Area #1: Procedures/Structures/Routines

● I think this is a very important part of classroom management and I learned

the most about this throughout the class. This is how we keep our class
managed and if done properly students will get the best learning. I think the
start of class/beginning routine is something that I want to do in my
classroom. I think it can help with starting the day off prepared and ready
to learn. I want my students to come into class ready for the day and
prepared so we don’t have to use class time to do this. I will have my
students come in, have their PE shoes on, pencils sharpened, and their
folders in their desks. Dismissal and lining up is an important procedure to
me. Students will quietly walk and line up in order. They will face forward
and quietly wait for the other students to line up. For dismissal, students will
have their take home folders, books, and anything else they need to take
home. Students will quietly put everything in their bags and line up. Students
will quietly walk to the door and either get on the bus, find their parents, or
walk home. Physical transitions will just consist of quietly moving around the
classroom and finding their spot and having all their material needed. Giving
directions I will be sure to give students directions orally, as well as give an
example of how to do it. Holding ground/ no arguing is another part of this
area that I think is very important. This keeps the class from being
disrupted and for helping kids stay in the classroom and aren't missing any
of the lessons. This just involves holding my ground and saying no. I will not
stand for any arguing in the classroom. If students want to talk they can
sign up for a time to talk with me after class and we can talk. Raising hands
to speak is a procedure that I find very important. This stops disruption in
class and allows everyone a chance to speak/answer. I will signal and tell
students to raise their hands to talk. I will also use visuals in my classroom
to help with this too. I will have a picture of a hand and will refer to it when
I want students to raise their hands. Overall, I think this area is a very
important part of class management.
Area #2: Engagement & Participation
● This part is more about how we can teach the content and how to get
students more engaged. Collaboration is a very important factor that I want
in my classroom and want to involve in many of my lessons. I think it gets
students engaged in their learning and they can work on their working well
with other skills. I think peer discussion is important. Students get to hear
ideas from other students and see how their peers think about certain
situations. This also helps students get the opportunity to share their
thoughts. For collaboration, I want to use clock partners. I like this strategy
and have used it before and it worked great. It also allows students to work
with different students to collaborate. Movement is another thing I want to
incorporate in my classroom. I want to have a little classroom library where
students can go sit and read their books comfortably. I also want to have a
rug area, where we do morning meetings, and whole-group lessons. This
allows students to move around and not have to be stuck in their desks all
day. I also think this can help students be more engaged in lessons. I also
want to incorporate movement during my lessons, I think the action
thermometer strategy would help with this. I could use it in every subject
and it allows for students to move and be more engaged with the lesson. I
personally think rigor is an important part of the engagement. I want
students to really think about things, and give them a little challenge. I want
them to connect with the content and try to put it in a real-world
perspective. For instruction, I plan to use “I do, we do, you do”. I have used
this a lot while in the classroom and it works the best for me. I am modeling
for students what needs to be done, then we are doing it again but together,
then finally they do it independently. While they are independently working,
it is a great time for me to walk around and help/give feedback to students.
Group work is fun and something most students enjoy. It gives students the
opportunity to do things together and collaborate. When picking groups for
group work, for some assignments I’ll let students pick their partners or I
will pick their partners, or I will use the card pairs strategy. For this
strategy, students pick cards and get random partners. I like this strategy
because it allows students to work with people they may have not gotten to
work with before. For total participation, I think I will use the ask and echo
strategy or have students answer simultaneously. I do a lot of simultaneously
answering right now and I like it but sometimes a couple of students will stay
 quiet because they don’t know the answer. If I notice this I just have the
class repeat it again and then everyone usually answers. I like the ask and
echo strategy because it allows students who may not have known the answer
to hear it, understand it, and then repeat it. I think this will help if students
are confused or just don’t know the answer. They will be able to hear from
one of their classmates the right answer, then get to repeat it.
Area #3: Rapport/Connection
● Connecting with my students is something I am super excited about. To start
the year off, I plan on sending home a get to know me a letter for both
parents and students to read to get to know me better before they come
into my classroom. To better get to know my students, I will have the
students do a little assessment that is all about getting to know them. It will
have questions like what is your favorite/least favorite subject, your
favorite movie, favorite music, etc. I just want to see their interests and
learn more about them. I am also asking about their cultures and
backgrounds in this little assessment. I want to make sure I know about
these students enough so I will be able to respect their cultures and beliefs.
I think this can help a good relationship with students too because it shows
that I care and I want to get to know them and I respect their culture and
backgrounds. Throughout the year I will also try to find different ways to
connect with them and build a good relationship. Good relationships between
teachers and students are very important. With a good relationship,
students are comfortable in the classroom and aren’t afraid to take risks.
They know their teacher is there for them and won't embarrass them in
front of the whole class. They will encourage students to try again and try
their hardest. I also want to show them my enthusiasm/ joy for my passions
and interests and I want them to do the same. I think if they see my joy for
learning they will find some joy in it too, and will be engaged during class, and
will be excited to learn. I think another good way to connect with students is
through Humor and Laughter. I want to make sure my classroom is a
happy/joyful place. I think it would be a great idea to incorporate a daily
joke into a morning routine. We can share our own jokes or find some from a
different place. I think this will help students start their day off with a
 good laugh and it would be fun to listen to the students' different jokes.
Teacher encouragement is something that I also find very important. I think
it is important to me because teacher encouragement helped me a lot while I
was in school. The best teachers I have ever had were the ones who had
great teacher encouragement. I want to do this for my future students. I
want them to know I am here and cheering them on. I want them to succeed.
The ways I can do this is by providing positive feedback or orally telling
them. I will show them how I can support and help them do their best!
Area #4: Behavior Intervention/Consequences
● I like gentle redirects, like warnings. We do this in the classroom I am
student teaching in, and it works great with our students. We give them 3
warnings and then they get a consequence. I want consequences to be fair.
For example, I don't think a reasonable and equitable consequence is being
sent to the office for leaning your chair back. I do think it is reasonable to
take the chair away for the remaining time of the lesson then they can have
it back and can try it again. I think giving consequences as a choice is a good
idea too. This allows the students to choose to do the right thing and not
suffer from the consequence. I think I will do the best at using soft eyes
and soft voices during the conflict. I don’t ever like to raise my voice, I
think it escalates the situation. So, by keeping my eyes and voice soft, I
won’t be escalating the situation. I also think this helps me stay calm and
compassionate and not yell at my students. The biggest struggle I think I
will face will be consistency to follow through with the consequences and not
just repeating myself over and over again. I will need to make sure I actually
give the consequence and not just another warning. To do this I think I will
do a three warning max. After I have warned a student 3 times, and they
still haven't listened I will have to follow through with the consequence. I
feel like this will help me also, it will help me remember to follow through
with the consequence. Arguments are a big no for me. I will not argue with
one of my students. I do not think it is appropriate and I think it would be
hard to stay calm. For arguments, I would first tell my students that I do
not do arguments and if they want to talk with me about something they can
sign up for a time and we can meet. I will have a sheet that hangs on the
back wall with dates and times I am available to meet. In this meeting, we
will talk and discuss what is going on and the student can express how they
feel. I like this because it is in a private setting, we are not disrupting class
time and I feel like it gives us both time to calm down. Overall, I think this
area will be most difficult for me to manage in my future classroom, but I
am going to keep trying to get more comfortable with this and continue to
learn new strategies to keep my classroom managed.