Classroom Management Plan

Classroom Management Plan

EDCI 4481

Victoria Pecot

Louisiana State University

Classroom Management Plan

Classroom management is a term used by educators that refers to a variety of techniques

teachers use to keep their class, and students organized. These techniques also keep students on

task, and allows lessons to run smoothly without behavioral issues. Classroom management is

influenced, however, by the knowledge of child development and learning, knowledge of

appropriate content, and knowledge of effective teaching strategies, (Kostelnik, pg. 75).

Classroom management is important so that teachers have an easier grasp on controlling and

running his/her classroom smoothly. It is also important because the right classroom

management influences a child’s learning development in the class. When classroom

management is strong, teachers’ skills that are strengthened include, but are not limited to:

Healthy and positive relationships between teacher and student, strong structure and

consistency in the classroom, positive relationships between parent and teacher, and strong

teaching methods. This shows why classroom management is so important, which can also tie

into self-regulation of children. When classroom management is strong, playtime and

curriculum influences a positive development for self-regulation. This ties into my teaching

philosophy, which is that children learn through being hands on, and play. According to

Vygotsky, “Imaginative play is a leading factor of development…through such playful

substitutions, children are aided in relying on thought rather than impulse to guide their

actions…all activities affords young children the greatest opportunity to become self-regulated

and responsible,” (The Role of Make-Believe Play in Development of Self-Regulation). This

shows how significant play is in self-regulation, and high-quality play in classrooms can be a
Classroom Management Plan

context for this development. There are three different types of play, which are all important to

self-regulation. Independent play is a child playing alone, and is important because it allows a

child to think and imagine for themselves, instead of copying others, (Peer Play) Peer-to-peer

play is important because it develops social skills within children, and allows them to be able

to relate to others and their emotions. This now develops friendships, and the longing to be

accepted by others in their age group, (Peer Play) Peer-to-adult interactions are important

because of Vygotsky’s theory; which includes the fact that scaffolding is important for the

development and learning of skills. Play is overall very important for self-regulation, which

great classroom management can show.

Observed Classroom Management Plan

Description

In my placement classroom, I am in preschool. My mentor teacher uses various

classroom management techniques in her classroom. In her classroom, she has smartly laid out

her noisy centers away from her quiet centers, which is what I also want to do. She has rugs

underneath the noisy areas to muffle the noise. Also, something I plan to do which she does, is

she only allows three friends per center to reduce the noise. She also includes many transitions

between activities, and the students know the songs and what to do when they come on. As

well as the transitions, she also has included these ‘student helper jobs’ poster. It includes a

photo of the job and the word labeled underneath. Underneath that, is a piece of Velcro where

a photo of the student doing that job that week is posted. The jobs are read weekly, and the
Classroom Management Plan

students love this. I believe it also is developmentally appropriate because they are learning

responsibility, which is good for their development. For behavior management, she just makes

sure they manage their own conflicts and only steps in when needed. However, when bad

behavior does arise that does not quit, she does send home a note to the parents. This is

developmentally appropriate by developing positive relationships with the families. My mentor

teacher is extremely sweet with her children, always giving positive feedback and fostering her

relationships with them. The environment in this classroom, as well as throughout the entire

school, is extremely fostering to develop young relationships.

The management plan in place is working well, and children are responding positively

to it. For example, the students know the transition songs and what to do for them. When I had

to do my transition project, I had to play my own clean up song, and they were confused

because they are so used to the normal ones that my mentor teacher plays every day, which

works with them. Whenever students show behavior issues that are extreme, my teacher

corrects them immediately and ensures that the child knows what they did was wrong.

Sometimes, if it is extreme, a timeout is in order, or a note will go home. I think this is

appropriate, because none of these corrections are coercive behavior.

In my placement classroom currently, I am in a first grade class. We have multiple

different tables of students, six to a table. This makes it more cohesive in the classroom to

learn, for peer support; it also gives the classroom plenty of space. My mentor teacher has an

area for her classroom library, which is also a cozy area with a rug and two soft, plush chairs.
Classroom Management Plan

The children can go there when they are feeling stressed, or to read with a friend on the rug.

Along the room we have various posters of our schedule, word lists, the alphabet, our school

and classroom rules, and a number chart. We also have a calendar section where I have taught

calendar every day, and we go over how many days of school we have been in, and how to

show that as ones, tens, as money, etc. We also learn odds and evens while I am teaching in

that area. The environment in the classroom is absolutely amazing. My mentor teacher and

associate teacher are amazing to the students, and are only firm when need-be. They use many

open-ended questions and laughter is made sure to be incorporated in every lesson to make it

uplifting. When a child does make the same mistake more than once, they get a conduct mark.

Each student has their own conduct sheet for the whole week, that they have to take

home to get signed each day. A student can either get an “E,” which means no marks, an “S,”

which means 1-2 marks, or a “U” which means 3 or more marks. I have personally never seen

a student get a U, but I am sure it has happened. This is something I would personally want to

do in my own classroom, because I have seen other behavior management tactics like the cards

or sticks, and they just seem so mean to me.

Personal Classroom Management Plan

Description

When I have my own classroom, I will have specific routines and strategic placements

of things throughout it. I will organize my room strategically so that noisy areas (like block

area) are separated from the quiet areas, with rugs under the noisy centers to muffle the noise.
Classroom Management Plan

Also, to ensure that each center does not get too loud, I will only allow a few students per

center. I also plan to use DAP, and label almost everything in my class, with laminated pictures

of what it is under the word. This is so that the children know where things belong and where

to put them back- also to familiarize themselves with words. I will have signs and posters in

many areas, including a feelings poster. I want to make a feelings poster so that throughout the

day, the children can grab an emotion of how they are feeling and Velcro it under their picture

of themselves. I want to do this because children are still trying to understand how to express

their feelings, and if they know they can easily just change a picture to a ‘mad’ face, for

example, teachers will easily be able to help them regulate this. This also develops positive

self-regulation. I plan to use bathroom routine posters, of pictures of kids washing their hands

as a reference, a schedule poster for ‘morning meeting, then centers, etc.’

Transitions, transitions, transitions. I plan to use many transitions throughout and in-

between every next activity on the schedule. My transitions will include songs for cleanup, or

lineup, or for morning meeting. This also allows the children to self-regulate themselves

because they will have to figure out what to do based on the song on their own, and follow

directions. Also, I saw a tip for classroom management that said to follow the kids from time to

time. For example, “One time I found that all my students had abandoned my circle and gotten

interested in playing under the table. So I got under the table with them. That’s where we

continued class,” (11 Proven Classroom Management Tips for Preschool Teachers). This is a

smart tactic because being flexible and matching their interests allow them to be more engaged
Classroom Management Plan

in the curriculum. For behavior management, I will use redirection, but also a reward system.

For every very good behavior, they will be able to get a small thing out a chest of small toy

awards. For the children that are not so good that day, they will not get anything, but this will

motivate them to work on their behavior. I believe that children do learn through play and

scaffolding, so integrating a conducive learning environment for their development is

important. I will create a space meant for a child’s visual, auditory, and emotional

development. Children will need support in all of these areas, and peaking their interest in

creativity. This will be my classroom management plan.

Proactive Strategies

Description

In my classroom, I have considered having rotating centers every day. I have seen this

in many of my placements, and think that it is very helpful in getting jitters out, as well as

getting their work done. It keeps the momentum going, and builds effectiveness. I also want

their basic needs to be met, so whenever they have to go to the bathroom or get some water, I

want them to be able to go. I understand the concern of students going to the bathroom just to

go, but there is really no way to tell either way, so I believe the teacher should just let the

student go. This is only harmful to the student if they miss what is being taught, but it is

beneficial to the teacher and student because it shows respect for the student, and enables a

better work ethic due to less distractions. To enforce my rules, I will have a classroom rules

sheet that I go over every day, but they should be expected to follow them. No matter what
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age, we should be expected to follow simple rules. Ms. Plauche taught me something that one

of her teachers when she was younger did that I want to do actually- a teacher at her school

took two weeks in the beginning of the year to teach all of her students how to walk in a line

quietly, write their name and use their pencil properly, how to be a good listener, etc. It took

two weeks and this was all they learned, but the principal allowed it because that class never

was out of order. I want to do this, I think it is AMAZING and shows the students a perfect

way of “This is the way we do things, and you will learn it.”

For visitors, I would very much like all my students to stand up when a visitor enters

the class and to say hello. I do not see students doing this anymore, but I used to have to do

this and it is very formal and welcoming to others. For getting attention, I will have a whole

list of call backs that I will teach my kids in the beginning of the year, to say whenever they

are too loud. For dismissal, I want them to be outside. I personally do not like them waiting

inside after being cooped up all day. If allowed, I want my students to be outside, running

around- being a kid.

Reactive Strategies

Description

For my reactive strategies, I want them to be very similar to my proactive strategies. I

want them to be similar because either way, I think they should go hand in hand with each

other. Meaning- if I have strategies in place to prevent things from happening, then they should

be the same as what I would do if something is happening. However, when the classroom does

get a little out of hand, I will use clapping, and callbacks to redirect attention. If these do not
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work, I may also call out a specific child to get them to stop their behavior, or threaten a mark

on their conduct sheet. However, other things that work to make children straighten up are

rewards for the children who are acting correctly. Treats may go to the well-behaved children,

or points.

I also think that working on social and emotional control works well, like doing

emotional check-ins. I want my children to respect me, but also know that I respect them. So I

want them to take a breath if they do get into trouble or are acting badly, and say affirmations

with me. These affirmations can be like “I am smart, I am important, and I am good.” I think

that the mental health of children is really overlooked because people think that their brain is

not formed enough to know what is really going on inside them. However, that is exactly the

point! They know even less than we do when it comes to mental health, so they are even more

confused. Growing up in a traumatic childhood I know that it is so far from the case that it is

obvious who is growing up where. Because of this, I look for cues to figure out what is

happening in my students’ lives, and I want to do this always. I want to teach them how to use

problem solving, but if they need help I of course want to give it to them.

Family Involvement

Description

I want families to be very involved in their children’s lives. With that being said, I am

the teacher, and I want to be involved in their children’s lives, too- but separately. Before

student teaching, I had a different opinion of this. I wanted families to be as involved as they
Classroom Management Plan

wanted to be, even if it means they call me a million times a day. I have…step backed from

that. Since this semester with many parents being quite overbearing and insisting on their

students being ‘stars’ when something is clearly wrong and we have had multiple meetings

with, is a little much. I want my families to be involved, so much so that I want to have a

meeting with all of them at once one night during the week, every other week. I want to

collaborate with them to have this time be when they tell me things that concern them as a

whole, and things we do like that are going well. I will update them with any announcements at

this time, etc. I think this would be smart because it would give enough of a chance to be

involved, as well as allowing them to not have to hound me down during the week or every

day to tell me something they think is concerning. Instead, they can put it in a little mental

filing cabinet and save it for this safe-spaced meeting. I of course, though, want

communication with my parents. I want them to fill out a questionnaire about their child in the

beginning of the year about their student. I want to reach out to them if I am noticing struggles

in their child because of course, the parent always knows their kid best. However, I want

enough space from them that it does not affect my teaching in a negative way.

Reflection

While doing this plan, I had to reflect on different developmentally appropriate

practices for classroom management, as well as principles of child. It is developmentally

appropriate according to the NAEYC, to include labels on tables and centers, with pictures of

what it is. It is also developmentally appropriate to post schedules or routines on the walls of

the classroom, so that every student can see it easily. As noted before, this is also good for
Classroom Management Plan

self-regulation, because posters such as bathroom routine posters help out children to know

how to wash hands, for example. This goes along with one of the principles of child, number

three, which states “Play promotes joyful learning that fosters self-regulation, language,

cognitive and social competencies as well as content knowledge across disciplines. Play is

essential for all children, birth through age 8,” (Principles of Child Development). With this in

mind, I already am seeing that my classroom management plan as well as my mentor teacher’s

is DAP and follows the principles of child.

Classroom management is very important. Educators need a strong management plan to

run their class smoothly throughout the year, and to foster the development of children’s

learning. As stated in number six of principles of child, “Children’s motivation to learn is

increased when their learning environment fosters their sense of belonging, purpose, and

agency. Curricula and teaching methods build on each child’s assets by connecting their

experiences in the school or learning environment to their home or community settings,”

(Principles of Child Development). This is why classroom management is so important. As

mentioned in my management plan, I plan to use number six through fostering a child’s

interests in what they all want to learn about, at time. I intend to build on their environment

and ensure my relationship with them is positive as well as with their family.

This plan was very interesting to take into account of what I wanted for my own

classroom management. I enjoyed feeling as though I was going through the motions of making

my own classroom management plan, with the hope and reasoning that it would be based on
Classroom Management Plan

different theories, DAP, and principles. I also enjoyed seeing my mentor teacher’s management

plan, and connecting how that is also developmentally appropriate and positive for students’

development.
Classroom Management Plan

References

Berk, L. E. (2018, February). Play-based learning: The Role of Make-Believe Play in

Development of Self-Regulation. Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development.

http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/play-based-learning/according-experts/role-make-

believe-play-development-self-regulation.

Flavin, B. (2019, October 21). 11 Proven Classroom Management Tips for Preschool

Teachers. Rasmussen College.

https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/classroom-management-tips/.

Kostelnik, M. J., Soderman, A. K., Whiren, A., & Rupiper, M. (2019). Developmentally

appropriate curriculum: best practices in early childhood education (7th ed.). Pearson.

NAEYC. (2011). Principles of Child Development and Learning and Implications That Inform

Practice. NAEYC. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/position-statements/dap/principles.

Scott, H. K., & Cogburn, M. (2020, July 10). Peer Play.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513223/.