Your classroom management philosophy must be student centered and focused on providing an effective system that is historically inclusive of all students. In Part I, you leaned about building a plan that will fly. In Part II, check out the steps below in creating the best management plan for your class.
- Philosophy- Are you collaborative, high control or laid back in how you manage your classroom? Your answer to the question will determine the classroom model that will work for both your and students.
- Classroom Environment - If you have more of an interactive style of instruction, your physical environment might have desks or tables arranged in group settings in order to provide more collaborative opportunities for students to do group work, peer review or academic processing of subject content.
- Relationships and Management - The teacher/student teamwork in developing the plan must include rules and consequences for breaking the rules. Accountability for expected behavior must be the outcome of any plan that provides effective classroom management.
- Classroom Safety - Teachers and students must be safe in the classroom. The classroom should be a place of wellness, caring, student engagement and trust. Everyone must be committed to maintaining the emotional and physical stability of the classroom at all times and have emergency protocol in place in case of a classroom emergency.
There are many types of communication artifacts needed to bridge the two-way gap between parents and the school community. The classroom arrangement must be conducive to learning and student engagement.
Letter - The parent welcome letter starts with the usual "Dear Parents/Guardians/Caretakers" and will include the learning objectives for students and the class rules, along with teacher contact information and a signature and contact return part of the letter for parents/guardians and caregivers.
Classroom Rules and Consequences - Classroom rules should incorporate the school rules and outcomes. The focus should be on creating on task student behavior and creating student expectations that are positive and proactive. Include celebrations and external rewards for weekly or monthly positive classroom engagement. A wall chart with stars or facial expressions with student created name tags can provide a visual of where each student is in being on task in the classroom.
Telephone Script - Think, write it out before you make that phone call to parents. A good script can create a welcoming first contact with parents or a conflictive one. Ask questions that promote resolution in a student issue or ask those that provide positive teacher/parent teamwork in preventing future issues. In addition, have a script that's called the "good news" script where parents are called with good news and celebrations of a students academic and behavioral performance in the classroom.
Classroom Arrangement - Remember to include students with IEPs and disabilities in creating classroom arrangements that provide visuals of the board and that have working space beyond the student's desk for those group projects and presentations. Supplies should be readily available along with reading nooks and quiet spaces for students who may need a break from the group arrangement.
By incorporating all of the above categories in your classroom management plan, you can create a final product that says win-win for both teacher and students.
