Model Classroom Plan



Karan Mahna

Model Classroom Plan

Core Beliefs

I believe that you should treat others as you want others to treat you; therefore, my classroom management is centered around the principle of respect. I firmly believe that if you want your students to respect you and others in the classroom, you have to respect them. I want to promote my students to actively listen to other students and be curious learners. This will not only help them learn about various point of views in the world, but also be humble citizens.

Along with being humble citizens, I believe in creating democratic citizens that are able to critically think and make informed decisions about their future. To foster this critical thinking, I want my students to build confidence and take risks in their thinking. I also want to build a relationship with my students where they are able to trust me and share their thinking. I want every thought and question raised in the class to be acknowledged and treated with respect. Students have to treat each other as intellectuals engaging in civil academic discourse.

I believe a teacher has to be explicit about his/her philosophy of teaching and goals of learning to the students. Teachers perceive students as “lazy” and motivated when they refuse to perform; however, in reality, the student’s values differ from teacher’s values, which causes the student to disengage from their learning. If the teacher communicates what he or she values in the classroom and education, students are more likely to perform and be motivated to learn. Therefore, I plan to ask students of their purpose and value in education and evaluate my own to reach a middle ground where both the students and I are able to help each other learn.

I also plan to practice differentiated learning as much as possible to help each student learn to their highest potential. As Edgar argues, “…differentiated teaching separates great teachers from mediocre teachers.” Differentiation is realizing the key differences between learning styles of different students. If I want everyone to learn, I have to know that everyone does not learn the same way.

Finally, I believe that we are social animals, and it is unfair of me to force my students to not socialize with their peers. I want my students to be helping each other, talking to each other and learning from each other. I plan to allow my students to be themselves while in my classroom. In midst of all this I understand that I might be challenged and confronted by a student; in such situations, I have to remind myself of the bigger picture and move on without holding any grudges towards the student or the profession.

Context

This classroom management plan is developed for a sub-urban high school classroom. The school has about 1150 students with 51 percent population as white, 22 percent Asian, 16 percent African American, 9 percent Hispanic and about 2 percent Native American. The 51 percent white population is misleading because a good chunk of these white students are recent Eastern European immigrants. In 2006-07 school year, there were 97 students in the ESL program and 121 students in the special education program. In addition, about 34 percent of the student population is on the free and reduced lunch program. [1]

Community Building

Having a learning community in a classroom is essential for any meaningful learning to happen. Explicit steps will be taken in order to create this community. My first step will be to learn every student’s name before the first day of class by using the roster with pictures that the school district provides. I want to refer each student by their name to show them that I care.

Secondly, I will give each student an index card and ask them to write four things on the card: 1) Something I have in common with most of the students in this class; 2) something I have in common with 2 or 3 students in this class; 3) something that is unique about me; 4) my name is… I will fold all the cards and draw a few of them each day. This activity will help students learn how alike they are, and yet how unique they among the class. Moreover, I have found that attaching the unique characteristics with each student helps me remember the names better. This activity will culminate over first two weeks of the year.

Another community building activity will focus on increasing communication between students in small groups. In this activity, each group has 2 pieces of straw, 2 sheets of paper, 2 inches of scotch tape, 2 paper clips and 2 Styrofoam cups. Using these materials they are suppose to build a tower; their goal is to build the tallest free standing tower to win. However, in this process building, they are given first 5 minutes to discuss and create a strategy without accessing the materials; then in the next 5 minutes they are allowed to access the materials but not allowed to talk to any of the group members. I like this activity because it shows the importance of planning in any task; moreover, it reinforces the fact that ESL students (who are not able to communicate because of their limited verbal abilities) can be part of the group-work. And as Dutro mentions throughout her paper, ESL students have limitations with language, however, they can perform at a high level when given the appropriate support and opportunity.

Each group will have four members. Each member will have a specific role to perform in the group (captain, facilitator, recorder/reporter, time manager). Groups will be changed every four weeks so students are forced to work with everyone in the classroom; also, this eliminates the complains of “being stuck” with a group that doesn’t want to do the work.

I will monitor groups using formative assessment. I will use a carry a clip-board in my hand with a monitoring sheet that would help me keep a record of the conversations I have with different groups. Also, I plan to use the “group-question” strategy; in this strategy, a student can only ask a question if it is a group question—no questions will be answered by the teacher until all the group members have been asked.

I also plan on having a “Board of Fame” where students can put their own work or their group-member’s work if they think it deserves to be on the board. This increases the stakes of the work and elevates status for students that never get noticed despite doing good quality work.

Norm Setting and Classroom Rules and Consequences

After learning about the importance of giving students some procedural autonomy last quarter, I am tempted to involve my students in setting the norms for the classroom. I will take majority of the first class period to come up with the norms. Before I dive into creating the norms, I would like to the share my targets for the classroom. This way, we can have a starting point to creating norms. For instance, one of my targets will be for every students to participate; in order to reach this goal, one of the norms could be to make participation everyone’s responsibility. This means that talkers would monitor their talking and the shy students will make an effort to talk. Besides the norms that students come up with, I will have some general norms in my classroom. These general norms will be

• Respect everyone

• Do your best

• Be responsible

The short list of norms would be easy to adhere to and monitor. It also speaks for the autonomy that I want my students to have by monitoring themselves. If need be, I can add/delete to the norms. I will create posters for the norms and put them up on walls in the classroom.

I don’t believe in having “rules” for the classroom because it creates a military like environment. Moreover, I want to respect my students as adults and not treat them like inmates. Therefore, I will start out by having no rules and hoping that every student is socially educated enough.

I do want to have set consequences for certain misbehaviors and missing work. I would use the following consequences for minor infractions. Also, they will move in the following progression, unless the situation calls for an alternate remedy:

• Increasing proximity to the students who is acting out

• Giving the students a stern look

• Speaking privately with the student during the class

• Asking the students to stay after class to discuss the issue and come up with a plan for improvement

• Asking the students to leave the classroom until the issue can be addressed

• Sending the student to the office

• Calling home to report the infraction to the parent/s or guardian/s

If any situation poses a physical threat for any of the students or myself, I would stick with the school protocol to deal with the situation. I plan on finding out more about this when I go to the field next week.

Classroom Organization and Teaching of Procedural Routines

The classroom has individual chairs for students to sit on. I will arrange four chairs facing each other to create groups of four. At least half of the time, students will be working collaboratively with each other. This seating arrangement lends itself to students interacting with each other. Groups will be separated enough for me to meander throughout the classroom. Also, students will be encouraged to not share outside of their groups, therefore, there will be ample space between each group.

I plan on having some additional resource books in the classroom, although most days students will work from worksheets that I create. I will have hanging folders with each student’s name so they can turn in and pick up their assignments on their own, and I don’t have to waste class time in distributing their assignments. I will have a drop box for each class period to turn in their assignments for the day. I plan on having a monthly calendar on the wall for each class period which lists the topics covered and handouts used for the day; this will help students who have been absent or those students who want to look ahead. I will have extra handouts in a folder where students can take them as needed.

To begin the school year, I might use role-playing with students to teach class procedures. It might seem too immature; however, I am willing to take this risk because I don’t want to waste time reminding each student about the procedures throughout the year. We will have routines for the following areas:

• Getting textbooks or reference materials for table group members when needed

• Handing in assignments

• Passing out materials

• Having way to record the assignment for each day

• Finding out about the missed assignments and due dates

• Asking a question or volunteering information with the class and the small group

• Asking to be excused from classroom for any reason

• Holding a group discussion

• Using the hand raise (or any other form of attention getter) to get the students’ attention

I will have 3 passes for each quarter for the students. I think 3 passes are appropriate because the students are high school age, and they should be more responsible. Also, I plan on excusing each student for emergencies. I will allow students to have a water bottle in the classroom, so that eliminates the need to get a drink.

Addressing Persistent Misbehavior

First to avoid misbehavior I will have to be persistent, I would have individual talks with the student if I see them misbehave two or three times. I would try to address my concerns with the students and try to focus on how he/she is missing opportunities to learn and causing other to do the same. During all of this, I would record the misbehaviors on the monitoring sheet that I carry around with me as I facilitate the class from day to day. Then, I will show students the patterns in their misbehavior and ask them for an explanation. If the student has a legitimate reason for their behavior, then we will have to work out a plan to accommodate them.

I will also use the reward system advertised by one of the professors in the program, Gene Edgar, to create a change in their misbehavior. If this works, great; if not, then I will have to refer the student to the counselor and involve parents in the issue. Also, if the behavior changes at any point, I will make it a point to call the parents and inform them of the positive changes in their child’s behavior.

I would like to have a model for handling typical problems. The procedure would be as follows:

|Behavior |Solution |

|Not doing the work in the classroom |Have a conference; ask for clarifications; involve counselor and the |

| |parent |

|Not doing the homework |Explain the importance of hw; ask for legitimate reasons and make |

| |accommodations if necessary; talk to parent/counselor if necessary |

|Irregular attendance |Conference; ask for reasons; explain the consequences; involve |

| |parent/counselor |

|Cheating |Immediate cancellation of score; conference; I will not tolerate any |

| |form of cheating |

|Plagiarism |Explain the definition and forms of plagiarism; if continues to happen|

| |then warning followed by zero on the assignment and conference; |

| |involve parents if required |

|Talk outs in class |Use the data to have a conference; try to be positive and use the |

| |comments as constructive; award when following rules |

|Back talk to teacher |Refer to the “RESPECT” norm; individual conference if necessary |

|Bullying |Immediate intervention; conference; follow school protocol |

|Fighting, and other dangerous behaviors (weapons, drugs, alcohol) |Call security; follow school protocol |

Communication with Parents/Guardians and Community Members

I will begin the year by calling 5 parents every day until I contact every student’s parents/guardians. I will introduce myself and invite them to the classroom whenever they wish. I will also express my intention to help their student and themselves reach goals that they have set. I will also create a contract that will ask them to support their student in every way possible throughout the year. I will also share my email and my availability with the parents.

Next, I will try to email parents end of the month with their student’s progress. The school district has a grading system that parents can access from their home. I will point out the major progress that their student has made. This will also give the parents an opportunity to reply and ask any questions they have about their student’s grades. In interest of time, I will only do this for the first month, and leave it up to the parents to contact me if necessary.

I also plan on organizing portfolio nights for parents. This will be a chance for parents to come and be audiences for their students while they explain the work they have done over the quarter. I will do this in the late evening hours, so every parent has a chance to come. If parents are not available, the student can invite their elder siblings or other relatives. The last resort will be to use me as the audience. This way, I hope to help parents see their child make progress in their education. I will also invite parents to speak to class about their professions and how they use Math in their lives.

Consulting with Other Professionals

Fortunately, the school I will work at has a cohesive group of Math teachers. Every month teachers organize an informal potluck where they share their work with other Math teachers. Also, every day during lunch all the Math teachers sit together and talk about their classes and different students. Some of these lunch meetings tend to get “gossipy,” and I want to avoid creating false images of individual students by listening to other teachers. I believe some teachers stereotype students for various reasons, which could lead a self-fulfilling prophecy situation for me. I want to make a conscious effort to stay away from this.

The school also has late starts every Friday for teachers to meet with their colleagues within their subject matter and other faculty in the school. I hope collaborate with Physics teachers and other teachers in trying to integrate some of the materials, if at all possible.

I also plan on maintaining contact with all my fellow Math teachers from the program. I want to be able to consult and share with them about various things from my classroom. They have been a great resource so far, and I want to use their expertise as much as possible. I also want to remain in contact with the professors and my field supervisor, and ask them about any of the problems I have in the classroom.

I also hope to network more in the school and meet the secretary, the ELL teacher, the special-ed teacher and other relevant staff and faculty.

References

Dutro, S. (2005). What’s language got to do with it? Considerations in courses of study for secondary English learners, California Secondary Summit, San Diego, CA.

Edgar G. (2007). Differential Instruction (pp 1-8): University of Washington.

Edgar, G. (2008). Gene’s model classroom management plan (pp 1-5): University of Washington.

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