Creating Classroom Culture

Introduction

The goal of building classroom culture is to provide a safe, caring, and productive environment
that is conducive to student learning. Research indicates that a teacher’s classroom management
abilities have a significant impact on student learning. Effective support of positive behaviour is
based on prevention. Strategies such as teaching proper procedures and reinforcing expectations,
building strong relationships, establishing a safe and caring learning environment, planning
engaging lessons, and paying attention to effective instruction will prevent most behaviour
problems. There are times, however, when direct intervention is necessary and you should be
prepared for this contingency as well. Your assignment is to consider the following information,
consult the secondary sources, check your school’s management policies, and consult with your
Teacher Mentor so that you can successfully complete the “Classroom Management Plan”,
below. The assignment is divided into three sections: Procedures, Positive Relationships, and
Interventions. The completed plan should be included in your Professional Portfolio.

For further information see the following (other resources also posted to Moodle):

 Evertson, Emmer & Worsham, Classroom management for elementary teachers. End of
chapters 1-4. (372.11024 Eve).
 Bennett & Smilanich, Classroom management: A thinking and caring approach. Pages
166-68. (371.1024 Ben).

Procedures

Procedures are the specific activities that formalize the teacher’s behavioural expectations. They
generally aim at the efficient and effective structuring of classroom behaviours, with minimal
disruption of teaching and learning. The practice of classroom management guides students to
adopt and internalize procedures so they occur automatically. The intent is for procedures to
become class routines. Your Teacher Mentor and you (with input from the class) will establish
the expectations for classroom interactions, work habits, completion of assignments, late arrivals,
absences, and any other behavioural procedures that support learning. Each of these expectations
will have some form of consequence if not followed. Some consequences may already be
established by school policies and you will need to check for such policies to complete this
assignment.

This assignment requires you to pay attention to four types of student procedure:

(1) Attention-getting procedures.

(2) Question-answering procedures.
(3) Transition procedures (start of class, start of day, end of class, end of day, change of
activity, distributing materials, accessing equipment, and cleaning up).
(4) Daily and safety procedures (generic and subject-specific).
For further information see:

 Alberta Education, Supporting positive behaviour in Alberta schools: A classroom

approach. Chapter 4. (CURR LAB 375 General Alta 1-12 vol. 2).
 Wong and Wong, The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher. Chapter 20.
(LB 1775.2 W65 2005).
 Evertson, Emmer & Worsham, Classroom management for elementary teachers. Chapter
2. (372.11024 Eve).
 Emmer, Evertson & Worsham, Classroom management for middle and high school
teachers. Chapter 2. (LB 3013 C53 2003).
 McLeod, Fisher & Hoover, The key elements of classroom management: Managing time
and space, student behavior, and instructional strategies. Chapter 6. (LB 3013 M386
2003)

Positive Relationships
A safe and caring classroom is built on relationships established between the teacher and
students, and among students. Building a positive rapport with students is a key step towards
setting up a smooth-running classroom. Effective teachers build relationships with students by
showing an interest in students as people – by quickly learning and using all students’ names,
taking the time to talk to individuals about their lives and interests, and showing concern for
students’ emotional and physical well-being. In daily interactions, mutual trust and respect is
built by treating students with kindness, consideration, honesty, helpfulness, patience, courtesy,
and respect. An effective teacher provides opportunities for students to get to know them as a
real person by appropriately sharing their experiences and interests. Forming positive
relationships with students, however, does not imply that the teacher is the students’ peer.
Effective teachers are friendly, fair, and firm but do not act as a “pal” or “buddy”.

You are the classroom leader and it is your responsibility to build community among your
students and then to maintain or, in some cases, improve relationships among students. Strategies
for nurturing and improving student-student relationships include: providing opportunities for
students to get to know each other better (when appropriate); modeling respect and caring (the
way you want students to treat each other); dealing promptly and consistently with name-calling,
bullying, and other forms of aggression; using small-group and cooperative learning strategies
that focus on meaningful collaboration; maintaining or introducing class initiatives, projects, and
celebrations that promote cooperation, positive interaction, and team-building.

For further information see:

 Alberta Education, Supporting positive behaviour in Alberta schools: A classroom
approach. Chapter 1. (CURR LAB 375 General Alta 1-12 vol. 2).
 Bennett & Smilanich, Classroom management: A thinking and caring approach. Chapter
5. (371.1024 Ben).
 McLeod, Fisher & Hoover, The key elements of classroom management: Managing time
and space, student behavior, and instructional strategies. Chapter 5. (LB 3013 M386
2003).
  Wong and Wong, The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher. Chapter 13.
(LB 1775.2 W65 2005).
 Tate, Shouting won’t grow dendrites: Techniques for managing a brain-compatible
classroom. Chapters 15 & 16. (LB 3013 T366 2007).

Interventions (Responding to Inappropriate Behaviour)

Preventative strategies, such as effective instruction, building relationships, establishing a
supportive environment, and communicating and reinforcing expectations and procedures, will
minimize disruptions and misbehaviour. Despite your best intentions and efforts, a certain
amount of inappropriate student behaviour may still occur. The level of misbehaviour is likely to
be directly related to inherent social relations within the class, with some groupings of students
requiring greater intervention than others. You will need to have a repertoire of approaches for
responding to inappropriate behaviour. Many teachers still use negative punishment
consequences such as loss of privileges (elementary) or detentions (secondary) to deal with
inappropriate behaviour. Progressive education, however, requires moving away from
punishment courses of action and toward reinforcement and problem-solving approaches. This
does not mean there is no place for punishment as a consequence in classroom management. It
does mean, however, that you will need to reassess and adjust the use of such consequences
based on actual effects as demonstrated by student behaviour.

For further information see:

 Alberta Education, Supporting positive behaviour in Alberta schools: A classroom

approach. Chapter 7. (CURR LAB 375 General Alta 1-12 vol. 2).
 Bennett & Smilanich, Classroom management: A thinking and caring approach.
Chapters 10-14. (371.1024 Ben).
 Tate, Shouting won’t grow dendrites: Techniques for managing a brain-compatible
classroom. Chapters 17 & 18. (LB 3013 T366 2007).
 Culture Plan
(Due on September 15)

Name:

Teacher Mentor:

Administrator:

School:

Subject(s):

Procedures

Attention-getting procedures
Record different means of getting the entire class’s attention when they are engaged in an
activity. (This may be different for different subject areas.)

Question-answering procedures
What expectations will you have when students are asking or answering questions? (Remember
that a question should get everyone thinking about an answer and thinking that they may be
expected to provide an answer.)

Transition Procedures
What routines will you establish around the…

Bell schedule:
Start of class:
Start of day:
End of class:
End of day:
Change of activities:
Change of subjects:
Distribution of materials:
Accessing of equipment:
Classroom clean up:
Daily and Safety Procedures
What will you expect of your students and yourself with regard to:

Late arrivals:
Absences:
Use of cell phones and other communications technology:
Bathroom breaks:
Pencil sharpening:
Student telephone calls to home:
Individual seatwork:
Playground and free time rules:
Late homework or assignments:
Missing homework or assignments:
Homework reminders:
Student illness or injury:
Fire drills:
Lockdowns:

Positive Relationships

Quickly establish a class list and seating plan so that you can begin to learn the names of your
students. What seating arrangement are you planning and how will you decide who sits where?

Begin recording student interests. What system will you use to do this?

What specific things will you do the first day and first week to encourage student-with-teacher
and student-with-student interactions?

What body language and tone of voice will you use in different situations throughout the day ~ at
the start of class, with large and small group instruction, and when dealing with inappropriate
behaviour?
 Interventions

Classroom Rules
Record the rules you will establish, whether alone or with your students, and list a few possible
consequences if a rule is not followed. It’s good to have student input but be sure to cover all of
the important areas. With consequences, it’s better to rehearse a few ideas than to think them up
on the spot.

Rule:
Consequences:

Rule:
Consequences:

Rule:
Consequences:

Rule:
Consequences:

Strategies
Record your strategies for dealing with some common student misbehaviours.

Distracted (ex. by cellphone or spinner):

Talking:
Off task:
Name calling:
Pushing and shoving:
Running in classrooms or in hallways:
Swearing:
Copying someone else’s work:
Taking things that don’t belong to them:
Writing or scratching on desks, furniture, lockers, or walls:
Fighting: