Classroom Management Plan
Overall Philosophy:
Like many, I have a varied philosophy of education. My experience is limited at this point in time, and as I continue forward, I hope to maintain an open mind as I gain new information and experiences in education. At the present, my views are mainly a mix of essentialism, and progressivism, with notes of existentialism. I believe that in navigating the real world, for which I believe school is tasked with preparing the student, a tremendous advantage is given to those who have a high level of essentialist knowledge. Knowing the "facts" of the standard subjects, whether math, English, or history is important. Especially, when the facts are in regards to the major life pursuits of that individual, such as ones career or hobbies. For example, attorneys who know the law inside and out will likely be more successful than attorneys who only know enough to pass necessary tests. Although I believe the student is central in the learning process, as in existentialism and progressivism, the teacher in most cases is simply more prepared to steer the direction of the learning. When one is a novice in any area, I find it is difficult to even know where to start, and great amounts of time can be spent on avenues that do not lead to progress, a luxury not afforded students in a fast paced modern world. When I began pursuing a hobby in music production, I did so nearly completely in a self directed manor (you could probably call it existentialist learning). Because the craft was entirely new to me, I did not even know what I needed to know. I spent a year or two, thousands of hours, trying to figure out what I was missing in my songs and production techniques. A professional music producer, someone with far greater knowledge, experience and trained ears, could have easily evaluated my progress and outlined the next steps I needed to take for efficient and effective use of my time. In the long run, I do believe there were probably valuable things that came from several years of completely figuring it out on my own. However, in practical terms, student simply don't have the time, nor in most cases, the motivation to go through the process necessary to self direct their own learning in a wide variety of subjects. One key for me, was that I was relentless in my dedication to getting better at music production. I spent the lion's share of my free time pursuing it. I think it is unlikely most students would be similarly motivated in teaching themselves geometry, a foreign language or any subject not of interest to them. Therefore, while certain aspects of existentialist learning are great, relying on it completely is in my opinion, likely not the answer. Certainly, I believe there is room for changing traditional models of education. I believe students should be engaged, respected and have a say in their education. In addition to information, students need to learn critical thinking, logic, and problem solving. They need to feel that they are being heard and have a stake in their own education. Progressivism is thus a great addition to a teaching philosophy, however, I simply think before we completely throw out the old model, we should keep the best parts of the old model and integrate the best part of new models, so that students can be successful in the classroom, in future careers and in life.
With my philosophy outlined above, next are some of my ideas for creating a classroom where students can be successful in being self-disciplined, following the model of the self discipline pyramid.
A. Level 1: Creating a Caring Community
Strategy 1: It will be clear from the first day that I will respect the students in the spirit of the importance the of "equity among students and adults" (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 174) in education, by telling them this verbally and including respect as key in the syllabus.
Strategy 2: I will give students a clear syllabus of expectations (with as short a list of rules as possible). Outlining expectations insures students understand what is expected of them up front (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 176).
Strategy 3: Routines such as a designated place to turn in work will be in place. This type of system helps "assist students with becoming accountable for their learning" (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 176).
Strategy 4: Often, we can discuss things other than the subject matter, such as something cool that a student did, or I can relate an interesting story. In this way, students know that I care about life outside of the subject matter, and recognize priorities outside of school.
Strategy 5: I will work to make sure students know that I am flexible in working with them during times of difficulty. For example, if a close family member is seriously ill, hopefully a strategy can be arranged for the work to still get done, but while taking a backseat to and with understanding for the family illness.
F. Philosophy: I believe students must have a good environment in which to effectively learn. I think students need to believe the teacher respects them in order to interact positively. This is in line with the progressivist side of my teaching philosophy. When I first began co-teaching this fall, students were relatively distant when I tried to interact with them. After two or three weeks, the majority of them were eager to interact. I hope that is because I have successfully treated them with respect and maintained an overall easy going and approachable nature in the classroom, where I try to put them at the center of the learning process and listen to their feedback. When I was in school I had one teacher in particular, in a subject I had difficulty, who I felt uneasy learning from because of his unhappy and sometimes angry mood. I don't want my students to dread coming to my class like I did his class, but rather I want them to feel welcomed.
B. Level 2: Recovery
Strategy 1: As much as possible, behavior issues are addressed individually rather than in front of the class, like after the bell rings. (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 178)
Strategy 2: Give students "eye contact or "the look"" (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 176) rather than calling out behavior issues in class.
Strategy 3: "Peer mediation" (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 176) will be a tool in my classroom to utilize fellow students/peers to discuss solutions and strategies so the student can use class time more effectively.
Strategy 4: If contacting a parent is necessary, give some positive attributes as well as the attributes that need improvement.
Strategy 5: Make sure students always know that good behavior is not only for the benefit of the individual student, but for the other students who may be distracted by behavior issues.
F. Philosophy: My philosophy with behavior recovery is that as much as possible behavior needs to be a secondary issue. I think most students respond best to a flexible classroom environment. I can vividly remember from high school the disastrous strategy a few substitute teachers took in taking on a rigid humorless approach of students discipline from the moment class started. These classes almost immediately escalated into a teacher shouting and select students engaging the teacher all the way. However, in my experience, the majority of students will respect a teacher that earns their respect and gives the students a moderate amount of leeway as far as behavior is concerned. I think a certain amount of restlessness and chatting are to be expected of secondary students. I have found in my limited student teaching and in my own experience as a student that asking students to "quite down" in a calm but firm way and then immediately refocusing on the content is better than putting the spotlight on these issues for an extended period unless there is a significant problem with behavior. I think the essentialist side of my teaching philosophy is more interested in focusing on learning (the main point of school to most essentialists) and not on side issues like behavior.
C. Level 3: Life Skills - Long-Term Support
Strategy 1: Ask students "is there anything else you would like to say?" when conversing with a student who is upset, in order to help them feel respected (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 181).
Strategy 2: Assign students small groups where they work together to complete a task in order to build social skills (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 179)
Strategy 3: Assess the "essential social skills" (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 179) of the students and make sure to observe the progress of students who are lacking in them when working in groups.
Strategy 4: Encourage an open environment where students do not feel intimidated to participate in class even if they do not know the right answers.
Strategy 5: Teach students the importance of being able to work with and even be friends with people who they disagree with.
F. Philosophy: My philosophy with socialization is to give students the opportunity to interact in class while respecting the wide differences in student personalities. I believe it is important for people to have certain social abilities, like being polite, however, I don't think every person needs to be highly outgoing. For example, some people are shy, and in my opinion, that is ok. Some people have even argued that we have "medicalized" shyness into a disorder rather than a normal personality. Of course, certain levels of socialization in the class are to be expected, but consistently pushing certain students to talk can sometimes have the opposite effect and make them withdraw further or even disengage or not show up. I think this is in line with the existentialist side of my teaching philosophy. Students can largely determine on their own if they or more vocal or more quite, rather than all students being expected to be equally verbal.
D. Level 4: Somewhere Else Plan
Strategy 1: Collaborate with students who have recovery issues to choose a place where they can go on campus if they need time away from the class (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 183).
Strategy 2: Use particularly stressful times for the student in need of recovery as "an opportunity for calming, thinking, planning, and committing to a plan to move forward" (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 183).
Strategy 3: Give the student who has had to leave the class a "behavior contract" in order to make clear on paper what went wrong, and how to prevent it from happening again (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 184)
Strategy 4: Have a specific place in the classroom where a student can go as a first step if leaving the class entirely is not necessary. For example, some teachers have a couch and I think that could be used for this purpose.
Strategy 5: Have a trusted, friendly, student who can walk the upset student to the proper location for them to cool down (unless they really don't want to be accompanied or it is against school policy, not right for the situation, ect).
F. Philosophy: I think giving students who are clearly in an unhappy state a chance to calm down is very important. There may be a certain teacher or staff member who the student responds well to. In order to best solve the problem, and keep the classroom from getting caught up in the issues of one student, having a place where the student can go is a great idea in my opinion. Also, using these times as a chance to plan for a more effective future is a good way to have a positive use of what would have been a negative situation. I think this is in accordance with the progressivist side of my teaching philosophy, that the overall well being of the student is more important than the student "getting in trouble", especially in circumstances where the student is clearly having significant difficulty calming down.
E. Level 5: Wraparound Support
Strategy 1: I will assist in creating "a Positive Behavior Support (PBS) plan..." ...for any student for whom behavior impeded learning." (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 186)
Strategy 2: Make sure when creating a plan that the student is involved in the process (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 186).
Strategy 3: I will try to ensure that the people involved in the process of addressing long term behavior problems are "caring individuals" (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 187).
Strategy 4: Communicate to the students that school staff are willing to help them achieve success long term if they are willing to commit to it.
Strategy 5: Follow up with other teachers or school staff about certain students who need additional support in order to encourage continued progress.
F. Philosophy: I think my wraparound support approach is the most difficult to assess in that, at this stage I think usually there are administrative staff who are involved more than just one of the students teachers. However, I certainly think understanding the process is important as is providing the necessary support. I think wraparound support is important because it is an attempt to plan a better future for the student. I would imagine, in many cases, schools have let students with behavior issues slip through the cracks, resulting in later problems in life. I don't think the school can be then only solution for improving student behavior in most cases, but I think it is one of the most important places to assist students in creating a better future. This comes through finding positive solutions to problems and working through them, rather than ignoring them or allowing them to result in a negative school experience. In this technique, I think the essentialist side of my teaching philosophy is key because I think once a behavior issue gets to this stage, the traditional model of having trained professionals like school administrators be more involved, while the students teachers play more of a support role.
G. Communicating Classroom Management Plan
I will communicate as many of these strategies as is reasonable in the syllabus or early on in the school year so that students will be aware of the resources available to them. Additionally, I will tell students and parents (at back to school night, or class newsletter, ect) that if they have concerns about classroom management, many resources are available, and myself or relevant staff are able to discuss it with them. Finally, I will communicate on the syllabus and verbally to students that personal responsibility is a critical component of success as a student. All of these strategies are ultimately ways the school can help students succeed, and learn this skill, however, I believe the most important factor in the success of these strategies is an willingness for students to commit to take personal responsibility for their future themselves. If they can do that, then I think most educators are ready and will be able to support the students long term for success.
Here are five supporting documents that show how my classroom management plan is already being developed and used:
Level 1 (Strategy 1): Link to a syllabus illustrating how I highlight respect: Link
Level 2 (Strategy 3): Link to a peer mediation program that could be used in my class: http://www.peermediators.org/about/faq
Level 3 (Strategy 2): Link to a classroom desk chart for my class which shows how small groups can easily work together: Link
Level 4 (Strategy 1): Link to a blank sheet of hall passes I would use in order for the student to go to another place on campus where they could reflect: Link
Level 5 (Strategy 1): Link to an assessment I would fill out regarding student performance in my class in order to assist school staff in developing a PBS plan: Link
References
Villa, R.A. Thousand, J.S. & Nevin, A.I. (2010). Chapter 9: Students as Collaborators in Responsibility, Collaborating with Students in Instruction and Decision Making, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, p. 171-188.
Overall Philosophy:
Like many, I have a varied philosophy of education. My experience is limited at this point in time, and as I continue forward, I hope to maintain an open mind as I gain new information and experiences in education. At the present, my views are mainly a mix of essentialism, and progressivism, with notes of existentialism. I believe that in navigating the real world, for which I believe school is tasked with preparing the student, a tremendous advantage is given to those who have a high level of essentialist knowledge. Knowing the "facts" of the standard subjects, whether math, English, or history is important. Especially, when the facts are in regards to the major life pursuits of that individual, such as ones career or hobbies. For example, attorneys who know the law inside and out will likely be more successful than attorneys who only know enough to pass necessary tests. Although I believe the student is central in the learning process, as in existentialism and progressivism, the teacher in most cases is simply more prepared to steer the direction of the learning. When one is a novice in any area, I find it is difficult to even know where to start, and great amounts of time can be spent on avenues that do not lead to progress, a luxury not afforded students in a fast paced modern world. When I began pursuing a hobby in music production, I did so nearly completely in a self directed manor (you could probably call it existentialist learning). Because the craft was entirely new to me, I did not even know what I needed to know. I spent a year or two, thousands of hours, trying to figure out what I was missing in my songs and production techniques. A professional music producer, someone with far greater knowledge, experience and trained ears, could have easily evaluated my progress and outlined the next steps I needed to take for efficient and effective use of my time. In the long run, I do believe there were probably valuable things that came from several years of completely figuring it out on my own. However, in practical terms, student simply don't have the time, nor in most cases, the motivation to go through the process necessary to self direct their own learning in a wide variety of subjects. One key for me, was that I was relentless in my dedication to getting better at music production. I spent the lion's share of my free time pursuing it. I think it is unlikely most students would be similarly motivated in teaching themselves geometry, a foreign language or any subject not of interest to them. Therefore, while certain aspects of existentialist learning are great, relying on it completely is in my opinion, likely not the answer. Certainly, I believe there is room for changing traditional models of education. I believe students should be engaged, respected and have a say in their education. In addition to information, students need to learn critical thinking, logic, and problem solving. They need to feel that they are being heard and have a stake in their own education. Progressivism is thus a great addition to a teaching philosophy, however, I simply think before we completely throw out the old model, we should keep the best parts of the old model and integrate the best part of new models, so that students can be successful in the classroom, in future careers and in life.
With my philosophy outlined above, next are some of my ideas for creating a classroom where students can be successful in being self-disciplined, following the model of the self discipline pyramid.
A. Level 1: Creating a Caring Community
Strategy 1: It will be clear from the first day that I will respect the students in the spirit of the importance the of "equity among students and adults" (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 174) in education, by telling them this verbally and including respect as key in the syllabus.
Strategy 2: I will give students a clear syllabus of expectations (with as short a list of rules as possible). Outlining expectations insures students understand what is expected of them up front (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 176).
Strategy 3: Routines such as a designated place to turn in work will be in place. This type of system helps "assist students with becoming accountable for their learning" (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 176).
Strategy 4: Often, we can discuss things other than the subject matter, such as something cool that a student did, or I can relate an interesting story. In this way, students know that I care about life outside of the subject matter, and recognize priorities outside of school.
Strategy 5: I will work to make sure students know that I am flexible in working with them during times of difficulty. For example, if a close family member is seriously ill, hopefully a strategy can be arranged for the work to still get done, but while taking a backseat to and with understanding for the family illness.
F. Philosophy: I believe students must have a good environment in which to effectively learn. I think students need to believe the teacher respects them in order to interact positively. This is in line with the progressivist side of my teaching philosophy. When I first began co-teaching this fall, students were relatively distant when I tried to interact with them. After two or three weeks, the majority of them were eager to interact. I hope that is because I have successfully treated them with respect and maintained an overall easy going and approachable nature in the classroom, where I try to put them at the center of the learning process and listen to their feedback. When I was in school I had one teacher in particular, in a subject I had difficulty, who I felt uneasy learning from because of his unhappy and sometimes angry mood. I don't want my students to dread coming to my class like I did his class, but rather I want them to feel welcomed.
B. Level 2: Recovery
Strategy 1: As much as possible, behavior issues are addressed individually rather than in front of the class, like after the bell rings. (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 178)
Strategy 2: Give students "eye contact or "the look"" (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 176) rather than calling out behavior issues in class.
Strategy 3: "Peer mediation" (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 176) will be a tool in my classroom to utilize fellow students/peers to discuss solutions and strategies so the student can use class time more effectively.
Strategy 4: If contacting a parent is necessary, give some positive attributes as well as the attributes that need improvement.
Strategy 5: Make sure students always know that good behavior is not only for the benefit of the individual student, but for the other students who may be distracted by behavior issues.
F. Philosophy: My philosophy with behavior recovery is that as much as possible behavior needs to be a secondary issue. I think most students respond best to a flexible classroom environment. I can vividly remember from high school the disastrous strategy a few substitute teachers took in taking on a rigid humorless approach of students discipline from the moment class started. These classes almost immediately escalated into a teacher shouting and select students engaging the teacher all the way. However, in my experience, the majority of students will respect a teacher that earns their respect and gives the students a moderate amount of leeway as far as behavior is concerned. I think a certain amount of restlessness and chatting are to be expected of secondary students. I have found in my limited student teaching and in my own experience as a student that asking students to "quite down" in a calm but firm way and then immediately refocusing on the content is better than putting the spotlight on these issues for an extended period unless there is a significant problem with behavior. I think the essentialist side of my teaching philosophy is more interested in focusing on learning (the main point of school to most essentialists) and not on side issues like behavior.
C. Level 3: Life Skills - Long-Term Support
Strategy 1: Ask students "is there anything else you would like to say?" when conversing with a student who is upset, in order to help them feel respected (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 181).
Strategy 2: Assign students small groups where they work together to complete a task in order to build social skills (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 179)
Strategy 3: Assess the "essential social skills" (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 179) of the students and make sure to observe the progress of students who are lacking in them when working in groups.
Strategy 4: Encourage an open environment where students do not feel intimidated to participate in class even if they do not know the right answers.
Strategy 5: Teach students the importance of being able to work with and even be friends with people who they disagree with.
F. Philosophy: My philosophy with socialization is to give students the opportunity to interact in class while respecting the wide differences in student personalities. I believe it is important for people to have certain social abilities, like being polite, however, I don't think every person needs to be highly outgoing. For example, some people are shy, and in my opinion, that is ok. Some people have even argued that we have "medicalized" shyness into a disorder rather than a normal personality. Of course, certain levels of socialization in the class are to be expected, but consistently pushing certain students to talk can sometimes have the opposite effect and make them withdraw further or even disengage or not show up. I think this is in line with the existentialist side of my teaching philosophy. Students can largely determine on their own if they or more vocal or more quite, rather than all students being expected to be equally verbal.
D. Level 4: Somewhere Else Plan
Strategy 1: Collaborate with students who have recovery issues to choose a place where they can go on campus if they need time away from the class (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 183).
Strategy 2: Use particularly stressful times for the student in need of recovery as "an opportunity for calming, thinking, planning, and committing to a plan to move forward" (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 183).
Strategy 3: Give the student who has had to leave the class a "behavior contract" in order to make clear on paper what went wrong, and how to prevent it from happening again (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 184)
Strategy 4: Have a specific place in the classroom where a student can go as a first step if leaving the class entirely is not necessary. For example, some teachers have a couch and I think that could be used for this purpose.
Strategy 5: Have a trusted, friendly, student who can walk the upset student to the proper location for them to cool down (unless they really don't want to be accompanied or it is against school policy, not right for the situation, ect).
F. Philosophy: I think giving students who are clearly in an unhappy state a chance to calm down is very important. There may be a certain teacher or staff member who the student responds well to. In order to best solve the problem, and keep the classroom from getting caught up in the issues of one student, having a place where the student can go is a great idea in my opinion. Also, using these times as a chance to plan for a more effective future is a good way to have a positive use of what would have been a negative situation. I think this is in accordance with the progressivist side of my teaching philosophy, that the overall well being of the student is more important than the student "getting in trouble", especially in circumstances where the student is clearly having significant difficulty calming down.
E. Level 5: Wraparound Support
Strategy 1: I will assist in creating "a Positive Behavior Support (PBS) plan..." ...for any student for whom behavior impeded learning." (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 186)
Strategy 2: Make sure when creating a plan that the student is involved in the process (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 186).
Strategy 3: I will try to ensure that the people involved in the process of addressing long term behavior problems are "caring individuals" (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2010, pg. 187).
Strategy 4: Communicate to the students that school staff are willing to help them achieve success long term if they are willing to commit to it.
Strategy 5: Follow up with other teachers or school staff about certain students who need additional support in order to encourage continued progress.
F. Philosophy: I think my wraparound support approach is the most difficult to assess in that, at this stage I think usually there are administrative staff who are involved more than just one of the students teachers. However, I certainly think understanding the process is important as is providing the necessary support. I think wraparound support is important because it is an attempt to plan a better future for the student. I would imagine, in many cases, schools have let students with behavior issues slip through the cracks, resulting in later problems in life. I don't think the school can be then only solution for improving student behavior in most cases, but I think it is one of the most important places to assist students in creating a better future. This comes through finding positive solutions to problems and working through them, rather than ignoring them or allowing them to result in a negative school experience. In this technique, I think the essentialist side of my teaching philosophy is key because I think once a behavior issue gets to this stage, the traditional model of having trained professionals like school administrators be more involved, while the students teachers play more of a support role.
G. Communicating Classroom Management Plan
I will communicate as many of these strategies as is reasonable in the syllabus or early on in the school year so that students will be aware of the resources available to them. Additionally, I will tell students and parents (at back to school night, or class newsletter, ect) that if they have concerns about classroom management, many resources are available, and myself or relevant staff are able to discuss it with them. Finally, I will communicate on the syllabus and verbally to students that personal responsibility is a critical component of success as a student. All of these strategies are ultimately ways the school can help students succeed, and learn this skill, however, I believe the most important factor in the success of these strategies is an willingness for students to commit to take personal responsibility for their future themselves. If they can do that, then I think most educators are ready and will be able to support the students long term for success.
Here are five supporting documents that show how my classroom management plan is already being developed and used:
Level 1 (Strategy 1): Link to a syllabus illustrating how I highlight respect: Link
Level 2 (Strategy 3): Link to a peer mediation program that could be used in my class: http://www.peermediators.org/about/faq
Level 3 (Strategy 2): Link to a classroom desk chart for my class which shows how small groups can easily work together: Link
Level 4 (Strategy 1): Link to a blank sheet of hall passes I would use in order for the student to go to another place on campus where they could reflect: Link
Level 5 (Strategy 1): Link to an assessment I would fill out regarding student performance in my class in order to assist school staff in developing a PBS plan: Link
References
Villa, R.A. Thousand, J.S. & Nevin, A.I. (2010). Chapter 9: Students as Collaborators in Responsibility, Collaborating with Students in Instruction and Decision Making, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, p. 171-188.