Classroom Management Plan
When preparing to be a teacher and have a successful classroom, one of the main focus points is classroom management. Classroom management is the key component to any educational setting and without a proper classroom management plan, the students and what happens in a classroom is not as easily managed. As a prospective teacher I have had the opportunity to explore my options and have developed a classroom management plan.
As a teacher, I am committed to making my classroom a safe and challenging environment and engaging my students through the curriculum as well as getting to know them and interacting with them on a personal level. Meeting the needs of the students is a very important part of my classroom. I want them to be comfortable with their classmates, and myself, so there can be a welcoming and positive learning atmosphere. Group work and interactive teaching and discussions will be a common occurrence in my classroom. I will encourage all students to participate in class so they can learn and gain experience sharing their feelings and feel like their opinions are being heard. I want to be as fair and respectful to the students as I can be to create a positive environment. .
As I have taught, I feel that I have a very patient and calm attitude with the students. I know each student personally and feel that establishing respect on a teacher to student and student to teacher level allows the student to feel more comfortable participating in class. I want them to feel comfortable asking questions in discussions and want to make sure they understand that I won’t judge them if they do not understand. I don’t believe in being overbearing or too strict with the students, yet, I plan on enforcing high expectations and an understanding that I want them to do their best and will do what I can to make sure they accomplish what they need to. I do not believe in forcing the students to do anything, yet I will encourage them to do their work and there will be consequences if their work is not complete. I want to work with them in all circumstances so that we can achieve together and so they retain the information I teach them. I want to motivate students to learn and keep interest by engaging them in the lessons and using an integrated curriculum to keep things interesting. I will involve students in creating rules for the classroom as well as what they would like to learn in the curriculum. I believe students need to be involved in the workings of the classroom, so they will be more motivated and engaged; and in turn, learn more.
When I implement these ideas, instead of focusing solely on the misbehavior in the classroom, I want to focus on the good behavior and attitudes in my classroom. I will have a system where when a student turns in work, they will get feedback based on their performance. Understanding that I can’t reward children with compliments if their work isn’t done well, I will use constructive criticism or do what I can to help the student understand what they didn’t do right so that I can help them to succeed. Another aspect that creates a successful classroom is the enforcement of consequences. In my classroom, the basic consequences will be based on these ideas:
1st offense: In class warning
2nd offense: Talk to the teacher during recess or after class.
3rd offense: Note home
4th offense: Further assessment based on the situation.
By enforcing consequences students understand that I expect the best behavior and will begin to gain even more respect. In addition to making consequences clear, I will also make sure to communicate with the parents. Parent to teacher communication is key to a student’s success and will help the parents to understand what is being done in the classroom. By doing this I will acknowledge and encourage good behavior and academic success in my classroom.
Another way to be successful in creating a positive learning environment is to be consistent. By maintaining consistency in rules and routine the students understand what is expected of them and what is not allowed. As I mentioned before, having students help in choosing rules in the classroom promotes a more engaged classroom. In my classroom students will help choose rules; however, the four basic rules will be:
1: Be respectful of yourself and others.
2: Be organized
3: Be responsible
4: Participate
Letting the children know what is appropriate or not is a great prevention strategy and helps to create a mutual respect between my students and myself. Another important idea to implement is accountability. Whether its rules or schoolwork, when a student is accountable, a problem will most likely be resolved and students are more likely to succeed. By holding the students accountable for their work and creating a positive learning environment, students become intrinsically motivated and start to enjoy learning more as well as retaining what they have learned.
In addition to basic rules and implementation of these rules, I will arrange the classroom in a way that will allow me to obtain the best classroom management possible. When students first walk into my classroom they will be greeted with student work on the walls, bright colors, and organization. By doing this, my classroom will be a more positive environment for student learning and will help the students to feel welcomed an invited. My students will sit in rows in order to help to keep them listening. When students are in rows they are less likely to talk to their classmates and more likely to be engaged in the lesson. In all, students will feel welcome and invited into a classroom that promotes positive learning.
As I stated earlier, I believe Classroom Management is the key to an environment where learning can take place and students can feel safe participating. I hope to create an environment that involves my students and promotes learning. The most important part of classroom management is not the behavior problems, but creating a relationship with the students that encourages them to succeed and set high goals for the future. These ideas will help to create a successful classroom which will, in all, limit the behavioral issues from the beginning.
