Classroom Management

           Classroom management is an essential tool needed to create a safe environment in which all of my students can learn. Through my classroom management plan, I create an environment in which all students are responsible and our classroom functions as a community. As a teacher, I am committed to making my classroom a safe place for all of my students to be challenged and engaged in their learning. I strive to meet and accommodate the needs of all of my students.

            My classroom is arranged in a way to promote student collaboration and learning from each other. I set clear and consistent high expectations with routines and procedures set in the first few days of class. I have anchor charts and rubrics for students to refer back to and clearly see what is expected of them. We work as a class to construct 3-5 classroom rules that should be followed. I create a welcoming environment getting to know my students by learning their interests, hobbies, and home life. At the beginning of every class, students journal about what they are learning in their homeroom, things that have happened to them since the last class, their feelings, or draw to the music. Students are engaged in a fun learning environment that stimulates creativity and imagination.

       Positive reinforcement is crucial in my classroom to recognize and increase the frequency of appropriate classroom behavior. This is genuine and specific and could be a thumbs-up/high five or a specific verbal strategy of “kiss your brain,” or a positive phone call or email home, etc. For inappropriate behavior, it is important to have a structure established for when this occurs. An established hierarchy of negative consequences provide steps in fixing negative behaviors. The class first receives a general reminder of the expectations and rules of the classroom. Then the individual student(s) receive a reminder, followed by a problem solving sheet and conference with me, then parent contact.