Classroom Management Plan Grades 3-5

Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation. ! Walter Cronkite

Linnea Pignatello Drake University

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Table of Contents
Physical

Part I- Classroom Organization

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Page 3
Page 3 Page 3 Page 4 Page 4 Page 5 Page 5 Page 5 Page 6 Page 6

Operational

Tables ----------------------------------------------------Student Boxes ----------------------------------------------------Necessary Materials ------------------------------------------------------Check-in Station ----------------------------------------------------Whiteboard ----------------------------------------------------Student Computers ------------------------------------------------------Teachers Desk ----------------------------------------------------Readers Corner ----------------------------------------------------Authors Chair -----------------------------------------------------

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Page 7
Page 7 Page 7 Page 7 Page 7, 8 Page 8

New Students Record Keeping Organization Student Work Differentiation

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Part II- Policies and Professional Ethics

Core Rules ----------------------------------------------------Classroom Procedures ----------------------------------------------------Consequences ----------------------------------------------------Disrespect ----------------------------------------------------Professional Ethics ----------------------------------------------------Page 9 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 11

Part III- Routines and Procedures

Use of Free Time ----------------------------------------------------Homework ----------------------------------------------------Tests ----------------------------------------------------Announcements and Handouts ----------------------------------------Grabbing Attention ----------------------------------------------------Bathroom and Getting a Drink ----------------------------------------Walking in the Hallways -------------------------------------------------Page 12 Page 12 Page 13 Page 13 Page 13 Page 14 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16

Outcomes Resources

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Part I- Classroom Organization (See Appendix A)

I want my students to feel safe and comfortable at school. This means warm, comfortable places to sit and read or write and authentic artwork. There are many parts of my room that are individual to my classroom and are important to my students and me.

Physical
Tables/DesksThe format of my classroom will inevitably not be up to me. I am willing and able to use my given resources to create an open and welcoming classroom. No matter what I have, desks or tables, I want students to be in groups. I want students to face each other and in order to have small collaborative learning environments. With these collaborative work environments students are more likely to remember material, apply the material and create reflections that matter to them. I want the arrangement of my tables or desks this way in order to increase the number of positive and academic interactions as well as informal interactions students have with other. These positive interactions increase our classrooms chances for success and decrease the likelihood of bullying problems in our room. In my example classroom setup, the tables are set up in a U so that all students see each others faces all the time instead of seeing each others backs. This way I can see all of my students all the time when standing at the front of the classroom. I like the tables/desks set up this way because it fosters community and will cut down on behavioral issues. Student BoxesI have created a wall of Student Boxes for my classroom. These boxes will be used for class materials and information. The boxes will sit in shelves that have separate spots for each box. The boxes will be labeled with students names and can be decorated b the students as well. These will be used for the materials students need every day such as pencils, notebooks, folders, books and other materials. Glue, colored pencils, crayons, scissors etc. will be kept on an entirely different shelf most likely in the cabinet next to the group-work table. When students bring in supplies at the beginning of the year they are placed in the cabinet and the whole class shares them.

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Necessary MaterialsThere are some materials that are necessary in every classroom no matter what school you go to. These are also materials that teachers have a hard time controlling. In the following paragraph, I will explain my ideal classroom set up while recognizing that some things are just out of the teachers control. Every classroom needs a pencil sharpener, a trashcan and a class phone. In my classroom, all of these things will be in one spot. The pencil sharpener will be an electric sharpener because I feel that the sharpener that mounts on the wall cause too many distractions and provide too much time for students to play around at or with the sharpener. I also like the electric sharpeners because they sharpen the pencils quickly. The pencil sharpener will sit on a waist high cabinet that is placed directly inside the classroom. The trashcan will sit on the floor, next to the cabinet directly inside the room. This way the trashcan isnt in a spot that is central to the room, but a spot that is off to the side and will cause fewer distractions. The trashcan is also placed under the pencil sharpener because the students can then very easily dump the shavings from the sharpener into the trash. The classroom telephone is also right next to the door so that if I have to take a phone call that I dont want the other students to listen to I can easily step into the hall while still keeping an eye on my students. The phone is next to the trashcan and the pencil sharpener because these are all items that I need in my classroom. Check-in StationThe check in station is directly inside the main door, right next to the telephone and trash can. The check-in center is what the pencil sharpener will sit on. The check in center is a small table or set of drawers that is used for attendance and homework. The check in center consists of three things: A homework box, Lunch count and a Suggestion Box. The homework box will be a small plastic, shallow box, which will be used for students to turn in any homework that they had (which will be little). As students walk in the door they should not stop directly in front of the door to empty their backpacks but should know that homework is due before class starts and is always goes in that box, not on my desk. Lunch count is simple. Students names are written on popsicle sticks and laid out at the beginning of the day next to two small baskets labeled A and B The options for lunch are written on the white board. The white board has two options on it, Option A or Option B. For example: Option A is cheese pizza and Option B is Chicken Nuggets. When students walk through the door they look at the board, decide if they want Option A or Option B, grab the popsicle stick with their name on it and put their stick into the corresponding basket. This system is quick, easy and places responsibility on the students. This system also cuts down on teacher confusion because once the class is seated the teacher need only to look at the remaining popsicle sticks to see who did not pick a lunch. This also doubles as an attendance procedure. Whichever sticks are left on the counter are the students who are absent for the day. ! %!

The Suggestion Box is a words box. It is used for many reasons including the reduction of telling on other people or personal problems that dont want to be asked aloud, possibly in front of other students. The Suggestion Box is a Kleenex box that is wrapped in wrapping paper and has a slit cut in it where the Kleenex was pulled from. On the outside of the box are the written words Suggestion Box. A stack of scrap paper will sit next to the box and students can write their suggestions (complaints, problems, compliments, celebrations) on a piece of paper and slip it in the box. Only I will read the slips and if the student indicates that they want me to follow up on the suggestion, I will do so the next day. I hope that by using the Suggestion box students will feel as though they are talking to me in a confidential way and we dont have to deal with every disagreement in class. However, there are always exceptions to rules like these. I want to stress to students that there are some things they need to tell me about as soon as they happen such as physical violence or bullying which I have zero tolerance for. WhiteboardThe whiteboard is located at the front of the classroom where everyone can see it from all parts of the room. The whiteboard will be used for examples of problems and for instructions for how to complete an assignment. The whiteboard can also be used for many things including students working on the whiteboard and special notes for the day. The most important use for the whiteboard is the daily schedule. For the most part, the schedule will stay the same but it will always be written on the board so that if students want to look and see what comes next, they can. I find that this is very helpful because it cuts down on the amount of questions you have about the days schedule and the confusion students feel when they dont know what comes next. Student ComputersStudent computers are very important to have in a classroom. If my school has the resources to provide me with a couple computers for my classroom I would gladly take advantage of them. I want to encourage my students to make use of them, to use them as often as they can for authentic learning purposes. However, students need to ask permission to use them. When you ask permission to use the computers you must describe why you should be allowed to use them. If I think it is a good reason, you can use them. If you are done with your work and want to play games, you will not be using them. I have set up my classroom in such a way that I will always be able to see what the computers are being used for, I will always be able to see the screens. Student computers will also be used for required computer programs by the district. This includes students who use them as part of an IEP, an ESL program or an intervention. Teachers DeskThe desk that is called the Teachers Desk in my classroom will probably only be used before and after school. I dont intend to spend a lot of time behind my desk during the school day because I would rather be interacting with my students. My desk will be used for storing supplies I need when I am at my desk, not supplies I will need during a ! &!

lesson or during the day. I foresee myself sitting at my desk and entering grades and taking progress notes before and after school. The Teachers Desk also has an individual desk next to it for conferences when needed. This can be a writing conference, a pre-parent teacher conference or if a student is having a hard day they can sit in that desk for extra support.

Reading CornerThis is my favorite part of the whole classroom. I want my room to feel comfortable and like a home away from home. I also want to encourage reading as much as possible and I want my students to feel good while they read. I have a reading corner designated in my classroom with beanbag chairs and a distinctive rug so that its obvious where the reading corner is. I will encourage my students take full advantage of the reading corner.

Authors ChairAlong with an emphasis on reading in my room, there will be an emphasis on writing. I want students to feel special while reading their work out loud to the class and thats why I have included an authors chair. I envision this being a Lazy-boy type of chair that feels comfortable and different form the rest of the chairs in the room. I am also hoping that the incentive of sitting in the big comfy chair will encourage some students to write just so they can share. This is also where I plan to sit when I read aloud to the students at the end of the day.

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Operational
New StudentsNew Students will be welcomed in our classroom. We will find a place for the new student to sit and a place for their Student Box. Before a new student meets the class I would like to have a personal conference with the student to welcome them to our school and to our classroom. I will also hold a class forum to let current students clearly explain the class procedures to the new student without feeling like he or she is being completely put on the spot. I plan on making a new student handbook with all the procedures carefully explained inside. However, I do not want the new student handbook to be thick and overwhelming. Most reinforcement will come from verbal direction and reminders. Record KeepingI am hoping to keep my record both online and on paper. This way if something happens to my computer I have a back up set and if something happens to my paper set, I have back up files as well. I hope to use Standards Based grading. Each student is given multiple sheets in a record book. The sheets are broken up into standards that the students are supposed to do during the year. The standards are written on the vertical axis and assignments are written on the horizontal axis that corresponds with a particular standard. This means that students would be given grades that corresponded with if they met the grade level standards or not by the end of the year. We are very used to grading by assignments but what if we took those assignment grades and put them into another form? This form would tell us which of the students met the standards on which assignment and if the met the standard by the end of the year or not. This way, we could more accurately grade and no student would have an excuse for anything lower than an A. OrganizationOrganization is very important. I want to keep my room as clutter free as possible. Student assignments and work in progress needs to be kept in their Student Boxes unless they are working on them at the time. My materials will also be organized and kept neat in cabinets and drawers in my room. In the last 20 minutes of the day students and I will clean up the room together to keep it nice and orderly. If students need motivation we can do the 10-second tidy which is running around the classroom picking up everything you can in 10 seconds. Student WorkStudent work is highly valued in our classroom! Those pre-made posters you buy from teaching stores are nowhere to be found in our room. We have student work hanging up everywhere. If they are motivational posters we select the quote as a class and write it on a sheet of poster paper, create an illustration together, laminate it and hang it up for all to see. Any authentic work that a student does can be hung up on the bulletin ! (!

board for praise. Other students or other people who wander into our classroom can give praise for student work. The only rule is that the work stays up for a week and then its taken down. The bulletin board will be split into 5 rows, one for each school day of the week. You hang your work up on the day it currently is and by the next week, it should be off the board. I envision the bulletin board looking something like this:

Monday Tuesday
*+,-+.,/0!!

Thursday Friday
I think that this set up encourages students to be proud of their work and for the rest of the students to appreciate and praise their peers for their hard work. **It is important to note that my classroom is fluid and will change over time to accommodate different students and their needs. Differentiation PolicyMy differentiation policy will be developed on a case-to-case basis. I plan on providing the necessary instruction for each and every one of my students. For students who need more support I am willing to meet with students one-onone and spend extra time with them during the day and after school. I plan on addressing every one of my students needs and I want every student to succeed. I can provide an extra step for students who need help and I can seek out tutoring for students whose parents want that extra assistance. For students who are Talented and Gifted I plan on giving them more challenging work for areas that they have mastered. I can give different assignments or I can build upon the material, which has already been handed out. I will not have Talented and Gifted students help other students complete their work because that does not increase their learning, it makes them the teacher and that is not why they are in school. I understand that every student has individual needs and need specific instruction. I plan on addressing these needs as they come up and being flexible with every student in my class.

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Part II- Policies and Professional Ethics

Core RulesLike Wong said one can only remember 3-4 rules at one time. With that advice and knowledge in mind, I plan on having 3 core rules. 1. Respect for yourself 2. Respect for others 3. Always try your best These rules are pretty simple and easy to follow. I feel that students are able to remember these rules because they are very general and make sense in any classroom. I want my students to feel safe when they come to school and if they cant follow these easy rules then I dont want them to participate in our class that day. School should feel good, nonthreatening and positive. I dont want anyone to be made fun of, called names or picked on. These three core rules are necessary in my future classroom and I want to see all my students abide by them. Classroom ProceduresThese are the rules that I want my students to help me. The core rules that were discussed above are the rules we follow every single day, there will be no discussion whether or not we show others resect and that is because I say so. Now there are some expectations that we will make together. These classroom expectations are need to be made together as a whole so that all feel connected to them. There are too many times when you come into a classroom and there are 3 rules posted and you dont follow any of them because you cant remember any of them and you are mad that youre just being told what to do event though they might be very good and valuable rules. Some examples of expectations that we can create are: -We not only pledge to have a bully free classroom but we pledge to be students who stand up to bullying. -We take turns talking and are active listeners. -We critique our own work it to make it the best that it can be. -We critique our classmates work to make sure that it is also the best that it can be. -We treat the materials and item in our rooms with respect. By setting up expectations we remove the label of Rules so that the item on our list are more accessible and are more realistic. It also sounds a lot less threatening to hear that you are not following an expectation than you broke a rule. Creating expectations also holds you accountable to your own rules rather than breaking the rules that your teacher made up for you.

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ConsequencesThere are consequences and there is a keeping student on track. Reminding a student to take a particular notebook is not a warning and is not kept track of. A Reminder will not result in a negative consequence. Consequences will be given if students break the expectation they created at he beginning of the year. The consequences are in two tiers. The names of students are kept track of by moving the students name from on list to another. In the back the students names are printed on magnets and are placed on the metal cabinet. There are three columns that the names are place under. Instead of having words dictating the levels there are pictures. I imagine it looking like this:

Students. These are my three phases. When youre all sweet and paying attention and engaged in your learning Im like a happy goat! Like a goat that gets to run around and eat grass all day, I am well pleased. When you break the expectation we agreed to at he beginning of the year I get mad. Like a goat that sees a wolf coming onto its territory, I get really mad. I get mad because you are breaking the expectations we made together and that make me really mad. When you continue to break the expectations we created together it makes me sad. Like a goat that just found out its best friend is moving to another farm, I become sad. I become sad because I want you succeed and were not communicating well by this point. I want you to be happy and always learning in this class and if you keep breaking these expectations we need to figure out some new strategies. The point of my story is, I like to be a happy goat. However, no matter what you do or say, I will always care about you and I will always want the best for you. I believe in every single one of you. The first tier is a verbal warning. An example of this would be during a geography lesson: This is the third time Ive asked you to sit in your chair instead of standing on it. This is your verbal warning. After this verbal warning the student is to move their name from the picture of the happy goat to the picture of the mad goat. The third tier is when the students name is moved to the sad goat picture and that student is sent to the buddy room to fill out a sheet about which expectation he/she violated and why they did it. I will fill out a similar sheet and we will have a conference in the hall about the behavior and what they next steps are.

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Note: Behavior management varies so much from school to school, grade to grade and classroom to classroom. This seems like a great idea to me right now but Im sure that this plan will change based on what school Im in and what procedures the school has already established. These rules and procedures are fluid and will also change based on the students I have in my class every year. In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn. ! Phil Collins DisrespectDisrespect results in an automatic personal verbal warning. If the behavior continues, the student moves to sitting in the buddy room. This category is a lot harder to define than the two tiers because disrespect can vary so much and so often. Professional EthicsThere are many items that fall under this category including gossip, talking about students outside of school, and disagreeing with the principal at your school. Gossip in general puts a black mark on your name in your school and in your district. It may seem like a good way to bond with other people, to hear gossip about the old teacher whos stuck in her old ways but what goes around comes around and chances are youll be the next one they talk about. My policy on gossiping is to not participate in it, to do the best that I can and if someone needs to vent they are certainly welcome to vent to me but I wont put anyone else down with my words. Talking about students with people outside of your school and using their names in conversation is unacceptable. Students come to your classroom and to you with problems bigger than you realize and its hard enough to open up to you, you dont want to be the person to betray that trust. Your students should be your number one priority and if you are speaking about students to others it should be to help them, not to put hem down or to make fun of them or their situation. Disagreeing with your principal is going to be very hard to monitor. I feel as though the principal is kind of like the president where even if you dont like the principal, you do respect the position they hold. The principal worked very hard to get to where they are now and they deserve respect for it. I think that if I have any disagreements with the principal I will go directly to the principal and discuss the concerns I have directly with them. This way there is no confusion and the communication is clear and understandable. All of these professional ethics are extremely important to both you and to your students. It is in the best interest of all parties to act as mature as possible and to handle all situations in an acceptable and professional manner.

When you know better you do better. !Maya Angelou

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Part III- Routines and Procedures

Use of Free TimeIts hard to think of a time when we wont have a million things to do in class. It seems as though we will always have a standard to meet, a checklist to finish or a standardized test to complete. When there is free time, when I feel that the students deserve a break for a while to relax I have one thing that I really want to do. Out of everything I want to have my students begging to read. Extra time that we have or allotted free time can be used to catch up on other homework or to pick a book they really want to read. Having 20 minutes where we all pick up a book to read sounds splendid. I say that I read with the students because it is very important or students to see that adults and teacher do practice what they preach. It is very important for students to see that I enjoy reading and I do it in my free time. If students can convince me with written persuasive arguments to change a free time use, we can. Im open to good writing to sway me to let them play board games for a while, to have extra recess or to listen to some music and have a dance party. If an argument is presented well enough I will always at least entertain the idea. HomeworkI have a problem with assigning homework for my students to take home and do with their parents. Dont get me wrong, I definitely want parents involved in their students learning and schooling but there are so many problems with homework. I just want parents to read with their children and to enjoy reading to them, with them or along side of them. My arguments for not assigning homework are as follows: As much as parents try to help students understand the material, most of the time they teach it to the student incorrectly. I would rather have parents read with their children and encourage reading than them teaching the wrong material and cementing the wrong knowledge in their children. I also think that students are in school for an average of six hours per day, which is most of their waking hours! I want my students to spend the rest of their day developing healthy friendships, and playing fun games in the snow or rain rather than working on a worksheet that I cant help them with. I want my students to be spending time with their families in positive ways rather than in fights about homework. If I do send home anything it will be a reading log for students to keep track of which books they read and what they thought about them.

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Tests-

I know that most schools have a set amount of tests they administer each year and the number of standardized tests are growing. I feel as though students are increasingly feeling worn out and exhausted form taking so many tests. I understand that there is a need to track student progress and the level they are at in their work at one moment in time, but they are simply tested out. If you had to take a pre-test, a mid-unit test and a post test for every new thing you learned, you wouldnt want to learn anymore! It is stressful for a student to always take test and it puts pressure on both the student and the teacher to be testing all of the time. So as far as tests go, I will try to not give many of them. There are many times in life when students feel wronged and hurt, school does not need to be one of them. I plan on administering the tests that my school requires me to administer and a few necessary tests here and there. This is not to say that I am against tracking student progress, I am simply against over testing our students to the point of indifference on tests. To track student progress I plan on using formative assessment as much as possible with a few summative assessments. I believe that students should take informal, ungraded tests to make sure they are on track for where they need to be. I do not believe tests should be used as leverage. Announcements and HandoutsAnnouncements are a very important part of the school day. I consider announcements to be any piece of information that can help a student by hearing or can disadvantage a student by not hearing. Announcements will be made at the beginning of the day although more announcements can be made throughout the day if necessary. Announcements that happen every day should include items such as which specialist students have that day, what lunch is, the daily schedule and any additional comments from the principal, PTA, etc. Handouts are to be picked up at the check-in station at the beginning of the d ay as soon as they enter the classroom. The handouts will be the handouts I am given from the school to send home or my personal monthly newsletter. I dont foresee there being many handouts because I dont want to give out homework and I feel that homework worksheets are the main thing that students take home to their parents. Grabbing AttentionMy idea for grabbing my students attention is to turn a line of a popular song or jingle into a call and response phrase. I thought of one already, its from the Farmers Insurance Company. We would take the tune and put in words that fit our class. I will say: We are 5th grade and students will say: ba da dum dum dum dum dum. This is taken from a commercial that is on TV a lot. We can spend part of a day coming up with other ideas if students want to change the phrase. I can show the jingle or song to the class on the computer so that all students can understand what to say and what tune to use. I think this would be really fun, it would work and students would enjoy the popular jungles.

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Bathroom and Getting a DrinkGoing to the bathroom is simple. In ASL (American Sign Language) the sign for bathroom is clenching your hand as a fist but sticking your thumb between your index finger and your middle finger and shaking slightly form side to side. When students feel the urge to use the restroom the hold up their hands like they are raising their hand to answer a question but instead of keeping their hand flat like they usually do to answer a question they create the bathroom signal. To tell the student that they can go to the bathroom at that very moment I will either say yes or I will nod my head. If I do not wish for the student to use the bathroom that very second, I will either say no or shake my head. Asking to use the restroom shouldnt be a big deal, it shouldnt interrupt the class flow and it should be fast and quiet. I am hoping that I will have a drinking fountain in my classroom so students can just use that one instead of asking to go out to the hall. If I do not have a drinking fountain in my classroom I will have students make eye contact with me and preform the sign for water. I will teach them the ASL sign for water, it is tapping a W you made with your index finger, middle finger and your ring finger to your mouth twice. This should also not be a big deal and should be done without interrupting the class or the lesson. Walking in the HallwaysThis will be established the very first day or week of school. It is very important to me that my students know that when we walk in the hallways we are absolutely silent. We do not talk, stomp, shout, run or laugh. This is very important because other classrooms are trying to learn and pay attention to their teacher and if our class is being loud and obnoxious that class cant do that. We will practice walking up and down the halls until he students get it right. We will go back and do it again if students cant be silent.

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Outcomes
What I wanted from writing this Management Plan was not to only figure out how I would do everyday routines in my classroom, but to see how I want to teach. This Management Plan has made me think about what kind of teacher I think I will be and what kind of teacher I want to be. I have learned that I want my students to feel loved and respected. I want my students to want to think and learn, to come up with solutions to really difficult problems. I want my students to be self-sufficient as they move into middle school and I want them to be confident in Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies and English. I want my students to sing when theyre happy, to laugh and cry with each other. I want my students to feel as if they belong to another family. My passion would be to teach in an inner city. I want to be a positive influence on students who dont have that. I want my students to know that they are not doomed to failure because they live in a city. Cities are wonderful places for experiential learning and thats what I want to create. My students should be proud to live where they do. I want my students to be proud of who they are and what they do, I want them to always hold their heads up high and not look at the ground. I thought that as I wrote this I would find that I had too many rules and that Id need to take some out, but the truth is: I think I need more rules! My classroom will be positive, safe and positive no matter who is in it.

"The greatest sign of a success for a teacher...is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist." -- Maria Montessori

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Resources:
! Wong, H.K., & Wong, R. T. (2001). The First Days of School (2nd ed.). Mountain View: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc. ! Wormlei, Rick (2006) Fair Isn't Always Equal. Stenhouse Publishers. ! Marzano, R. J., Marzano, J., & Pickering, D. (2003). Classroom management that works, research-based strategies for every teacher. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. ! Dr. Sally Beisser. PhD, Drake University Education Professor, Des Moines, IA ! Mr. Logsdon, Greenwood Elementary, 5th Grade teacher, Des Moines, IA ! Personal Philosophy and Ideas ! Google Images (all images were taken from Google Images) ! All Quotes taken from Google Supported Sites

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