Classroom Management Key Components

Area #1: Procedures/Structures/Routines

● Beginning Routine/Start of Class:
● Quiet/Attention Signals:
● Physical Transitions (groups, pairs, labs, activities, carpet)
● Dismissal or Lining Up
● Non-Verbal Cues (visuals, hand gestures, music)
● Giving Directions
● Checking for Understanding
● Holding Ground/No Arguing
● Raising Hands to Speak

In this section, I believe that it’s important to have procedures, structure, and routines set
throughout your class time. These should be very clear at the beginning of the school year,
or before an assignment. I would like to implement a call and response in my classroom. I
think these can be a great way to get student’s attention. I also want to make my directions
clear for transitions, directions, checking for understanding, and raising hands to speak.
When I have my students do group work, I will describe the directions in detail so there is
no confusion. I will also use different words to describe the talking level than is appropriate
in the classroom at that time. There will be silence, whisper voice, indoor voice, and
outdoor voice. I think it’s important for me to establish and show an example of what these
voices look and sound like as well. After reading the book, I now know just how effective
non-verbal cues can be as well. By giving cues, or reminders like pointing to a visual on
the wall, this helps learners remember what they’re supposed to do, or even what’s next. I
could put a schedule on a whiteboard, or wall in my classroom and move an arrow each
time we transition to a new activity, or subject. This way learners will be able to see what
we are doing next so they won’t have questions as to what is happening next in class.
Area #2: Engagement & Participation
● Variety (three or more activities per hour)
● Collaboration (Students Talking/Peer Discussions)
● Movement (two or more times per hour)
● Total Participation (all students think, write, share, or answer simultaneously)
● Rigor (higher order thinking and tasks required)
● Instruction (explain, model, guided practice, independent practice)
● Questioning/Probing
● Group Work (roles and productivity)

I believe that active learning is the best learning and it’s also very engaging. I plan to have
multiple activities per hour. I could have different stations and groups for my learners to
work on different activities. For example, if I’m doing a lesson on stories and the series of
events, I could have one station where learners write their own story, a station where
learners create stories with puppets, and a station where learners investigate different
books either by reading them, or listening to an audio version. Collaboration is super
important in school. Collaboration is done all around the world, so it’s an important skill to
have. I hope to do class discussions, small group discussions, and partner work in my
classroom. I want to take brain breaks in my classroom because learners need to have
breaks and moments where they can get up and move. An example of a brain break I’d
like to use in my classroom is a quick dance party. I want to make sure that I provide
course work that challenges and engages my learners. If I have learners that are more
advanced, or learners that might need extra help, I want to try and make sure I give them
tasks that challenge them or tasks that help them understand the basics. During
instruction, I want to make sure that I explain in detail and step-by-step what the
expectations are and how the task is to be done. I also want to be able to walk around and
engage with my students and ask them questions about what they’re learning and how
they’re learning it.

Area #3: Rapport/Connection

● Teacher Warmth/Friendliness/Approachability
● Teacher Enthusiasm/Energy/Excitement/Joy
● Teacher Humor/Laughter
● Teacher Knowledge of individual students’ interests
● Teacher Respect and Appreciation for students
● Teacher Encouragement of students
● Teacher sensitivity to student cultures and backgrounds
I think it’s incredibly important that I make a connection with learners and gain their
respect. I think it’s so hard to teach without a connection with your learners. Although,
sometimes you might not connect with your learners and that’s okay, but what’s really
important is respect. I want to make sure that I’m friendly and smile welcomingly when my
learners walk through the door. I think this can really brighten their day and set the tone for
the day. I also want to be able to ask them questions about what they’ve told me the
previous days, whether it’s an important event in their lives, or an activity that they’re
involved in. Encouraging your learners is super important, especially if they’re struggling to
grasp a certain concept. Encouraging them not to give up and helping them through that
concept can help them continue to learn and not give up in the future. It’s also important
that teachers recognize and learn the learner's backgrounds and cultures. A great activity
that can help both teachers and classmates learn about each other might be doing a family
history project. I think adding in your learner’s cultures into activities and questions can
help them feel welcome in the classroom.

Area #4: Behavior Intervention/Consequences

● Regular use of gentle redirects (proximity, warnings, the look)
● Consequences are reasonable and equitable
● Consequences are given as choices (you have a choice right now...)
● Teacher uses soft eyes, soft voice during conflicts
● Teacher is firm, but also calm and compassionate (doesn’t yell or intimidate)
● Consistent follow through with consequences once they are earned (doesn’t make
the same request over and over)
● Arguments/debates are delayed, done in private
● Progression up hierarchy is swift but fair

When learners are off topic, are talking when voices are supposed to be off, or so forth,
you should start off with a non verbale warning like the look. Usually this can help redirect
learners to being back on task. After the look, you should move to a verbal warning stating
the learner's name. I want to use the tiered consequences for my classroom. I think this is
a great tool to use to give learners consistent consequences and at the same time
remaining calm and compassionate. If a learner wants to argue/debate about something, I
will tell them that they can choose to talk with me before recess, lunch, or after school. This
way we’re not taking learning away from the rest of the class and we can move on. It’s
important to remember the functions of behavior. This will help you decide which
intervention/consequences to use when the behavior arises and how to help the learner.
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