Classroom Management Plan

ETAP 7610, Fall 2021

Building Relationships with Students

In Preparation

Learn about the local community and cultures.

First Day

Introduce myself genuinely! Share stories about my life and be myself.

Consistent Practices

Always continue to develop cultural competencies.
Meet the students where they are and go from there—show interest in them!
Acknowledge, welcome, and value student cultures.
Continue sharing stories about me and my life outside school. Be a person!
Build trust with the 2x10 strategy, “spend 2 minutes talking with a student about anything other than school for 10 consecutive days” (Smith et al., 2015, p. 83)

References:
Bondy et al., 2007; Ladson-Billings, 2017; Smith et al., 2015; Weinstein et al., 2003

Forming a Classroom Community

First Day

Introduce Circles as the way the class will get to know each other and communicate. Establish clear Circle procedures and explain why.
Introduce equity practices: fair is not always “equal” and everyone needs something different.
Ask the class to collaboratively define “respect” and what showing respect will look like in the classroom.

Consistent Practices

Celebrations! Hold space for students to share their accomplishments and joys.
Use daily Circles with creative talking prompts to encourage students to share and get to know each other at the beginning of each class.
Communicate in consistent ways—own failures and learn from them.
Use affective language: identity-building statements and agency statements. Teach “I” statements for expressing emotions and model consistently.
Hold classroom meetings whenever necessary to democratically discuss challenges arising in the classroom community.

References:
Bondy et al., 2007; Rerucha, 2021; Smith et al., 2015; Weinstein et al., 2003; Weinstein & Novodvorsky, 2010

Routines and Procedures

In Preparation

Develop “my” routines and procedures—structures needed for safety in the classroom, or related to school regulations that cannot be changed (ex: fire drills, tornado warnings). There should only be a few of these, and they should be very clear and concise.

First Week

Hold class meetings to discuss what rules and routines are for in the classroom. Ask students to suggest additional rules they think will create an environment that will best allow them to learn.
Also ask students to consider consequences to behaviors that go against the rules—discuss harm and how to repair harm. Ask students to think about the difference between punishment and logical consequences during this conversation.
Remember to remind students to consider why a particular rule is necessary, and how that might inform the consequences to the rule.
Record the rules and routines, along with consequences, and post visibly in the classroom.

First Month

Consistently refer to and enforce the rules and routines, along with the consequences. The rules apply to me too!
At the end of the first month, hold a class meeting to discuss the classroom rules. Open the opportunity to discuss any changes that may be needed, either to rules or consequences.

Consistent Practices

Consistently refer to and enforce rules and routines, and consequences.
Regularly hold informal class meetings to gauge how rules and routines are working for students.
Always be open to hearing the students’ input!

References:
Bondy et al., 2007; Rerucha, 2021; Smith et al., 2015

Equitable Structures for Movement and Discourse

In Preparation

Develop a set of “excellence-level goals” for my own teaching practice (Delpit, 2012, p. 133).
Consider who benefits when developing my curriculum—it should be my students.

First Day

Communicate expectations for success. Define “quality” and relate that definition to effort.
Introduce the concept that not all class discussions will have a “right answer” and that discussions are a place for everyone to be able to share their thoughts and opinions.
Establish a seating chart and explain why.

Consistent Practices

Work with my students on the curriculum—anticipate and respond to their needs, provide opportunities for them to give feedback and listen to that feedback.
Connect the curriculum to real world skills and always be clear about why any assignment or activity is being given.
Foster critical thinking skills in the curriculum and be prepared to listen when those skills are used on me and my work.
Support autonomy and praise effort. Focus on fostering self-efficacy in all students.
Switch up the seating chart at regular intervals so everyone has a chance to work with everyone else.

References:
Bondy et al., 2007; Corbett et al., 2002; Delpit, 2012; Kohn, 2006; Toshalis, 2015; Valenzuela, 2010

Responses to Challenging Behaviors

First Day

Clearly communicate that consequences will be consistent (and mean it).
Clearly state that I value my students as whole people—mistakes do not void that value.

Consistent Practices upon Challenging Behaviors

Practice behavior reframing processes (Weiner, 2006, p. 2).
Distinguish between the student and the behavior—reassure the student they are still cared about and that the behavior, not the student, is unacceptable.
Ask students to explore their thoughts and actions in the process of constructing an authentic solution, and assist students considering how to make restitution for harm caused (Kohn, 2006, p. 126).
Hold informal conferences for low-level issues, and hold formal dialogues for higher-stakes conflict resolution (Smith et al., 2015, p. 86).
Understand that big emotions are just emotions, and that there is a message being transmitted through them.
View resistance as an opportunity to look at my own actions. Ask, “what have I done to make you act this way?” (Valenzuela, 2010, p. 99).
Work to understand students first—misunderstanding causes resistance.
Avoid punitive or manipulative short-term solutions. Stay focused on the long term goals of community.
After constructing and enacting a solution, check back in later to see if it worked.
Consider peacekeeping an ongoing process, not separate, unconnected events.

References:
Kohn, 2006; Smith et al., 2015; Toshalis, 2015; Valenzuela, 2010; Weiner, 2006