Classroom Management and Communication Plan

Dana Swanson
Management Style and Philosophical Beliefs
As a future teacher it is very important to have strong classroom management skills and
to have a plan of action when I do teach. A few reasons that it is so important to have strong
classroom management skills is because 1) most teachers leave teaching because they either
dont know how to manage their classroom or it is too stressful for them, 2) a teachers
classroom management style will lead to the classroom culture, and 3) for many students school
is the most stable part of their day and teachers can help students by being consistent within their
management techniques.
While taking Secondary Methods at Drake University
I took a quiz that said the style of classroom management I
have. I received Authoritative and laissez-faire style.
Authoritative classroom management means having high
expectations for students and clearly explaining the reasons
of why behind rules. I agree with the quiz that I took because
I am a person who wants there to be limits and controls in my
classroom, but I also want my students to understand the
reasons behind the rules and to give them independence when
making choices.
There is a difference between management and discipline. Classroom management is the
tools and strategies that teachers use to help students learn verse discipline which is how teachers
respond to student behavior. I have similar beliefs to those from the book Discipline with Dignity

by Richard L. Curwin, Allen N. Mendler, and Brian D. Mendler. The book explained that
discipline should never lead to a student losing his or her dignity and should increase their choice
and independence. I want to have a classroom where rules are based off classroom values (such
as everyone deserving a safe learning environment). In my classroom if a student doesnt follow
our classroom values which leads to breaking a classroom rule their consequence would be
chosen from a list of acceptable consequences to choose from depending on the misbehavior. I
would allow students to make decisions based off what they have done wrong. Another goal I
have would be to never want to embarrass my students or make them uncomfortable, if there
were a misbehavior in my room I would do my best to talk to the student individually and not in
front of everyone.
Establishing a Positive Classroom Culture:
Within my classroom I would build a positive
classroom culture starting the first day of class. I would
greet each one of my students outside of the door and
try my best to learn their names within the first week of
school. One activity I want to do for my students and
self is Get to Know Our Class board. On the first
day of school/ week I would ask each of my students if
I could take one picture of them holding a dry erase
board that said one interesting fact about them and their name. Then there would be a bulletin
board in the classroom that had all of their pictures for each class. In the center of the bulletin
board would be our learning goals for each unit. I dont want to make my students wear funny
hats or do anything different that might make them uncomfortable but I want to use my

classroom to foster an overall school culture of acceptance. I want to one day teach ESL and I
have noticed while at Drake and in my practicum settings that there is the lack of talking and
friendships between students who are not originally from the U.S. to students who are. I think
that having a board like this would encourage my non-ESL students to get to know my ELLs and
also to learn more about different cultures.
I also plan to establish a positive classroom culture is by getting to know my students. I
want to have a student interest survey for my students that will tell me about their interests and
goals for my classroom. I will try to adjust my units once I know my students interests to be
similar to what they not only like to read and learn about but also what they want to learn about.
Students will be more interested in learning in my classroom if I teach what will interest them
and make it applicable to real life. I believe in social-constructivism by Lev Vygotsky and one of
the fundamental ideas behind his theory is practical application for learning. To promote a
positive atmosphere I have to make sure my students have a clear understanding of why we are
doing certain activities and how to apply their learnings later on.
Developing Classroom Rules and Procedures:
Within my classroom I want to incorporate as much choice as possible.
In Discipline with Dignity the authors said that rules should be based off
values (Curwin, et. all, 2008). I would like to have a similar set up
within my classroom. The first week of classes I will tell my students
that we will be establishing rules for the classroom together, but all of
our rules will have to be based on values that we all share for our class.
For my non-ESL classes, Id establish the first five values as an

example. For my non-ESL students wed do an activity similar to a SWOT analysis used in
business. My values which I would share with all my students would be a safe learning
environment, preparedness, opportunity for everyone to learn, kindness to others, and openmindedness. Id give each non-ESL student four sticky notes and theyd write an answer to the
following statements: 1) I learn best when _______. 2) I learn least when _________. 3) In a
classroom I like when my peers _____________. 4) In a classroom I like when my teacher
_________________. The students would then walk around and put their sticky notes up on the
correct poster, and break into groups where theyd find the five most popular answers and write
them down on poster. The groups would share out and wed decide as a class values that seemed
to fit what they like in a class from their peers and teacher. These values would shape our rules in
the classroom. Id create a board like the House Rules board that said Classroom Values
which would be near the classroom rules and responses to misbehaviors area in my classroom.
By having the values in our classroom posted students would remember that rules and behaviors
are shaped around what we a class value as important and would hopefully work as a reminder to
behave because we want to live our values. I think that having classroom values also helps create
more aware citizens that are not just concerned with the right or wrong, but understand the why
behind each. For my ESL classes depending on their language proficiency level I would adjust
the activity or just have us work in groups to decide on classroom values/ rules.
As a teacher my expectations and policies towards tardiness, late work, students leaving
the classroom, and student absences would partially be based on the school policies. I would not
want to as a teacher break school rules or policies, but I do believe a teacher must be conscience
of her students and their lives. I plan to use hall passes and keep a sign-in/sing-out sheet for
students to leave when necessary. The reason for the sign-in/sign-out is to better understand the

habits of students and to make sure they are not misusing any privileges. If students are absent
frequently or tardy more than once a week I will ask them what is happening and try to better
understand the situation before disciplining. I will allow food and drink in my classroom, at the
beginning of the year I will find out if there are any allergies in my classroom and how severe
they are so my students are aware that they cannot have certain foods in my class based off the
safety of other students. For late work it will depend on the circumstances of the assignment and
student, I want to give my students a chance to turn in work late if it will be their best work but
for work that is incomplete and turned in late I will discuss with my student what they think
needs to be done to fix the problem. When it comes to academic honesty I want to give my
students the opportunity to redo the work before contacting their parents or involving
administration. I want my students to understand why it is important to be honest when it comes
to their work and to understand what a privilege it is to create and develop their own ideas rather
than them seeing it as a punishment. Lastly, I do not intend to have extra credit in my classroom
on a regular basis. I would rather extra credit be an opportunity for my students to either
demonstrate a better understanding of a concept we are learning or a chance to experience the
concept in a different manner that will help them learn. Extra credit is used to replace learning so
much when really it should be a reward for adding to a students learning.
Each day my students will walk into the classroom turn in homework if they had any,
pick-up worksheets or future homework, and go to their seats to complete some form of an
opening activity. By having routines my students will grow accustomed to being responsible and
accountable for their learning. I plan to use portfolios to keep track of my students learning and
to use pre and post-tests to keep track of their learning each quarter. I think it is important to
collect data on students to measure their learning and to be able to support my teaching method

when administrators and parents come to my class. It is important to teach students responsibility
in the classroom and to hold myself accountable for their learning. Having procedures and plans
for keeping track of learning will help my students and self to teach and learn.
Classroom Layout:

Classroom Layout 1 Discussion Based Classroom Ready for Group Classroom Layout 2 Test Based Classroom R eady for Group Work and
Work
Stations

Here are three schematics of my future

classroom. The first classroom layout is
set up based on the idea that I want
most of the work in my classroom to be
discussion and group based, to keep my
classroom designed to a u-shape I will
have clipboards/ whiteboards that my
Classroom Layout 3 Group Work and Station Based Learning

students can use for desks tops to write

on. We will use the tables to do stations and group work but they will be on the sides of the
classroom for discussion days. The second classroom layout is set up for testing and possible
independent work. The third layout is set up for group work and station based learning. I would

prefer to use desk a limited amount in my classroom because they make it hard for students to be
close to one another. In each of my classroom layout of my classroom I have one lone desk in the
back this is set up for students who are coming from another class to take a break from their
teacher and for students who have a problem working with others or staying still. I would like
this desk to be a standing desk if possible, but if not students who needed to stand for learning
purposes could go to the back of the room or stand on the side. My classroom is easily accessible
for students in wheelchairs because most of the time we are using chairs that could be pulled out
and moved away for them to sit in the discussion circle or at a table group. My educational
philosophy is similar to social constructivism and that means having students actively
participating in their leaning and working together. I believe a classroom that encourages
teamwork and collaboration is beneficial for all students and helps them to not only learn new
knowledge but to add their own ideas and thoughts to it. My classroom layout supports my
policies and procedures because we will use our values-based rules to assess the proper behavior
for each layout. One of the core values I have for teaching is giving everyone the opportunity to
learn, this can be achieved through group work and collaboration which means students will
have to be able to talk to each other and be near one another.
Monitoring the Classroom and Responding to Student Misbehavior:
In Discipline with Dignity they listed the three dimensions of discipline which are
prevention, action and resolution (Curwin, et. all, 2008). Most of my classroom management
plan will be focused around prevention strategies for my students and me to be successful. The
rules in my classroom and creation of a positive classroom culture will hopefully work in most of
the prevention of student misbehavior. However, students come to school with much more on
their plate than just the idea of learning and I will need to be prepared for how to monitor my

classroom and respond to student misbehavior. The first step I will take to monitoring my
students will be to not sit at the back of the classroom where my desk is. When my students are
in the class I should be walking around helping them and making sure they are on task. If
students get off tasks I will politely go to them, get to their level and redirect them to the task at
hand. Redirection for some students may just be a reminder of what we are doing and for others
it might mean taking the time to help them with the task. I will do my best to individually
redirect students, but if the entire class is distracted I will give them one opportunity to start
listening again and get on tasks by saying Ladies and Gentleman eyes and ears up here please.
If I do not gain their attention the first time I would count down from five to one waiting for
them to listen. After a second whole-class redirection I would determine a consequence for the
whole class whether it was staying after the bell or having silent work time.
The only truly unacceptable behaviors are the
types that put any student at risk emotionally or
physically, or take away from others learning. Students
who are running around my classroom, hitting one
another, fighting, or causing possible harm to the entire
class will not be tolerated. If violence is occurring or
there is a situation that is threatening the entire class I
will raise my voice and do whatever is in my power to
make the situation safe. Another behavior I will not
tolerate is bullying this includes the use of racial slurs, anti-gay epithets, and any other forms.
Students who use these words or actively bully in my presence will be pulled aside by me, talked

to, and most likely sent to the principals office or calling home. My classroom is going to be a
safe and inclusive space, which will be a part of my classroom values.
Since there will come times when students misbehave I will have a list of responses for
student behavior. However, I do not want to use a hierarchy because I want my students to
choose their consequence. This idea comes from Discipline with Dignity where they created a list
of consequence options (Curwin, et. all, 2008). Some students cannot have the same types of
discipline because they wont have the same responses. For example if one student doesnt like
eating lunch in the lunchroom it would not be a punishment to have them stay in my classroom
for lunch. Having students choose their own punishments is beneficial because it makes them
more responsible and accountable for their actions. If certain students misbehavior is frequent or
happens on a large scale I will give the student two options rather than letting them choose off
the list. The list of consequences will be listed with responses that are simple to more severe but
without ranking to help students choose their consequence.
Parents as Partners:
Involving parents in the classroom and their childs
education is very important. For all of my classrooms I
plan to have a monthly newsletter for my parents and to
have a night where they can all come to my class and learn
about my policies and procedures outside of back to school
night or parent/teacher conferences. My monthly newsletter
will have a calendar with important school dates and
events/ opportunities that could further student learning. I

will try to contact parents for both positive and negative situations, preferably starting on a
positive note. For parents who are overly involved I will try to give them many opportunities to
come to the classroom and to see what their child is learning and doing. I would also give them a
list of resources for ways they can get involved in the school. For parents who I do not believe
are involved in their childrens schooling I would try to offer the family some after-school
opportunities where the child could receive help or have something to do after school. I would
not want to interfere too much in their lives because that my over-step boundaries for the
families. However, I would try my best to at least talk or meet the parents once a semester to
keep them involved in their childs schooling.
My ESL parent involvement will be different than my non-ESL classes. I want to have a
night or day meeting where just the parents/ family and a translator meet to go over policies and
what will be taught during the semester. I want to invite ELLs parents to come to my classroom
to observe and to possibly teach. I will set up my parent teacher conferences differently for my
ESL students because I will need to coordinate not only a translator but around their work
schedules. An ESL teacher has more to do with ESL families and students than most others
because they have to be an advocate, teacher, friend, and much more. It would be very important
for me to help my families and students with Saturday schooling (GED, Citizenship testing, and
English) and creating a carpool for the families. My ESL classroom will need to be a community
to make families feel comfortable.

Works Cited
Curwin, R.L., Mendler, A.N., Mendler, B.D. (2008). Discipline with Dignity. 2008.