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Hannah Schaefer

Dr. Hollinger

ISE 380

18 September, 2018

Classroom Management

Philosophy and Synopsis: In my opinion, classroom management is when a teacher implements

skills and techniques that are designed to keep their students focused, attentive, orderly, on task,

organized, and productive. As stated in my personal definition, classroom management is used

to keep students focused, organized, on task and so on. Without good classroom management,

there would be chaos and many issues inside of the school. There would be many disruptions,

few rules, and the students would not be able to learn well in that type of environment.

Having an fairly extensive knowledge of childhood development plays a huge role on my

classroom management philosophy. For example, if I did not understand Piaget’s stages of

cognitive development, I may expect more out of students then they are ready for. Or I could be

surprised by behaviors that are typical for students of that age. This also is not to say Piaget’s

theories apply to every student out there, but it does lay out a wonderful framework. Along the

lines of Piaget as well, I would need to be very aware of stages of disequilibrium and

equilibrium. If I did not understand these cognitive imbalances, I may not recognize that

students have real reasons for acting out or not intaking information as well.

Although I believe the teacher should be the advisor in the classroom (at least to the

students), the teacher’s role is to act as guidance to the students and step in when necessary.

However, I believe that students also need to have a lot of choice and responsibility in the
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classroom. Giving students this, and following Glasser’s choice model, they become more

accountable and feel as if they are more grown up, which can ultimately inspire more grown up

actions. This also encourages teachers to help students make good decisions. If students do

however stray from their responsibilities or act out, it is the teachers job to defuse the situation in

the best way possible: which can vary from one situation to the next. The Kounin model also

presents that teaching should be integrated with discipline. Teachers should have “withitness”,

smoothness, momentum and so on, to be effective in the classroom. Kounin outlines all of these

aspects of teaching well in the model and is something that could be useful to most if not all

teachers.

One aspect of my future classroom management that will need attention is my system of

discipline. As Dreikurs so elegantly stated, discipline is not punishment but rather the teaching

of self control. Punishment is often only a temporary solution that can have more negative

effects than positive effects in the future. Rather than focusing on those punishments, I will put

my time into consequences that meet the actions of my students fairly. Dreikurs believed that

students act out for one or more of four reasons. These reasons would be to seek attention, to

gain power, to seek revenge for something they found unjust, or to avoid failure. I personally

hope to eliminate the last of those options in my classroom completely. I do not want any of my

students to ever feel like failures while I am their teacher. Although bad grades happen, and she

students are not as naturally intelligent as others, I strive to make sure that every student will feel

successful in one way or another each and everyday. I will do this through positive

reinforcements for even the littlest of good actions or hard work.

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Relationships: In my classroom, I would like it to be evident that the students trust and feel safe

with me. This becomes clear to me when students can speak freely, giving their opinions without

hesitation. This trust does not just come on the first day or without work, but starting with a good

opening activity when school starts is always a good idea to connect with student. I would hope

that in my future classroom, I would be able to make “life sized” students and let the kids

decorate them as if they were themselves. They could color on them, put fun facts, fears, likes,

and dislikes. Having everyone image themselves out there and extra information would work to

let the students get know one another as well as help me to get to know them and vise versa. In

one of the classrooms I observed in, the teacher explained a class project in which a poster board

would be needed. Soon after explaining she was sure to mention that if they were unable to get a

poster on their own or if the could not afford one, they should feel free to approach her and ask

and she would purchase one for them. I felt this is what every teacher should be like, because her

students knew, even if they couldn’t get something due to a money issue, it really was no issue at

all.

Students role in the classroom is to only be learners but to be leaders. Students should be

given enough responsibility to the point where their classroom is their own; made up from their

own decisions rather than those of the instructor. Students also have to be accountable for their

actions in terms of classroom management. They cannot expect to act out, be disorganized, miss

due dates and so on, with little to no consequence. The kids must realize that each of their

actions is followed with a reaction and they are the only ones who can control their actions that

could cause negative outcomes. One way to give students the the idea that the classroom is
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theirs, would be to make classroom rules together. As the teacher, it would be my job to try and

sway them towards certain rules, but if they are under the allusion that they are in control, they

will hopefully feel as if they are trusted enough and respected enough to come up with their own

rules.

I would like to build strong relationships with my students by greeting them in a special

way every single day. As seen on popular shows like Ellen and on Youtube, there are teachers

that do special handshakes with their students to build strong connections. I would do this

everyday to build an excitement when students walk into the classroom but also show students

that I care about them enough to have a personal engagement with each of them each day.

Another thing I would have student do is write a beginning and end of week journal that I

could comment on each day. These journals would say what students did over the weekend and

at the end of the week, what they liked and disliked. By commenting on students journals, it

shows that I took the time to see what they are up to and what they like and dislike. This builds a

mutually respect between us and a mutual caring.

I will build strong relationships by displaying good work of students in the classroom.

This does not necessarily mean putting students A’s on the board but even outstanding behavior.

This will show students that I value their work and effort enough to display it for everyone to

see. It also shows students who may not get those A’s all the time that what they do everyday is

just as important as anyone else in the classroom. This will only help to strengthen my

relationships with students.

My final way to build strong relationships with my students would be in appealing to

their interests. As the year progresses and I get to know them more, I will be able to tailor my
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lessons to things that they like. By doing this, my students will see that I care enough to make

my lessons more about them. This also promotes better learning for all of the students which is a

massive positive.

Instructional Strategies: As a teacher, if I do not have strong instructional strategies that go

hand in hand with my classroom management plan, it will be very difficult to get information to

my students. The first strategy I would have in my classroom is to model the desired behavior.

Studies such as Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment have shown that kids model their behavior off

of that of their adult superiors. If I want my students to use good manners, speak without

interruptions, and so on, I have to be able to do the exact same. I cannot have and expectation of

what I want my students to do without doing it myself.

A different strategy I would use, that I have already mentioned is coming up with a set of

rules and expectations as a class. I would do this as a group because student are more likely to

follow rules they feel that they came up with. That way, I am not just holding them accountable,

but they need to hold each other accountable. After coming up with set rules, it is important to

document them and put them in large print around the classroom. This way, students are always

aware of what is expected of them without verbal reminders.

On the topic of nonverbal reminders, I hope to use hand motions and cues in my

classroom. I believe this is a very important instructional strategy because it can help to keep

students on task without interrupting the lesson. It keeps with Kounin’s idea of smoothness.

Keeping students on task in a smooth way is beyond important in the classroom. I could also use

things like a clap that students respond to so that when I need silence or students to reel it back
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in, I do not need to yell. These are just small strategies that can be super effective in my future

classroom.

Another instructional strategy that I would use in my classroom is encouraging student

initiative. This gets students involved in the classroom with the teacher as well as promotes a

growth mindset. Giving them initiative can include asking them to work ahead, lead a group,

read allowed, or even give short summaries. This can also be seen as a for of praise because

students tend to like having leadership. Although this does not work for every student, giving

them initiative and responsibility makes them feel as if the teacher has trust and faith in them.

Students who also see students receive this type of praise will hopefully encourage them to work

just as hard so they can take that leadership role as well.

Finally, I would do my best to build excitement for the content I am going to teach.

Starting lessons by trying to hook students on the content is a great way to get them excited to

learn. Students who have interest in a topic are proven to be much more likely to internalize and

learn from that information. This also dissuades misbehavior. If all students are ready to learn

from the get go, they will not be bored (which can cause disruptions) and they will stay engaged

and on topic.

Procedures and Routines: In my future classroom, there will be very specific procedures and

routines for my students to follow from the beginning of the day to the end of the day. The first

procedure would begin the moment they step into the classroom and that would be students

going directly to their lockers or cubbies to put their backpacks and coats away. The expectation

for this is that all students are able to immediately walk to their assigned cubby, and hang up
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their backpack and coat. After they hang up both of these, they are expected to get any work or

folders out of their backpack that would or could be needed during the day. This would

eliminate any extra movement or disruption when I choose to transition from lessons because

their materials will already be with them at their desks. Once they get all of their materials, they

will be expected to go straight to their own desk and either do the beginning of day activity I

have planned or talk quietly with those at their table.

The next procedure and routine would go along with when students need to line up to

walk in the halls. When asked, and only when asked, students should line up at the door by

walking silently to their spot. Students who cut, run, or are too loud will be redirected to go back

to their desks and try to get in line again. This is an important part of my classroom routine

because it sets the tone for how students will be in the hallways. If I were to allow students to

run and be haphazard while lining up, they may believe that would be an appropriate way to act

in the hallways which it certainly is not.

This brings me to how my students should act in the hallways. My students are expected

to be silent in the hallways as well as staying in a pretty perfect line. All students should have

their hands and objects to themselves while walking. This is an important procedure for the

classroom because if students do not follow this, they could be a distraction for other classes

which would in turn inhibit other students learning. By having students stay silent, or put “a

bubble” in their mouths, they would not become distracted with one another and get from place

to place such smoother and quickly.

One part of classroom life that never seems to have a great routine or procedure is when

students need to use the restroom, get a drink, or sharpen a pencil. To eliminate issues in this
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particular area, I would use a light in my daily routine. This would be a small light that rest on

the board of my class. When the light is off, I am probably teaching new content so it is not a

good time for students to be disruptive by sharpening pencils or miss something by using the

restroom. However when the light is on, students know that they can do all of the described

things and would not even have to ask me. This eliminates the amount of disruptions in the

classroom as well as lessens the amount of students who need to walk up to the teacher to ask

questions that can just be answered from a simple light.

During group lessons, their are a few procedures that would need to be followed. First,

students would be expected to get out the materials that they are asked to have out and nothing

more. Having extra materials out can become a distraction for that student or those around them,

so keeping what they need to a minimum is ideal. It would also be expected that students find a

place where they do their best learning if they are not sitting in their assigned seats. This means

that they should sit somewhere that they will not be distracted by other students, windows,

books, and so on. Students will listen carefully for new information and make sure that f they

want to speak, they raise their hand. Finally if students have questions, the procedure would be

to raise their hand and wait quietly yo be called on.

Expectations: Going into a new classroom, I will desperately need to establish rules for my

students. I do not, however, want to hand my students a piece of paper with prerecorded rules.

Instead, I would like my students to come up with their “own” classroom rules. I give the word

own quotations, because I would like to oversee or at least guide them in the direction of what

rules I want written down while keeping them under the allusion that they are coming up with
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them themselves. This gives students the idea that they have a significant amount of power even

though I am still in charge. These rules that I make, would need be positively stated and also

relate back to a few of the school district/building rules. These rules also would need to relate

back to everyday activities and tasks. They will hopefully guide students through smooth

transitions, interactions with peer, and interactions with adults.

Here is an example of what classroom rules I would like to have and what they should

look like in my classroom:

Rule What it looks like What is looks like What it looks like What it looks like
in the Classroom during breaks in the halls at lunch

Be Respectful • Address staff • Use appropriate • Use appropriate • Use appropriate

and peers with voice, tone, and voice, tone, and voice, tone, and
kindness and a volume
volume
volume

good attitude
• Clean up after • Keep our • Use good
• Follow the yourself
hallways clean
manners

directions of the • Make sure all • Respect school • Keep our

adult in charge
work areas are property Cafeteria clean

• Respect school as you found • Throw all of your

property
them trash away
• Follow the dress
code at all times

Be an Active • Share work

• Share ideas with • Use appropriate • Share your
Participant • Ask as many your friends or voice, tone, and successes

questions as you the teacher

volume
• Laugh

may have
• Move around
• Stay in the line
• Have fun with
• Contribute your • Drink water • Follow any friends and relax
ideas instructions
given by an adult

Be Ready to Learn • Complete • Smile

• Listen to any and • Open discussion

activities
• Return on time all instructions • Relax, recharge,
• Remain on task given by adults
and regroup

the whole time • When finished in • Finish in the time

expected
the restroom, given to you
• Stay focused return to the line
during lessons
quickly so that
• If needed, take a class can
break, and walk resume
around so you
are ready to
learn when you
come back
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Be Responsible • Be prepared to • Put all materials • Use proper • Pick up after

learn everyday
away when routines to and yourself

• Arrive on time to asked

from • Throw trash in
class
• Transition destinations
the garbage can

• Stay focused quickly from • Arrive on time to • Conserve water,

and on task
break to work class
soap, and paper
• Complete all time • Have a visible products
classwork and hall pass
makeup work in
a timely manner

Show Self-Control • Keep hands, • Keep hands, • Keep hands, • Keep hands,
feet, and objects feet, and objects feet, and objects feet, and objects
to yourself
to yourself
to yourself
to yourself

• Raise hand to be • Share with • Enter and exit • Enter and exit
recognized friends who want calmly
calmly

to play with you

• Walk
• Stay seated until
• Only toss • Stay in the line told otherwise

objects that are • Your position in

meant to be line is only for
tossed such as you
sports balls

• Be careful and
watch your
surroundings so
everyone stays
safe!

Reinforcement: In my future classroom I would like to implement a sort of token economy. I

believe token economies can be useful not only because it provides some form of extrinsic

motivation, but it could also make students responsible for doing math on their own, and

budgeting their new found money. In my classroom, I would reward students based on the task.

One student may receive a “dime” for completing an assignment and being a good example for

the class, but a different student may receive a “quarter” for finishing their task in silence and

providing help to the student next to them who is completely lost. A different example would be

if one student may get distracted easily or act out, but one day if they complete their task without

being a distraction, they may get a token. However a student who always does their work may
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not get a physical reward like a token as often, but will always be provided with a positive praise.

I believe that positive praise and reinforcement is a much bigger factor in students success than

the physical rewards of tokens. As good as it may feel to get to pick something from a treasure

chest or get a free homework pass because of tokens, constantly reminding students that they are

doing a great job of working hard and staying focused, does more in the long run. Students who

are positively praised continue with those behaviors and are encouraged to be more intrinsically

motivated.

As mentioned, tangible reinforcers can be useful but the intangible reinforcers are proven

to promote more of the desired behaviors. In my classroom, I would like to use both social and

active reinforcers for my students. As social reinforcers, I would verbally praise my students,

write notes home to parents for good behavior, and make students my assistant or let them help

me with special tasks. These types of reinforcements are easy to give out and still have lasting

effects on the students. I also would try to incorporate active reinforcements such as running

errands, using the computer, and activity choices. I personally know that these were my favorite

types of praises because I liked getting to do something different and something that felt special

in a way.

An important aspect to using reinforcers is to find what works for your individual

students. As much as teachers would like to think that all students would be happy with a packet

of skittles, certain things work for certain students. In order to determine these these, I could so

a class brainstorm, ask student preferences, and have a reinforcer menus. All of these options will

help me to know my students better and help me when I need to encourage a specific action of

theirs.
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Consequences: In my classroom, I would like to use a set hierarchy of consequences, as well as

minor misbehavior plan. Consequences are intended to teach lessons, promote responsibility,

and work on making sure that the actions that illicit consequences don’t happen again in the long

term.

The hierarchy of consequences has multiple levels that progress as the behavior

progresses. For example, the first level is to remind the rule to the class, then remind the

individual rule to the student, and then change the environment of the student such as a seat

change or putting pressure on them by standing near so the behavior can stop. If the behavior

persists, I could take time away from their recess, then send a note home to the parents, followed

by a detention, and finally refer the student to the office. One of the more important portions of

the hierarchy is the severe clause which states that if the teacher deems the behavior unsafe, the

student will be immediately moved to the office.

In terms of having a minor misbehavior plan, I want to have this to implement in the

everyday classroom because there are minor misbehaviors all the time. These behaviors should

be taken care of with ease and as if they almost are not happening. Just because there is a minor

misbehavior, this does not mean that everyone should be involved and that work should stop.

For example, if a student was being distracting or was distracted, I could easily just stay near

them, which is the proximity strategy, to just make them slightly uncomfortable but get them

back on task. I could do this and continue to teach and not miss a beat. There are also non

verbal cues that I could have with students if they have reoccurring behaviors. These signals

would just remind them to get back on track and keep working.
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One of my favorite strategies is the ignore, attend, and praise strategy to get students to

get back to what they are doing. During this strategy, the teacher would notice an undesired

behavior and find a student who is doing the opposite. The teacher would then attend to and

praise that student, which then shows the student who is behaving incorrectly what they should

be doing. Once the poor behavior is corrected, the student should be praised for this correction.

I like this because it not only discourages the wrong behavior, but still is encouraging to students

when they do something right. As I mentioned before, social reinforcers encourage that action to

reoccur in the future and this is exactly what this consequence does.

Communicating Expectations: Communicating expectations is something that is beyond

important in my future classroom. In my classroom, I hope to have set rules within the first two

days of school. This way, from the first days on, students know exactly what is expected of them

so that down the line, if they have issues with the rules, I can explain to them, we have had them

since the first week and they aren’t going to change. I also would like to make these rules early

on so that I can quickly send them to the parents. I believe that it is extremely important that

parents are involved and aware of all of my classroom expectations.

In the classroom, I will have a copy of the rules and the matrix on the wall. This way, the

students can never get confused or say they did not know or see the rules. I would also send a

letter home to the parents that communicate my classroom expectations very clearly. This is

important to me because I think parents should be in the loop at all times and know what is

happening in my classroom. As mentioned, I would send a letter and this letter would have all of

the classroom rules as well as the same matrix the students have. This would be an example
Rule What it looks like What is looks like What it looks like What it looks like
in the Classroom during breaks in the halls at lunch
14
Be Respectful • Address staff • Use appropriate • Use appropriate • Use appropriate
and peers with voice, tone, and voice, tone, and voice, tone, and
kindness and a volume
volume
volume

good attitude
• Clean up after • Keep our • Use good
• Follow the yourself
hallways clean
manners

directions of the • Make sure all • Respect school • Keep our

adult in charge
work areas are property Cafeteria clean

• Respect school as you found • Throw all of your

property
them trash away
• Follow the dress
code at all times

Be an Active • Share work

• Share ideas with • Use appropriate • Share your
Participant • Ask as many your friends or voice, tone, and successes

questions as you the teacher

volume
• Laugh

may have
• Move around
• Stay in the line
• Have fun with
• Contribute your • Drink water • Follow any friends and relax
ideas instructions
given by an adult

Be Ready to Learn • Complete • Smile

• Listen to any and • Open discussion

activities
• Return on time all instructions • Relax, recharge,
• Remain on task given by adults
and regroup

the whole time • When finished in • Finish in the time

expected
the restroom, given to you
• Stay focused return to the line
during lessons
quickly so that
• If needed, take a class can
break, and walk resume
around so you
are ready to
learn when you
come back

Be Responsible • Be prepared to • Put all materials • Use proper • Pick up after

learn everyday
away when routines to and yourself

• Arrive on time to asked

from • Throw trash in
class
• Transition destinations
the garbage can

• Stay focused quickly from • Arrive on time to • Conserve water,

and on task
break to work class
soap, and paper
• Complete all time • Have a visible products
classwork and hall pass
makeup work in
a timely manner

Show Self-Control • Keep hands, • Keep hands, • Keep hands, • Keep hands,
feet, and objects feet, and objects feet, and objects feet, and objects
to yourself
to yourself
to yourself
to yourself

• Raise hand to be • Share with • Enter and exit • Enter and exit
recognized friends who want calmly
calmly

to play with you

• Walk
• Stay seated until
• Only toss • Stay in the line told otherwise

objects that are • Your position in

meant to be line is only for
tossed such as you
sports balls

• Be careful and
watch your
surroundings so
everyone stays
safe!

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letter I would send home to parents:

Dear Parents,

Hello! My name is Hannah Schaefer (Miss. Schaefer to your wonderful children) and I

am first year teacher. As I have already met the majority of you, I hoped to reach out again and

reiterate a few of the other key points from our first meeting. I have every intention of having a

fantastic year with all of your kids and I know we can accomplish this if a lot of our classroom

exceptions are met.

Our classroom has a very clear set of rules that all students are expected to follow. These

expectations are meant to be met every single day and if they are not met, there will be

consequences to fit the rule broken or action taken. Below are all of our classroom rules and the

sequence of consequences that may follow.

!
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I do hope that in the time that your students are in my classroom, you will also put in some work

at home and school. I do hope that you will find time to read with your kids at night a few times

a week as well as be available to help them with homework when needed. As parents, I would

hope that you will volunteer in our classroom so that you can see what I am doing in the

classroom. I hope to keep open lines of communication, through notes, calls, and meetings. I

look forward to working with you all throughout the year!

Thanks,

Miss. Hannah Schaefer

Record Keeping: Although record keeping may be a behind the scenes part of classroom

management, it is one of the more important pieces. If as a teacher, I am unable to record and

take note as to what is occurring in my classroom, how can I expect to correct reoccurring issues

or continue to encourage good behaviors. With technology becoming more prevalent in society

day by day, I would do my best to keep an online record of what is happening each day in the

classroom. For example, I could have two Excel spreadsheets with each of my students name:

one for the students good behavior and one for the bad behavior. Each day a student had a stand

out bad behavior or good behavior, it would be recorded on that spreadsheet for reference. I

would put a fairly detailed description of their actions and what I did as their teacher to provide a

consequence, and if it worked or not.

When I was in high school and middle school, we had an amazing program called

ProgressBook. On this site, parents and students alike had the ability to check grades, homework

assignments, and overall comments for the day. I would hope to have a program like that so that
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parents would be able to see my comments on their student on the day, so that if there was an

issue or something great that happened, they could easily see it. If I were not to have programs

like this, I would love to do positive notes home. I think sending notes home to parents are a

very direct way to get a message home without needing to call home. Unfortunately, I am sure I

will need to send a negative note home at some point, and when I do this, I would ask that the

parents sign the note and send it back with their child. I would do this only because I would

want to make sure that note actually made it home and was seen by a reliable adult. Once I

received that note back, I would mark it down on the spreadsheet.

My record keeping will reflect whole class, small group and individual data. Collecting

data in all aspects will be important because some people may act out in whole group lessons but

not small group and this would be important information to have if trying to correct those

behaviors. As mentioned before, I do want parents and students involved in the record keeping

process because it can be a perfect opportunity to involve students in their own behavior

management.