System for Effective Classroom Management

My Classroom Management Philosophy: In short, I believe students will behave and engage in learning if they
can, not if they want to (Dr. Ross Greene). In other words, students don’t enter school each day with the desire
to fail! There is reasoning behind every behavior; students operate within the frameworks they have learned,
and if those frameworks are informed by trauma or other negatively impactful experiences, they might
communicate with negative behaviors. However, each and every student wants to be successful, and even
though that might look different for each child, this is certainly possible with the correct supports in place. The
following points include my classroom management approach to providing children in my classroom with the
tools they need to succeed!
1) Build strong rapport with students: My focus, especially in the first few weeks, but also throughout
the semester, is to build strong, positive relationships with students. I do this by intentionally taking time
to get to know them, as well as sharing appropriate and interesting details about my own life. I focus on
student relationships because student engagement, learning, and behavior are closely tied to the level of
trust and respect they have with their teacher. Longtime teacher and educational researcher Eric Toshalis
puts it this way in his book “Make Me,”
“Research suggests that the decision to learn from a teacher and to engage in teacher-directed
activity in the classroom typically comes after trust has been established, not before. These
observations underscore that academic achievement is rooted in relational dynamics.”
To build this essential relational trust with students, I take a number of steps to open up the channels of
communication. Examples of these include a student survey at the beginning of the semester, a
presentation on my own background, and dedicated time for students to share about their lives during
class each day. I would include all of these things in my future practice, and would also like to
implement a way to engage all students with sharing personal details throughout the semester, such as a
student-teacher journal.

Left: Photo of the Background Survey I give students in the first few days of class to get to know their
interests. Sample questions include: What three words would you use to describe yourself? How do you
learn best?
Right: Photo of the first slide on my “Get to Know Me” slideshow. I share about where I’m from, who my
friends and family are, my interests, and fun facts about me.

2) Clearly communicate class norms and expectations: I communicate my classroom norms with
students within the first couple of days of class, and review or adjust norms as necessary throughout the
term. These norms and expectations address my “non-negotiables” for how our classroom community
 will run. Some examples of these include my bathroom/ hall pass policy, my Chromebook policy (for
one-to-one tech context), and general student behavior (respect, preparedness, participation, etc.).
Students absolutely have a role to play in this process; after I share my policies, I pose the question to
them about what makes a classroom environment a great place to come and learn. This creates a sort of
“social contract” that students agree to that we can come back to along the way. Some screenshot
samples of what my students came up with are included below.

3) Revisit norms and expectations along the way: Throughout the term, it’s important to me to circle
back our class norms, especially the social contract we created together, to ask students to reflect and
evaluate how well we’re doing. This creates increased levels of accountability for students, as they are
the ones responsible for determining how our class is functioning and how they can make changes. In
some cases, I might do this randomly to celebrate victories and address small struggles. In other cases, I
might bring these up to have “heart-to-hearts” with students when we’ve hit a significant roadblock. I
have done this one-on-one with students, and as a whole class. Usually, issues within the classroom
require both approaches. I’ve organized examples of how I’ve done this in the table below.

Issue at Hand Result of Class Discussion

Conflict that resulted from
students editing a shared
document on Google Classroom
without permission
Constant interruption and off-
task chatter, for myself and other
students who were sharing
 Return to our set of class norms
 Discussion on how we were not meeting our norms
because we were not respecting others’ contributions
 Suggestions from students as to how to address the
conflict, resulting in me creating a Google Form so that
students could submit individual responses without
having to worry about others editing them
 Return to our set of class norms
 Discussion on how we were not meeting our norms
because we were disrupting others’ ability to learn
 Suggestions from students as to how to address the issue,
including increased levels of accountability to remind
fellow students when they were being disruptive to get
on task
 System of Grading
My Grading Philosophy: Grades – how we determine them, what they are used for, how we standardize them –
are one of the most contentious issues in education today. Especially at the secondary level, grades have grown
in their importance when it comes to motivating students to learn, or at the very least, complete their work.
Here, I will clarify my belief system about grades and how this will practically be carried out in my classroom.
These criteria have been pulled from an incredibly helpful article, “Grading Policies that Work Against
Standards…and How to Fix Them,” by Thomas Guskey, 2000; In short, I believe grades should:
1) Be consistent – The biggest mistake that is made here is tying anything other than student achievement
to a grade for a single assignment. This could include effort, participation, or adherence to class rules.
However, as can be seen in the rubric at the end of this document, I include these indicators in a separate
part of the class grade so that I can avoid distorting grades that indicate student achievement with
respect to learning targets.
2) Be accurate – Clear expectations are key here! Assigning grades to work that does not clearly assess
learning targets or fails to clearly communicate how it is doing so is harmful to student learning. This
demonstrates the foundational belief of my grading system: rubrics are key to student success. Rubrics
make grading criteria clear to students, and also provide a jumping-off point for me as the instructor to
provide feedback to students on their work.
3) Support learning – This is another place where rubrics are key. Grades are just a small portion of the
feedback that students should receive; on all assignments that I grade (and even many that I do not), I
give students clear, specific feedback that helps them to improve upon the work that I am assessing. In
my classroom, for example, if students are not content with a grade they receive, they may use my
feedback to re-do an assignment as many times as they choose to improve their grade. This encourages
students to focus on mastering the material rather than passing a class.
4) Be the result of a shared vision for the primary purpose of grading – Transparency with students
and parents is key to any learning environment. As much as possible, I try to share my vision for the
purpose of grading with students to encourage them to open their minds to new ideas. Traditionally, a
grade is seen as a permanent representation of a student’s abilities; you either know it or you don’t. I am
hoping to shift students’ perceptions of this idea by encouraging them to view grades as just one of
many indicators of their mastery of learning targets and a launch point for growth.
Regardless of grades, assessment is an essential part of
teaching practice. Without data on student performance, it is Grade Breakdown, Future Context
impossible to determine whether or not students have
10
mastered a proficient understanding of the concept at hand.
With this in mind, it is important for teachers to determine 20
what types of summative and formative assessments they
will employ, whether or not they will assign grades to those
assessments, and what percentage of total grades those 70
assessments will constitute. The first chart below denotes the
grade breakdown that I utilized in my student teaching
Summative (Tests, Projects, Essays)
context, while the second chart denotes how I will apply my Practice Assignments (Homework, Classwork)
own principles to a grade breakdown in my classroom. Citizenship (Effort, Participation, Teamwork)
 Grade Breakdown, Internship Context

20

80

Summative (Tests, Projects, Essays) Below is a sample of a rubric that I would share with students
Formative (Homework, Classwork)
about how their grades will be determined in my class.
Reviewing this would provide an excellent opportunity to help
students to catch my vision for the purpose of grades.

Determination of Grade

Unit Assessments (70%)

Unit Tests: Given at the end of Projects: At least one project per unit. Point Essay: Given at the end or
specified units. Point value value determined via project rubric; point throughout specified units.
determined by a series of values will fall between 40 and 50 points 50 points each, as
multiple choice questions (1 each, including SPEC analysis, creativity, determined by detailed
point each) and short answer neatness, and clarity. essay rubric.
questions (5-10 points each).
Practice Assignments (20%)
Not all of these assignments are graded – each week, I will select two assignments from these categories to
include in the gradebook. The assignments will always fit the criteria given here.
Homework: Homework will be used to practice Classwork: Classwork activities will be used to
familiar concepts, prepare foundational introduce new concepts or practice familiar ones.
understanding for an activity the following day, or (Classwork will ONLY be graded if it is a practiced
connect class content to current events. activity.) Aspects of classwork will be assessed
through the citizenship category of this rubric.
Citizenship (10%)
I will assess participation, effort, and teamwork throughout the semester. These are skills that are essential to
college, career, and everyday life. Proficiency will be determined through my recorded observations of class,
and grades will be assigned weekly. A level two (2) is proficient (90-100%)
Exemplary (3) Developing (2) Beginning (1)
Participation I am fully engaged in I am usually engaged in I am usually not engaged in
class activities. I provide class activities. I class activities. I do not
extensive and meaningful provide helpful contribute to class
contributions to class contributions to class activities and discussions.
activities and activities and
discussions. I encourage discussions.
other students to engage.
Effort I complete my I complete my I do not complete my
assignments in a timely assignments in a timely assignments in a timely
manner. I demonstrate manner. I demonstrate manner. I lack attention to
passion and pride in my clear attention to detail detail, creativity, and
work by going above and and creativity in my originality in my work.
beyond with my work, but it may be
 creativity, originality, lacking original
and attention to detail. thought.
Teamwork I consistently resolve I usually resolve I rarely resolve conflict
conflict in a constructive conflict in a appropriately. I am usually
manner. I consistently constructive manner. I checked out during small
take leadership roles in regularly contribute group work.
small group work. during small group
work.