Blast Off inMs. Mohs’s

Third Grade Classroom!

Casey MohsCurriculum and Pedagogy: EDUC 122

Management PlanDr. Beisser

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Table of ContentsClassroom Layout………………………………………..………………………… p. 3

Classroom Layout Rationale……………………...…………………… p. 3Operational Classroom Organization………………….…………………… p. 5

Attendance and Lunch Procedures……………….………………… p. 5Record Keeping ……………………………………………….…………… p. 5New Student Procedures……………………………………..………… p. 6Keeping the Classroom Orderly……………………………………… p. 6 Student Helpers…………………………………………………………..… p. 7 Displaying Student Work…………………………………..…………… p. 9

Disciplinary Policies ……………………………………………………………… p. 9 Positive Consequences …………………………………………...………p. 9Negative Consequences and Handling Infractions…………. p. 11Playground Conflicts…………………………………………………… p. 12Tardiness……………………………………………………….…………… p. 12 Cheating…………………………………………………………...………… p. 12 Lack of Motivation…………………………………………….………… p. 13Administration/Principal Involvement………………………… p. 13Professional Behavior ………………………………………………… p. 13

Classroom Routines/Procedures …………………………………….…… p. 13Established Expectations…………………………………………...… p. 13Getting Students’ Attention……………………………………..…… p. 14Beginning of the School Day………………………………………… p. 14Asking for Help…………………………………………………………..… p.15Homework ad Paper Collecting/Returning…………………… p. 16Free Time………………………………………………………………… ....p. 16Dismissals …………………………………………………………..……… p. 17 Specials……………………………………………………………….……… p. 17Restroom and Drinks……………………………………………...…… p. 17Meeting the Needs of All Learners………………………………... p. 18Parent Communication and Involvement …………………….. p. 18

Resources …………………………………………………………………………… p. 20

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Classroom Layout

Classroom Layout Rationale

My dream of becoming a teacher has been something that I have thought about my entire life. The classroom aspect has been something at the front of my mind as I have consistently been assessing and taking mental notes of the classrooms that I have visited. Throughout the years I have accumulated a variety of ways for organizing my future classroom.

Directly after entering the classroom, there is an area for students’ cubbies. The name of each student will be on a cut out of a rocket ship. This is the place where students can hang up their backpacks and coats and where they can pick up work that is returned and to be taken home and given to parents. Above the cubbies will be the birthdays of each of the students. I like this idea because it adds a little something extra to the classroom and gets the students excited for which of their classmates have birthdays that month. Also upon entering the room is the bathroom with a sink located right beside it. The sink would be there with a water fountain on the faucet, which is very convenient when students get thirsty and need something to drink. The wastebasket is right beside the sink for the disposal of paper towels and cups.

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In the southwest corner of my classroom will be my reading area. It will be labeledwith a bulletin board that says, “Find a SPACE to read!” I am getting a reading endorsement and I view reading as a huge part of the classroom. In the reading area there will be a rug with a rocking chair for when we read books as a class. There will also be two bookshelves that are filled with a variety of genres of books forstudents to choose from during their free time. There will also be beanbags for students to sit in, which will be determined by a system of taking terms for who gets to sit in them for that particular day. There will also be a student worktable that will be utilized during group work.

Find a SPACE to Read!

In the south wall of the classroom will be my desk, which also has a computer. It will have storage directly beside it to hold all of my lesson plans and files that are needed to be stored. I will also have a place for students to turn in their work to me. I have found that having the turn in area right in front of the teacher’s desk works the best due to students having a bigger sense of accountability because of having to turn everything right in front of their teacher. I will also have an area for a class pet, which would preferably be a hamster. This will teach students the responsibility for caring for a pet and who would care for the hamster would be on a rotation between students.

On the east wall is where the whiteboard can be found. The whiteboard has a rug in front of it for students to gather. The projector would preferably be hanging from the ceiling so it doesn’t take up as much space as it would by being on cart beside the rug. Next to the whiteboard would be a bulletin board for announcements and a calendar. The day would start off by all of the students gathering here for morning announcements and going over the schedule for that day. Next to the bulletin board and calendar would be a map of the world.

In the northeast corner of my classroom would be the computer area. This would be an area for students to participate in interactive games and activities on the computer. There will also be easels with a pencil sharpener right beside them. I think that art is a huge part of students’ school experiences. It fosters creativity and imagination, which is incredibly important at that age.

The desks are set up in a circular formation, with a rug in the middle. This setup would creative an environment for collaboration between students while also giving me the opportunity to keep track of all students at the same time. It also helps

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students during discussions because they can easily split off into their groups or, alternatively, participate in whole class discussion.

Operational Classroom OrganizationAttendance and Lunch Procedures

I will take my attendance and lunch count together in the mornings. At the beginning of the year, I will have sent home a lunch menu for the month with all of the students so they (and their parents) know what is for lunch each day. In the mornings when all of the students arrive, I will read out loud what is for lunch that day. From there, I will read off each students name and ask if they are having hot or cold lunch (cold lunch is one they bring from home). This will allow me to know what students are present/absent while being efficient and taking lunch count at the same time.

Record Keeping

My record keeping will be kept both in writing with a record book and through an Excel document on my computer. I will keep my records in two places to ensure that nothing gets lost and I always have a backup in case of emergency. In both of these forms of record keeping I will have sections for attendance, homework, assessment, participation points, and records of their behavior. The attendance section will just keep track of who was present, absent, and tardy on each day. The homework section of my records will have a section for each area of the curriculum. Each content area will have its own place will sections for each homework assignment. The assessment portion will contain progress reports for each student. This will help keep me organized for conferences and personal reference when taking into account how to differentiate learning for each student. Behaviors will also be recorded, both positive and negative, along with participation points. This will include an area where other comments can be made so I can reference particular instances that a student was performing at a high or low level.

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My record keeping methods will be alphabetized by each student’s last name. This will make referencing my records easy because I will not have to search through things to find their file. This also makes it easy to transition a new student into the classroom because I can easily add their file to my records in accordance with their last name.

New Student Procedures

Before the school year begins I will mail each parent of the students in my classroom a parent newsletter welcoming not only the student to my classroom, but them as well. The newsletter will include a little blurb about me, where I attended school, and my contact information. I will also include with the newsletter a letter addressed to the student and welcoming them to my class. This will incorporate welcoming both the parent and the student to my classroom.

Something else I will do before the school year begins is hold a “Meet the Teacher” night. While going through grade school I loved going to these events, so I want to take that and implement that into my own classroom. It eases the students worries for the

first day of school because they will have already met me and seen some of the other students that will also be in my classroom. It also gives the parents of the students a chance to mingle and get to know each other.

If I receive a new student during the school year, I will do my very best to make them feel welcome and comfortable in my classroom. Before they officially start in my classroom, I will invite them to come and visit my room to see how everything works. I will also give them a tour of the school so they gave an idea of where everything is. I will also assign a student that I feel like would be compatible with the new student to be their “buddy” for a week to get them acclimated to their new environment. This student will help them with our daily tasks, eat lunch with them, and include them in their games at recess.

Keeping the Classroom Orderly

Keeping my classroom orderly is something that I will have to take very seriously. I will ensure that students understand the expectations I have for them from the very first day of school. I will verbally inform students of their responsibilities at the beginning of the school year, but also repeatedly come back to the expectations to ensure that they are followed consistently throughout the school year. The expectations that I will have of my students in order to keep the classroom orderly include:

When students arrive in the morning, they will unpack their bags and then hang them up, along with their coats, in their assigned cubbies.

When we leave the classroom, all chairs will be pushed in. When supplies are borrowed from Ms. Mohs, they will be returned.

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Depending on how dirty the floors are, students will be told how many pieces of paper (or other things) they will be asked to pick up off the floor as their “get out of class” slip at the end of the day.

Students’ desks will be kept clean and orderly. Friday will be our day to clean out our desks for the weekend.

At the end of the school day, chairs will be stacked on top of the students’ desks. If a student is absent that day, the student who holds the classroom job “Chair Monitor” will stack their chair

Student Helpers

Along with the keeping the classroom orderly expectations, I will also have assigned classroom jobs for each student. These classroom jobs will be on a rotation so everyone has a chance to have each job throughout the year at least once. I will post the jobs on the wall under a bulletin board that reads “Star Helpers.” Each job will be listed on the bulletin board, along with the name of the student (on a cut out star) who holds that job. Classroom jobs will include:

Line Leader Door Holder Board Cleaner Pet Manager feeds the classroom pet and picks one other student to

assist them in cleaning out the pet’s home Calendar Monitor will announce the date each morning and switch the

day on the classroom calendar Chair Monitor ensures that all chairs are stacked at the end of the day,

stacks the chairs of absent students at the end of the day, checks the room each time we leave to see if chairs are pushed in

Lunch Count Monitor turns in the lunch count to the office Messenger runs messages for me throughout the building Desk Inspector inspects the desks on Friday to ensure that they are all

clean Floor Inspector inspects the floor at the end of the day to ensure that

it is relatively clean after we clean up Electrician turn the lights on/off, turn the smartboard on/off, hand

out electronics if needed (example: iPads) Paper Collector collects completed assignments done throughout the

day

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Displaying Student Work

Displaying the work of students shows how much I appreciate their hard work and effort and also gives them a sense of pride. I will have a section in my classroom that is for “Work That’s Out of This World!” This will be a display of student work that went above and beyond. It is extremely important that each

Line Leader

DoorHolder

Board Cleaner

PetManager

Calendar Monitor

Chair Monitor

Lunch CountMonitor Messenger

DeskInspector

Floor Inspector Electrician

Paper Collector

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student gets featured on the board so that no one is feeling left out, so I will monitor in my records how many times each student is featured so that I can manage the board.

Disciplinary PoliciesPositive Consequences (Rewards)

To me, a reward system is something that is extremely important to implement into a classroom. It gives the students something to work towards and holds them accountable for their actions. As a teacher, I will make sure to consistently give positive feedback to all students. This could be in the form of stickers, verbal comments, or writing a positive note on tests/homework assignments.

I will also have a whole class reward system. I wanted implement a system that would teach students something as well as make them feel responsible. To do this, I

would have a “salary” system. Third grade students are aware that parents earn salaries, so I would like them to build off that prior knowledge in the form of this reward system. Students would get “paid” by me for positive actions: turning in homework, helping a friend when they’re having trouble, following classroom

expectations (especially when they think I’m not paying attention). They would also

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get part of their salary docked for negative behaviors such as hitting others, disrupting class, interrupting others, etc. I would keep track of how much money

people earn and every two weeks I would give them their “paycheck.” They are able to use this paycheck in the store that I have in my classroom. Each item in the store would be listed for a different price. The items would include having lunch with the teacher, pencils, erasers, stickers, being able to write in colored pen for the day, and

other small monetary items I would find in dollar stores. This system teaches students the basics of money and gives me the opportunity on how to teach students

money values. It also teaches them responsibility in managing their money. It also makes my schedule less hectic because I would only open the store once every two

weeks so it is less disruptive to my schedule.

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Negative Consequences (Penalties) and Handling Infractions

Penalties in the classroom can be difficult to handle. Something that I want to be sure to do is be consistent with my consequences. I also will have to follow through when giving consequences to make sure my credibility stays in tact and students understand who is in charge of the situation.

In my classroom, I will have a cool off area. This gives students the opportunity to take some time to themselves to gather their thoughts and calm down. When situations escalate, it is important to keep in mind that some students just need a few minutes to gather their emotions and then meet with me to have a discussion on the situation that had occurred.

Another thing that I would have in my classroom is a clip chart. The levels on the chart from bottom to top will be parent contact (and/or office), teacher’s choice, think about it, ready to learn, showing pride, role model, and outstanding. Each student will have a clothespin with his or her name on and everyone will start on the ready to learn level. Throughout the day, I will monitor behaviors in the classroom and tell students whether to clip up or clip down in accordance with their behaviors. For teacher’s choice, I will have to individualize their consequences based on what would work for them. For example, some students could miss recess or have to sit out of a fun activity that we do as a class. This clip chart system would be an example of something that I would have to be consistent with and follow through with.

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Playground ConflictsFor my third grade students, I

would have students have a meeting with each other to try and talk out the issue. In some situations, this would clear up the conflict. However, if this fails to work, I will have the students fill out a conflict report. This report would have each student explain what happened during the conflict and their ideas for how the conflict could be resolved. From there, students will have a meeting with me to discuss what they had written on their reports. I will mediate the conversation and chime in when necessary. From this conversation, I will decide if consequences are necessary and take into account how often each student has to have meetings like these.

Tardiness

Managing tardiness in third grade can be tricky. Many times at this age students are not in charge of their transportation to school. If students are continually tardy, I will send a note home with their parents to ensure that they are aware that their son/daughter is continually tardy. The parents would be asked to sign this paper and have the student return to me to keep in my records. If the behavior continues, I would place a call to their parent or guardian to discuss the reason for tardiness and come to an understanding on how to manage this behavior for the future. I would also have a meeting with the student either before or after class to hear their explanation for their tardiness.

Cheating

In my classroom, cheating will be absolutely unacceptable. At the beginning of the school year, I will explain to my students immediately my policy on cheating so they understand the policy. I will also define cheating for them: looking at another students paper during a test or quiz, copying someone else’s homework, and explain that cheating is claiming the work of someone else as your own. If I see or suspect that a student is cheating, I will schedule a conference with this student to discuss the situation. From there, I will place a call home to discuss with the student’s parent/guardian that the student had been cheating. The student will receive a zero for the assessment/homework and the incident will be recorded in my records.

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Lack of Motivation

As a teacher, it is my responsibility to have students get excited about their success and education. This requires me to get excited about my lessons so that portrays excitement for my students. If a student seems unmotivated/bored by my curriculum, I will schedule a meeting with that student. We will discuss their behavior and reasons behind their lack of motivation. Together, we will brainstorm ideas on how we can change this to have the student become more engaged during the school day. If the problem persists, parent participation might have to be included.

Administration/Principal Involvement

Given my classroom management plan and making my expectations clear to my students, I would hope that the principal and administration involvement in my classroom is only necessary is extreme cases. I would have my principal look over my management plan at the beginning of the year to get his or her feedback on how I will handle my classroom. From there, I would have a discussion with them on cases in which they would like to be contacted for a consultation on the situation.

Professional Behavior

Being professional is incredibly important, both in the workplace and out of it. I will demonstrate my professionalism by the way that I dress. I will also refrain from the gossip that could commonly happen and remove myself from situations that that is occurring. Gossip has the power to destroy relationships and cause tension between myself and other teachers, so leaving the situations will cease this from happening. Also, I will conduct myself in an appropriate manner outside of school. When you are a teacher, especially in a small town like I hope to be, everyone knows who you are and are watching your actions. If I am conducting myself in a poor manner, even if I’m not at school, that could damage my reputation

and my credibility as a competent and successful teacher. Something else that I will be sure to do at school is always be on time. Punctuality is extremely important and reflects responsibility.

Classroom Routines/Procedures

Established Expectations

The first day and week of school are extremely important in establishing classroom expectations to students. As a class, I will go

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through the expectations that I have for all students. I will present a poster that I will have made before class began that list the expectations I have. It will be titled “Our Classroom Rules”. The rules will include:

Be safe. Be kind. Use quiet, school voice. Raise your hand. Follow directions the first time. Respect others. Do not disrupt our learning. Always do your best!

As stated before, I will have this made into a poster. After we go through these rules, each student will take a turn to come and sign the poster. I will explain that this will serve as proof that each student agreed to the rules and I will have something to reference later on if undesirable behaviors occur. I will keep this poster hanging for the remainder of the school year.

Getting Students’ Attention

When transitioning between tasks or when I simply need to get student’s attention, I will flicker the lights or do a clapping sequence. At the beginning of the year, we will practice both of these. I will explain my expectations for when I do either of these things and ensure that students understand their duties during transitions. Practicing these will show me that the students are capable of doing both of these and that it will successfully get their attention.

Something else that will help with getting the attention of students is communicating with them how much time they have to transition. To help with this, I will project a timer onto the board so that students can see how much time they have left to get everything done they need to.

Beginning of the School Day

I always want to start my school day on a positive note. I will greet each student at the door as they are entering my classroom. My goal is to make each and every student to feel comfortable and welcome every single day in my classroom, so I will take time to acknowledge everyone. When everyone is seated, I will go

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through my morning routine. After taking attendance and lunch count, my calendar monitor will announce what day of the week it is, what month it is, and what day of the month it is. We will also go through what specials we have that day so the kids know what to expect. I will always have the schedule written on the whiteboard.

Asking for Help

Having my students ask for help might be something that takes some time for them to understand and master. During whole class instruction, I will explain to students that they are to raise their hand to be called on. I will practice this with everyone so that they know exactly what to do. During independent work time, I will instruct students that they can raise their hand if they need help. This might be hard for students to pay attention to if they get impatient.

Another procedure that I would like to implement is the stoplights on the desks of students. I will cut out stoplights and tape them to the desk of each student. There will be Velcro on the green, yellow, and red areas of each stoplight. Each student will have a piece of paper that also has Velcro on it that says “Me” on it. Students will be told that they can put the “Me” paper on the green, yellow, or red part of the stoplight. I will circulate the room to look at the stoplights to see how students are doing on their assignments.

Green: My assignment is going well and I don’t need any assistance. Yellow: My assignment is going okay but I would like you to stop and check

my progress. Red: I need help on my assignment, please!

If I am at my desk, which I plan to rarely do, I will instruct students that they can form a line. They will take turns for me to assist them in whatever question they have.

Homework and Paper Collecting/Returning

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For homework to be turned in, I will have a bin that is labeled “Completed Homework.” Students will be told that this is where they are to turn in their completed homework. For homework that was assigned over the night, they will turn in this homework when they arrive in the morning unless otherwise stated by me. For work completed throughout the day, I will either have each student place their completed work in the homework bin as well, or have them collect their assignments as a table group and have my paper collector gather them and hand them to me.

Returning papers can be an extremely hectic time. In order to make this more orderly, I will return graded assignments to the cubbies of each student. They will then place this in their take home folder to show their parents. This will eliminate unnecessary time that would be required to hand them out during the day. Another option would be to have papers waiting on their desks for when they arrive at school. They could put everything in their folder right at the beginning of the day so we wouldn’t have to worry about it later.

Free Time

When free time is an option in my classroom, I will have centers provided that they can choose from. These centers will be:

Literacy Independent reading Technology (computers, iPads) with educational games/activities Art Free writing Math/Science Sensory

The centers should be a fun experience for all students. They will aim to be educational and entertaining for all. I will have them preplanned with games and activities so that there is no chaos that is usually associated with free time. Also, in order to manage free time, I will utilize a projected timer so that students know how much time they have for free time. This will eliminate surprises and protests that they didn’t get the set time.

Dismissals

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My goal for dismissals is that they will run as smoothly as possible. Students will have everything gathered on their desks that need to take home. I will dismiss the tables in order of who are on task/ready. They will then be able to go to their cubbies and pack their bags, get on their coats, etc. They will then be asked to line up at the door. As students are leaving the room, I want make sure that each student gets acknowledged before they go home just as I acknowledged them as they arrived. I will follow students that are going to the busses or parking lot to get picked up.

Specials

From the beginning of the school year, I will stress and ensure that students are to behave in specials the same way they behave in my classroom. In order to make this happen, I will have conversations with the teachers of specials when I go to pick up my class. I will ask how the students behaved and if there is anything that I should be aware of. If there was a behavior issue, I will address that with my classroom and take away part of their salary, which is the reward system that I will have implemented.

Specials are a great time for students to get involved in their jobs. The line leader and door holder will be asked to do their jobs each time we leave for specials. The chair monitor will also check to make sure that everyone has pushed in his or her chairs. Something that I would practice before specials would be how to appropriately walk in the hallway. We would discuss and model the proper way to do these tasks.

Restroom and Drinks

The classroom layout that I included in this management plan includes a bathroom, sink, and water fountain in it. If this was the actual way my future

classroom was arranged, I would have students ask me to use the bathroom as they need to. The bathroom would have a stop/go sign on the outside that could be switched for when it was in use and when it was vacant. Drinks would be given after recess with the process of saying, “1, 2, 3, save some for me!” This limits the amount of time that each student has to get a drink (~6 seconds). It also is catchy and gives the students something to do when they are waiting for a drink. Also, students could get a drink during classroom time if they ask me first. If I were in a classroom that differed from my included classroom layout, I would have to alter these plans. I would have punch cards for each student with the numbers 1-6 at the bottoms.

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Each student would get a new punch card every three weeks. Each time a student leaves to get a drink or use the restroom I would punch one of the numbers out of the sheet. This helps me monitor how many times that student has left the classroom and also serves as a hall pass for them on their way to the restroom. I would also hold classroom bathroom breaks after lunch/recess. I would have students sit in a line outside the restroom and dismiss 3-4 students at a time to use the restroom while everyone else sits quietly and waits their turn.

Meeting the Needs of All Learners

Differentiation is key in a classroom in order to meet the needs of all learners. Understanding the needs of each student will be vital. I will monitor the strengths/needs of all learners in order to differentiate the curriculum that best fits them. There are many ways that I plan to meet the needs of all of the learners in my classroom. These include:

Assessment: I will take measures to understand the best way for each student to be assessed. Assessment can be a stressful thing and I want to make the process as easy as possible. Although some assessments can’t be changed and I will have to teach all of my students to be successful on standardized testing, I can alter my assessment to ensure that students can accurately communicate with me what they have learned.

Flexible grouping: I will group students by learning preferences, ability level, readiness to learn a certain topic, and performance. This will encourage participation of all students and help everyone get the most of a particular activity.

Time: Some students may need more/less time than others. I will have separate activities for those who finish early to work on while others finish. I will make sure not to rush those who need more time.

I will assess students before a topic is introduced so I can get an idea of where they are at with that topic. This will help me better plan activities and lessons on that topic and what modifications might need to be made.

Parent Communication and Involvement

Communication is key in many areas of life, and parent communication by an educator is extremely important. I will use ClassDoJo to communicate with parents. Many parents have smartphones even if they don’t have access to a computer. ClassDoJo allows for me to update the behavior/grades of students throughout the day. It also has an app that parents can download so they can track the progress of their student each and every day. If parents don’t have access to a smartphone, I will still update their behavior and grades. I will then print out their reports and send them home with the student for the parent to look at.

I am a big believer in open communication. In my newsletter and throughout the school year, I will encourage parents to call or email me if they have any questions about their student or what I’m doing in my classroom. I will be responsible and prompt when answering these inquiries. Newsletters will also be a

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common procedure that I send home with students to give to their parents. They will be sent home every two weeks so that parents can see what I’ve been doing. The newsletters will include:

Announcements of upcoming events Reminders for the next two weeks Descriptions on the units that we will be working on next Explanations for how the last units went Highlights of what is going on in the school Classroom news

Another thing that I want to be sure of is contacting parents immediately if there are any concerns with their child. I want to ensure that there are no surprises when conferences come. That could lead to confrontation, which is something that I want to avoid. I will keep parents informed on the behavior and academic progress of their child to ensure that there are no surprises.

Resourceshttp://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr301.shtml

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http://mindfulrambles.blogspot.com/2014/10/tbt-my-last-attempt-at-happiness-as.htmlhttp://www.proteacher.org/c/611_Restroom_Breaks_Policies/Procedures.htmlhttp://lcsclaremore.publishpath.com/meet-the-teacher-nighthttp://www.myclassroomideas.com/work-thats-out-of-this-world/http://www.pinterest.com/pin/377035800028486416/http://teach-a-roo.blogspot.com/2011/06/clip-chart-one-of-my-new-favorite.htmlhttps://www.google.com/search?q=animated+timer&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS603US603&espv=2&biw=1232&bih=740&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=YuNrVMODMI6jyATnmoGoBw&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#tbm=isch&q=animated+lightswitch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=nZQRJyK3QVPuVM%253A%3BXW5UMqRbetnW3M%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fd13yacurqjgara.cloudfront.net%252Fusers%252F63537%252Fscreenshots%252F1069396%252Ftoggle.gif%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fdribbble.com%252Ftags%252Flight_switch%3B800%3B600http://www.pinterest.com/pin/413979390721633019/

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