Creating Classroom Culture

Introduction

The goal of building classroom culture is to provide a safe, caring, and productive environment
that is conducive to student learning. Research indicates that a teacher’s classroom management
abilities have a significant impact on student learning. Effective support of positive behaviour is
based on prevention. Strategies such as teaching proper procedures and reinforcing expectations,
building strong relationships, establishing a safe and caring learning environment, planning
engaging lessons, and paying attention to effective instruction will prevent most behaviour
problems. There are times, however, when direct intervention is necessary and you should be
prepared for this contingency as well. Your assignment is to consider the following information,
consult the secondary sources, check your school’s management policies, and consult with your
Teacher Mentor so that you can successfully complete the “Classroom Management Plan”,
below. The assignment is divided into three sections: Procedures, Positive Relationships, and
Interventions. The completed plan should be included in your Professional Portfolio.

For further information see the following (other resources also posted to Moodle):

 Evertson, Emmer & Worsham, Classroom management for elementary teachers. End of
chapters 1-4. (372.11024 Eve).
 Bennett & Smilanich, Classroom management: A thinking and caring approach. Pages
166-68. (371.1024 Ben).

Procedures

Procedures are the specific activities that formalize the teacher’s behavioural expectations. They
generally aim at the efficient and effective structuring of classroom behaviours, with minimal
disruption of teaching and learning. The practice of classroom management guides students to
adopt and internalize procedures so they occur automatically. The intent is for procedures to
become class routines. Your Teacher Mentor and you (with input from the class) will establish
the expectations for classroom interactions, work habits, completion of assignments, late arrivals,
absences, and any other behavioural procedures that support learning. Each of these expectations
will have some form of consequence if not followed. Some consequences may already be
established by school policies and you will need to check for such policies to complete this
assignment.

This assignment requires you to pay attention to four types of student procedure:

(1) Attention-getting procedures.

(2) Question-answering procedures.
(3) Transition procedures (start of class, start of day, end of class, end of day, change of
activity, distributing materials, accessing equipment, and cleaning up).
(4) Daily and safety procedures (generic and subject-specific).
For further information see:
 Alberta Education, Supporting positive behaviour in Alberta schools: A classroom
approach. Chapter 4. (CURR LAB 375 General Alta 1-12 vol. 2).
 Wong and Wong, The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher. Chapter 20.
(LB 1775.2 W65 2005).
 Evertson, Emmer & Worsham, Classroom management for elementary teachers. Chapter
2. (372.11024 Eve).
 Emmer, Evertson & Worsham, Classroom management for middle and high school
teachers. Chapter 2. (LB 3013 C53 2003).
 McLeod, Fisher & Hoover, The key elements of classroom management: Managing time
and space, student behavior, and instructional strategies. Chapter 6. (LB 3013 M386
2003)

Positive Relationships
A safe and caring classroom is built on relationships established between the teacher and
students, and among students. Building a positive rapport with students is a key step towards
setting up a smooth-running classroom. Effective teachers build relationships with students by
showing an interest in students as people – by quickly learning and using all students’ names,
taking the time to talk to individuals about their lives and interests, and showing concern for
students’ emotional and physical well-being. In daily interactions, mutual trust and respect is
built by treating students with kindness, consideration, honesty, helpfulness, patience, courtesy,
and respect. An effective teacher provides opportunities for students to get to know them as a
real person by appropriately sharing their experiences and interests. Forming positive
relationships with students, however, does not imply that the teacher is the students’ peer.
Effective teachers are friendly, fair, and firm but do not act as a “pal” or “buddy”.

You are the classroom leader and it is your responsibility to build community among your
students and then to maintain or, in some cases, improve relationships among students. Strategies
for nurturing and improving student-student relationships include: providing opportunities for
students to get to know each other better (when appropriate); modeling respect and caring (the
way you want students to treat each other); dealing promptly and consistently with name-calling,
bullying, and other forms of aggression; using small-group and cooperative learning strategies
that focus on meaningful collaboration; maintaining or introducing class initiatives, projects, and
celebrations that promote cooperation, positive interaction, and team-building.

For further information see:

 Alberta Education, Supporting positive behaviour in Alberta schools: A classroom
approach. Chapter 1. (CURR LAB 375 General Alta 1-12 vol. 2).
 Bennett & Smilanich, Classroom management: A thinking and caring approach. Chapter
5. (371.1024 Ben).
 McLeod, Fisher & Hoover, The key elements of classroom management: Managing time
and space, student behavior, and instructional strategies. Chapter 5. (LB 3013 M386
2003).
  Wong and Wong, The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher. Chapter 13.
(LB 1775.2 W65 2005).
 Tate, Shouting won’t grow dendrites: Techniques for managing a brain-compatible
classroom. Chapters 15 & 16. (LB 3013 T366 2007).

Interventions (Responding to Inappropriate Behaviour)

Preventative strategies, such as effective instruction, building relationships, establishing a
supportive environment, and communicating and reinforcing expectations and procedures, will
minimize disruptions and misbehaviour. Despite your best intentions and efforts, a certain
amount of inappropriate student behaviour may still occur. The level of misbehaviour is likely to
be directly related to inherent social relations within the class, with some groupings of students
requiring greater intervention than others. You will need to have a repertoire of approaches for
responding to inappropriate behaviour. Many teachers still use negative punishment
consequences such as loss of privileges (elementary) or detentions (secondary) to deal with
inappropriate behaviour. Progressive education, however, requires moving away from
punishment courses of action and toward reinforcement and problem-solving approaches. This
does not mean there is no place for punishment as a consequence in classroom management. It
does mean, however, that you will need to reassess and adjust the use of such consequences
based on actual effects as demonstrated by student behaviour.

For further information see:

 Alberta Education, Supporting positive behaviour in Alberta schools: A classroom
approach. Chapter 7. (CURR LAB 375 General Alta 1-12 vol. 2).
 Bennett & Smilanich, Classroom management: A thinking and caring approach.
Chapters 10-14. (371.1024 Ben).
 Tate, Shouting won’t grow dendrites: Techniques for managing a brain-compatible
classroom. Chapters 17 & 18. (LB 3013 T366 2007).
 Culture Plan
(Due on September 4th)

Name: Danielle Fritzke

Teacher Mentor: Ron Strate

Administrator: Brad Sabey

School: Magrath Junior/High School

Subject(s): PE 7-9, Social 7

Procedures

Attention-getting procedures
Record different means of getting the entire class’s attention when they are engaged in an
activity. (This may be different for different subject areas.)
- Whistle (1 or 2)
- Clapping
- Light switch
- Hand Raise
- Quietly talk
- Wait

Question-answering procedures
What expectations will you have when students are asking or answering questions? (Remember
that a question should get everyone thinking about an answer and thinking that they may be
expected to provide an answer.)
- Wait time
- Everyone should be quiet and listening
- Not to put any student on the spot and make them uncomfortable
- The question should be well framed and understandable for all
- Should be phrased in a couple ways for complete understanding

Transition Procedures
What routines will you establish around the…

Bell schedule: Students will not be dismissed until the bell, and will not come into the
classroom until the bell
Start of class: Students are to sit in their assigned seating with their textbook or sit quietly
until we start
 Start of day: Students will need to ensure they have everything they need for the day and
are settled in for the day, calming down and getting in school mode
End of class: Students need to sanitize their area, push in their chairs, clean their area and
out everything away, and leave when the bell rings
End of day: Students will sanitize their area, ensure the classroom is clear and cleaned,
stack the chairs and leave when the bell rings
Change of activities: Students are expected to come back to their desks or bring it in for
PE and listen for the next instruction
Change of subjects: Ensure they have all material or change of clothing
Distribution of materials: The teacher will hand out all materials in the classroom, or in
gym, a certain amount of students at a time will get the material, or someone will be
assigned to hang it out
Accessing of equipment: Equipment needs to be sanitized and remember where it was
taken from. Only a certain amount of students at a time will be told to get equipment
Classroom clean up: Everything should be sanitized, chairs should be stacked, books and
materials or equipment needs to be put away

Daily and Safety Procedures

What will you expect of your students and yourself with regard to:

Late arrivals: Students will be expected to check in at the office if they are late to class
and after class, come talk to the teacher to be filled in on what they missed
Absences: Students are to ensure they come to the teacher to get the work and
understanding of what they missed, and also ask their peers. Absences must be excused
Use of cell phones and other communications technology: Students phones are to be
stored in their lockers for gym class, and are to be in their bag or pockets and on silent
when in the classroom
Bathroom breaks: Students need to ask before using the bathroom and ensure they do
their business and come right back. One student at a time.
Pencil sharpening: I trust my students to know when is the right time to sharpen their
pencil in the classroom when they best think it is to.
Student telephone calls to home: Must ask the teacher first and have a good reasoning
 Individual seatwork: Students are to be quietly working on their own, ask questions when
needed, and be on task
Playground and free time rules: When there is free time, they will be given choices by the
teacher of what they can do or they can ask.
Late homework or assignments: Per the course outline, or must be excused
Missing homework or assignments: Expected to be in no matter what, docked marks for
it being late or a 0 if missing
Homework reminders: The students will be reminded a couple times, but they are old
enough to remember on their own
Student illness or injury: Due to covid, if a student is ill it is best they stay home, and if
they are injured, they will be given applicable work to do
Fire drills: School expectations that will be gone over
Lockdowns: School expectations that will be gone over

Positive Relationships

Quickly establish a class list and seating plan so that you can begin to learn the names of your
students. What seating arrangement are you planning and how will you decide who sits where?
- Students will be given a choice of where they would like to sit from the first day. They are told
though that this privilege can be taken away if they are distracting others or not on task. It also is
input into power school.

Begin recording student interests. What system will you use to do this?
Having small assignments about themselves and asking them questions.

What specific things will you do the first day and first week to encourage student-with-teacher
and student-with-student interactions?
Group collaboration, conversation when appropriate about interests and their summer, and
pairing students together to get to know one another.

What body language and tone of voice will you use in different situations throughout the day ~ at
the start of class, with large and small group instruction, and when dealing with inappropriate
behaviour?
Ensuring that when I am talking to the class my body language is upright and welcoming. At the
beginning of the day it is important to start with a positive tone of voice, and for lager groups
making sure everyone can hear me but not yelling, and small groups, having a quiet yet
understandable voice. Dealing with inappropriate behaviour is important to use a stern voice that
is a different tone than usual to ensure the students know I will not put up with it.
 Interventions

Classroom Rules
Record the rules you will establish, whether alone or with your students, and list a few possible
consequences if a rule is not followed. It’s good to have student input but be sure to cover all of
the important areas. With consequences, it’s better to rehearse a few ideas than to think them up
on the spot.

Rule: You can choose your own seat in the seating plan if you stay on task and do not distract
others.
Consequences: If you are not, you will be assigned a seat for the year.

Rule: You can form your own working groups if you get the work done and stay on task.
Consequences: if not, you will be assigned partner, or will have to work alone.

Rule: You must come to gym class with the proper footwear.
Consequences: Marks will be deducted if not, and eventually there will be a conversation with
the parent/guardian.

Rule: in PE, if students finish a unit early and are well behaved, they will have choice of what
games they would like to play.
Consequences: If this privilege is taken advantage of, we will not have choices and we will
continue with the unit or move on to the next.

Strategies
Record your strategies for dealing with some common student misbehaviours.

Distracted (ex. by cellphone or spinner): student will be told to put it away, if asked
twice, it will be put on the teachers desk to collect after class, and explained to as to why
they need to pay attention
Talking: Student will be assigned a new desk if told numerous times and explained why it
is distracting
Off task: student will be moved to a quieter space and chatted with as to why
Name calling: One on one conversation about why they are calling them names and
explain why it is not appropriate and how they would feel
Pushing and shoving: Split the students up and talk to them individually to understand
what is the cause and figure out a solution
Running in classrooms or in hallways: explain to student as to why it is a hazard and keep
an eye on them when they are in the classroom
Swearing: tell student again that it is not appropriate in the school and other people do not
need to be hearing that language
Copying someone else’s work: Group work will not be an option in the next upcoming
classes
Taking things that don’t belong to them: a conversation with myself, TM, admin, and
parent about how stealing things can lead to bigger trouble and how it is not theirs
Writing or scratching on desks, furniture, lockers, or walls: student will be explained to
as to why this is vandalism and how it is not appropriate, and they will have to clean it
up, or replace it
Fighting: Student will be explained to as how fighting is dangerous and can you get into
trouble and will dealt with in class and then sent to the office