I need to create the atmosphere of respect
amongst my students.
I hope to instill the value of every individual in each of my students in the
class. I will work with each individual in any way I need to; whether it is in an
academic sense or in emotional essence. Through my education and psychology
courses, I have learned that using tools like Maslows hierarchy will help me relate
to each of the childrens needs on both emotional and cognitive levels. Each child
will be different and at different stages. I intend to praise each child for his or her
success and encourage him or her in failure. I want my students to feel that they are
capable of doing whatever they set their minds to.
I want my class to be a place that encompasses well-being. I desire to create
an atmosphere where my students feel free to ask questions without fear of
rejection or humiliation. I want to instill in them that it is okay to make mistakes. It
will be a room full of energy and the love for learning.

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Student Diversity
Diversity is a wonderful aspect in the human population, as well as in a
classroom. There are so many different cultures, backgrounds, and families that
people come from. All of these mixtures create a vast variation of ideas that people
benefit from. Without diversity, life would be boring.
I challenge myself to use implements like the Multiple Intelligence theory to
help my students understand and accept the differences amongst them in the class.
Some will learn differently than others. Some have talents that others wont. I can
create lesson plans that feature different strengths in different students. By
planning to teach each lesson in a variety of ways will help my students not only
be able to comprehend the lesson better, but will demonstrate to them that they
each are different; not only culturally and ethnically, but mentally as well.
As children get older, sometimes they are sucked into the ignorant
mainstream of intolerance for people different than they are. If we begin to teach
acceptance of diversity at a young age, perhaps intolerance in its general sense will
change in just a generation or two. In my class, I aspire to teach the children that
we are one race-human. I want them to understand that we may look and act

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different, but we all have special talents and gifts to offer. Perhaps these small
changes will develop a generation of Gardners Respectful Minds.
I plan to have events held in my class that explore the diverse cultures and
lifestyles in our school community and around the world. For instance, if I have a
child of Latino decent, perhaps I will ask that child to wear a traditional piece of
clothing to school one day and share with the class a fact or two about his or her
culture they have learned from home. I would like for each of my students to get
the opportunity to do something like this throughout the year so the class can learn
more about the individual as well as his or her culture.
All of my students will be taught that they are beautiful, unique, and special
in their own way. However, they will learn that we all live in one world that is full
of beautiful differences. I want them all to foster a sense of community as well as a
sense of individuality in my class. I believe that embracing diversity will help me
accomplish this.

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Sense of Community
Although my students will be taught that they each are distinctively unique
in their own manner, I hope to create a class that has a sense of respect and
community as well. Each individual will be important to me and to the class as a
whole. However, they will learn to work as a team.
I plan to have activities at the beginning of the year not only to get to know
my students as individuals, but to help them introduce themselves to one another.
For instance, playing a game that groups them together in specific categories. I can
start with simple statements with basic categories like getting into groups based on
their favorite colors or types of pets they have. Throughout the year, I can do
similar exercises with more in-depth, interpersonal questions. These types of
exercises may seem like games to the children, but are subconsciously bonding
them together. My students will do a lot of partner and group work to share ideas
and to learn to work alongside with one another.

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Work Spaces
My ideal teaching and working environment will be orderly chaos. I want
my students to feel the energy come from their environment that encourages them
to be children. Students can do some of their best learning in their natural state if
one knows how to teach useful information to them while they are energetic. I do
not believe in the ridged sit down approach some teachers take. There will be a
time for kids to dance or jump around and a space for them to do it in in my class,
like the reading carpet.
However, this chaos will not be because of misbehavior. There will be a
routine set for times of activity and times for tedious focus. I will orchestrate my
class to work in an orderly manner where everyones space is respected, but will
encourage creativity.
As an Elementary school teacher, I will probably need my desk to be in the
front of the room or where I can see each one of the students face on. However, I
think that I will randomly change my desk arrangement throughout the year. I
understand that routine and direction is imperative for young students, but I think
that young children get tired of the same boring set up.
My ideal working environment will be one of harmony. The students will be
placed where fewer problems will occur with one another and each can focus on

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his or her own work. However, I want them all to feel the sense of community so a
vast part of our day will be spent as a group at tables, rearranged circle-shaped
desks, or on the carpet somehow.
I want a set of round tables in the back of my class for small group readings.
Also, I want a kidney shaped table near the back where I can privately work with
students one on one facing the class so I can keep an eye on everyone else.
As part of my working environment and decorated space, I would like to
have interactive stations in the back of the room. These can change according to
the subject or unit. For example, if I am busy during math, some students can go
back to the back station and play the counting money game. In science, I can set up
an eco-habitat and the students can create a list or draw what they see and have fun
with it. During reading, they can take free time to read on the bean bag chairs.
These are for times where certain students need to work on other stuff while
I am with a small reading group, for example. Young students struggle to focus
sitting at their desks doing paper work. If there is a computer or two, I can allow
some students to work on educational programs while others are doing some group
activities at a table. This allows my students something new and exciting, yet
educational, to do while I work with groups or individuals.

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Dcor
My ideal classroom and working environment is one of excitement, color,
and festive decoration. I plant to have l posters up all over the walls. These can
pertain to grammar rules and puns and science facts. I will have calendars to teach
the days, weeks, and months as well as to list the birthdays of my homeroom class.
I will have an updated interactive bulletin board for each unit near the
reading carpet or area in the class. Certain well-behaved students can use the board
during down time before the next lesson as a reward. I will have colorful artwork
in my class, like a picture of a field for science or a geometric abstract piece for
math. The students will be allowed to design the name tag that will be on each of
their desks. I want my work space to be full of exhilaration and enjoyment. Color
brings those elements into my life for me. I will display student papers or artwork
on a special bulletin board or will have a board for a student of the week
segment on a board.
However, I need organization. For me to be an effective teacher, I need to
have a system not only for paperwork, but for materials, desks, and tables. I want
things to be neatly put away at the end of every session or day. I plan to update my
organizational system for materials every year. I will have clear labels for which

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cabinet or shelf contains which materials so I will lose anything. There will be
shelves with colorful bins neatly organized with every unit, reading left to right,
like a book. I want to decorate my shelves with student artwork, pictures, and
colorful dcor like a pencil shaped cut out to cover plain areas.
Some displayed decorations may look like these:

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Family Involvement
I desire to enlist the families of my students in the learning process. These
are the people that have the greatest influence over my students. If they are on
board with the educational plan, the student will have a greater chance of success.
Parents or guardians need to work their kids at home as well as encourage them to
work while at school. I can teach a subject day in and day out. However, if the
student gets no more practice in the subject matter than that, they probably will not
be able to fully understand or master it.
I plan to send home frequent newsletters and notices to my parents so they
will know what we are studying. I also will have them sign the agenda nightly so
that I know that are at least being offered the simple lesson plan for each day.
A parent being informed of the class subject material daily is a good start
with family involvement. However, I want them to be active in the childs
education. I will send home practice homework that I want the parent to sign that
he or she assisted the child with.

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Classroom Design