Alison Jacobs

September 5, 2018

ISM380

Dr. Hollinger

Classroom Management Plan

PHILOSOPHY

Classroom management as I define it is having some structure in your classroom that

helps all your students learn to the best of their ability. Classroom management should

incorporate the classroom environment. Classroom management is how your classroom runs

smoothly each day. Classroom management is having a set of classroom rules that students fully

understand and will know the consequences if they do not follow the rules. Consequences in the

classroom should be logical and help the student understand that the action is unwanted and it

has nothing to do with their character (Dreikurs). The purpose of classroom management is to

keep a routine in your classroom (Canter). This way the students know what is to be expected

each day that they are in that classroom. It helps students take responsibility for their own

actions.

The classroom culture that I wish to create in my future classroom is a positive and safe

atmosphere (Jones). I want my students to be able to express themselves freely without the

negativity of their peers. I want my students to be excited to be in my classroom. I want my

students to enjoy learning. Enjoying the classroom environment will make learning easier for the

students. I will give my students choices within the classroom, to give them the responsibility for

their own learning (Curwin & Mendler). I want my students to have positive attitudes, I do not

want to hear any negative language when talking about themselves or other students. I want my
students to be hard workers, I always want them to try their best. I will never be upset with a

student for a wrong answer if they tried to the best of their ability. I want my students to make

mistakes and learn from their mistakes. I will make mistakes a good connotation in my

classroom (Glasser). Learning from your mistakes is one of the best ways to learn.

My knowledge of child development influences my philosophy of classroom

management. I know at what stages students are in by their age. Too many teachers think that

students should be more mature lessons than they are ready for. All students mature differently,

as a teacher realizing this and knowing your particular students. Each group of students is

different in the way that they develop. As a teacher it is important to know how your students

learn best by the way that they are developing. As a teacher I will always respect my students

(Curwin & Mendler). When students know that you respect them they will respect you.

SYNOPSIS

This is how I want to run my future elementary classroom. These ideas have come from

research as well as observations from teachers. This is how I feel my classroom will run best

with my personal ideas and beliefs. My classroom management plan will keep my students

engaged in lessons, keep them in a routine, and create a community of learners. These are all

things that I find very important to have in my classroom.

RELATIONSHIPS

The teachers role in classroom management is to help students make good choices

(glasser). I will help my students realize what good learning choices look like. Students must

acknowledge their choices and take responsibility for them. I will be firm yet caring with my

students. I will model behavior that I want to be reciprocated in my classroom. Young students

watch everything that their teachers do, modeling good behavior can result in well behaved
students. There will be times that some students cannot be taught how to behave correctly in a

classroom, I will have to realize that I am doing what I can (Curwin & Mendler). The students

also have a huge role in classroom management. The students need to take responsibility of their

choices that they make. Giving students choices in their classroom environment help them to feel

more respected in their classroom. I will give my students choices with different activities in my

classroom.

My classroom will be a community of learners. I want my students to know me and their

classmates well. At the beginning of the year we will work on getting to know eachother better. I

will tell my students a lot about myself, I will share with them my goals and how I will go about

achieving them. I will have individual meetings with each of my students at the beginning of the

year; just a 5 to 10 minute meeting asking them questions that I would like to know and having

my students ask me questions. When my students have this individual meeting with me they will

know that I care about them and how they are doing. I will also ask the students what one thing

that they would like to work on for the year. I will have students talk to me in private so matters

stay between the two of us.. I will establish a strong rapport with my students. I want to reach all

my students and figure out what it is that they need to learn best. Every morning I will greet my

students at the door, the way I act in the mornings will influence how their school day will go.

Having a smiling face and a positive comment in the morning can turn a students’ day around. I

will do everything that I can to put bad days behind me and be positive for my students. I will

have morning meetings in my classroom to establish routine and discuss how the day is going to

go. Establishing a routine in my classroom will help the schedule stay consistent for students.

During these meetings I want to go around the room and have my students say how they are

feeling for that day, or anything that they would like to share. This will connect the students
because they will know the feelings of their classmates. I will also post student work around the

classroom. Students will be proud of their hard work hanging around the classroom. This will

have the classroom feel more at home in their classroom.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Classroom management and instruction go hand and hand. Planning instructional

strategies that will keep students involved in the lesson and this will help manage student

behavior. One instructional strategy that I will use in my classroom is chunking. Chunking

breaks down the amount of content that is presented at once. For reading and working on

processing and comprehension students can partner read and read a small part, then summarize

what happened, then read more. This way students are not trying to read too much at once, and if

they stop to summarize it that will help with reading comprehension. A second instructional

strategy that I will use in my classroom is visual lists. This visual list will be something that

students can refer to if they find themselves off task. The list will be a list of what students can

do when they find themselves off track. The first thing that it will say is to ask a neighbor to help

you back on track. And if that does not help then the student can ask me to help them back on

track. I want students to take responsibility for their learning and to be honest if they are not on

track. Another instructional strategy that I will use will be technology. Technology can be used

for writing assignments. This can reduce the anxiety that comes with writing assignments for

students. It can also make writing assignments more authentic. One more instructional strategy

that I will incorporate into my classroom is replacing paper and pencil. I do not want my students

to only work on worksheets, I will give them hands on activities. I will have my students work

on whiteboards instead of using traditional worksheets. Working on whiteboards engages

students as a whole class instead of working individually. I will verbally ask students questions
about the reading and they will write their answers on whiteboards and hold them up in the air.

This way I can check the students’ answers quickly and I can also see who is comprehending the

lesson and students that may need more help.

PROCEDURES & ROUTINES

I will have a set schedule of routines in my classroom. The first couple weeks of school I

will establish these routines. I will have a classroom meeting where we will discuss these

routines and write them down and hang them on the wall in my classroom. In the mornings

students will come in and put their bookbags and coats in their lockers, as students walk in I will

be taking attendance. After students put their things away they will sit in their seats and complete

the journal question of the day, after this they can talk to their neighbors as long as they stay in

their seats. When students line up they will be single file, they can quietly talk to the person in

front or behind them, but they must keep their hands to themselves. While waiting in the hallway

I will hold up either math problems or vocabulary words for students to stay busy. I will also

have them do small movements while in line for students that have a harder time standing still. I

will have a song that will play when students need to become refocused. This song will be a song

that the students know and like, this will be something that we decide as a class at the beginning

of the school year. I will play this song when I want to get my students attention, they will know

as soon as it starts playing that they can sing along, but, they have to be in their seats looking at

the front of the room ready for the next lesson. Once the song is turned off I will expect students

to be in their seats, eyes on me, and listening carefully. Students will be in the routine of working

in centers. Students will know what center to go to, what to do at that center, and how to behave

at that center. Procedures and routines that are set in place within the first couple weeks of school

will help the students be prepared to learn for the day.

 EXPECTATIONS

I will be stern about the rules that I have in my classroom. I will not have a long list of

rules for my classroom, however; students will be expected to follow the ones that we have. I

will have rules that I feel are important for learning. I will give my students in my classroom a

lot of freedom but I will expect them to be responsible with this freedom. The first rule for my

classroom will be to be kind to everyone. I want my students to be kind to everyone even if they

do not get along with a classmate. The second rule will be to take care of yourself. I mean this in

two different concepts; I want students to worry about themselves and not be concerned with

what their classmates are doing, and I want students to let me know when they are struggling,

having a bad day, or are not feeling well. I want this rule to promote positive mental health at a

young age and help students become intune to their emotions and how to take care of

themselves. The third rule in my classroom will be to always tell the truth. A big thing that

upsets me is when a student lies to me. I want my students to be honest with me and themselves,

I will not punish a student if they are being honest with me. The fourth classroom rule will be, be

polite. I want to teach my students how to have good manners with me and their classmates.

Learning when to use please and thank you can take students a long way in the future. This will

also show appreciation for eachother. The fifth and final rule for my classroom will be clean up

after yourself. I am very organized and clean and I will expect my students to keep our classroom

clean. Trash goes in the trashcan and papers will go in the recycling bin. All of these rules will

be discussed the first couple weeks of school. I will spend a couple of days on each rule,

discussing things that I want and do not want. I will model the rules of exactly how I want my

students to do them, a visual representation can help clarify how to follow the rules.
REINFORCEMENT

My system of reinforcement will be differentiated by individual students and the class as

a whole. I want my students to have individual reinforcements so that they can set their own

goals. Reinforcements for the class as a whole will encourage students to be a community and

keep each other accountable. For individual reinforcements for my classroom I will use a token

economy. The token economy that I will be using is fake money. Each student will be able to

earn and spend their own money. I will have a list of items that the students can purchase with

their money. Items will be school supplies, books, extra recess time, lunch with a teacher, ect.

This allows students to gain responsibility on their own and when students are rewarded they can

make their own choices. If I like the behaviors that a student is showing or they are working

extra hard I will slide them a dollar or two. Students are then responsible for keeping that money

safe in their bank so that they do not lose it. Students can learn ways to use and budget their

money as well using this positive reinforcement system. I will also have a positive reinforcement

for the class as a whole. I will create a jar that will sit on my desk this jar will be called the

“Good Noodle Jar”. This jar will be used for adding noodles into the jar when my students have

done something that I like. For example if all my students go to the carpet quietly, or if they are

not antsy during lesson instruction then I will tell my students that everyone has done a fantastic

job and I will add a noodle into the jar. Once the noodle jar becomes full we will decide as a

class what we want to do: pizza party, board game day, extra recess, ect. This positive

reinforcement plan will create a community within the classroom. Students can hold their

classmates accountable, reminding them of the rules if they are breaking any. Both of these

positive reinforcement plans will be explained after the rules are put into place. I will spend a

week explaining and modeling how the positive reinforcement systems will work.
CONSEQUENCES

There will be consequences in my classroom for rules that are broken. I do not want the

consequences in my classroom to turn into punishments. I want the consequences to serve as a

learning purpose. One consequence that I will have in my classroom will be if any students

purposely break and of the classroom rules then I will ask them to give me a certain amount of

money from their bank. It is a privilege to buy things in our classroom and if the students are not

respectful and follow the rules then they will have to pay the consequences. More serious

behaviors will result to a call or email to their parents or guardians. If it is violating a school rule

then that student will be sent to the principal's office. If the whole class has done something to

break the rules I will remove noodles from the noodle jar. An example of this would be if I

received a poor report from a substitute teacher.

COMMUNICATING EXPECTATIONS
Having strong communication with students and families is very important in my

classroom. Families should feel involved in their student’s learning. As a teacher it is my job to

connect the families into my classroom. I will consider everything from the parents’ perspective.

Communication with parents and students should start before the first day of school. I will send

my parents out a letter telling them the rules and expectations that I have for their child. I will

also express how important I feel it is that they are involved in their child’s learning. Within the

first week of school I will send the parents an information sheet asking for their contact

information and perterred time of contacting. I will ask that they tell me a little bit about their

family; if there is anything that I will need to know about their child. Strong communication

should take place throughout the school year. I will send notes home with students to keep their

parents connected. These notes will be both good and bad, I do not want to communicate with
parents only when their child has done something wrong. I will keep parents connected with

students records and I will give them ways that they can practice with their child at home.

RECORD KEEPING

As a teacher it is very important to keep records of your students. These records should

be set up in a way that they are easy to read. I will use Excel Spreadsheets to keep records in my

classroom. Using excel spreadsheets will keep me organized and will make it easy to share with

parents. I will have students individualized to keep them private. I want student involvement in

their own record keeping this can better involve them in their own behavior management. Data

taking will record students strengths and weaknesses. This data can be used for decision making

purposes; if a student needs to be retaught a lesson because they did not grasp it the first time.

Students will each have their own folder in an excel spreadsheet, this spreadsheet will be used to

record grades and progress. I will record progresses in both formative and summative

assessments. This progress will be shared with students, parents, and the teacher for the next

year. This way students know where they are and how they are doing, parents can help students

at home in struggling areas, and the teacher for the next year will know exactly where that

student is at.
 WELCOME TO OUR CLASSROOM

Hello! My name is Alison Jacobs and I will be your son/daughter’s teacher for the year. I
am very excited for an awesome school year and I would like to communicate my expectations
for our classroom. The rules for our classroom are to promote student responsibility and create a
classroom environment that is conductive to learning.
Classroom Rules

1. Be kind to everyone

2. Take care of yourself

3. Always tell the truth

4. Be polite

5. Clean up after yourself

I want your child to feel at home in our classroom. If you could discuss the rules with
your child and emphasize that these rules maybe different than the rules at home, but they must
be followed while at school. I hope you all stay involved with your child’s learning this school
year! If you could please add your email and phone number and preferred time to be contacted.
Please feel free to tell me more about your family or anything that you would like me to know
about your student! You can contact me at jacobsac2020@mountunion.edu or 330-313-0473.

Email & Phone Number:

Parent/Guardian Signature:

Student Signature: