Preventative Classroom community.

. Developing a space where students feel safe with each other and the teacher is helpful when it comes to preventing classroom misbehaviors. When students feel comfortable they are able to take risks and learn, meaning that they are engaged in their classroom and do not feel a need to be off task. Likewise, students that feel cared for and care for their teacher want to impress them and will work to receive positive praise from someone they value. o Be Respectful. There is only one rule in my classroom and that is to be respectful. At the beginning of the year students will have a conversation during morning meeting about what it means to be respectful, what we can be respectful towards (peers, teachers, materials, etc.) and the importance of being respectful. These points will be made into a bulleted list to be displayed in the classroom so that students have a visual reminder. As necessary students can facilitate class meetings about occurrences in the classroom, if they were or were not respectful and what can be done to redress the incident if necessary. If students decide at any point that their definition of respect is incomplete they may revisit the idea and adjust the classroom reminder. o Community circle. Beginning the day with a morning meeting sets the tone for the day and develops a strong sense of community within the classroom (Kriete 2002). Every day students will begin the day by sitting in a circle on the floor. An alternating leader will facilitate the classroom meeting so that it is student, not teacher, run. The morning meeting will include a beanbag signifying who is allowed to talk; the morning meeting leader will be in charge of monitoring who has the beanbag and distributing it as necessary. Students will begin by going in a circle to check in on how they are doing; students will be provided the sentence stem I am ________ because _____________. Students are not allowed to use the adjectives: happy, sad, bored or tired; and every student is required to use an adjective that has not been used previously in the circle. Once the beanbag has circulated the student leader can raise any issues on the class agenda (Teachertube video). During any meeting the guiding rule, as always, is being respectful. This daily meeting is meant to encourage and build a safe community throughout the classroom. Class Agenda. This is a form that will be accessible to the class every day. Students or the teacher are welcome to write down whatever they feel they would like to discuss as a class during the following class meeting (i.e. class parties, incidents in the class, upcoming events, etc.). Entries can include a name, but may also be left anonymous. If an agenda item does not include a name participants will not be allowed to ask the student to reveal him or herself. The agenda is meant to promote class discussions; it is not an appropriate place for targeting people or attacking classmates. This will be discussed under the every present concept of being respectful. These expectations are critical to allow students to feel safe.

o Location. By continuously changing their position in the classroom the teacher can make all students feel like they are equally important, not just those students at the front of the class. Students are also more likely to stay on task and be engaged while their teacher is nearby so moving throughout the room is important to keep all students involved and on task. o Observations. While students are doing independent or group work the teacher can move throughout the classroom and monitor the progress of students. They can provide help as needed or be gentle reminders to stay on task. This process makes students feel like their teacher is a part of their community, rather than someone who removes themselves from the class whenever possible. o Student notes. Throughout the year the teacher should take notes on each student in the classroom, writing about their interests, lives, strengths and challenges. This makes the teacher cognizant of the students to whom they are naturally inclined to notice and those whom they might overlook. By becoming aware of all students the teacher can develop stronger relationships to reinforce the sense of community and respect between teacher and students. o Positive reinforcement. Acknowledging positive behaviors in the classroom is crucial to developing strong classroom management and also building community. When students understand that they will receive attention for the things that they do correctly, rather than those they do not, they will be more inclined to follow positive behaviors. Likewise, this strategy avoids having to constantly criticize students who act out creating the expectation of positive attitudes for the whole class. Communication with parents and students. Being available to students and teachers and explaining your expectations to both help reduce miscommunications and frustration in the classroom. Also, by continuously communicating with families I will show that I value home-school partnerships and that I care about my students on a personal level. Students feeling that they are cared for and that their parents and teachers are working together helps students excel. o Greeting students. Whenever possible I will greet students and parents as they enter the classroom to show that I am available, dedicated to making connections with families and that I care about each student. o Classroom website. I will create a classroom website that includes homework, important announcements, and information about myself. This will help to develop a relationship with parents and increase parent involvement by allowing them to learn more about my background, and be knowledgeable about their students upcoming events and assignments. By building a parent-teacher relationship students will understand that there is a system of people supporting them in their school environment. o Daily schedule. Every day the schedule will be visible on the board so that students are aware what they will be doing throughout the day. This is meant to relieve anxiety for students and prevent distractions throughout the day by

avoiding the need for students to raise their hand and ask what they are doing later. Continuity of schedules. As much as possible the daily schedule will follow a predictable schedule, i.e. every day will start with classroom meeting, or math will be in the morning. This will also reduce anxiety and also make students more efficient as they are able to anticipate the upcoming activities. o State objectives. Communicating your objective with students in verbal and written format allows them to know what is the most important information to learn, reducing processing loads. It can also demonstrate to students why it is important that they are learning a particular item, making them more invested in their learning. Once students understand the value in subject matter they are willing to apply themselves and stay on task to meet objectives. o Homework. Homework calendar. There will be an easily visible calendar for students to see what assignments are due at what times. Assignments will be kept on the board for a week so that students can look back at missed work when necessary. Homework agendas. Each student will be provided with a planner at the beginning of the school year. If the student losing this agenda they are expected to pay for a replacement. Each day students must write down their homework, it will be signed by the teacher or homework checker when all of the appropriate assignments are included, and signed by a parent/guardian after they have checked that their students work in complete. Having both signatures will be counted as participation points towards a students grade. This will further the parent-school relationship. Homework posted on the classroom website. Each day I will update the classroom website homework calendar so that parents have an additional way of knowing what their students are expected to complete. This will further the parent-school relationship. Engaging curriculum. Students who are engaged in their learning are almost never off task in the classroom. By using a variety of strategies to provoke interest and provide developmentally appropriate tasks my students will be active learners in the classroom. This type of engagement keeps students focused and also shows them the value of learning to make them passionate about discovery more. o Differentiating instruction. Students need and deserved to be taught at their own academic level. If a teacher expects to teach the same curriculum in the same way to every student, the chances of all students comprehending are slim; furthermore, if a teacher fails to teach a concept to a student and then moves on that student has little hope of understanding the following concept. By differentiating instruction across subject areas students will be taught at an appropriate level and will continue to be engaged. Differentiated instruction will be executed in a variety of ways: levels reading and math groups, assignments allowing students to choose tasks of varying difficulty as well as letting students choose the format of final

projects and assessments. As much as is possible, opportunities will be provided for ELLs to work in their native language. Math groups. Students will be pre-assessed at the beginning of new units. These assessments will guide the creation of small groups for breakout teaching. Students who have mastered a concept will be given challenging tasks and students missing foundational skills will be re-taught (in a different format) as necessary. These will not be the only math groups for students, students will be allowed to choose or be randomly assigned partners for work during whole-class time to create heterogeneous groups throughout parts of math. Reading groups. Students will be assessed at the beginning, middle and end of year to monitor reading levels and progress. There will be leveled reading groups where the teacher can meet with small groups at an academically appropriate literary level. Again, these will not be the only reading groups for students. For literature circles students will be able to choose their own book to create book clubs. Additionally, ELL students will have the option to find and read books in their native language either in groups or individually. o Small group instruction. In addition to student leveled groups receiving small group instruction, there will times throughout the day that the teacher works with groups of four-six students, rather than completing whole class instruction. This might be to check in on the progress of particular assignments, to guide groups that have chosen specific topics in research projects or just to teach a mini-lesson to a particular group. While the small group is with the instructor other students will be working on self-guided projects or doing individual reading. o Student autonomy. Providing students with choice in the classroom promotes engagement because students are naturally interested in the things they study when they are in control of their learning. Autonomy will be worked into the classroom in many ways: students may be able to choose a focus for a social studies research project, they may be given a list of different possible assignments to complete during a unit but allowed to choose which ones will be done, they will be able to choose their own partners at times, and they will be given time in the classroom when they can choose which project they would like to work on. Student autonomy is a key engagement principle and it will help to keep students motivated and on task. Student closing cards. At the end of every day students will be asked to fill out a small slip saying: Today I learned ____________________. I would like to learn more about _________________. As a teacher I will use these as a way to guide students learning. These cards will help students feel in charge of their own education as they see the subjects they want to learn more about appear in the curriculum in the following days or weeks.

o Authentic learning experiences. As much as possible learning will be executed in a way that ties subjects to the real world. This style of teaching and learning emphasizes the relevance to students and also makes them increasingly interested as they learn to apply what they are learning. Authentic learning also prepares students to be critical thinkers and problem solvers, which are both essential skills for adults. By increasing the intrinsic motivation to learn, authentic experiences prevent students from acting out. o Classroom library. Having a well stocked, diversified classroom library can offer a wonderful transition for early finishers to provide them with a useful activity rather than distracting their peers. The library can also be a resource for student research and the variety of books provide additional options for student autonomy. o Modeling and scaffolding. By providing solid instruction with appropriate modeling and scaffolding you increase the odds that all students will be aware of what is going on and how to do it. This prevents students from feeling lost or incapable, which in turn prevents those students from becoming behavior problems in the classroom. o Multicultural lessons. Approaching education from a multicultural perspective is crucial for making all students feel comfortable and welcome in the classroom. Too often minoritized students are not incorporated when in reality they offer a wealth of information. By incorporating multicultural ideals, values and perspectives you can engage a portion of the class that might otherwise have felt disconnected and acted out. o Teaching to multiple intelligences. Everyone learns in a different way, and yet so often lessons are taught in one way; usually the way the teacher was taught, or how the teacher learns best. By incorporating a variety of multiple-intelligence based activities into each lesson I can reach more of my students then doing the same thing over and over again waiting for it to click with all of my students. I will monitor which types of intelligence I am using in my lessons, trying to use at least three in any given lesson and will look to see if I am utilizing every type of intelligence at least once a week. This will again help to engage all students so that they are focused on learning. o Inquiry based instruction. Students are more interested in their learning when they are discovering the subject matter. By using inquiry based instruction I will engage students and make them invested in their education. By designing lessons where students are able to explore information they will be an active participant and will in turn have to stay on task to discover answers. o Options for fast finishers. In addition to a classroom library I will have educational activities throughout the classroom that fast finishers can use once they have finished an assignment. This avoids the dreaded conversations of Im done, what do I do now? because they already know what options are available to them. It also reduces the chance that they will distract their peers who have not finished yet.

o Pacing. Keeping the class moving at a quick speed throughout a lesson is crucial for keeping students on task. As soon as a lesson begins to drag students will become off task, and in the time it takes to get them focused again there are other students not paying attention. By allowing the appropriate amount of time for students to understand a concept or work out a problem during a lesson, it increases the chance that students will be following along with you, rather than chatting with their neighbors. Timers. I plan to use timers in my classroom for a variety of things. First, if students are given a problem to work on or something to think about for a certain amount of time I plan to use a timer to make sure they actually only get that amount of time. I also plan to use timers to implement the PAT system from Building Classroom Management (Jones from Charles 2011). Timers help students stay on task because they can see how much time is allotted to them. Preferred activity time (PAT). There are procedures in place for transition time in the classroom; if students are able to complete the required transition time before the timer sounds then all remaining time will be added to a communal PAT bank. At the end of the week the class will have an opportunity to use their PAT minutes for a variety of activities. However, if students are not ready by the end of the transition the timer will start counting upwards and the additional time that students take will be subtracted from the PAT bank (p. 149 Jones from Charles 2011). Procedures. Procedures are the train tracks that allow the curriculum to reach students; if students are unable to complete tasks they have little chance of learning in the classroom. Over teaching procedures is a critical piece of classroom management. Students need consistent guidance and chances to practice new procedures, and also frequent reminders throughout the school year to keep them fresh in the minds of students. o Presentation. Using Rick Smiths ideas from Picture This! I will use visual

photographs throughout the classroom to show students how to correctly act in a given scenario (Smith 2011). Students will create these so that they are invested in the proper behavior. Written guidelines will also be available for students who are more verbal learners. o Starting the day. Student will start the day by following the entering the classroom procedure, putting their materials away, moving their name on the
attendance board and then either getting in line for a rotation or sitting down to get ready for community circle. o Attendance. Students will use the smart board to move their name to the here section once they enter the classroom so the teacher is quickly able to look up and see who is absent by who hasnt moved their name. o Ending the day. Students are responsible for the following at the end of every day:

Writing their homework down and having it signed by a teacher or homework checker Putting their materials away Getting all of their supplies to complete any homework Getting their desk approved by the desk checker Cleaning the room until it is cleared by the floor checker Completing any end of day jobs that they may have o Getting in line. Put their materials away, either in their desk or in the appropriate classroom location Walk to get into line quietly Allow the line leader to stand at the front of the line Stand facing the door with hands either at your sides or folded in front o Leaving the room. To keep track of students who have left the classroom

there will be a magnetic board near the door with a magnet that has each students number. When a student leaves they simply have to move the magnet to the section that says Out of Class. Students do not need ask permission to leave, but they are expected to stay in the classroom during instructional time and community circle unless there is an emergency. o Materials. Students will have a variety of materials that they are provided with that may stay in their desk, and others that will be shared as a class community. Under the main rule of the class students must be respectful of their materials. This includes:
Not breaking materials Keeping track of materials (dont lose them) Sharing materials Returning materials to their proper space o Book check out. If students wish to check a book out from the classroom

library there will be a notebook filled with blank sheets that include the title and author of the book, the students name and the date they checked it out as well as the price of the book. Students will be expected to replace a lost book so knowing the price helps them to understand their responsibilities. Once they have finished with a book they can bring it back to me with their form and I will sign off saying they returned it. o Missing homework. Students are expected to turn in their work on the day that it is due. If they do not have it or are unprepared they can write down the assignment in the Missing Homework folder. They must write down a description of the assignment and the date it was due. Once they have completed the work they need to correct it with a peer, then they can bring it to me with their missing homework sheet for it to be crossed off of the list. An assignment will lose 10% of its point value for each week that it is late. o Absences. If a student is aware of an upcoming absence it is their responsibility to let me know so that I can prepare work for them. If there is an unplanned absence the Absentee Advisor will use a folder to collect all

work for the student(s) and give it to them as soon as they return. If students collected work before their absence it is expected they will have it upon their return; if they receive their work after an unexpected absence they will have a week from their return to complete all work before it is counted as late. o Going to lunch.
Follow the procedure for getting in line Allow the two lunch carriers to take the lunch bin in front of the line Follow the procedure for leaving the classroom to get to the lunchroom o In class transition. Students will be given 45 seconds to complete in class

transitions, or the transitions of moving from one subject to another. During this transition they will have to:
Put away all of the materials related to the previous subject Get out the materials needed for the upcoming subject Have their desk clear besides the materials specified Show me theyre ready by looking up quietly when they have finished transitioning o Out of class transition. Students will be given 2 minutes to complete an out

of class transition, or the transitions from when they are coming into the classroom and have to get ready for a new subject. During this transition they will have to:
Get to their desk quietly while walking Make sure their desk is cleared from the leaving the classroom procedure, if it is not clear the desk Get out all specified materials for the upcoming subject Show me theyre ready by looking up quietly when they have finished transitioning o Moving in the classroom. Students are expected to move through the

classroom by walking without touching others and being respectful of the materials, objects and people around them. o Coming in the class. Students should come in the class in an orderly line from the hallway. Each student should quietly make their way to their desk as they come in, get out any materials if needed and look at the teacher to show that they are ready. o Coming in from recess. Once the recess bell sounds students are expected to get
in a line behind the line leader outside o Classroom jobs. Classroom jobs give students a sense of ownership in the

classroom and can provide students with small-scale examples of the responsibilities they will have in real life. Student jobs will rotate every week, with the exception of facilitator that will rotate every day. Line monitor. The line monitor stands in the front of the line and is responsible for making sure the line moves throughout the school in a quiet line with one student in front of the other.

Desk inspector(s). The desk inspectors check everyones desk at the

end of the day to make sure they are organized. If students have random objects or papers shoved in they will be told to clean out their desks. Students are not allowed to leave for the day unless the desk inspector has cleared them to go. Paper passer(s). The paper passers are responsible for handing out all worksheets, notices or other school papers throughout the class. Stick puller. Whenever the teacher needs to choose a student at random or create random groups the stick puller will pull sticks with a students name. Pencil sharpener. The pencil sharpener is responsible for making sure there are enough sharpened pencils for all students throughout the day. There will be two containers of pencils in the classroom sharpened and not sharpened. At the end of the day the pencil sharpener needs to sharpen all the unsharpened pencils and move them to the sharpened section. Environmentalist. The environmentalist is responsible for sorting through the trash at the end of the day and moving recyclables to the recycle bin. Substitute. The substitute completes any job of a student that is not in class. Facilitator. The facilitator runs the morning community circle meeting. They are in charge of following the agenda and distributing the talking beanbag so that students can participate in the conversation. Floor checker. The floor checker walks throughout the classroom to make sure there are not papers or materials or other random things on the floor. They do not have to clean the classroom while they are floor checker but the class is not allowed to leave until the floor checker says the room is clean. White board cleaner. At the end of the day the white board cleaner will check with the teacher to find out what information on the white board can be erased; they will then erase the nonessential information. Homework checker(s). The homework checkers walk through the classroom and sign students planners once they have written down all homework. Homework checkers may NOT sign their own planners. Librarian. The librarian is in charge of checking the classroom library at the end of the day to make sure all books are put away correctly and neatly. Absentee advisor. The absentee advisor collects all papers and writes down the homework for students who are absent and puts them in

the absentee folder. When the student returns they explain all papers and homework as necessary. Teachers assistant. The teachers assistant helps the teacher with any needed tasks in the classroom; such tasks may include running the attendance folder or collecting lunch money. Decontaminator. The decontaminator is in charge of cleaning public surfaces at the end of the day such as countertops or doorknobs. Lunch carrier(s). The lunch carriers carry the lunch tub to and from the cafeteria. Lunch patrol. The lunch patrol cleans the lunch table after students have
finished eating and makes sure students throw their food away when they are done and put their lunch boxes back in the tub.

Supportive Differentiated instruction. Differentiating instruction guarantees that all students are challenged at the appropriate level. Students who are struggling will be provided with the support they need by working in groups with the teacher to cover the content that they are missing in order to progress. Likewise, students who have quickly mastered a content area will work with the teacher in small groups on more challenging material to keep them learning and engaged. o Tier two small group instruction. The RtI model utilizes small group instruction for students needing additional support in a subject matter; this will be an integral part of my differentiated instruction. Community circle. Community circle provides an opportunity for the class as a whole to discuss difficulties that have been presented and find solutions. In a safe classroom space it can be an effective way to process an incident and receive feedback from peers about alternate behaviors. One-on-one conversations. By having daily chats with a student I can learn to understand them better, find common interests and build a better relationship that will help solidify the importance of classroom behavior. Student notes. By taking conscious and continuous notes about certain students, i.e. spotlight students I will be able to learn more about my students, I can also track their progress over time to find out if systems that I am implementing are helping or not. Positive reinforcement. Finding the positive behavior in a challenging student can make all the difference. By seeking out the good actions of my students I will reinforce to them that they are capable of acting appropriately and that they will be recognized and praised for doing so. Student and parent communication. Keeping open communication with the parents and students about behaviors in class can be a great way to support positive behaviors. Simple check ins such as: on a scale of 1-10, how was your behavior today? can allow the student to self-reflect and start a conversation to move in a positive direction. Having optimistic and honest conversations with the parents can also be useful; they know their students, and I plan on using the valuable information they can provide me with.

Intervention Differentiated instruction. Students who are still struggling or have mastered new, challenging content very quickly will work with me individually to find a definite path that is most appropriate for the individual student. If students are receiving the type of support they need they will be less likely to act out in the classroom. o Tier three individual instruction. The RtI model utilizes one-on-one instruction for students needing even further support or challenge in a subject matter. I will make time to work with these students every day or every other day to make sure they are getting the support they need. Community circle. If a students behavior is impacting the class as a whole they would be able to have a community circle conversation about it in order to find alternative resolutions to the problem and ease any tensions. The key aspect to this intervention is to remind students that they are to be respectful at all times, and that they can only talk if they have the beanbag. Student notes. Students in need of further support will have notes taken on them on a regular basis so that I can collect data on their behavior and academic performance. This data will guide my actions and may be referenced to when conversing with the student or parent. Positive reinforcement. Many times the students with the greatest behavioral problems are searching for attention and care. By making the effort to commend the student on behaviors or students nearby them who can model the behaviors students can feel appreciated and begin to seek the positive attention rather than the negative. Behavior contracts. If necessary a behavior contract will be made between the student, parent and teacher. The contract will identify the problem behavior(s) and what might be done instead. The contract will be monitored every day and the student will always self assess to make a comparison with my own evaluation of their behavior. These pieces of information will be communicated with the parent. Student and parent communication. Parent involvement can be crucial for successful interventions. By either adapting systems from the home or implementing classroom systems at their house, creating continuity can drastically improve behavior. Having regular conversations with parents and letting them stay up to date about the behavior data and contracts will help make the parent(s) your ally in the classroom. Individualized PAT plan. If a student is frequently off task they may have to begin having an individualized PAT system. This would mean that they would lose the amount of time that they individually waste during an activity they enjoy. Contrarily, they could earn additional individual reward time by staying on task and meeting time limit requirements (Jones from Charles 2011).