Management Plan

After the pandemic, I began to understand the importance of having a trauma informed
space in classrooms. The question of how students feel safe in schools was something I thought
of often as I came out of the collective trauma of a worldwide pandemic as well as being born in
a time that is so heavily influenced by the media's ability to tell us horrifying information in
seconds. Students are constantly being thrown into the presumption that they can still do their
schoolwork despite all the events happening around them. I hope that my classroom will be one
that is both understanding of these events as well as acknowledging the very real way these
events will affect students in different ways.
My sophomore year of college, I lost one of my best friends in an accident. It was
through this experience that I began to realize just how hard school can be for students who have
experienced grief of any sort. I am a huge believer in the statement that “suffering is not
comparable”. This fact has led me to understand that all students have struggles and griefs at
some point in their schooling career, which means we need to be prepared within the classroom
for them to feel safe and brave to share what they are experiencing as well as to tell us what they
need from us.
First and foremost, I want my classroom to be one where students are immediately given
the freedom of choice. I want alternative seating arrangements such as a coach area at the front
of the room where students can relax. I have done some research on this type of arrangement and
have found that the ability for students to choose their productive seating arrangements then
allows them to focus and participate in classroom activities. Furthermore, In a classroom where
we will often be discussing literature and our opinions on text, I want my students to feel as
comfortable as possible. They will not need to be in desks in order to succeed in my classroom.
That being said, I will also offer desk seating in portions of my classroom. Although I do believe
in coaches and comfortable seating, I also do want students who prefer a traditional classroom to
have the opportunity to continue in this routine. Moreover, having trauma -informed space
means having a routine. Students who need what they have always had will likely need to sit at a
desk in order to feel safe. If seating arrangements get out of hand, I will do a seating chart with
student preferences written down for where they would like to sit in the classroom.
Furthermore, I will have an open door policy during lunch hours as well as my off
periods. I want students to always feel like they have a place they can go. When I lost my friend,
I was lost and could not seem to find anywhere that felt normal or even real. I also felt like I was
burdening anyone when I told them I needed somewhere to just sit and be with other human
beings. I hope this can be a space where people can just exist without feeling the need to explain
why, or if they need to tell someone what's going on, they have the confidence to share.
Moreover, I will allow students to choose our course expectations. I believe that it is
powerful to allow students to help create what the norms in their classroom will be. I specifically
placed a section in my syllabus for students to explore what they might want to add to our course
norms and expectations. Along the same lines, I find rules to be something that is hard for
students to follow after going through covid. Because of this, I only have one rule. This rule can
be twisted to cover anything in the classroom that could harm a student or their learning habits. I
also added a space for students to brainstorm what could break this rule.
I decided that in order to be a trauma informed educator coming out of covid, I would
need to have a lot of flexibility in my classroom. Because of this, I have been quite flexible in
my syllabus as well as added lots of ways students will be able to access course content. Another
way I built flexibility into my syllabus was giving students choice. Following the building of our
class expectations, I also have a lot of assignments where students will be able to engage in
challenges by choice. They will only participate in what they are comfortable with. Although this
seems constraining, I do think that students are more likely to and are more willing to take risks
when they are given the opportunity to turn these risks down.

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 Fall 2022 Syllabus

Ms. Meumann
English Language Arts 11th and 12th Grade
Contact Information:
Email: meumannsarah@gmail.com
Office Hours: 3rd and 8th period

One Rule: You can do anything unless it affects someone in the room in a negative way or
affects the learning of you or another person in the room.

For example, if you are on your phone, this will hinder your learning as well as the learning of
the peers around you. If you are on your phone you are breaking our one rule.

Now write your own Examples (you can do this in groups):

1.
2.
3.

Expectations
● Come to class willing to learn
● We all have bad days; it is okay to have these in this space
● Be inclusive and kind to everyone in class
● Be respectful

That being said, I also want to create class expectations and norms based on what we as a class
believe in. Use the space below to quick write about what you think should be included in our
course expectations and think/pair/share with your neighbor and then the class about these
norms we would like to set.
Class expectations

Consequences:
We all have bad days. Please let me know at the beginning of class if you are not able to meet
these expectations on a particular day, I am always willing to be flexible with you as long as
you let me know what you need from me.

I will talk to you before we decide on a consequence. You as my students are my first priority,
I want to know what I can do to help you succeed in this class.

Assignments
Quick Writes: We will have a quick write for an attendance grade at the beginning of each
class period. This is just to get our brains moving. You are allowed to opt out of a total of 5
quick writes for the semester. We all have bad days, I understand if you need to sit out at
times. If you are absent, you can email me with your quick write for the day. These should not
take us more than 3-5 minutes.

Essays: We will also have 2 essays due at the end of each quarter. One will be on our narrative
unit and the other will be on an argumentative unit. Each essay will be 100 points and will be
worth 10% of your grade. There will be a separate rubric for more detailed expectations on
these assignments.
Creative Projects: We will have a few creative projects throughout each unit. These
assignments are low stakes and will be done in class. You will be given a variety of choices
regarding this assignment. Our goal is to do something that you find fun or interesting with
these assignments. I am quite flexible with these, just check in with me to see if your idea will
be okay to turn in.

Reading assignments: We will read whole class novels in this course. I have included a
course reading list below. You will need to bring these books to class. Please let me know if
you need help obtaining any of these books. Furthermore, we will read various short stories
and poems. I will provide scans of all of these readings online. If you do not have access to
technology, please let me know so I can print you out hard copies of these to bring home.
● Book list:
I. Into The Wild by Jon Krakaur
II. Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck
III. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
IV. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
V. The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Readers Notebook: Last, we will have writers and readers notebooks. This is where you will
be able to put all of your random reading and writing assignments. This will be collected
sporadically throughout the year and will also be collected at the end of each quarter. These
are simply to hold all of your progress; they do not have to be perfect.

Quizzes: I do not believe in quizzes, but we will implement them if I believe you are not
doing the reading. This will be a conversation heavy classroom. I will be able to tell if you
have done the readings based on the level of thinking you are doing in our course discussions.
That being said, I know that not everyone is comfortable talking in front of large groups of
people. Because of this, I will offer the quiz or short reflection options for students who would
not like to be graded based off of their participation in whole class discussions.

Homework: The homework in this course will mainly consist of reading and writing
assignments. I understand that you will have nights where you cannot read the full amount. I
do accept late work for up to 3 days past the due date. All that I ask is for clear
communication.