Classroom Management Plan
My classroom management plan consists of a couple discipline techniques that I observed during my pre-student teaching placements, a couple detailed techniques that can be used with specific grade levels, some "five minute" fillers for specific grade levels, and a couple classroom layout designs for two different grade levels.
Discipline Techniques
Observed Discipline Techniques:
- During my full day experience at St. Mary's Catholic School, my cooperating teacher used a couple discipline techniques including keeping a student in from recess and reminding a student to mind own business while working on an assignment. The teacher had a student staying from recess because she was not using her time wisely and did not complete any of the worksheets they were working on. Since the teacher had recess duty the week I was there I stayed inside with the student to help her complete the worksheets and the small art activity that she didn’t have time to start since she was still working on the worksheets. When the students were supposed to be working on their journals another student kept looking around at his classmates and would not stay seated while writing in his journal. So the teacher asked him more than once to sit on the seat and face forward so that he wouldn’t be distracting his classmates who were working hard on their journals. If the student wouldn’t listen to the teacher she told him that he would lose his next recess and would work on his journal then but he started to listen and was able to finish his journal.
- While I was in the fifth grade classroom at Mineral Point Elementary School all of the students were misbehaving and this even happened after the teacher changed the layout of the classroom. The teacher thought it would help by having the students next to other students that they do not talk to that much but it did not help. Before the teacher moved the desks around the students would continue talking after she asked them multiple times to stop talking and get out their books to silently read. The day that the teacher changed the layout one student was not listening at all and the teacher was getting frustrated about it. She then had that student take his packet and finish the two pages at the desk in the hall so that she could continue teaching the lesson to the other students that were listening at that time. By having the student finish the pages in the hall he was able to complete them and then come back into the classroom after explaining that he will listen when the teacher is teaching a lesson.
Detailed Discipline Techniques:
Pre-School
- For an instance when a student hits another student I would pull both of the students aside from the play area and talk to them together. First I would have each of the students explain to me what happened and why there was hitting going on in the classroom. Then I would explain to both of them together why it was wrong to hit each other and model how they should deal with the situation the next time it happens.
- To reward the students I will do a system where the students will receive tokens every time they do something good for something else. The tokens will then be placed into one of the envelopes that are labeled for each student on the wall. After a student receives five tokens they are able to pick a prize from the decorative box. Then the students will start again at zero and work their way to earning five tokens to get a prize.
Kindergarten
- Before a student does something that they should not be doing I would redirect the student to do something that is more reasonable for the situation. For example if the student wants to actively play in the classroom I would direct the student to a large motor activity that he could do.
- To reward the students create ‘Rainbow Reward’ for when the students do something good while at school. Each time the students are seen doing something good they will earn one colored stripes of a rainbow. For example the students will first earn the red stripe and then earn the purple stripe last. After the student gets a full rainbow I will then let them tape it to their desk that way it will remind them that it is important to always be good no matter where they are; like at school, at home, or at the park.
First– Second Grade
- When leaving the classroom to go to any special make sure that all of the students are quiet before going into the hall. It might be best to turn off the lights to get the students attention that they all need to be quiet in order to go to their special. By waiting until everyone is quiet the students will be less likely to talk in the hall on the way to the specials.
- To reward the students use a ‘Stop Lite’ system where the students begin on a green card which can change to yellow or red throughout the day. If the student stays on a green card for three days in a row then they will receive a piece of candy on the beginning of the fourth day.
Third– Fourth Grade
- If there are multiple students who are talking out of hand and not when they are supposed to use positive statements instead of negative statements. For example, instead of saying “No talking unless you are called on” I would so “I will only call on those who raise their hands”. By using positive statements the students will hopefully use positive statements more than negative statements.
- For a reward I would use a system where the students will receive a Euros (paper dollar bill) when I think that they did something good in the classroom. Then the students can use the Euros that they earn to purchase any school supplies or other things from the small store that is in the classroom.
Fifth Grade
- Have a class discussion about the three values that underlie any discipline problem that the students might have in the classroom before it happens. The three values that I would focus on with the students are respect, responsibility, and empathy. By having this class discussion at the beginning of the year I would hope that there will be fewer discipline problems throughout the school year.
- For the fifth graders a reward system is to hand out ‘Caught Being Good’ coupons whenever a student does something that is above normal or is having a good day compared to others. When a student does receive one of these coupons he/she will put their name on it and then place it in the cookie jar. At the end of each month I will draw four different names from it and the students will receive a special prize. Then after drawing the winning names the other coupons will be emptied from the jar and we will start with new coupons the next month.
"Five Minute" Fillers
Pre-School
“Clouds in the Sky” (sung to “Wheels on the Bus”): Sing the finger play and do the body motions listed as a class. Most students already know the tune “Wheels on the Bus” so they will be able to sing this finger play. The students would enjoy doing this finger play because they will be able to move around and do different body motions. Some of the words to the song "Clouds in the Sky" are; The clouds in the sky go boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom (clap hands) The clouds in the sky go boom, boom, boom all night and day. The rain falling down goes plink, plink, plink, (move fingers down in front)...all night and day. Sad little children cry go away, go away, go away ( sad faces, wipe eyes)...all night and day.
Kindergarten
Mystery Word Wall: Using the words on the word wall in the classroom have the students guess what word you are describing to them. When describing each mystery word use clues like what the words means, which vowels there are, how many letters, or where about the word is in the alphabet. For example, if the mystery word is BLACK some clues could be it is a color, there is one vowel, I am wearing this color, and it is at the beginning of the alphabet. This activity will have the students remember what words are on the word wall and also use their listening skills to remember the clues that were said.
First– Second Grade
Simple Facts (Simon Says): Using facts that first or second graders should know play a game of Simon Says. Say a fact while doing a motion and if the fact is true then the students do that same motion if the fact is false then the student don’t do any motion. For example, say “Simon says the capital of Wisconsin is Madison” while placing a hand on your head. Since this fact is true the students should follow what you did and place a hand on their head. But if you say “Simon says there are 51 states in the United States” while touching your nose the students shouldn’t follow the motion and touch their nose.
Third– Fourth Grade
‘BUZZ’ using multiples of numbers: As a class say the multiples of different numbers by going around the room like when playing around-the-world. The students will say the correct multiple of the number given by the teacher and if a student says the wrong number then he/she will sit down and wait for the next round to get back into the game. With this game the students will have to listen to all of the numbers that were said because if the student before you gets a number wrong you will have to say the correct number and there will not be any numbers repeated. To begin the game when the students get to the tenth multiple that student says ‘BUZZ’ and then another round begins with a different number. As the students get better the game can be played to a larger multiple but still use ‘BUZZ’ to end the round and begin a new round.
Example 1: Multiples of 4: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, BUZZ
Example 2: Multiples of 8: 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 72, BUZZ
Example 3: Multiples of 9: 9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72, 81, BUZZ
Fifth Grade
Anagram Puzzles: Write about four words on the board that all have something in common but the letters in each word are mixed up. The students then have to figure out what each word is supposed to be and then why all of the words have something in common. This is a wonderful activity because anagrams have the students think critically and the students have to think critically for this activity.
Example 1: I PLOT, TRAITS, DENTS IT, RANGER ED
The answer is pilot, artist, dentist, and gardener; all are jobs.
Example 2: TUTOR, CASH FIT, HOLD PIN, ROUND ELF
The answer is trout, catfish, dolphin, and flounder; all are fish.
Example 3: RAN IT, BY CECIL, CUBAN MEAL, BELOW SIMON
The answer is train, bicycle, ambulance, and snowmobile; all are transportation.
Example 4: RAPTOR, NO CALF, CARL AND I, BRING HIM MUD
The answer is parrot, falcon, cardinal, and hummingbird; all are birds.
Classroom Layouts
Observed Discipline Techniques:
- During my full day experience at St. Mary's Catholic School, my cooperating teacher used a couple discipline techniques including keeping a student in from recess and reminding a student to mind own business while working on an assignment. The teacher had a student staying from recess because she was not using her time wisely and did not complete any of the worksheets they were working on. Since the teacher had recess duty the week I was there I stayed inside with the student to help her complete the worksheets and the small art activity that she didn’t have time to start since she was still working on the worksheets. When the students were supposed to be working on their journals another student kept looking around at his classmates and would not stay seated while writing in his journal. So the teacher asked him more than once to sit on the seat and face forward so that he wouldn’t be distracting his classmates who were working hard on their journals. If the student wouldn’t listen to the teacher she told him that he would lose his next recess and would work on his journal then but he started to listen and was able to finish his journal.
- While I was in the fifth grade classroom at Mineral Point Elementary School all of the students were misbehaving and this even happened after the teacher changed the layout of the classroom. The teacher thought it would help by having the students next to other students that they do not talk to that much but it did not help. Before the teacher moved the desks around the students would continue talking after she asked them multiple times to stop talking and get out their books to silently read. The day that the teacher changed the layout one student was not listening at all and the teacher was getting frustrated about it. She then had that student take his packet and finish the two pages at the desk in the hall so that she could continue teaching the lesson to the other students that were listening at that time. By having the student finish the pages in the hall he was able to complete them and then come back into the classroom after explaining that he will listen when the teacher is teaching a lesson.
Detailed Discipline Techniques:
Pre-School
- For an instance when a student hits another student I would pull both of the students aside from the play area and talk to them together. First I would have each of the students explain to me what happened and why there was hitting going on in the classroom. Then I would explain to both of them together why it was wrong to hit each other and model how they should deal with the situation the next time it happens.
- To reward the students I will do a system where the students will receive tokens every time they do something good for something else. The tokens will then be placed into one of the envelopes that are labeled for each student on the wall. After a student receives five tokens they are able to pick a prize from the decorative box. Then the students will start again at zero and work their way to earning five tokens to get a prize.
Kindergarten
- Before a student does something that they should not be doing I would redirect the student to do something that is more reasonable for the situation. For example if the student wants to actively play in the classroom I would direct the student to a large motor activity that he could do.
- To reward the students create ‘Rainbow Reward’ for when the students do something good while at school. Each time the students are seen doing something good they will earn one colored stripes of a rainbow. For example the students will first earn the red stripe and then earn the purple stripe last. After the student gets a full rainbow I will then let them tape it to their desk that way it will remind them that it is important to always be good no matter where they are; like at school, at home, or at the park.
First– Second Grade
- When leaving the classroom to go to any special make sure that all of the students are quiet before going into the hall. It might be best to turn off the lights to get the students attention that they all need to be quiet in order to go to their special. By waiting until everyone is quiet the students will be less likely to talk in the hall on the way to the specials.
- To reward the students use a ‘Stop Lite’ system where the students begin on a green card which can change to yellow or red throughout the day. If the student stays on a green card for three days in a row then they will receive a piece of candy on the beginning of the fourth day.
Third– Fourth Grade
- If there are multiple students who are talking out of hand and not when they are supposed to use positive statements instead of negative statements. For example, instead of saying “No talking unless you are called on” I would so “I will only call on those who raise their hands”. By using positive statements the students will hopefully use positive statements more than negative statements.
- For a reward I would use a system where the students will receive a Euros (paper dollar bill) when I think that they did something good in the classroom. Then the students can use the Euros that they earn to purchase any school supplies or other things from the small store that is in the classroom.
Fifth Grade
- Have a class discussion about the three values that underlie any discipline problem that the students might have in the classroom before it happens. The three values that I would focus on with the students are respect, responsibility, and empathy. By having this class discussion at the beginning of the year I would hope that there will be fewer discipline problems throughout the school year.
- For the fifth graders a reward system is to hand out ‘Caught Being Good’ coupons whenever a student does something that is above normal or is having a good day compared to others. When a student does receive one of these coupons he/she will put their name on it and then place it in the cookie jar. At the end of each month I will draw four different names from it and the students will receive a special prize. Then after drawing the winning names the other coupons will be emptied from the jar and we will start with new coupons the next month.
"Five Minute" Fillers
Pre-School
“Clouds in the Sky” (sung to “Wheels on the Bus”): Sing the finger play and do the body motions listed as a class. Most students already know the tune “Wheels on the Bus” so they will be able to sing this finger play. The students would enjoy doing this finger play because they will be able to move around and do different body motions. Some of the words to the song "Clouds in the Sky" are; The clouds in the sky go boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom (clap hands) The clouds in the sky go boom, boom, boom all night and day. The rain falling down goes plink, plink, plink, (move fingers down in front)...all night and day. Sad little children cry go away, go away, go away ( sad faces, wipe eyes)...all night and day.
Kindergarten
Mystery Word Wall: Using the words on the word wall in the classroom have the students guess what word you are describing to them. When describing each mystery word use clues like what the words means, which vowels there are, how many letters, or where about the word is in the alphabet. For example, if the mystery word is BLACK some clues could be it is a color, there is one vowel, I am wearing this color, and it is at the beginning of the alphabet. This activity will have the students remember what words are on the word wall and also use their listening skills to remember the clues that were said.
First– Second Grade
Simple Facts (Simon Says): Using facts that first or second graders should know play a game of Simon Says. Say a fact while doing a motion and if the fact is true then the students do that same motion if the fact is false then the student don’t do any motion. For example, say “Simon says the capital of Wisconsin is Madison” while placing a hand on your head. Since this fact is true the students should follow what you did and place a hand on their head. But if you say “Simon says there are 51 states in the United States” while touching your nose the students shouldn’t follow the motion and touch their nose.
Third– Fourth Grade
‘BUZZ’ using multiples of numbers: As a class say the multiples of different numbers by going around the room like when playing around-the-world. The students will say the correct multiple of the number given by the teacher and if a student says the wrong number then he/she will sit down and wait for the next round to get back into the game. With this game the students will have to listen to all of the numbers that were said because if the student before you gets a number wrong you will have to say the correct number and there will not be any numbers repeated. To begin the game when the students get to the tenth multiple that student says ‘BUZZ’ and then another round begins with a different number. As the students get better the game can be played to a larger multiple but still use ‘BUZZ’ to end the round and begin a new round.
Example 1: Multiples of 4: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, BUZZ
Example 2: Multiples of 8: 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 72, BUZZ
Example 3: Multiples of 9: 9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72, 81, BUZZ
Fifth Grade
Anagram Puzzles: Write about four words on the board that all have something in common but the letters in each word are mixed up. The students then have to figure out what each word is supposed to be and then why all of the words have something in common. This is a wonderful activity because anagrams have the students think critically and the students have to think critically for this activity.
Example 1: I PLOT, TRAITS, DENTS IT, RANGER ED
The answer is pilot, artist, dentist, and gardener; all are jobs.
Example 2: TUTOR, CASH FIT, HOLD PIN, ROUND ELF
The answer is trout, catfish, dolphin, and flounder; all are fish.
Example 3: RAN IT, BY CECIL, CUBAN MEAL, BELOW SIMON
The answer is train, bicycle, ambulance, and snowmobile; all are transportation.
Example 4: RAPTOR, NO CALF, CARL AND I, BRING HIM MUD
The answer is parrot, falcon, cardinal, and hummingbird; all are birds.
Classroom Layouts