Professional Goal II: Increase my repertoire in proactive and reactive classroom

management techniques.
Issues Identified within the class:
Although through the life of a teacher you are constantly balancing numerous issues within the classroom, these are some
of the problems that I identified for my goal and looked at addressing. This is by no means representative of the only
problems within the class, but rather the ones I wanted to focus on.
1. One of the problems that I have constantly run into is navigating class with Student I. She has an incredibly difficult
time concentrating on doing her work. Even with direct assistance, specifically in Math, she struggles. I could work
with her one on one during the entire working time in class and she would still have a hard time focusing on her
work requiring constant redirection back to the content.
a. What are strategies to best help Student I concentrate on her work and not be a distraction for her
classmates?
2. Another problem that I have consistently run into was with Student A. Student A is often off task and very slow to
transition between tasks. He is rarely disruptive but he will be quietly off task. When he is disruptive, he is slow and
unwilling to comply. In addition to this, Student A’s attendance is not consistent.
a. What are strategies to best help Student A be an active participant in class?
b. Furthermore, what are strategies to use when he is opposing direction?
3. My class is an awesome class. Their biggest strength is that they are a community of friends. However, this is also
their biggest weakness as they can be very chatty because they are all so comfortable with each other. This is
exacerbated by being in a room that can be extremely echoey.
a. In general, what are strategies in order to maintain student attention?
b. What are strategies that can be implemented to control classroom noise level?
4. One question that was brought to my attention was what I should do with kids getting up to go get drinks of water
from their water bottles located on the side counter. Originally, I was ok with it but it brought up some further
reflection for me as I also realize that this can be distracting. I would like to explore:
a. To what extent should kids be allowed to get up for water and the bathroom during instruction time?
Resources and Strategies:
Resource List

Advice from collaboration with colleagues and observations:

● Be purposeful and create a strong relationship with your students.
● The use of fidgets if purposeful. If they are not purposeful, have them put away as they are then more of a
distraction for the student and others.
● Observing all different types of attention grabbers:
○ Bidi bidi..
○ Snap rhythm
○ Do what I do..
○ Wait time
○ Countdown
○ Various phrases:
■ Hola hola, coca cola
■ Zamboni - clean up the gym call out
○ Word of the day as a go word - this can be student created.
● Stopping and resetting the class when needed.
● Repeat doing transitions when not done properly.
● Wait time; waiting for the class to be quiet and to meet classroom expectations.
● Talking in a soft voice for the students to match your volume.
● Talking with students outside of classroom time in order to address classroom behavior habits that are being
exhibited.
● Counting down for students to help with transition times and in making them more effective.
● Using a point reward system for the students. This can be used in order to give rewards for good class behavior.
These rewards can either work towards a full class reward, or small group rewards such as students tables.
● The use of proximity for classroom management during teaching time.
Implementations:
Issue Identified: Implementations attempted
#1: One of the strategies that was attempted
● What are strategies early on was to switch Student I’s chair from
to best help Student a normal one to one of the stools in the room
I concentrate on her
that is on a rounded base. I did this with the
work and not be a
distraction for her intent of trying to focus her energy into a
classmates? form of movement.
Allowing for small group instruction where
my attention can be more readily directed
toward Student I.
Ongoing: Building relationship with Student
I. This has been done by seeking her out for
conversations that have been of interest to
her as well as continually building her up
Reflections on Effectiveness of the
Implementation:
● This strategy seemed to work better than
the chair; however, this chair can still
present itself as a distraction. It is a good
interim solution but she also needs to be
further guided and reminded as to what
are acceptable uses of the stool.
● Since the start of this, we have switched
back to a normal chair. She seems to
enjoy the normal chair more and has
stayed more on task than when she was
using the stool.
● This can have varying effects with
Student I. On certain days, this will help
her to stay focused while other days, she
will still struggle to get a lot of work done.
This can also be very time consuming as I
would need to be beside her for every
work period in order for her to get work
done consistently. Even when I am there,
it seems like I am redirecting her to her
work multiple times during short periods
of time.
Throughout the semester, I have been making
sure to be intentional on making a strong
relationship with Student I. I work with her
regularly within class time. Every morning, I
when she has accomplished her work.
Connecting with her Mom in order to help
find strategies to support her and potentially
start the process with getting her to see a
doctor about a potential adhd diagnosis.
Making sure Student I is the first person I
check on in order for her to make sure she
knows what the current task at hand is. Then
we modify how much is expected for her to
accomplish.
Finding different flex work spaces.
make the effort to have a conversation with her. I
have noticed that having a good relationship
with her has helped, but that at the end of the
day, it still is hard for her to get work done when
needed. When she does do some work, it is
often the bare minimum.
We did not get to see Student I’s mom at parent
teacher interviews so we reached out specifically
to her. We found a time that we could chat about
her being able to do work at home. She came in
for a meeting and we (both my TM and I) shared
our experiences with Student I not being able to
concentrate on tasks even when directly
assisted. One strategy that was discussed
during the meeting was her getting her work sent
home if she does not complete enough. We also
talked about her mom starting the process of
having her tested for ADHD.
This has been effective in me knowing where
she is at and assessing what type of state she is
in before starting work on an activity. When I
check on her, I set goals for her and what she
needs to accomplish.
When checking with Student I at the beginning
of work time, we check in to see if this is a good
location for her to work. Depending on the
activity, we then decide if it might work better to
work in her current location or move to a
different one.
 Encouraging the use of earmuffs during
work periods when appropriate.
#2: Ongoing: Building relationship with Student
● What are strategies A. This has been done by seeking him out
to best help Student for conversations that have been of interest
A be an active to him as well as continually building him up
as soon as he joins the class for the day. I
participant in class?
am also giving him affirmations when he is
● Furthermore what contributing or doing his work.
are strategies to use
when he is opposing
direction?
Addressing situations when Student A is
obstinate towards instruction.
There are times when the classroom is too loud
because surrounding students are talking while
they work. Student I has been encouraged to
grab earmuffs when needed and I recommend
her to use these when the time is fitting. This
can have varying effects, depending on the day
but she does tend to be more focused when she
is in her own space and has headphones on.
This has been the most successful strategy with
Student A. He has been very receptive to talking
when he is outside of a classroom setting.
Everyday, I made the intention to greet him and
show my excitement that he was at school since
we struggled with his attendance. I made sure to
take the time for him to tell me about his different
types of games that he makes at home.
This time taken to build a relationship has been
very effective with my ability to reach Student A.
He is more receptive to correction and it has
allowed him to open up to me. This has given
him a confidence to describe what he needs or
what problem he is experiencing, rather than just
being quiet and not responding, which was more
common at the start of the year.
Student A can be obstinate at times. The
strategy that I have found most beneficial with
this is having built a strong relationship with him.
There are many times when we have had
conversation on what he needs to do and how to
get it done. The times when I need to be strict

Encouraging Student A to join the chess
club so that he doesn’t have to go outside
for recess.
Providing options and solutions to problems
that he is encountering and helping him
navigate the challenges he is finding. This
required adapting certain activities to
address these issues.
Making sure I check in with him every class
multiple times.
with him so that he knows the expectations,
whether this be related to getting work done or
going outside for recess. He is receptive to the
sternness due to the relationship that I have with
him. He respects me, so he is more receptive to
my firmness.
This has been a huge motivator for Student A
and something that he talks about a lot. He
makes sure that he will not be missing chess
club each week. This is also a regular time for
me to interact with Student A outside of the
classroom. This has allowed him some recess
time where he can stay inside as he doesn’t like
to go outside for recess. This is something that
Andrew enjoys a lot at school and motivates him
to come to school.
There are numerous times when Student A will
not be able to complete an activity because of
obstacles that seem very big to him but can be
remedied very easily. An example of this is some
instances when we were researching in Social.
Student A, at times, did not enjoy being on the
computers as he did not like the screen time.
This was easily remedied by providing him with
books that had the same information available to
him. While still working on the material was
difficult at times, it was more effective for him
than working exclusively with the laptops.
This is something that is crucial for Student A’s
success in the classroom; whether it be for

Providing additional support for when it is
needed. Such as in Social studies.
Encouraging a class community around
Student A.
keeping him on task or answering questions he
may have. A majority of the time, he is silent and
not disruptive. This can be different than most
kids who are off task as it can be easy to see
that they are not working and causing a
disruption. Student A will be quietly drawing on
his paper, or quietly off task. Making sure that I
am checking in on him regularly is helpful for
making sure he is staying on task. Some days
he can be redirected easily to the task at hand
and other days it requires more consistent check
ups. This is also necessary because he will
sometimes just sit quietly waiting for instructions
if he is unclear on what he needs to do. By
checking in on him regularly I can ensure that he
is aware of what he needs to do, give him the
opportunity to ask questions and to make sure
that he is on task.
In social studies we were doing a lot of semi
structured self directed research. This was not
structured enough for him and he struggled
working with no form of templates. When he was
researching I then decided to give him more
structure when
One other major strategy that I have tried to
implement is by encouraging a very strong
sense of community around Student A. Student
A is well liked around the classroom. Making
sure that he feels welcomed and loved by his
class has been important for him to enjoy being
in the classroom which encourages his

#3: Creating student based discussion: this has
● In general what are been done specifically in Science. Allowing
strategies in order to students to continually be involved in the
keep up student teachings as a discussion. Students are
inquiring how things work based on their
attention?
previous knowledge. We are also talking
about related topics that are of interest to the
● What are strategies students when they relate them to the topic.
that can be
implemented to Using music in order to have students match
control classroom the noise level. If they can not hear the
music, they are being too loud.
noise level?
Praising the class when they are talking at
an appropriate level.
Being clear in the instructions in transition
times.
Talking in a soft voice for the students to
match the volume.
attendance.
This has been very fruitful. We have had a lot of
engaging and interesting conversations as a
class as we have gone through different topics.
One thing to be cognisant of, however, is to not
rely too heavily on discussion and to mix it up
with hands-on activities or other activities that
incorporate movement as well as talking.
This has been very effective on most days. On
days that are very chatty, this only works if they
have had some form of reset beforehand. They
may also require multiple reminders to not be
louder than the music.
This has been effective when they are at an
appropriate noise level. This is also a natural
tendency I have for when they have been
working well and at a good level.
This is something that I have known is essential.
It is very obvious to me when I give clear
instructions versus when my instructions are
unclear.
This is a strategy that I find useful but I find
difficult with my specific tone of voice. If I talk
softly, most times people have a harder time
hearing me as it comes out more as a mumble.
 Having class movement breaks or activities
that allow the students to be up or moving
them to a different location.
Resetting the class with a quiet break so that excess energy. However, I still find it hard to tell
students can regulate themselves.
#4: When I am giving instructions on what they
● To what extent should be doing, they should not be
should kids be wandering and getting their water.
allowed to get up for
When I am doing teachings or class
water and the discussions that are more extended,
bathroom during students may go and grab water and go to
instruction time? the bathroom freely. If needed and I am
transitioning to instructions, students will be
made aware of this.
This strategy can be very useful but this is one
that I still find tricky to know which one to use.
Regulating the kids by having high energy
activities can be very useful for getting rid of
whether it can be a good time to use an
energetic activity in order to get some of that
energy out or whether students need a quiet
time activity in order to calm down. They both
work very effectively when I have used these
sorts of strategies but I find it is still hard to
differentiate exactly which one to use. I
sometimes am hesitant to use an energy/body
break when they already have energy as I don’t
want it to then go too far in that direction where
the students are too high energy. But at the
same time, in these moments you can use a
calming activity and the students are still
potentially having a hard time settling.
This balance of freedom while also emphasizing
class management has been what I have found
to be a perfect happy medium. It allows the
students the freedom to be able to grab a drink
and take a small break if we are having an
extended conversation. However, one of the
difficulties of this model was when there were
shorter instructions that were given and students
were leaving. It needed to be explained to the
students that when I am giving instructions or it
was a shorter period of time, I need them to
listen. Then, they can make their way into an
activity and then they may grab their waters etc.
This has been the strategy that I have landed on
thus far and has been successful in my opinion.