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Being a young high school teacher may have its challenges because I may only be five
years older than my students, but with an effective classroom management plan and well
thought-out procedures, I am ready to tackle the challenge. Establishing myself as an authority
figure rather than a friend is difficult because my sister is five years older than me, and I consider
her my friend. However, I have already begun to figure out what works and what does not work
for students at the high school level through my internship experience. Everyone has a different
teaching style, but finding the right teaching voicesimilar to a writing voicefor you is most
important.
Rules and Procedures
1) Be respectful.
2) You are not talking when I am talking or another student is talking.
3) Raise your hand, and wait to be called on (except in special situations, which I will make
clear).
4) Come prepared to class. This means with your materials and knowledge. Being prepared
does not mean just showing up.
5) Class begins and ends when the bell rings. Be on time. Check out the agenda on the board
for the day when you get to class. Do not pack up before the bell.
6) Treat any materials as if they were your own.
7) Group work will be teacher-selected and student-selected at different times. No
complaining.
8) If I see your phone, I take it. The only time phones are allowed is if I specifically ask you
to look up something for class.
9) Homework is due at the beginning of class. Anything turned in later will be counted as
late.
10) Student selection (we will brainstorm together what other rule we will follow as a class I
have not already listed).
Disciplinary Interventions
If and when disciplinary intervention is necessary, I will follow my school and district
policies, but my class will also have its own requirements. To reinforce positive and acceptable
behavior, I will write students names on the board to encourage students to look at other
classmates as an example for what they should be doing. Overall, participation will be part of my
class syllabus, so infractions such as sleeping or being disruptive will be reflected in this grade.

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If the disruption is affecting the rest of the class, further action will be taken. Participation will be
marked, resulting in a reduced grade, and the first disruption will result in a warning. If the
student continues to be disruptive, he or she will be asked to set up a meeting in the morning to
discuss solutions to fix the problem. If this does not work, the student will be sent to the deans
office and given a referral or detention depending on the situation. Some possible solutions for
disruption can include changing the seating chart and choosing partners for the particular student
during group work.
Technology is a huge part of education today, but I want technology to have a positive
influence on my students learning. I will not tolerate technology as a distraction in the
classroom. The first time a student disobeys my cell phone policy, I will ask the student to put his
or her phone away, but if there are multiple instances, the phone will be confiscated until the end
of the day, and a detention or referral will be given. If phones become a huge issue, I will even
collect them at the beginning of every period. I hope it never comes to this, but it may be the
only possible solution.
Students should always respect the rules of the classroom and school, especially since we
brainstorm some rules together. For smaller infractions, I will still make it verbally known that
particular student behavior is unacceptable. If a student is sleeping, I will attempt to wake them
up. If a student is talking out of turn, I will tell them to wait to be called on. I will point to our
classroom rules on the wall, so students are well aware of their misbehavior. If a student is being
disruptive, I will make eye contact or stand in the area to get him or her back on track. Ignoring
the issue will not help in the future.
I will focus on interdependent group contingency in my classroom. This principle
involves keeping track of the behavior of the class regarding some predetermined behavior

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(Marzano, 2003, p. 145) For example, if students are having trouble speaking out of turn and
shouting out answers before I can call on them, I can tally how many times this happens for a set
amount of time like one to two days. If the students get to ten marks during that time, the entire
class faces a consequence such as not having five minutes study time before a test in class. It can
also be used positively if students do not have any tally marks in two days, I can provide 15
minutes extra of free reading in class. If I do not have to take the time to remind students to stop
speaking out of turn and mark a tally, these fifteen minutes will not be hard to carve out in plans.
Home contingency is also extremely important in a high school classroom. Parents
usually do not play as large of a role in their childs education by this time, but forming a strong
line of communication is necessary. For a student to be successful, the parents and teacher need
to be able to communicate and work as a team. If it comes to the point where a meeting is
necessary, we can discuss positive and negative issues in the classroom and devise a plan to
move forward. All parties will agree upon the consequences, but it is the parents job to follow
through with these consequences. I will create a handout that the student will need to bring to
class that I can add to after every day, and the parent must sign. That way, the student, his or her
parents, and the teacher are all openly communicating. No one is in the dark about behavioral
issues.
Teacher-Student Relationships
This is one of the most important aspects of my classroom management plan. I need to be
able to establish authority effectively. I have noticed recently that I phrase a lot of directions as
questions that students can interpret as optional. I needed students to make up a quiz, and they
were going to take it at the beginning of the class, but I phrased the directions as, Can you take
this quiz right now? The student responded, I would rather not because I didnt study. I had to

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then answer, Well, you need to take it right now, especially since you were here for the
discussion on the entire act yesterday. I have also been raised to use please and thank you a lot,
but I need to be firmer. No-nonsense nurturing is something I find particularly helpful. A coach
and colleague of this philosophy noticed the same thing about another teacher, and she said,
Stop. Please. You want them to do it; theres no opt-out. Drop the please (Worf, 2016). This
makes me realize that I have the authority. Students should not be able to manipulate me to get
what they want.
On the other hand, I still want students to know that I care about them and their
education. Since I am so close in age, I want to make it a point to be my students biggest
supporters. I think taking a day at the beginning of the year to go over policies and procedures is
just as important as getting to know my students and their interests. This will help with our
classroom community as well as my lesson plans. I want my lesson plans to be made with my
students in mind. If I can bring their interests into a lesson to help make a connection stronger, I
want to do it. I also want to support them in their endeavors outside of my classroom like the
school play, a debate, or sporting event. If my students know I care about their other interests, I
hope they will take more interest in what I am doing for them in the classroom.
With so many different students and different interests, I must also be aware of how to
handle their various needs. Not all of my students are going to be like I was as a student, so I will
be conscious of these differences when planning and teaching. Using an interest survey at the
beginning of the year will help me make adjustments for differentiation based on the multiple
intelligences or how students learn best. If students can identify themselves as perfectionists or
extremely passive at the beginning of the year, I can take this into account when I deal with
behavioral issues or even grade conversations throughout the year.

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My learning goals or purpose will be clearly established on our agenda, and I can assess
if these objectives are met through exit tickets and other assignments whether formative or
summative. Depending on the students, my learning goals may have to be adjusted. I may be
wrong sometimes about what students need to work on most, so I will be flexible when it comes
to skipping some parts of the lesson if they have already achieved mastery or going back to
reteach when necessary. Sometimes, the connection isnt always clear, and another lesson to
reteach the same information in a different way is required.
English classes require a lot of student participation and interpretation. Ethically, I am
responsible for encouraging students to take risks and share their opinions, but sometimes, there
is one, correct answer. Being aware of student feelings is important. I know I have felt shut down
in a class before, and I never wanted to participate again. I want to establish a safe, learning
environment where students feel comfortable sharing their ideas even if they may be wrong.
Also, students should not have to feel like another student is judging or laughing at them for their
opinion. Responding appropriately to questions is another huge factor. I have a tendency to roll
my eyes a lot in casual conversations, and I dont even notice it. This is something I will be extra
conscious of as I teach and field questions. I know some days may be hard when students ask the
same questions or clarification for directions multiple times, but I want to encourage questioning
and participation, not discourage it by my words and body language.
Mental Set
With 25-30 students in a class, it is important to be constantly vigilant to monitor student
behavior. Teaching so many students can get out of hand easily if you are not paying attention or
do not move around the room. As coined by Jacob Kounin in A Handbook for Classroom
Management That Works, withitness means effective managers monitored their classroom

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regularly. They positioned themselves so that they could see all students and they continuously
scanned the room to keep track of what was going on, no matter what else they were doing at the
time (Good & Brophy, 2003, p. 112). I have seen teachers sit behind their desk and never move
the entire class period. Its important for the content to make sure students are on task, but other
behavioral or outside issues should also be caught before they blow up. I will respond
immediately to problems that arise, especially if the issues relate to students breaking classroom
or school rules. By knowing my students well, I can help buffer any potential issues by my
grouping methods and seating charts. A great way to learn is by observing a master teacher with
years of experience who has a similar style to you. Finding a mentor who will give you honest
advice and who has dealt with these experiences is key.
Reframing and monitoring my own thoughts go hand in hand. By reframing situations
that may seem bad, I can give students the benefit of the doubt until they prove me wrong and no
longer deserve that benefit. My first thought or assumption about a situation may be more
pessimistic than it actually is because I tend to jump to the worst conclusions easily. Before
assuming the worst, I can have open and honest conversations with my students to uncover the
truth. This will save everyone time and energy. With everything that comes with teaching, saving
time and energy is important. To take care of my students, I must also take care of myself. I can
only help my students learn and grow if I am able to put my best foot forward each day.

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References
Marzano, R. J. (2003). Classroom management that works: Research-based strategies for every
teacher. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Marzano, R. J. (2005) A handbook for classroom management that works. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Worf, L. (2016). A no-nonsense classroom where teachers dont say please. Retrieved from
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/01/10/459372410/a-no-nonsense-classroom-whereteachers-dont-say-please