Classroom Management Plan

Classroom Management Plan

Maria Isabel Carrillo
University of Houston

Classroom Management Plan

Introduction:
The following classroom management plan is specifically designed for students in
early elementary grade levels. More specifically, it is designed for a first grade classroom.
There are several reasons to support my decision to develop a classroom management plan
for a specific grade. First and foremost, I am looking forward to working with young
children. In addition, since I will be certified as Bilingual Generalist, it is very possible that I
will be assigned to early grade levels. In recent years, several districts have replaced the Late
Exit Bilingual Education Program with the Early Exit Bilingual Education program. The
difference between these programs lies on that students in a Late Exit Bilingual Education
Program usually exit the program in fifth grade while the students in the Early Exit Bilingual
Education program usually exit the program in second or third grade. Therefore, there is a
change I will work with early grade levels and I will teach all the subjects.
Philosophical Statement:
My teaching philosophy for classroom management is one that promotes selfdiscipline, mutual respect, and cooperation. I think that it is very important to teach children
to be self-discipline in order for them to become critical and independent thinkers. According
to Thomas Gordon, it is my responsibility as a future education to teach student selfdiscipline and problem solving qualities. I also think that it is important to build an
environment that helps children feel like their second home. In other words, I think that a
democratic classroom will be the best option in the first year I teach because it allows
children to express themselves.

Classroom Management Plan

First Few Days:

In the first day of class, I implement the morning routine I will be using throughout
the year. The routine consist of greeting each and every student at the door every morning.
Usually, there will be a prompt written in the board for the students to write about using their
chosen format. In the first day of school, however, the students will be instructed to draw a
picture that represents how they spend the summer. After all students are seated in a chair, I
will show them where to place their backpack every morning as soon as they walk in the
classroom. Then I will ask all the students to sit in a circle in the carpet. Once all the students
are seated in the carpet, I will go over their names. In order to help children feel welcome in
the classroom, I will sing the called Hello, There! I will then ask the students to echo me. I
decided to incorporate music into the morning routine to help children relax. During the first
days of school, I will also provide each and every student with a variety of materials and one
graft stick. The students will use the material to create their own personalized puppet. When
the students enter the classroom every morning, they will grab the personalized puppet to
place it in the corresponding envelope. I think that this strategy will help students feel
important and unique. During the first days of school, all the students will help to write the
classroom Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights will then be signed by the students.
Hello, There!
Teacher
Hello, there!
How are you?
Its so good,
To see you.
Well sing and,
Be happy,
That were all

Echo
Hello, there?
How are you?
Its so good,
To see you.
Well sing and,
Be happy,
here together Today!

Classroom Management Plan

Classroom Environment:
The classroom will be divided into areas: whole group instruction, teacher-directed
small group instruction, and cooperative small group instruction. The whole group area will
include the communities, carpet, and the teacher desk and computer. The students will be
taught, read to, and/or receive activity instructions while they are gathered as a whole group
in the carpet. In their communities, all the students will work on their classwork or tasks. In
the communities section, there will be two small shelves. In the shelves, each student will
have a personal space with their name labeled in it where they will be able to place materials
such as books, crayons, and glue. In both instances, I will be able to use the projector to
model the activities to the students. The teacher-directed small group instruction area will
include the kidney table and a shelf. In the shelf located behind the kidney table, I will secure
essential materials and students running records. Some of the materials in this area include,
but are not limited to, small white boards, markers, manipulatives, and grade-level books. In
this area, I will work with a small group while the rest of the students are in workstations or
working in their communities. The cooperative small group instruction will be composed of
the following workstations: science, technology, reading, and mathematics. In the technology
workstation, there will be computers or IPads. In the science and mathematics stations, there
will be manipulatives. In the reading center, there will be two shelves, a colorful carpet, and
a small couch or table. The shelves will have a collection of books and they will be used to
produce different lighting in this area. Next to the door, the storage/cubbies will be located.
In every workstation, there will be a rotation chart to make sure every student has the
opportunity to be in a workstation and to keep track of the students workstation progress.

Classroom Management Plan

When the students enter the classroom; they will immediately be able to put away their
backpacks. In this area, I will also store classroom materials. Around the classroom walls, I
will tape the anchor charts that will be created during instruction.

Classroom Policies:

Classroom Management Plan

The classroom policies will be determined as a class. Since the policies will be aimed
to students in the first grade, the language will be kid-friendly and each policy will be simple
and easy to remember. Some of the policies included are be a friend, share, wait your
turn, keep your hands to yourself, listen, walk dont run, help clean up, raise your
hand, and walk in line. The classroom policies will first be communicated to parents
through a welcome newsletter that will be send home in both English and Spanish. The
administrators will also receive a copy of the classroom policies along with a copy of the
newsletter.
Classroom Procedures:
In the morning, the students will quietly wait sitting in a line outside the classroom.
At a specific time every day, I will ask the students to take out their daily folder and
homework. As each student enters the classroom, I will do three things; I will greet the
student, I will pick up their daily folder and homework, and I will inquire about their
previous day and/or weekend. When the students enter the classroom, they will put away
their backpack in the cubby and they will grab the daily attendance stick labeled with their
name and place it in the corresponding name pocket on the wall. A modification to the
attendance strategy is to use a jar or cup instead of the pockets on the wall. Every day, I will
have a prompt written on the board. The students will be expected to write at least one
sentence using the prompt on the board and to draw a picture representing the sentence in a
style of their choice every morning. After I greet every student at the door, I will walk around
the classroom to check the writing journals or the chosen format. At a specific time, I will
transition the students in the first subject.

Classroom Management Plan

In order to transition students from one activity to another or from one subject to
another, I will gather all the students in the carpet. Once all the students are sitting in the
carpet, I will go over the activity instructions and the expectations. The expectations will be
reviewed using CHAMPS, a strategy I learned in the ALIEF District. The C stands for
Conversation (noise level), the H for Help (procedure to ask for help), the A for Activity, the
M for Movement (what kind of movement is acceptable), the P for Participation, and the S
for Success.

As part of the classroom procedures, I will also use the Go-Around Cup and I will choose
students to become classroom managers. The Go-Around Cup will usually be used in whole

Classroom Management Plan

group instruction. I will pull a craft stick with the students name written over the it in order
to encourage class participation. In addition, I will select a group of students to fulfill the
classroom manager position. Some of the positions that will be available include, but are not
limited to, line leader, technology manager, door manager, and material manager. The
students will be the managers for three weeks and then a new group of students will be
selected to be the new managers. I will keep track of all the students who fulfills the manager
positions, so that every student with positive behavior has the opportunity to become a
manager. The student who is selected to be the material manager will be responsible for
helping distribute work and supplies.
Steps to address misbehavior:
Every time a student misbehaves, I will immediately use an I-message. For example,
if a student is talking with a classmate while I am reading out loud, I could say It makes me
sad that people talk while I am reading because our friends will not be able to hear this great
story. Therefore, instruction interruptions are better to ignore. However, I also think that it is
important to talk to the student before the end of the day to find the source of the
misbehavior. If the disruption in class continues, I will ask the student to move their behavior
stick to a different color in the behavior chart. The behavior chart I will use in my classroom
will consist of 6 colors. All the students will start on color green in the morning. In this chart,
the student will be able to go beyond and move to higher levels in the chart. If a student
misbehaves three times, s/he will be placed in the unacceptable level. Once the student
reaches the unacceptable level, then I will call the parents.

Classroom Management Plan

Student Motivation:
There are several strategies that will be implemented to increase student motivation.
One of the strategies is to call parents to inform them about student accomplishments. While
many teachers usually only call parents when a student misbehaves, I want to call parents
after new student accomplishment or when a student does something new. In addition, I will
also provide students with choice in different subjects. For example, instead of writing in the
journal, the student will have the choice to write about one of two different prompts or
formats. Instead of writing on the writing journal, the student will have the choice to write a
book, a letter, a short story, or a card. In order to encourage positive behaviors, students who
are well-behaved will have the opportunity to have classroom jobs. All of these strategies
will be implements to encourage intrinsic motivation on students. In order to motivate gifted
students who do not want to stretch outside of their comfort zone, I will create a class reward
system. The system will consist of giving students mascot bucks when s/he goes beyond and
demonstrates good citizen qualities. The student will be able to cash their bucks for mystery
prizes. Amongst the prizes, there will be extra time in the technology center, eating with the
teacher, or sitting at the teachers desk for a day. I will also build positive relationship with
parents in order to encourage parent and community members to be more involved. I think
that students will greatly benefit from the presence of the teacher. Furthermore, I will also
incorporate a variety of materials into the curriculum in order to engage students and increase
motivation. An example of the materials that will be used to motivate students are classroom
instruments. The students who are well-behaved will have the opportunity to play an
instrument in certain part so the book.

Classroom Management Plan

Conclusion:
There are many classroom management theories. However, I think that many theories have
similar points in common. Since my classroom management plan is a combination of several
theories, I find it interesting to note the similarities between the theories. Personally, I think
that imagining how my classroom will be like will greatly help me in the future.

Classroom Management Plan

References
Butcher, K.T., Manning, M.L. (2013). Classroom Management: Models, Applications, and
Cases. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc
Codell, E. R. (1999). Educating Esme: Diary of a teachers first year. Chapel Hill, NC:
Igonquin books of Chapel Hill.