Jessica Siegel Final Classroom Management Plan May 6, 2013

Section One: Context I hope to be a general education teacher for a second grade class. Ideally the school will be located in a suburban/rural area where students come from a range of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Section Two: Physical Design

I have planned the physical design of my classroom in a way that is conducive to learning. I have placed the students desks in three rows with groups of two or three students. With this setup, none of the students will have their back to the front of the room and group work will be easy to accommodate as students can work with other students next to them or with other students seated in front or behind them. I will place

my academically lowest students and students with behavior or attention issues in the front row and in the desks closest to my desk. I placed the pencil sharpener at the front of the classroom, near my desk and near a trash can to prevent distractions. I used bookshelves to block off the reading area so that students reading are free from distractions of other students in the room. I have placed two sinks on the side of the room near the kidney table and placed a trash can right next to the sinks. I placed a book stand next to the kidney table and next to the reading nook so I can keep my guided reading books separate from other books and easily accessible when I want to work with guided reading groups. It is important that all students feel safe and secure in the classroom. The cozy reading nook with beanbags and a sofa, the cushioned rocking chair and the large carpeted area at the front of the room will facilitate this. It is also important for students to feel welcome and to feel like a valued member of the classroom. Hanging students work throughout the year, having a star of the week and creating bulletin boards with photos of students will make students feel like an important and essential part of the classroom. Having books, maps and photographs of students differing backgrounds and cultures makes the materials in the room recognizable to all students. Section Three: Rules My rules are the first way for me to communicate my expectations to my students. I will have the classroom rules created before students arrive on the first day of school. I will create a poster with the rules clearly written at the front of the classroom near the board. On the first day of school, I will point out to students where the classroom rules are

located and then I will go through each rule one by one. As I explain each rule to the class, I will demonstrate the rule for students, using some students as volunteers to get them involved, and having the entire class practice each rule. Creating and establishing rules in this way shows students that I am serious about the classroom rules because I took the time to write them and demonstrate each one for the whole class. I will let students know that if at any time throughout the year they find one of my rules to be unnecessary, they can let me know and I will consider their thoughts and then make a final decision whether to keep the rule, to get rid of the rule, or to adapt the rule to the needs of our classroom. Section Four: Routines In order for my classroom to run smoothly, students must be aware of what is appropriate for them to do when they need to sharpen their pencil or when they need to use the restroom. It is my responsibility to put these classroom routines in place to let students know what I expect. Just as I did with the classroom rules, I will demonstrate each routine and allow students to practice so they know what to do when they need to do it. Class-Running Routines Attendance: Attendance will be incorporated in the morning meeting. Each day there will be a special helper and that student will be responsible for counting each student that is present. Students will sit in a circle for morning meeting, so the special helper will walk around counting students heads. Sharpening Pencils: Students may sharpen their pencils before the day begins, and when they return from recess. I will suggest to students that they should have more than one

pencil in their desk in case their pencil breaks in the middle of a lesson, when they are not allowed to get up to sharpen it. In case students forget to sharpen their pencil during the times I allow, and they do not have any extras in their desk, I will keep a bucket of sharpened pencils on my desk. Bathroom Breaks: Students may never leave to use the restroom when I am teaching a lesson unless it is an emergency. I will have two bottles of Purell, one with boys written on it and one with girls written on it. These bottles will be on my desk. When a student needs to use the restroom, he or she will first raise their hand to ask me to go, and then he or she will pick up a Purell bottle, place it on his or her desk and then go to the restroom. Upon return, the student will use the hand sanitizer and then place the bottle back on my desk for the next student to use. Lesson-Running Routines Completing Assignments: When students finish an assignment, it is their responsibility to place it in the done basket that will be located on my desk. I will have highlighters next to the done basket for students to highlight their name to make sure they havent forgotten to write their time on their paper. Collecting, Recording and Returning Homework: Each student will bring their own folder in on the first day of school that will be their homework/communication folder. One side of the folder will be designated for homework that has to be returned to school the next day. The other side of the folder will be for papers that can be left at home. This side of the folder will also have a journal for communication between myself and parents.

Parents are free to write anything they want me to know about their child and I will write responses back. What to do When Someone is Absent or Out of the Room: If a student is absent, the special helper will be responsible for putting their homework, worksheets and any other important papers in a folder that will be left on their desk called the While You Were Out folder. When the student returns the following day, they will take the While You Were Out folder home and will be responsible for returning the folder either the next day or by the end of the week (this will be up to my discretion and I will give the student a date to return it depending on their abilities or needs). Interaction Routines During Whole Class Lessons: To avoid confusion for whether or not students are allowed to call out or not, I will either raise my hand after I ask a question to signal that students must raise their hand, or I will place my hand by my ear to signal that students may call out the answer. When Teacher is Working With a Small Group: While I am working with a group of students during a guided reading lesson, or anything else, the other students in the classroom may not walk up to me and ask me a question unless it is a true emergency. Section Five: Relationships Every day in the morning, I will stand in the hallway or in the doorway, greeting each student by name. If I notice a student has gotten a new pair of shoes, a new haircut or has gone on a trip recently, I will ask the student about it or make a comment to let the student know that I have noticed.

I will let students know that I am a real person by pointing out times when I make mistakes. If I make a mistake while teaching a lesson, I will let students know that even teachers make mistakes and the only way to learn is by making mistakes. I will maintain an open door policy in my classroom in which students parents are welcome in my room at any time. Also, I will let students know that they can come to me with any questions or concerns whenever they need it. I will allow students to stay after school for extra help if they feel they need it. To create a sense of community among my students, I will have a compliment box in the back of the room. Whenever a student observes or receives an act of kindness, he or she is welcome to write it on a piece of paper and then place it in the compliment box that will be read at the end of each week. On the first day of school, I will give each student a name tag. The students will write their names on the top of the name tag and then draw three pictures underneath. Students will walk around the classroom and introduce themselves to one another. Then each student will explain why they drew what they did on their name tag. The morning meeting will also be a way for students to get to know each other. The sense of community among my students will be strengthened each time a student shares something followed by his or her classmates asking meaningful questions. Section Six: Discipline Minor Misbehavior: To address minor misbehaviors in the classroom, I will stand near a disruptive student or stand in between two chatty students to try and stop the misbehavior from continuing.

More Serious Misbehavior: To address more serious misbehaviors, I will impose a logical consequence. Examples would be, isolation from the group if the student is chatty or disruptive, loss of privileges if a student is taking advantage of materials and supplies, and having a mandatory private conference with me to discuss the issue and try to prevent it from happening again. Chronic Misbehavior: To address chronic misbehaviors in my classroom, I will have the student monitor their behavior. I will first identify the misbehavior and demonstrate the appropriate behavior to the student. I will then have he or she record each time he or she engages in that misbehavior to try to prevent it from happening further.