Running head: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN 1

Classroom Management Plan

Isabelle Newman

Arizona State University

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN 2

Table of Contents

Classroom Management Plan …………………….…………………………………………….1

Introduction and Professional Background……………………………………………………1

Philosophy of Education …………………………………………………………………….….5

Classroom Layout Rationale …………………………………………………………………...7

Classroom Rules, Consequences, and Procedures …………….……………………………...9

References …………….………………………………………………………………………..14

Appendix ……………………………………………………………………………………….14
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Classroom Management Plan

The following paper entails my philosophy of education as a future educator as well as

my discipline methods, the ideal classroom layout, procedures, rules and consequences, and how

all of these approaches will benefit my future students in a positive manner. These approaches

will be detailed with proper theoretical backing and will help explain why the differential support

of my future students is needed and impactful to their future education beyond the high school

setting. My classroom management plan strives to accomplish the goal of creating involved,

participating, and contributing members of the society at large.

Introduction and Professional Background

Although I was born in Nebraska, I consider myself from Montana because that is where

I graduate high school. I am very passionate about the subject of science (and all of its sub-

categories!) and aspire to portray this enthusiasm to my future classroom students. On a more

personal level I love being outdoors- kayaking, paddle boarding, hiking with my dog, and simply

observing our world’s natural beauty. I also very much enjoy coffee, practicing a healthy

lifestyle, reading leisure books, and spending time with my family and friends. Since moving to

Arizona, I have developed a real appreciation for my home state of Montana and all that it has

done for me throughout the years. I do have to admit I miss it so, the mountains, the crisp air, the

clear water, the views, and everything in between. I have learned that much of my love for

science stems from my home state. However, I have learned a great deal of lessons here at ASU

and hope to continue to my path as a future educator.

My background in teaching began when I was bout 14/15 years old. Here I started to

coach dance teams at my local dance studios, particularly for the younger age groups. I

continued to do this through my high school career and now coach competitive dances teams
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seasonally (summers and winters) when I can commute home to Montana for break.

During the school year I work 2 teaching jobs: as an instructional laboratory assistant (Lab IA)

and as a CPR instructor. As a lab IA for the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (CISA), I

teach my own lab section for 3 hours once a week for an undergraduate science course (BIO

182) focusing on plant/ animal diversity and evolution. In addition to this, the BIO 182

instructional team meets once a week for a meeting and then I host office hours once a week so

my students in lab have the opportunity come in and ask me questions in person. Finally, I grade

my students' practicals (exams), writing assignments, lab exercises, and lab drawings each week.

On the other hand, I teach CPR classes at the gym on campus and coordinate these classes 15

hours a week. Through my Red Cross Certification, I am able to teach a variety of CPR and

Lifeguard Courses for the ASU community and the Phoenix community.

During spring break 2019 I embarked on a brief study abroad program to Costa Rica to

help teach students at an alternative American school for middle and high school kids.

Specifically, I helped to teach high school health and math and middle school social studies. This

experience was one I will never forget, and it had a huge impact on why I decided to focus on

secondary education in addition to my biology major.

I am currently interning at Silvestre S. Herrera School to help teach 7th and 8th grade

science. I began this journey the first week of September of 2019 and will finish up my work in

their classroom in December 2019. During this internship, I attend one full school day a week, in

addition to my full load of classes, and observe, scribe, take notes, and help teach the students on

occasion. My mentor teacher at this school is an ASU alumnus and has really helped me dive

right into ASU's teacher internship program comfortably.

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All in all, this sums up my professional teaching life in a nutshell! As always, please visit the

contact page with any questions you may have.

Philosophy of Education

As Americans, we all have a right to a free education, however as years progress, it has

come to the realization that the quality of education one receives is not completely equal to the

next person. A goal of mine is to help bridge this gap as a future teacher by giving back to those

communities that need it most: rural areas, low socioeconomic neighborhoods, and towns and

cities with low income or funding needed to properly education our upcoming generations.

Coming from a rural town myself, I have concluded that I got enough education to get where I

am today. However, much of the support I received was from my family with the exception of

very few teachers. I hope to be that teacher for at least one kid, and I want to support every child

I can in accomplishing their goals following high school graduation. Students that come from the

communities listed above, oftentimes don’t have the support they need to chase after what they

want. I know that I can be the role-model, facilitator, mentor, and inspiration for students who

need it most.

My philosophy of education states that “… education lies in the values, morals, and

appreciation of the learning process. I hope to one day reach my goal of portraying this

appreciation for learning towards my students and have them utilize this tool outside of the

classroom. Applying this appreciation for learning will impact the greater good of their future

careers as participating, active, contributing members of society. Education is not only the

ability, but the opportunity to inspire the future leaders of our country and world.” Working

through my philosophy of education, I will be able to use my inspiration and convert it into
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student centered motivation. This motivation can thus be modified further into dreams and

hopefully goals.

Another goal of mine, through diligent work in my philosophy of education, is to mentor

students in finding their true interests. Oftentimes, students do what their friends want to do,

what their parents expect them to do, and/ or what their teachers expect them to do. Whether this

is joining a new club, sport, extracurricular, getting that 4.0 GPA, or even getting the highest

grade in the class, adolescents are nevertheless pressured to do a lot of things they initially

wouldn’t give a second glance to. Through the goal of having my students appreciate the

learning process, I am helping to facilitate their interests within an educational setting. Exploring

their interests gives them greater insight and oftentimes results in 2 choices: 1. Further

exploration or 2. Rerouting. At the end of the day, I hope to do both of these things as

affirmations and new change are equally important to kids this age. They need the confirmation

they are going down the right path, but they also need guidance and assurance that it’s okay to

change their mind and do something different. My philosophy supports this goal in that it aids

students to appreciate the process they are going through: learning. As a life-long learner myself,

it is truly gratitude that I feel when I am able to pass down that wisdom to our upcoming

generations. My philosophy continues on to state that,” … students are to be active learners in

their educational environment. Their interests are to be explored in their classrooms, and I am

here to facilitate, inspire, and encourage this learning process.”

However, there is more to a students’ learning than themselves and their teachers. Parents

and the community are also major contributors to the success of theses children. As my

philosophy progresses,” As an integral piece as mediators of the learning process, parents are

role models of educational encouragement whom cooperates, supports, communicates, and

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contributes to their student(s) success in education.” Parents are a large support piece in my

opinion and indeed give rise to student success as well as rise to doing the bare minimum.

Through my eyes as a teacher, parents and I are a team. We work together towards not only

student success but personal, professional, and preparational success as well. Lack of teamwork

can cause kids to straggle along whereas presence of it can facilitate goal achieving individuals.

The community is the last aspect mentioned in my educational philosophy and specifies

that,” … the community is the backbone of student influence because children do what they see.

This nature versus nurture aspect falls heavily on how the community is portrayed to the student,

as well as a large contributor of how and why the student gives back to their community.” It is

with great hope and determination that all my future students will see the impact on their

community through accomplishments in their particular interest of study. Again, their interests

are to be explored and facilitated in my classroom. I desire that my philosophy of education

comes full circle to those of interest. A full copy of my philosophy of education will be found in

the Appendix section at the end of this paper.

Classroom Layout Rationale

The classroom layout visual is available in the Appendix section of this paper. My dream

classroom is based on a 30ft x 30 ft room housing 35 students. The reasoning behind my classroom layout

rationale is as follows.

To start off with, I would like to have 9 lab tables in the center of the room where students will

primarily sit. The tables are staggered in such a way that all students should be able to see the board with

little to no problems. I also set them up in such a way where kids with attention deficits can be more

active yet less distracting during direct instruction time. There are many places where students could

stand up and walk around with minimal interruption or distraction to the rest of the class. In the creation
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of this layout, I took into consideration the variety of students I will have, which includes those with

disabilities or deficiencies such as ADHD, autism, and Down’s Syndrome (there will be others, I’m sure).

Through this table set up, I have created a classroom where “…every space is unique and involves

different conditions depending on the project content, design, character, etc.” (Tufvesson, 2008). Every

place in the classroom has a particular time and place to use it and getting my students (particularly those

with disabilities/ deficiencies) acclimated to these routines will help them focus more on their education

and less about their surroundings. Continuing on with tabling, my desk is located in the bottom right hand

corner of the visual. Oval table resides directly to the left of my desk where students will turn in work so I

can track who turns in what and when. I placed my desk in the back corner, so I am able to see the entire

classroom and all students with minimal to no blind spots.

There are a total of 4 technology stations, 3 technology/ computer/ tablet carts (each holding 12)

and one printing cart. I placed those stations near my desk so I can track who is getting what and when. I

want to be able to make sure that my students are treating our technology nicely and not carelessly.

Students will be seated in stools, 4 to a table. I chose stools because as a science teacher, students

will be required to stand up, sit down, move around, and be mobile during class, particularly those days

when we are doing labs. Stools are much easier to shove under a table and move about the classroom if

needed. Stools will also help students practice good posture and not rely on having a back rest all day

long.

Outside of direct instruction materials, there is an area specifically for collaboration, quiet time,

reading, etc. This is located in the front right corner of the classroom where there are some bean bags

(first come first serve). People who rush through an assignment, lab, or work and to try to sit in the bean

bags first will not be allowed to do so. Students will be free to use these bean bags (or sit on the carpet in

the front right-hand corner of the room [white]) for silent reading, doing in class work, discussion-based

class periods, and more. In this same area of the classroom is an A- frame display rack (pink in the

visual). This is for student development. Here I can put articles or readings for students to explore on their

free time, present opportunities and events coming up about college, military aspirations, or other
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ambitions post- high school. I can also put my office hours and the counselor’s office hours posted on this

rack, so students know when they are allowed to come visit us for aid in professional development.

The 2 purple rectangles at the front of the room are whiteboards while the purple rectangle in the

front right-hand side of the classroom (by the bean bags and carpet) is a bulletin board. This board can be

used for keeping students updated on what is due, what is coming up, events coming up, school activities,

performances, games, etc. The whiteboards, on the other hand, are wide enough that students should be

able to see most central parts of the board without any problems.

Classroom Rules, Consequences, and Procedures

Rules and Consequences

As I enter the workforce as a secondary education teacher, I will be expected to come in with my

classroom rules and procedures all drawn up and posted. The rules in my classroom, although few, have

high expectations in delivery. My rules are going to have to be constantly practiced throughout a class

period, and failure to uphold these classroom rules as students will result in first: a warning, second: a

private talk with me, third: a call home explaining to their parents why they are misbehaving, and fourth:

an office referral. My classroom rules will be as follows: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Inclusive,

and Inquire About Your Suspicions.

Being respectful speaks volumes when children are able to practice it and correctly implement

that behavior in different settings. Respect is also a two- way street: as long as they give me respect, they

will receive it in return. In my opinion, a respectful classroom is a well- maintained classroom. Examples

of disrespect include but are not limited to talking when the teacher is talking, rolling one’s eyes, sleeping

in class, and refusing to participate in class discussions.

As far as being responsible is concerned, this is mainly targeted at their academic work and

deadlines/ due dates. Students are responsible for finding time outside of class to finish an assignment

they might not have finished in class. They are responsible for turning assignments and projects in on

time. They are responsible for being absent and making up the work they missed by visiting me (there is a
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procedure about this specific scenario later on). Although these are just some examples, there are other

responsible procedures that fall into this category.

Practicing inclusion is one of my classroom rules because I will have a zero- tolerance bullying

policy in my classroom. Mainly, adolescents bully through excluding someone else due to differences that

they may have. My classroom will practice inclusion, celebrate each other’s differences, and promote

what a bully- free environment should look like. Examples of bullying will be laughing at someone else

explicitly, talking about someone in front of their face, any physical or verbal violence… the list could go

on and on. At this stage in their development, kids have a good idea at what bullying looks like and how

to act in a bully- free environment.

My last and final rule is to inquire about your suspicions. I made this rule strictly from a scientific

standpoint (as science is my content area) and here is why. Science was born out of the question: why? I

want my students to tap into their innate curiosities and not be afraid to point out when they think I’m

wrong- respectfully of course- or ask why they don’t understand or when they are suspicious. The goal of

this rule is to tap into their natural creativity and explore their interests. An example of this would be

asking, “Why does the world only have one moon, but Saturn have many?”. I could easily answer this

with a scientific explanation, revisit the answer to that question later on in class if I know we are going to

cover the material, simply answer it the next day in class if I needed to research the question, or simply

say that that’s how it is and we don’t really know how or why (as this is oftentimes the answer to many of

their questions!).

Procedures

Beginning of Class

My procedures on the other hand are much more extensive and elaborate than my rules. My first

procedure is about the first few minutes of the period or hour. When entering the classroom, my students

take out their science notebooks, open to a blank page, sit down in their assigned seats, place all work that

was assigned the day before on their desks, and get to their bell work. During bell work I will collect

homework (if any) from the previous day. This will get them in the ‘mood’ or mindset to talk about
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science. If someone finishes bell work early, they are welcome to do the following: read a leisure book,

work on homework for another class, or rest their head on their table/ desk.

My second procedure regards late students: they must be within the threshold of the doorway

when the bell rings, or they are considered late/ tardy. We all get caught up doing something like waiting

in line for the bathroom, talking with another teacher, etc. Tardy students will not be able to gain

participation points for their bell work, however, if they are able to complete bell work before we move

on to class work, I will award them partial credit back. Attempting to complete bell work during class

work will results in a 0 for participation points that day and for the following day (the following Monday

if it is a Friday). They will be exempt from these participation points if they have an excused absence or

have a note from a teacher explaining their tardiness to class.

Missing Class

The next procedure covers absent students. Although it is understood that different schools have

different absence policies, I will also be enforcing separate procedures about absent students on top of

what is already covered in the student handbook. Students with excused absences will be exempt from

participation points. Excused students will be expected to come in prior to their absence or the day after

their absence before school, during lunch, or after school to catch up on their missing work. Students with

unexcused absences will be treated like tardy or late student and will receive a 0 in participation points.

This will help students practice responsibility and providing proper documentation (doctor’s

appointments, order from a doctor, family emergencies, etc.) for an absence they know is coming up.

Unexcused students will start getting the documentation they need or will start coming to class when they

are supposed to. Refusal to do this will result in losing points at an exponential rate, severely effecting

their grade.

Transitions

My fourth procedure is simple at first glance, but a tough one to grasp: transitions from one

activity to another will be done quickly and quietly. This will ensure that I will cover at least most of the

content they need to know for the day and students will learn that failure to follow this will result in
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losing vital information that I will be giving to them quickly after our previous activity. The quicker they

transition, the more apt and prepared they are for our next activity.

Late work

Late work, procedure #5, is a tough procedure to gauge since many schools already have a late

homework policy in place, however, I will have supplemental procedures for this topic. Late work will be

accepted up to 5 school days late in my class. Every day it is late, they lose 10 points from their final

score on the assignment or project. On day 5, their grade is an F, however, some points are better than no

points. If a student doesn’t turn in their paper after 5 school days, they will receive a 0 in the grade book

for that particular assignment and will lose the opportunity to turn anything in.

Grading Procedures

I plan to grade with a traditional grading scale: A 90-100; B 80-90; C 70-80; D 60-70; and F < 60.

I will only offer +’s to those who exceed the rubric given to them or have gone above and beyond for a

project or assignment. An example of this will be researching supplemental material for a concept they

didn’t understand on their homework or project and sending me think the link or a copy of this material to

me. This shows that they made reasonable attempts to understand the material given to them (even if they

still don’t understand it!). Another example of this would be to give me 10 vocabulary words on a

scientific paper when the rubric I gave them stated they only had to use 5. These +’s will be awarded to

students who go out of their way to ask if what they did deserves a + for a particular assignment. I will

not look for these unless it is evident that they spent an exponential amount of time on it.

As far as allocating grades is concerned, I am unsure how I want to do it because I think it will

depend on the grade I am teaching and the class, but the skeleton I would prefer to use would be the

following: homework- 10%; in class work- 15%; participation points- 5%; quizzes- 20%; test-30%; and

projects-20%. I like to divvy up points as evenly and fairly as possible. As a science teacher, projects and

quizzes will weigh the same because projects are basically an assessment of what my students know.

Homework, in-class work, and participation points are made to be ‘fluff’ points so they can supplement

the students’ grades at the end of the semester (hopefully push those B+ students over to an A and so on).
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Test points will hold the most weight because tests are going to be the formative or summative

assessments on how much information my students were able to absorb and master throughout a

particular time period.

Classroom Communication

Last but not least, my final procedure (#7), will be about indirect classroom communication. Each

of my class periods will have separate online classroom forums in which students and parents are able to

see posts and reminders about assignments, test averages, projects, due dates, events, etc. I plan on using

google classroom, however I am open to trying out new platforms. This platform allows students, parents,

and teacher all to communicate on one platform and answer questions that they (and potentially others)

might have. Incorrect, improper, poor, or disrespectful usage of this platform will warrant a meeting with

me and the school administration, regardless if it’s a student or a parent. My classroom rules will also be

implemented on the online classroom forums, not just in my physical classroom. High intensity

conversations with parents will primarily be done over email or phone number, both of which I will be

able to receive from office administration at the beginning of the year. If the problem is persistent

communication will be done face-to-face by setting up a meeting with one another at the school with an

administrator present.
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References

Tufvesson, C. & Tufvesson, J. (2008). “The building process as a tool towards an all inclusive

school. A Swedish example focusing on children with defined concentration difficulties

such as ADHD, autism, and Down’s Syndrome.” Springer. Retrieved from https://link-

springer-com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10901-008-9129-6.pdf

Appendix

Figure 1. Classroom Layout Virtual Visual

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Table 1. Philosophy of Education

Philosophy of Education

My philosophy of education lies in the values, morals, and appreciation of the learning process

as one who inspires and one who mentors. I hope to one day reach my ultimate goal of

portraying this appreciation for learning towards my students and have them utilize this tool

outside of the classroom. Utilizing this appreciation of the learning process will impact the

greater good of their future careers as participating, active, contributing members of society.

Education is not only the ability, but the opportunity to inspire our future leaders of our world.

As an integral role as mediators of the learning process, parents are role models of

educational encouragement whom cooperates, supports, communicates, and contributes to

their student(s) success in education. The community is the backbone of student influence

because children do what they see. This nature vs nurture aspect falls heavily on how the

community is portrayed to the student, as well as a large contributor of how and why the

student gives back to their community. Lastly, students are to be active learners in their

educational environment. Their interests are to be explored in their classrooms, and I am here

to facilitate, inspire, and encourage this learning process.