In a previous post I revealed a little information about the importance of classroom management and how some research seems to downplay the significance of it in regards to student achievement. I shared my opinion on that in the previous post, so in this post I want to focus on actually developing your classroom management plan.
It is important to understand that classroom management is not discipline (rules and consequences). Instead, realize that classroom management is the organization of students, space, time and materials. It includes all the things a teacher must do to foster student involvement and cooperation in all classroom activities & establish a productive working environment.
In a well managed classroom you will notice the following characteristics.
Now is the perfect time to develop your plan, if you don't already have one. I know some of you are teaching summer school, attending conferences, working a summer job, chauffeuring your kids to summer activities or taking summer classes yourself. You probably can't imagine doing your prep for the beginning of the year at this point. After all, this post is going out just before the July 4th holiday and that is something that is far from your mind. The reason this is the perfect time is because if you wait you will get buried with all of the beginning of the year activities and it will be too late to devote the time you need to devote to this project.
Putting your plan in writing enables you to prepare for nearly every situation and spot potential loopholes or problems. If you don't find the loopholes, your students will. I have used the analogy of a canoe with my staff in the past. You want to plug all the holes before you put your canoe in the water. A classroom management plan is your way of plugging the holes.
It is important to note at this point, that this is not a once and done type of activity. Developing a classroom management plan is an ongoing activity that needs to be reviewed and revised every year. Some of the items you will include in your plan will be permanent or fixed. You add them to your plan and unless you change schools or buildings, you won't need to change them. Others you will modify periodically with additions or improvements. How much to include in your plan will vary. Some of you will need a three inch binder, others will just need a three prong folder. Most of you will be somewhere in between. Here are the items I suggest you put in your plan, and I would use at minimum a one inch binder for this. Some of these items are self explanatory and others I will clarify why I think they are significant later.
Rules, procedures and discipline plans are necessary components of your management plan and may be covered in more detail in later posts. Seating charts and classroom diagrams are also necessary to help you with your organization process and make sure you are thinking through and planning for your students.
A daily agenda is to be part of your plan. I don't mean to say that you list exactly what you are doing each day in your management plan. What I am referring to is your plan for where this will be placed in the classroom and what components will be included in the agenda, what it will look like, etc. I also include in the list a classroom newsletter and communication plan. These are vital to establishing and maintaining relationships with stakeholders. How do you plan to communicate with and track communication with your parents?
Your emergency procedures and substitute packet need to also be included in your plan. First to demonstrate your preparedness and to organize your materials. I mention these two items together because you more than likely need to include your emergency procedures as a component in substitute packet.
Normally you will go through all of this information at the beginning of the year with all of your students and revisit the information as needed. But what do you do when new students arrive in your class? How do you inform them of the daily expectations of your classroom? Many times you rely on another student to fill them in or let them figure it out on their own. Preparing a new student packet that includes your procedures, rules, etc. that you can give to new students when they arrive is a great way to welcome them to the class and prepare them for your classroom.
The beginning of the year checklist is important to make sure you are taking care of everything leading up to and through the first few weeks of school.
The first day script isn't necessarily a word for word "script" of what you are saying throughout the day. It is an outline of the tasks you intend to accomplish that day and the items you want to discuss with your students that day. I have linked examples of the beginning of the year checklist as well as a first day script in the numerated list above.
I also included your lesson plans as part of your management plan. I don't necessarily mean that you need to include your actual lesson plans in the same binder or folder, though you certainly can do that. What I mean is, what will they look like? Where will they be stored? These all need to be included in your management plan.
This by no means is an exhaustive list of what should be in your management plan. Some components of this would likely be very lengthy like your procedures, etc. But is meant to give you a start on your management plan in preparation for the coming year. We will soon look at some other aspects of classroom management in future posts.
Thank you for reading The Cluttered Desk. You can find me on Twitter @jasonbengs. Please feel free to comment on the post and share your ideas with me. You can also leave a response on The Cluttered Desk Flipgrid page if you would like to leave a comment on this or any other post or podcast episode by going to https://flipgrid.com/03fa4e01 If you found any value in this post, please share it with others.
It is important to understand that classroom management is not discipline (rules and consequences). Instead, realize that classroom management is the organization of students, space, time and materials. It includes all the things a teacher must do to foster student involvement and cooperation in all classroom activities & establish a productive working environment.
In a well managed classroom you will notice the following characteristics.
- The climate of the classroom is work oriented, relaxed and pleasant.
- Students know what is expected of them and are generally successful at meeting those expectations.
- Students are involved with their work, especially with academic instruction.
- There is little wasted time, confusion or disruption.
Now is the perfect time to develop your plan, if you don't already have one. I know some of you are teaching summer school, attending conferences, working a summer job, chauffeuring your kids to summer activities or taking summer classes yourself. You probably can't imagine doing your prep for the beginning of the year at this point. After all, this post is going out just before the July 4th holiday and that is something that is far from your mind. The reason this is the perfect time is because if you wait you will get buried with all of the beginning of the year activities and it will be too late to devote the time you need to devote to this project.
Putting your plan in writing enables you to prepare for nearly every situation and spot potential loopholes or problems. If you don't find the loopholes, your students will. I have used the analogy of a canoe with my staff in the past. You want to plug all the holes before you put your canoe in the water. A classroom management plan is your way of plugging the holes.
It is important to note at this point, that this is not a once and done type of activity. Developing a classroom management plan is an ongoing activity that needs to be reviewed and revised every year. Some of the items you will include in your plan will be permanent or fixed. You add them to your plan and unless you change schools or buildings, you won't need to change them. Others you will modify periodically with additions or improvements. How much to include in your plan will vary. Some of you will need a three inch binder, others will just need a three prong folder. Most of you will be somewhere in between. Here are the items I suggest you put in your plan, and I would use at minimum a one inch binder for this. Some of these items are self explanatory and others I will clarify why I think they are significant later.
- Philosophy
- Procedures (Classroom & School)
- Rules (Classroom & School)
- Discipline Plan (Behavior Intervention)
- Seating Chart
- Daily Agenda
- Lesson Plans
- Classroom Newsletter
- Parent communication plan (log and frequency of contact)
- Classroom diagram
- Emergency Procedures
- Substitute Packet
- New Student Packet
- Beginning of the year checklist
- First Day Script
Rules, procedures and discipline plans are necessary components of your management plan and may be covered in more detail in later posts. Seating charts and classroom diagrams are also necessary to help you with your organization process and make sure you are thinking through and planning for your students.
A daily agenda is to be part of your plan. I don't mean to say that you list exactly what you are doing each day in your management plan. What I am referring to is your plan for where this will be placed in the classroom and what components will be included in the agenda, what it will look like, etc. I also include in the list a classroom newsletter and communication plan. These are vital to establishing and maintaining relationships with stakeholders. How do you plan to communicate with and track communication with your parents?
Your emergency procedures and substitute packet need to also be included in your plan. First to demonstrate your preparedness and to organize your materials. I mention these two items together because you more than likely need to include your emergency procedures as a component in substitute packet.
Normally you will go through all of this information at the beginning of the year with all of your students and revisit the information as needed. But what do you do when new students arrive in your class? How do you inform them of the daily expectations of your classroom? Many times you rely on another student to fill them in or let them figure it out on their own. Preparing a new student packet that includes your procedures, rules, etc. that you can give to new students when they arrive is a great way to welcome them to the class and prepare them for your classroom.
The beginning of the year checklist is important to make sure you are taking care of everything leading up to and through the first few weeks of school.
The first day script isn't necessarily a word for word "script" of what you are saying throughout the day. It is an outline of the tasks you intend to accomplish that day and the items you want to discuss with your students that day. I have linked examples of the beginning of the year checklist as well as a first day script in the numerated list above.
I also included your lesson plans as part of your management plan. I don't necessarily mean that you need to include your actual lesson plans in the same binder or folder, though you certainly can do that. What I mean is, what will they look like? Where will they be stored? These all need to be included in your management plan.
This by no means is an exhaustive list of what should be in your management plan. Some components of this would likely be very lengthy like your procedures, etc. But is meant to give you a start on your management plan in preparation for the coming year. We will soon look at some other aspects of classroom management in future posts.
Thank you for reading The Cluttered Desk. You can find me on Twitter @jasonbengs. Please feel free to comment on the post and share your ideas with me. You can also leave a response on The Cluttered Desk Flipgrid page if you would like to leave a comment on this or any other post or podcast episode by going to https://flipgrid.com/03fa4e01 If you found any value in this post, please share it with others.
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