Classroom Community and

Behavior Management Plan

Kelly Hamrock
Context
 Ideal Classroom Setting
I want to teach general education in 1st or 2nd grade in Northern
Virginia, preferably Arlington Public Schools or Fairfax County Public
Schools. This is the area I grew up in and attended K-12, so I am
comfortable and familiar with it and the school system. I am hoping to
be in a diverse school with a lot of resources and interventionists
involved in making my classroom be the best and least restrictive learning
environment it can be.

Glebe Elementary, APS Cardinal Elementary, APS Taylor Elementary, APS

 Classroom
Environment
 Physical Layout
● I will prioritize my students having easy access to materials. Supplies, books,
and other necessities will be closer to the ground and in open areas that
students can easily access.
● I will also have my tables set up in groups, with each seat being able to face
the board. I will maintain a seating chart that I will change every few weeks
and will keep preferential seating in mind.
○ Table groups are a great way to encourage collaboration and build on
student-student relationships
● My classroom will also have organized cubbies and desks for my students
that we will clean out every other week.
○ As a teacher, structure and organization are very important to me
● I want to have a big carpet in the front of my room (in front of the board)
for students to meet on for any lessons and for morning meeting.
 Physical Layout Continued
● I want to include student’s classwork on the walls as well as motivational
posters and any instructional strategies/anchor charts.
○ Displaying student’s classwork on the wall is a way to celebrate
achievement, build community, and showcase diverse perspectives
○ Instructional strategies (such as a multiplication times table or word
wall) are useful for students to use as practice during class time
○ Anchor charts serve as good reminders for students to refer back to
when working on any assignments in class
■ Ex: prompt students to look at out “class rules” anchor chart if
needed
■ Ex: refer back to our “read to self” anchor chart for what
students are supposed to be doing during this time
 Physical Layout Continued
● I will also include a calm corner in my classroom with comfortable seating
options and a box including fidgets, etc.
○ As a class, we will discuss the rules/directions for using the calm
corner and each of the tools available to use
■ When students are using the calm corner, there will be
directions included in the box to remind students how to use it
properly - I will also prompt them if necessary
○ Students will be able to use this area to take a break (voluntarily or
being asked to)
○ Provides a supportive and safe environment for students
○ Students learn to regulate their emotions and de-escalate when they
are feeling overwhelmed or anxious
○ Return to the classroom ready to engage in learning
 Physical Layout Continued
● Classroom library
○ Promotes love for reading
○ Supports differentiated learning - books of different reading levels
○ Representation in the classroom: students being able to see themselves
in books
○ Representing diverse perspectives
Physical Layout Continued
● Ambiance
○ Playing music in class is also something I want to
implement here and there.
■ Enhanced mood and motivation
■ Make playlist of students’ favorite songs -
student voice
■ Only use during certain times, so it is not
distracting
● During free time, classroom
celebrations, creative activities,
certain independent/group work
times
○ I like more calm and warm lighting over the bright
white overheads
■ Visual comfort, reduced stress
■ Allow for adjustments based on different
activities/moods throughout the day
 Physical Layout Continued

Having too much stuff on desks or out of order overwhelms me, so I really liked this
example from our week 6 lecture slides of having storage under each chair. We would then
go through these baskets every other week to clear out any old papers, etc.
Example Floor Plan
● Carpet in front of board - utilized
during morning meeting and any
other lessons
● Students arranged in table groups
for collaboration purposes
● Preferential seating: students with
more behavioral issues will be seated
close to teacher desk + certain
students may need to be seated closer
to the board (for vision purposes,
etc.)
● Easy access to classroom library, calm
corner, and storage
 Routines and Procedures
● Morning routine:
○ As students enter the classroom, they will first put their stuff in their cubby. Then, they will write
down their lunch order and play with morning tubs until our morning meeting. I will take
attendance during this time.
○ Morning Meeting:
■ Every morning, students will come to the carpet for morning meeting. There will be a greeting
presented on the board that we will be doing. I will choose the greeting for the day ahead of
time (using weekly planning guide) in order to avoid chaos of having students choose (example:
ball greeting, language greeting, gesture greeting, etc.). After the greeting, we will read our
morning message. I will have a morning message for the day written on the board and will ask
for a student volunteer to read it aloud. After our morning message, students will have the
opportunity to share. Then, we will do an activity (example: this or that). Students will then go
back to their desks. Before we start content, I will go over our daily schedule in order to get
students prepared and ready for the day ahead.
Routines and Procedures Continued
● Before leaving for lunch, recess, or specials, my students will clean up their area and
put any materials away. I will call on tables to line up based on the cleanliness of their
space and quiet voice levels. Many students are eager to be first in line, so calling on
them based on ready table groups serves as a positive consequence. After lining up, I
will prompt students to prepare to walk in the hallway by “putting a bubble in their
mouth”.
● At the end of the day, students will pack up, clean up their desk area and put away any
materials, and put their chair on top of their desk. I will prompt students to make
sure they are completing their classroom jobs (floor checker, library helper, computer
checker, etc.).
● Students may hold up a “1” pointer finger to signal to me they need to use the
bathroom. I will have a pass they will take with them.
○ “2” for water, “3” for tissue
● Table groups can earn points for keeping their area clean
throughout the day. Whichever group has the most points
at the end of the week may each select a prize from the prize box.
 Student Voice and Leadership
● In my classroom, I want to treat my students as miniature Other examples:
adults where they have a say in what is going on. I will do ● Flexible seating choices
this by including students in decisions and providing ○ Provides students with sense of
them with many choices throughout the day. Students ownership over their learning
deserve to have a voice in the classroom. Giving students space
these opportunities will help foster a positive learning ○ Choice caters to various
environment. learning styles/needs
○ Improves on student
● One way to strengthen student voice and decision-making skills
leadership is through classroom jobs ● Opportunities where students can
○ These jobs encourage a sense of select their own partners/groups
ownership and responsibility in ○ Increased engagement
students ○ Responsibility and
accountability
○ Collaborate with individuals
they are comfortable working
with
Student Voice and Leadership Continued
● Use of bi-weekly surveys or exit slips to gather feedback on the learning process, classroom environment, and
teaching methods (student input)
○ Students have a say in what is working or going well and what could be changed in our classroom
(collaborative effort)
● Reflection and goal setting
○ Builds on students’ self-awareness skills
○ Students can take responsibility for their learning and actions
○ Setting and achieving goals can be a source of motivation and resilience - celebrate success and provide
opportunities for improvement
● Peer teaching/assessment opportunities
○ Active participation and engagement in their own learning
○ Taking on leadership roles
● Provide choices in assignments
○ Ex: choosing writing topic
○ Increased engagement when students have a say of what they want to do
● Co-develop class rules/values with students + any other anchor charts
○ Ex: “what does reading to self look like”
○ Sense of ownership over their classroom environment
○ Student input is heard and valued
Relationships
 Student-Teacher Relationships
● As a teacher, I want to be viewed as compassionate, patient, empathetic, and
understanding. I want students to come to me when they are struggling. It is
important to me to remember that students have things going on outside of school. I
will put in the extra time to check in with my students and their families. I want my
students to count on me as someone they can trust and turn to. Building a healthy
relationship with my students is a very important goal of mine.
Student-Teacher Relationships Continued
Ways I will build these relationships include:
● Weekly check-ins
○ Exit slip each week to check-in on each of my students (how they are doing both
inside and outside of school)
■ I want each child to feel seen and valued
■ Turn to me as someone they can count on
○ I will encourage students to ask questions and provide feedback
○ I will use this as a way to reflect on my own teaching practices and figure out what is
going well and what I could change
● Greeting students at the door
○ Positive first impression to start the day - individual recognition
○ Can get a sense of how a student is feeling each day
○ Welcoming atmosphere and sense of belonging
● Learn about my students’ interests
○ I will make an effort to get to know my students as individuals
○ I will share and listen to any stories, ideas, etc.
○ I will do my best to attend any extracurricular activities I can (sports games, plays,
etc.)
○ I will think about student interests when planning lessons
● Morning meeting (slide 21)
 Student-Student Relationships
● A positive classroom environment is dependent on building strong student-student
relationships. These relationships offer crucial opportunities for students to build on
social and emotional development skills. Interacting with a diverse group of peers
exposes students to different backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. Through these
interactions, they are able to improve communication skills, develop empathy, and
practice cooperation and conflict resolution. Students are also powerful sources of
support and motivation for one another in and outside of the classroom. When
students feel comfortable, supported, and respected by their peers, they are more
likely to be engaged in learning and successful in the classroom.
Student-Student Relationships Continued
Ways I will build these relationships include:
● Student table groups
○ Encourages interaction and communication
○ Peer support, sharing resources, collaborative learning
○ Builds classroom community
*I will change table groups every few weeks so that students have the opportunity to interact and
work with different individuals (build multiple relationships, diverse perspectives)
● Think-pair-share
○ Engage students in discussion with one another: promote social interaction
○ Express own thoughts and listen to partner's ideas
○ Reinforces communication skills, allows for diverse viewpoints
● Partner/group work during activities/lessons
○ Engage with peers in a structured setting
○ Learn to collaborate to achieve a common goal
● Promote a culture of kindness among students:
○ Use of a pom pom jar: every time you do something kind for another student, you
can add a pom pom to the jar and share with the class
○ Emphasize the importance of kindness and encourage random acts of kindness
among students
● Morning meeting (slide 21)
 Morning Meeting
● In my classroom, I will implement a morning meeting every day. I will plan these out
using a weekly planning guide. Morning meeting is an important part of building
relationships: building both student-teacher and student-student relationships.
During morning meeting, students greet one another and myself. The greeting will be
followed by an activity (example: this or that) which will help students further get to
know one another. During morning meeting, there is a lot of time for students to
interact with one another and the teacher. They are able to greet one another,
practicing learning each other’s names, and are able to work together during the
activity, building collaboration skills. Through share, students have the opportunity
to talk about personal experiences, interests, or thoughts, allowing them to get to
know one another on a deeper level. Building these relationships is crucial in creating
a positive learning environment. Students feel more comfortable, welcomed, and
valued. These relationships can also increase engagement and motivation levels in the
classroom. Having this solid foundation also helps if problems arise down the road.
Focusing on building these relationships helps students in developing social and
emotional skills.
 Teacher-Family Relationships
● Building relationships with students’ families is essential for many reasons:
○ More effective and open communication - crucial for sharing information
about a student’s progress, challenges, and achievements
○ Getting to know my students’ families can provide valuable insight into a
student’s life: their background, interests, learning needs, personality, etc.
○ Building these relationships can help support continued learning at home
○ Work together to establish behavior expectations
○ Increased motivation and student engagement (see how their teachers and
families care about their success)
○ Understanding the cultural and linguistic diversity of my students will help me
create a welcoming and respectful classroom environment
○ Community building
Teacher-Family Relationships Continued
Ways I will build these relationships include:
● Weekly classroom newsletter
○ Every week, I will send out a weekly newsletter to families including what we learned and did in the
classroom that week, any announcements, reminders, upcoming special events, etc.
○ The first week of school, I will also send one out with our classroom behavior expectations
○ Parents may respond with any feedback or questions - fostering a sense of two-way communication
○ I will send this out via email and will also have a printed out version sent home in weekly folders
● Parents will also have the option to volunteer in the classroom every now and then for various activities
(sign-ups will be available through an online portal or through a form sent home in weekly folders)
● Each week, I will send home weekly folders including any graded or completed work, extracurricular
newsletters, any school-wide information, and the weekly classroom newsletter
● Throughout the school year, I will also keep up with an online blog that families may access and send to any
extended family
○ This blog will be a private link only to be shared between students and their families
○ I will upload all of the weekly newsletters in addition to photos of students and various activities
○ This will be updated bi-weekly
● Teacher-family conferences
○ I will meet with each family during teacher-family conferences twice a year (once at the start of the
year and once at the end of the year)
○ During these meetings, we will discuss student progress, achievements, and any challenges or
concerns me or the families may have
○ Encourages active involvement in child's education
○ Families will have the option to sign up through an online portal or through a form sent home in
weekly folders
 Behavior
Management
 Statement of Purpose
I believe in a positive and inclusive learning environment where students feel
seen, valued, and supported. I want to make my classroom an engaging and
creative space for children to explore new topics and take risks. With clear
expectations and consistent routines, students will have the ability to focus on
their academic growth. I want to help students build a solid foundation and have
a healthy, positive view of school and of learning while they are still young.
Rules
 Values
● At the beginning of the school year, my students and I will come up with expectations
altogether and write them down on an anchor chart to display in the classroom. During
this time, I will keep my own values in mind and ask students for any ideas they have. I
will have students raise their hands and share out their ideas. When coming up with these
values, we will discuss what each idea will look like in our classroom: “what does being
kind to self looks like?”. I will again ask students for their input and provide prompting if
necessary. Some ways to be kind to self and others includes actively listening, raising hand
with comments or questions, and being respectful. In this way, we will work together to
compile our whole class values and create our anchor chart. Doing this cooperatively
provides students with the opportunity to use their voice and also builds on
student-teacher relationships. We will continue coming back to these values and
expectations and adding to or changing them throughout the year. Before different
lessons or transitions, I will remind students of these expectations and prompt them to
turn to our anchor chart. Some of these values could include: being kind to self and
others, representing diverse perspectives, being safe, etc. One way we will implement these
values in class are through the books selected for our class library. These books will
represent multiple perspectives and cultures in order to connect to our class value of
embracing diverse perspectives.
 Positive Consequences
● A positive consequence is “a means by which teachers increase the probability that a
desired behavior will occur in the future; often referred to as reinforcer” (IRIS
Classroom Behavior Management, Page 6)
● Recognize students who follow classroom rules and procedures
● Clear and specific
● Directly related to rules and procedures
● Examples:
Activity Social Tangible

Free and Frequent Instructional choice, Smiles, high-fives, Stamps, stars, write
class job, brain peer cheers, choice them post-it notes
breaks, seating of partners/groups
options

Intermittent Extra recess Lunch with teacher or Prize box items,

peers, teacher helper stickers

Strong and Long Game or movie day Class party Award

 Negative Consequences
● A negative consequences is a means used to “decrease the probability that a behavior
will occur in the future” (IRIS Classroom Behavior Management, Page 7)
● Administered calmly and consistently
● Applied immediately after the behavior occurs
● Considerate of a student’s culture, background, and dignity
● Something that the student considers unpleasant
 Negative Consequences Continued
What behaviors warrant each negative consequence?
● Class Reminders:
○ Talking out of turn
○ Not following classroom procedures
● Individual Reminders:
○ Repeated disruptions
○ Failure to complete assignments or follow instructions
● Modification:
○ Ongoing defiance of procedures/rules
○ Frequent refusal to complete assignments
● Caregiver Contact:
○ Aggressive behavior/putting safety in danger
○ Extreme disruption of learning environment
○ Ongoing disrespect/refusal → if hasn’t changed after modifications, etc.
● Office Referral:
○ Major acts of aggression/violence
○ Repeated and severe defiance
○ Bringing unauthorized items to school
 Crisis Plan
● According to page 8 of the IRIS module “Classroom Behavior Management”, a crisis plan is
“a preplanned and well-thought-out set of strategies” used to “address severe behavioral
situations, such as when a student is out of control, potentially self-injurious, or possibly
harmful to others”.
● These plans should address 4 questions: who will seek assistance?, who will be notified?,
what do you want the rest of the students to do during the crisis?, and what will you do
once the crisis is over?
● Crisis plan example:
○ Call the office (or send a student to office).
○ Send the rest of the class to another teacher’s room.
○ Do your best to help the student in crisis to reestablish self-control.
○ Bring the rest of the students back to class once the crisis has been addressed.
○ Notify parents of incident.
● Crisis plans help teachers:
○ Respond effectively to the situation
○ Gain control of the situation
○ Take charge of their emotions and avoid escalating the situation
○ Experience less anxiety, fear, or frustration related to handling the crisis
(IRIS “Classroom Behavior Management”, page 8)
 Action Plan
● According to page 9 of the IRIS module “Classroom Behavior Management”, an action plan is “a well-thought-out timeline for
teaching and sharing the rules, procedures, and consequences with students, families, and other relevant school personnel”. In
my classroom, I will develop an action plan including what needs to be done, how it will be done, and when it will be
accomplished.
● Examples of important actions I will include in my plan:
○ Develop a toolkit
■ I will compile materials needed to implement a classroom behavior management plan
● Posters illustrating each procedure that the students will learn, behavior crisis forms, notes to send
home with students who have successfully adhered to rules and procedures
● Co-developed anchor chart of classroom rules/values
● Co-developed system of tier 1 consequences: redirection, planned ignoring, interest boosting,
antiseptic bounce, etc.
○ Teach the plan to students
■ I will take the time to teach the specific rules and procedures that students are expected to follow in addition
to the consequences for certain behaviors through a variety of lessons
● Timeline/order of lessons will be included in the plan
● These rules and expectations will be co-developed with students in order for student voice to be
present and to hear their contributions to the development of their classroom community
○ Share the plan with others
■ I will inform parents and other key school personnel about the classroom rules, procedures, and consequences
through email, newsletters, and at any parent-teacher or school-wide meetings.
■ Feedback is essential as a method to ensure cultural and community sensitivity/awareness for all students
represented.
○ Review the plan with students
■ I will plan lessons throughout the year to review the components of the classroom behavior management
plan, remind everyone of expected behavior, and troubleshoot any problems.
(IRIS “Classroom Behavior Management”, page 9)
 References
● Week 6 “Create a Positive Classroom Environment” Lecture
● Week 7 “Create a Positive Classroom Environment 2” Lecture
● Week 8 “Promote Social, Emotional, Behavioral Growth” Lecture
● “Classroom Behavior Management (Part 2, Elementary): Developing A Behavior
Management Plan.” IRIS Center, iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/beh2_elem/.