CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN
INTRODUCTION
My philosophy of education, and what I believe about learners, subject matter, and the learning process, is firmly grounded in existentialism. That is, I strongly believe that acknowledging the importance of the individual is the absolute forefront of all learning. Learning, whether it is through life experiences or academic experiences, is reflected in the individual. Learning does, by definition, define and shape the individual. Thus, I find it of utmost importance that the individual is not simple taken into account in the classroom environment, but that the individual is recognized for their emotional connection to learning and actively working to cultivate not just more knowledge in order to pass exams, but also to cultivate an authentic life for themselves. This belief directly impacts my classroom management approach. My classroom management plan reflects the value I place on my students as individuals in my classroom, and it relies on the use of synergy as a prevention approach, discipline as self control as a supportive approach, and win-win discipline as an intervention approach.
PREVENTION APPROACH
The prevention approach I will use in my management plan is synergistic. This approach supports my philosophy because it sets the tone that I value my students as individuals and reinforces my belief in them for them. It is an approach that does not ground itself in demanding students learn, but rather, comes from a more auxiliary arena: that of motivation, excitement, and energy. This, I believe, results in students who are engaged. When students are engaged, then there is a much less chance of misbehavior. This approach also results in the students identifying themselves and viewing themselves and valuable individuals of the classroom—where they are both respected, and expected to be respectful. Thus, if misbehavior does occur, I as the teacher am able to approach the student(s) who are misbehaving from a point of gentle, respectful concern—reinforcing that I see them as a valuable contributor to the classroom.
STRATEGIES (from C.M. Gordon):
1. During the very first class meeting, I will discuss with my students the transparency of how I view them: as individuals. Because I view them as such, I let them know that together we will discuss and decide on agreement about how we will tackle our instructional time, what activities we will complete, and how we should behave collectively, amongst ourselves, and personally. Perhaps this can be manifested as a set of “classroom norms” we design together.
2. I will tell my students that my classroom norms are never identical to any other classes I have had before, because each of my classes is composed of so many different individuals! Thus, I want to recruit them for help in designing our “rules and regulations” for our classroom.
3. From my first class session on, I will ask my students to help create an energizing classroom by telling them I am interested in what they find interesting. Whether or not that is a book they are reading on their own, a piece of news they want to share, or some personal experience—I will make it known that their experiences and learning counts in the classroom.
4. Discipline will be handled as needed. If a student needs discipline, I will revert to the norms that we established as a class. I will inquire, from a helpful and gentle standpoint, how I can help the student.
5. I will emphasize to my students by directly telling them, at the start and throughout our class, that it is possible to learn, cultivate personal growth, and enjoy the process. So much of academia is stereotyped as something that should be hard or stressful. I believe it to be the simplest and best approach to just come to the student’s level, individual to individual, and tell them: it does not have to be that way.
APA CITATION: (Charles, 2007)
SUPPORT APPROACH
The support approach I will employ in my management plan for my classroom is discipline as self-control. This reflects my philosophy (existentialism) because of the emphasis it places on the student as the individual. The teacher (me) must give up control so that the students are free to develop their own sense of self-control. As I firmly believe learning to be ultimately in the hands of the learner, I hold the same truth for the learner’s behavior. A student will only learn if they want to, and a student will only behave if they want to. Thus, it is important that students are treated this way (as adults)—and that they are given the space to do so (power and authority). Of course, with power and authority comes responsibility, which the students will need to become aware of. There are a number of strategies that will help students realize this.
STRATEGIES (from Thomas Gordon):
1. In order to support my view of my students as valuable individuals, I plan to employ the use of “I-Messages” and eliminate the use of “You-Messages.” I-Messages specifically state how I or my student(s) feel, where as You-Messages assign blame. Since we are all to be considered valuable individuals, there will be no assignment of blame through the use of You-Messages.
2. Passive listening, or “attentive silence”, is another strategy that can be used to support my students. By remaining quiet while students are speaking, there may be an opportunity for them to tell me if there is something that is in the way of their learning. It is also a great way to just learn more about them.
3. Questioning is a strategy that is juxtaposed to passive listening, but it can yield the same/similar/better effect—it all depends on the student in front of the teacher. Questioning can be used to help the student himself or herself identify what their roadblock(s) to learning may be.
4. Door opening is yet another strategy that will help encourage students to articulate any frustrations or trouble they may have in their path to learning. It is very similar to questioning, by characterized by a non-threatening tone and very open-ended approach. This can also be used to support active learning. For example, if we are reading a text together as a class and I notice a student has reacted (either verbally or non-verbally) to the text in some way, I might facilitate this student’s learning by asking about their reaction as inviting them to explain their feelings.
5. Shifting gears is a strategy that may be employed at any point in time during the classroom—essentially, whenever there are feelings of unease or negativity, the teacher “switches gears.” This can be accomplished by changing tone, pace, or body language.
APA CITATION: (Charles, 2007)
INTERVENTION APPROACH
As an intervention approach, I will use the Win-Win Discipline. Essentially, this approach makes its foundation in the belief that disciplinary opportunities are actually just that: opportunities for learning. The key to this approach is to make sure that the students know that their teacher is on their side. This can ripple out to include others, such as the student’s family members. It’s important that the student does not feel under attack and instead feels that the goal is to help them achieve. This approach is in lockstep with the both the existential philosophy and the preventative and supportive approaches that have been outlined: it, too, gives power and responsibility to the individual. In this approach, discipline is actually something that the student “acquires”—it is not something that is done to the student. This is mirrored in this approach in the methods that may be employed, should they be needed.
STRATEGIES (from Spencer Kagan, Patricia Kyle and Sally Scott):
1. Do not accept disruptive behaviors, but validate them. This validates the student as an individual, but also provides the student with the platform to own their actions.
2. Use “Moment of Disruption Structures” to bring students back to the forefront of learning. These can include simple rhetorical questions addressed to the class as a whole so that individuals do not feel attacked/singled out. An example is: “Class, if we were at our very best right now, how would we look?” This invites students to put on their best behavior and engage.
3. Assign special roles to students who seem bored. These roles can be simple, such as “recorder” or “gatekeeper”—but they provide students with an extra feeling of belonging and can help them to be more plugged into their own learning.
4. A simple chat can be an extremely effective strategy for dealing with a single student who may be disrupting my classroom. It reflects my philosophy in the sense that I would approach the student gently, respectfully, and as an equal. This chat would serve to show the student that we (the student and I) are actually on the same side. In this approach, the student and I are looking for a win-win solution to the behavior problem.
5. For students that may continually disrupt the classroom, a helpful strategy may be to put the student on a “Personal Improvement Plan.” This plan can be an extension of what the classroom norms are—it can be a personal set of norms for the student to operate by. Except in this case, they are co-creators of this plan. This emphasizes their individuality and gives them the power to take control back into their own hands. It gives the student a clear opportunity to improve.
APA CITATION: (Charles, 2007)
CONCLUSION
Both independently and collectively, the three approaches I have chosen to use in my classroom for the purposes of management reflect my high respect for the importance of the individual in my classroom. The use of synergy as a prevention approach, discipline as self control as a supportive approach, and win-win discipline as an intervention approach reflect my existential philosophical belief and respect that all my students are human being with real emotions that need to be validated. I believe that the use of these approaches will help my students define themselves via the personal choices they are free to make as a result of the implementation of this management structure. As a result, the end goal is that they have had a chance to cultivate an authentic sense of self through their academic explorations.
Work Cited
Charles, C. M. (2007). Building classroom management. (9th ed.). New York: Pearson.