Classroom Management Key Components

Area #1: Procedures/Structures/Routines

● Beginning Routine/Start of Class
○ At the start of each day, the students will come into the classroom and put
their backpacks in their lockers, change into their gym shoes if they have
them, and grab their pencil box. They will then head to their table spot and
start working on their morning work.
● Quiet/Attention Signals
○ To get my students attention, I will say 1,2,3 eyes on me and the students will
respond back with 1,2 eyes on you. If this approach does not work, I will
either ring the doorbell or I will just stand and wait for everyone to be queit.
● Physical Transitions (groups, pairs, labs, activities, carpet)
○ When we are doing different transitions, I will always call the students in
groups. Some of the ways that I will have the student’s transition are.
■ Boys you may go.
■ Girls you may go.
■ Red tables
■ Green tables
■ Yellow tables
■ Blue tables
■ Or I might call out an article of clothing.
○ I will rarely have all the students move at once because this causes the
students to be loud and crazy. If I call them by groups, it is more controlled.
● Dismissal or Lining Up
○ When it comes to lining up, I will line up the students in the same manner as
we move for transitions. I will not have all the students line up at one time.
● Non-Verbal Cues (visuals, hand gestures, music)
○ For a non-verbal cue, I will hold up my hand up in the air and the students
know that when my hand us up in the air, that it is time to be quiet.
● Giving Directions.
○ I will only give 1-2 step directions at the beginning of the year. Once the
students have caught onto that and can handle doing 1-2 step directions, we
might be able to do 2-3 step directions. I want my students to feel like they
can be successful and not overwhelmed with directions.
● Checking for Understanding
○ When it comes to checking for understanding, I will do testing throughout the
year and check in to see where my students are at. In the beginning of the
 year, we will do a lot of checking in on numbers, shapes, letter names, and
letter sounds. I can have the students put up their privacy folders and have
them complete a worksheet for me and see where they are at and what we
need to focus more on.
● Holding Ground/No Arguing
○ I think that it is important to make sure that at the beginning of the year, you
set those standards and make it known that you are the teacher, and you are
in charge of the classroom.
● Raising Hands to Speak
○ This is huge. I think it is important to have students raise their hands. I will
not call on students who do not raise their hand when they are asked. I think
it is an important skill to have the students learn and get used to doing.

Area #2: Engagement & Participation

● Variety (three or more activities per hour)
○ I like the idea of changing up the activities every so often. I think it is
important for the students to experience different things in the classroom and
the longer the students are doing one thing, if the students get bored, that is
when behaviors start to happen. The more you are changing up the activities,
the less likely bog behaviors are to happen.
● Collaboration (Students Talking/Peer Discussions)
○ It is important to have the students interact with other students. This can be a
great learning opportunity for the students. The students can learn different
things from each other. It is always good to hear other people's thoughts
about a topic.
● Movement (two or more times per hour)
○ Brain breaks are important. I think it is important for the students to get up
and move around instead of just sitting at their desks all day. It is important
that they are up and moving to keep their minds active.
● Total Participation (all students think, write, share, or answer simultaneously)
○ I think that it is important for all students to participate in whatever activity we
are doing. If I am asking a question to a whole group and having the students
raise their hands, if I am getting the same students answering the questions,
I will then call on the students who are not raising their hand to have them
participate. I can also use name sticks to call on students as well to have
them participate.
● Rigor (higher order thinking and tasks required)
○ It is important to meet your students where you are at. It is important to push
those students who need a little more in the classroom to make sure that
 they are learning as well and being challenged.
● Instruction (explain, model, guided practice, independent practice)
○ Especially in the younger grades, it is important to show your students
exactly what they are supposed to do. This will help with the student success
rate of doing whatever you are asking them to do correctly. This will also help
make sure the teacher does not have a bunch of questions at the end.
● Questioning/Probing
○ After reading a large group, I will ask the students questions about the story
we just read to make sure that they are getting the basic understanding of the
story. I think it is important to talk to your students and ask them questions to
see where they are at with their understanding.
● Group Work (roles and productivity)
○ I would have my students work with partners at first and see how that goes. I
would make sure that the students are being quiet, not yelling, and doing
their job. It is important to go over the rules of working in groups before you
start each group.

Area #3: Rapport/Connection

● Teacher Warmth/Friendliness/Approachability
○ It is important to build a relationship with your students. The more welcoming
you are, the more your students will open to you, and you will be able to build
connections with those students. This will make things easier throughout the
year. Every teacher wants their students to feel comfortable enough to come
and talk to them for any reason.
● Teacher Enthusiasm/Energy/Excitement/Joy
○ Students feed off their teachers' energy. If a teacher is excited about
something, the students will more than likely be excited as well. No one
wants to come into a classroom where the teacher is crabby, and you can tell
that they do not want to be there. We all have hard days, but it is important to
remember that our students feed off us and it will change the whole dynamic
of the classroom.
● Teacher Humor/Laughter
○ Laughter is so important. Not every student goes home at the end of the day
to a happy household. It is important that our students are laughing and
having fun while they are at school.
● Teacher Knowledge of individual students’ interests
○ This is very important. It is important for us as teachers to know what our
students' interests this way are so, we can try to incorporate this into our
classroom to make our students feel more welcomed into the classroom. This
 is also a sign to show that we are truly listening when our students are talking
to us.
● Teacher Respect and Appreciation for students.
○ I always tell my students, as long as you are showing me respect, I will
respect your back. This goes beyond the student and teachers’ relationship
too. It is important to teach your students to be respectful to their friends,
other teachers, their belongings, and themself as well.
● Teacher Encouragement of students.
○ It is important to encourage our students around all things in life. It can be
academics, sports, home life, anything. A few words of encouragement can
go a long way to make a student's day. Sometimes all you need is a little
reassurance that you are doing things the right way.
● Teacher sensitivity to student cultures and backgrounds.
○ At the beginning of the year, I would send out a letter asking parents if
there are any holidays that they do not wish for their student to partake
in those activities. I will also explain to students that we will not go in
depth about the holidays and make it religious, we will only do art
projects and read books about different holidays.

Area #4: Behavior Intervention/Consequences

● Regular use of gentle redirects (proximity, warnings, the look)
○ I do this a lot in my student teaching. If there are a couple kids that are not
doing what was asked of them, I will say “Make sure we are all doing our
job”. If it is just one student who is not following directions, I will go stand by
their desk and continue teaching. The students will normally stop doing what
they are not supposed to be doing if I am just standing by them.
● Consequences are reasonable and equitable.
○ I will give my students a couple reminders and if they have had 1 or 2
reminders, I will tell them that if I must remind them again, their name is on
the board. If their name is on the board, they will owe me 5 minutes outside
against the wall for recess.
● Consequences are given as choices (you have a choice right now...)
○ I catch myself saying a lot of times “You can either go sit in your chair like I
asked, or you can go to the office. Those are your two choices”. When I say
this, most of the time, the students realize that I am being serious, and they
will do what I have asked of them.
● Teacher uses soft eyes, soft voices during conflicts.
○ It is important for the teacher to get on the students' level when they are
dealing with a conflict. Most students tend to follow the teacher's body
 language. If you are yelling at the student trying to solve a problem, the
student is more likely to become even more upset and the situation will
escalate. If you are talking to the student in a lower tone and are down on
their level, they are more likely to feel calm and will talk about the situation in
a calm tone.
● Teacher is firm, but also calm and compassionate (doesn’t yell or intimidate)
○ I think that it is important to remember that the students are just kids. What
they do is most of the time not on purpose. Everyone makes mistakes. It is
important to not yell at the students and just talk to them in a calm voice to
keep the whole situation from escalating.
● Consistent follow through with consequences once they are earned (doesn’t make
the same request over and over).
○ It is important that a teacher sticks to their word. This is something I
personally struggle with. If a student is messing around and the teacher says
they only have one more warning or their name is going on the board, then
that next time, the teacher needs to put the students name on the board
instead of just repeating “One more warning…” because the students will
realize that the teacher is not going to follow through with the consequence
and they student will continue to keep doing this behavior.
● Arguments/debates are delayed, done in private.
○ This is something that I always do. If it is during the whole group, I will get the
students started on a worksheet or whatever we are doing and take the
students who need to be talked to aside and talk to them in private so the
whole class does not hear what is going on.
● Progression up hierarchy is swift but fair.

I am confident that throughout all my teaching experiences, that I will be able to manage a
successful classroom. Classroom management is something that means a lot to me and
something that I am always working on to be better at.

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