If there is one thing I know is that to have a functioning classroom you need to have an effective management plan.  I have worked with a number of different teachers. Each one of those teachers had diverse teaching and management strategies. I have taken bits and pieces from each of them to create my own unique plan of action in the classroom. I have worked on everything from rules to classroom arrangement. Success in the classroom is what I strive for and the following is my design to achieve just that.

            Rules are the foundation that we start the year off on. I have three basic rules for my classroom:

1. Everyone has the right to be treated with respect and kindness.
2. Everyone has the responsibility to listen while I am teaching.
3. Everyone has the right to learn.

As a class we discuss these rules to understand what they mean to the students and me. Once that is accomplished we can move on the rules that the students feel are appropriate for the class. The students have the chance to brainstorm rules and then as a class we vote on them. One of the rules that the students created in years past was: I have the responsibility to be prepared for learning. Our students know what needs to be done in school and therefore understand what the rules need to be to have a cooperative classroom. It helps us to create a community of learners that feel that they are vested in the classroom.

            It never fails that when the students arrive to my classroom they want to go to the bathroom. It started out as a problem and I knew I needed to come up with something to fix it. What the students and I worked on was when is it the right time to ask to go to the bathroom. We all agreed that when you first get to class, while I am teaching, or while others are speaking was the wrong time to go to the bathroom. I then showed them a sign out and in sheet for the washroom. If a student needed to go to the bathroom they would sign out and go. No student can go to the bathroom more than once during my class. If they were going more than once then there would be a consequence to be determined by me. Usually the consequence was an extra sheet of homework to make up for the work they missed in class.

            Entering and leaving my class is to be done quietly and quickly. In the beginning of the year we practice this to help the students to learn and remember what to do for the rest of the year. When a student finishes early I have extra work that is brain teasers, suduko, or a coloring sheet that is done by answering questions to figure out what color should go where. Transitions in my class are also practiced in the beginning of the year. I like to start off the class with a reading a passage in my reading corner. The students need to be able to get up from the reading corner and go back to their seat without talking or running. We work on this until the students can do it with out thinking about it. I try to turn it into a habit. 

            I have my classroom set up to what best suits me. When a student walks into my classroom they see an open setup. I only have tables in my class. I do a lot of group work and that works best for that. It causes less commotion when we get into groups. I have my reading corner in the back of my classroom. It is a place for students to take a journey with me into a new subject and explore. I have a hutch that has student supplies out and ready for them to use. The bookcase by my desk has games and the sign out for the bathroom. I have two spots in my class to set up my projector. I have a wipe board that I put daily assignments. I use the black board to put up important ideas that we are working on. My bookcase by the door is where I have work for the students when the finish early and books to read for fun. I like the way my class is setup because I can move around the room easily and so can the students.

            I started this out saying that the students come up with the rules, and they do. Once we have done that then I explain that there are consequences to the students breaking the rules. We discuss what happens when you abuse the bathroom privileges (extra worksheet for time missed), talking out of turn (name on the board), disrespecting another student (going to the hall and writing what just happened and why), or not working during independent time (sit in the hall with me and explain what the problem is and take the work home). If a student is not following any of the rules (I had this student) they will be sent to the office so that they do not stop the other students from learning. I try to follow what Mendler uses in Discipline with Dignity. I explain the procedures to the students. If they misbehave there are consequences. In the end I try to help the students make sense of their mistake and learn from it.

            I start off the year knowing that I need to work with every single one of my students. Whether or not I like them to start with is not relevant. I had a few students this year that it was a challenge to work with them. By the middle of the school year I found myself wanting to work with these students. I hung in there and stuck with the students that were the hardest to work with. I think I broke down a little bit and understood them better. I know that they started to break down and listen to me. Every year it is a new learning experience with how I am going to work with the confronting students. I remind myself that t is worth it in the end. Even if the students doesn’t pick up everything that I am putting down it is okay. It is that I know the student was affected by me is what is important.

            I try to be a compassionate authority figure in my student’s lives. When they are in my class I am constantly checking on all of them. I walk around the room as I am teaching. I never want to stay in one place at one time as to give the students that split second to do something. There are going to be days when I am sick or tired; but I will never let that interfere with how I am in class. My students know that I am watching them at all times. I have even heard my students tell others not to do something because I will see them. I like them to know that I am aware of what is going on in class. It gives me that feeling of making a difference. Maybe they will think twice when they get into the next class not to do something that doesn’t comply with the rules. I am trying to mold them into responsible young boys and girls.