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Classroom Learning Environment Plan Chelsea Olson EDE 4301 Tracy Wolff

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents ______________________________________________________________Page 1 Philosophy of Management Statement ____________________________________________Page 3 High Structure___________________________________________________________Page 4 Self-Discipline and Personal Responsibility__________________________________Page 5 Teacher-Student-Parent Cooperation_______________________________________Page 6 School Family___________________________________________________________Page 7 Classroom Profile ______________________________________________________________Page 8 Letter to Parents ______________________________________________________________ Page 9 Physical Environment _________________________________________________________ Page 10 Physical Environment Rationale _______________________________________________ Page 11 Teachers Desk _______________________________________________________ Page 11 Morning Meeting Carpet ________________________________________________ Page 11 White Board/ Smart Board ______________________________________________ Page 11 Classroom Library______________________________________________________ Page 11 Door/Back Pack Storage ________________________________________________Page 12 Groups/Supply Shelves _________________________________________________Page 12 Guided Reading Table __________________________________________________Page 12 Centers/Daily 5_________________________________________________________Page 12 Counter/Cabinets______________________________________________________ Page 13 Word Wall_____________________________________________________________ Page 13 Community Building ___________________________________________________________Page 13 Beginning of the School Year____________________________________________ Page 13

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Middle of the School Year________________________________________________Page 16

TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONT.)

End of the School Year__________________________________________________Page 17 Routines and Strategies for Classroom Management ______________________________Page 18 Routine # 1 Morning Meeting____________________________________________ Page 18 Routine # 2 Lining Up___________________________________________________ Page 18 Strategy # 1 Class-Yes _________________________________________________ Page 19 Strategy # 2 Teach-Okay _______________________________________________ Page 19 Strategy # 3 Hands and Eyes ____________________________________________Page 20 Strategy # 4 Mirror _____________________________________________________Page 20 Work Cited___________________________________________________________________Page 21

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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN

Classroom management begins even before the students enter the classroom on the first day. A well-managed classroom requires consistency, planning and organization. I plan to set up a microcosm classroom democracy. I want my students to have a voice in all decisions

Philosophy of management statement

made within our classroom. Alfie Kohn says that its experiences with decisions that helps children become capable of handling them. Beyond modeling appropriate community building behaviors, I also believe it is important to model a love for learning. Based on Dr. Becky Baileys Conscious Discipline program, my classroom will promote a positive school climate by eliminating damaging coercion, fear and external rewards, and focusing on building a community that fosters a sense of belonging, impulse control, and willingness to learn. I will integrate a management plan centered on social-emotional learning, utilizing everyday events as the curriculum and addressing the child's emotional intelligence. Classroom management is a combination of high structure, self-discipline and personal responsibility, teacher-studentparent cooperation, task-focused laughter and the building of a school family.

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HIGH STRUCTURE
The need for order must not supersede the need for meaningful instruction (Weinstein 2011).On one hand students are unable to make good use of their time if they are confused about what theyre supposed to be doing (Weinstein 2011), yet on the other hand Kohn would agree that with too much classroom order, discipline and instruction the students simply do what they are told in accordance to what the teacher wants and learns whats acceptable and what isnt through coercive discipline that is centered around making students compliant and quiet. In order to create and maintain a highly structured and well managed classroom I believe you must provide an engaging student-build norms and expectations contract for in and out of the classroom. Providing opportunities for students to participate actively in classroom decision making, planning and goal setting contributes to their feeling of being connected and supported (Oysterman, 2000). Alfie Kohn puts it this way Teacher made rules are of no particular value in the classroom. This is because students learn how best to behave not from being told, but from having the opportunity to behave responsibly. Research shows that effective classroom managers explain and demonstrate procedures, allow students to practice them, provide

CLE Plan feedback to students about their performance, and then reteach the procedure if necessary. Throughout the day in the classroom the students should know how to handle each circumstance beforehand. Allocating time in the beginning of the year to discuss, practice and

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prepare for all the procedures and aspects of a normal days schedule allows the students to not be in the dark about parts of the school day or what to do. Whole Brain Teaching, an educational reform system created in the 90s, created a plethora of routines and structures to implement into the school day to alleviate chaos during transition and allows the teacher and the students to have fun while maintaining a highly structures instructional day. I feel that the most important part about applying structure and routine into a classroom is the emotional and psychological well-being of my students, its my number one goal to make all my students feel safe and protected. Establishing and enforcing clear norms for behavior makes the classroom a safer more predictable environment and communicates that you care about your students wellbeing (Weinstein, 2011).Although structure is helpful, one must always be ready to modify structure in accordance to students needs and be flexible.

SELF-DISCIPLINE AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

Lynda Alberts would agree that as a teacher it is my job to not only teach content but to help every student connect with others, contribute to the class, and feel capable. Getting students to be intrinsically motivated starts with making sure they feel competent, they see the

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value and worth in doing something, and they know that they belong and are valued. I believe in constructivist teaching and using collaborative problem-solving. In turn, my students are able to control their own behavior in accordance to the norms and expectation contract they created and teaching can go on as intended with little interruptions from misbehavior. I want my students to have a genuine understanding of why we behave a certain way in the classroom compared to at home or with friends, I want them to feel confident in their ability to problem solve on their own and use their tool box of strategies that I have taught them through Dr. Becky Baileys Conscious Discipline. For example, strategies such as S.T.A.R (Smile, Take a breath, And, Relax), I statements, big boy/girl voice and showing feelings of empathy, control, free will, and composure. Kohn states that the process of making decisions produces many benefits for students, such as helping they become more self-reliant, causing them to think issues through, and encouraging them to buy-in to the school process. I believe not only in the importance of self-reliant thinkers and decision makers but also component and confident readers, writers, mathematicians and scientist. In my classroom every student has the same opportunity to get smart, because smart is something you get, not something you are. In my classroom learning is a process that takes effort. In my classroom I believe that making mistakes is something to celebrate, the right way, because making an error means you tried. Having student celebrate

CLE Plan their learning and growth and know how to self-evaluate is something that increases that students feelings of self-worth, self-efficacy, and independence.

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TEACHER-STUDENT-PARENT COOPERATION
I believe in Cooperative Discipline and its effectiveness to involve students and parents as partners. In order to achieve this partnership Alberts suggests that you inform parents about the class code of conduct that the teacher and students have been discussing, ask for parents comments through a newsletter or open house presentation, open up a reliable and realistic communication system between parent and teacher to communicate any behavior problems and students successes throughout the year. When you have the parents buy-in on their childs education and your teaching ability your parent-teacher-student relationship will be productive and fruitful. I believe that parent-teacher communication and relations are very important in the success of each and every student. The most accurate predictor of a students achievement in school is the extent that parents become involved in their childrens education, not racial background, marital status, parents education, and so on (Henderson and Berla, 1997).Levin and Nolan go on to say that having a parent-teacher positive working relationship where parents are welcomed as a team member and get involved in their childs education crosses both racial and socioeconomic status lines. I intend to build a relationship with my students parents before any contacts are made regarding disruptive behavior. I want my parents to feel as though I am

CLE Plan on their childs team and that I genuinely care about their child and them as well. I intent to set up a communication binder for me and each childs parents to communicate on a weekly basis. It is in this that I will communicate their childs behavior, academic standings, grades and important information. It is my goal to communicate that the parents are welcome into the classroom, they are valued as a leading force in their childs educational success, and they have the tools they need to effectively help their child succeed in school. As a teacher it is my job to make resources and tools available to help parents feel competent and informed about their childs education and provide guidance and support at home.

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SCHOOL FAMILY
Lastly, I believe in Dr. Becky Baileys school family philosophy: The School Family builds connections between families and schools, teachers and teachers, teachers and students, and students and students to ensure the optimal development of all. These connections provide the three essential ingredients for school success: a willingness to learn, impulse control, and attention. The School Family brings all children to a place of willingness through a sense of belonging. Connection with others is the construct that literally wires the brain for impulse control (Conscious Discipline, 2013). The School Family uses connection to internally encourage impulse control and teaches self-regulation skills in context. The School Family reduces stress while creating an atmosphere of caring, encouragement and meaningful

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contributions. I have personally seen the effects of Dr. Becky Baileys school family on a second grade classroom of half gifted and half high risk behavioral students. This classroom was rich in genuine connections, impulse control, willingness to learn and attention to others emotional needs. It is my deepest desire to have a school family mentality in my classroom through sincere connections and encouragement.

CLASSROM PROFILE

My classroom has a total of 17 students, 10 of which are boys and 7 are girls. The ethnic makeup of the class is 3 Hispanic, 12 African American, and 2 Caucasian. 8 of the students are ESE (Exceptional Student Education), 2 are SLD (Specific Learning Disability), and 9 language impaired. 4 are high achievers that display consistent proactive behaviors and 1 has been tested as gifted. 1 is ELL (English Language Learner), 5 receive speech/language assistance, 3 are on medication for ADHD, and 1 is on the autistic spectrum. 11 of the 17 are shy and reserved Based on their observed behavior these 11 socialize very little and participate when prompted to in an academic setting, however, when with a buddy they are sociable. The remaining 6 are talkative and outgoing. When observed in an academic setting these students

CLE Plan participate willingly in class and socialize with peers independently. 6 have been retained, however all 17 students are on reading level. The school as a whole is a title 1 school.

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LETTER TO PARENTS

***For full size Letter to Parent see file labled: ***

Letter to Parents (CLE plan)

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PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

***For full size Physical Environment see file labled: ***

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PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT RATIONALE

A. Teachers Desk: This area is where I will keep my supplies, lessons for the week, copies, and do my grading. I will keep my resources and files back behind my desk for easy access. My desk is in the back corner of the classroom so that if I am sitting at my desk I can easily see everything that is going on in the room. I will have my sub tub ready to go under my desk in case of an emergency. I will have a hanging file holder to organize papers for the week. B. Morning Meeting carpet: This is the area where my class and I will gather for morning meeting each day, go over announcements, greet one another, and review calendar math. This is also where read-alouds will take place. Students can also do independent reading in my rocking chair or on the rug. This is where

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my classroom will be able to create a school family environment no matter what we are doing. The rug will have different rows and columns of colors so that each student can have a square that they can sit in. C. White Board/Smart Board: On the board there will be a morning message, daily fact/problem/word, calendar, objectives for the week, schedule, and classroom jobs. D. Classroom Library: This is where my classroom library will be. These books will not only be mine, but the students will feel a sense of ownership over the books in this library as well. This is also where books will be displayed from previous read-alouds, and books that have high popularity amongst the class. I will also have a parking lot posted in the room so that students can feel free to ask questions and then I will gather books and resources from the library that go along with their questions to place in the library. To encourage literacy, I will have the students levels posted simply to show growth and improvement over the course of the year. In the beginning of the year we will start 2 minutes of independent reading, and as the school year proceeds, I will post the independent reading time in the library until we reach our goal. I will have comfy pillows to lay on if the children choose to independently read in the library, however during independent reading time children can read where ever they find a quiet spot. I will also have technology students can use to check out books to take home over the weekend or to keep in their desk. The classroom library will be restocked every 9-weeks to encourage students to read books while they are in the library. This way the books in our library dont get boring before the school year is over. The bins in the library will be labled and organized so that students can find books that they ate interested in. Each student will have a close pin with their name on it so that when they go book shopping they can place their close pin on the bin that they got the book out of so they can return the book to the correct bin when they are done.

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E. Door/ Backpack storage: By the front door I will have posted our schedule and what form of transportation each student uses to get home. This is where mailboxes will be, where take-home binders will be dropped off and picked up and where lunch boxes and back packs will be held. The turn-in table will be by the door, this is where the students will turn in any paper that are due, their reading log , their signed citizenship report, and their communication binder will be stored here in a bin. I will have a unit built so that students can hang their backpacks on a hook for easy unpacking and packing. Students work will be posted by the door so that anyone entering our room can see what we have been working on in class. F. Groups/Supply Shelves: My students will be divided into groups based on their personality and other factors. I will have each group themed or named by the members of the group to encourage friendly competition, and community building. I will have a small bookshelf at the end of each group with all the needed supplies for the group. There will be a group manager that is in charge of the groups shelf and will be in charge of passing out materials to their group members. The shelves will be stocked with hand sanitizer, tissues, paper, pencils and other resources needed throughout the day. I will encourage neatness and have a random visiting desk fairy to the neatest group. Each students desk will have a citizenship report sheet at the top corner of their desk so that they can track their conduct throughout the week. Each students chair will have a sleeve on the back of their chair for the students to put their books for independent reading. G. Guided Reading Table: The guided reading table is where I will pull multiple groups during the day for periods of time to support their learning hands on. Each spot at the reading table will have a dry erase sticker for students to work out a problem, write and answer or jot down notes. This is also where I will administer testing and parent/teacher conferences.

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H. Centers/Daily 5: My classroom will incorporate the daily 5: read to self, read to someone, practice fluency, work on writing, and word work. The computer station will incorporate most of the five with the I-station program; however, students will be able to listen to audio tapes, buddy read, write at the writing center, read independently and work on word of the day each day at their desk and at the appropriate station. I. Counter/Cabinets/Sink: The counter/cabinets is where I will keep extra supplies and monitor bathroom activity with a sign-in/sign-out sheet. The sink will be stocked with tissues soap and paper towels to encourage students to stay clean and safe. I will have a community pencil sharpener and a student from each group will have to make sure their group has enough sharpened pencils. This counter space is also where missing assignments can be picked up. I will have highlighters near the turn in bin so that students must highlight their name to ensure students are checking their work. J. Word Walls: This is where the word wall will be posted, vocabulary words will be organized in alphabetical order. There will be a general word wall and then a science and math word wall so that student can refer to these walls throughout the day and be exposed to important vocabulary terms daily.

COMMUNITY BUILDING
Communities are built over time, through shared experiences, and by providing multiple opportunities for students to know themselves, know one another, and interact in positive and supportive ways (Weinstein. 2011).

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BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

At the beginning of the school year it is my intention to send home a new student welcoming packet. This packet will welcome the student and their parent/guardian into my class. The packet will include a welcoming letter to the parent and student (refer to Letter to Parent example on page 9), some supplies that will start them off for the new school year, and other resources that would be of use to both the student and parent. Relationships should start before students enter the classroom and not end when they leave the classroom at the end of the year.

In order to get to know my students better I will have the students fill out a questionnaire at the beginning of the year, and have one sent home so I can know a little more about each students home life. I will also have each student go home the first weekend with a disposable camera to take pictures of the things in their life they treasure the most. This will turn into a project that will be displayed and shared with the class so that students can get to know each other better. I will also have the students be focusing on learning each others names, so in the first couple of days they will make name tags to wear, according to Denton and Kriete, As students work, their anxiety and self-consciousness begin to fall away. Drawing with crayons and writing their names are familiar activities.

CLE Plan On the first day of school I will have my classroom ready for a class full of students to

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live, learn, grow, connect, and have fun. My classroom will be highly organized and intentionally layed out for students to access resources and supplies (refer to Physical Environment on page 10). I will be welcoming each student in at the door, and we will begin our first day, and every day following, with a morning meeting to get connected, focused and prepared to learn. According to Denton and Kriete in The First Six Weeks of School (2000), The purposes of Morning Meeting are many. It serves as a transition from home to school, helps children to feel welcome and known, sets the tone for the day, creates a climate of trust, increases students confidence and investment in learning, provides a meaningful context for teaching and practicing academic skills, encourages cooperation and inclusion, and improves childrens communication skills.

During the first week of school we will have multiple discussions about appropriate expectations and norms for behavior so that we can create a contract that everyone agrees to follow throughout the year. We will discuss things such as morning routine, morning meeting, transitions, line procedure, proper etiquette in the halls, asking and answering questions, cleaning up, expectations during lessons or instruction, bathrooms and the water fountain, seating at lunch, specials, emergency drills, and dismissal. Making sure that each student is aware of all of the routines and expectations allows each student to be set up for future success

CLE Plan when they are faced with a situation. It is my goal for each student to be on the same page when it comes to how they should be behaving and why.

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At the beginning of every month, my students will get to vote on which jobs they would like to facilitate each month and they will be evaluated on their efforts by their peers and themselves once they have fulfilled that role for a month. Along with jobs, my classroom will be set up around citizenship in regards to their overall behavior in and out of the classroom. Each student will self-evaluate their behavior on a citizenship report on their desk each week. I feel as though this system adds to the overall community of self-sufficient individuals that I am intending to build.

It is my belief that each student should be valued and respected for everything that makes them who they are. This philosophy will be carried out by each of my students. We will all appreciate each other and know that fair is not always equal. For this reason, in my classroom I will not set up strict blanketing expectations for all my students that dictate how they do a task, work on an assignment, or what resources they use in order to reach a goal.

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MIDDLE OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

Since time was allocated at the beginning of the year to build and establish norms and expectations, students should be settled into the routine, have a good sense of their capabilities, have social and academic goals established for the rest of the year, know their classmates, and have a firm sense of belonging in the school family.

By this time we all have become unified as a school family and have experienced a lot together. One of the things that will be celebrated in my classroom are birthdays, students deserve to be celebrated and feel special on the day of their birth. I will have everyones birthdays posted and we will have a celebration of students birthdays throughout the year and a party at the end of the year for the students that have summer birthdays.

At this point in the school year I plan on shifting the role of facilitator of morning meeting over to the students. I will have a pair of students in charge of starting a greeting in the morning, coming up with an activity and reminding the class of any important announcements of the week. Also, it is my plan to mix up the groups to create relationships amongst new students. Before I have students move to a new group I will have the old group members write down a

CLE Plan couple of things they appreciated about that particular group member to give to that persons new group members.

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END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

By the end of the school year it is my hope that students can look back over the course of the school year and see their academic growth, have lasting friendships with their classmates, feel competent to move onto the next grade, and have an overall positive attitude towards school.

Before my students leave for the summer I will be giving them their portfolio with all of their work that I have been collecting. Each student will be able to keep this portfolio to see how they have improved over the year. They will be able to share their work to their friends in the class and be prideful of their accomplishments.

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ROUTINES AND STRATEGIES FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Routines and strategies is the very glue that keeps classroom management together and keeps it from falling apart. The routine that I value the most is morning meeting and lining up to leave the classroom. The strategies that mean the most to me and that I intend to use in my classroom come from the Whole Brain Teaching methods for classroom management.

ROUTINE # 1 MORNING MEETING

Responsive Classroom Morning Meeting is an engaging way to start each day, build a strong sense of community, and set children up for success socially and academically. Each morning, my students and I will gather together in a circle for twenty to thirty minutes and

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interact with one another for four main purposeful components: greeting, sharing, group activity, and morning message. First students and teachers greet one other by name and practice offering hospitality. Second, students share information about important events in their lives. Listeners often offer empathetic comments or ask clarifying questions. Third, everyone participates in a brief, lively activity that fosters group cohesion and helps students practice social and academic skills (for example, reciting a poem, dancing, singing, or playing a game that reinforces social or academic skills). Fourth, students read and interact with a short message written by their teacher. The message is crafted to help students focus on the work they'll do in school that day.

ROUTINE # 2 LINING UP
Throughout the school day students line up to leave the classroom for multiple reasons, and if the time is not spent to make lining up a quick and effective procedure, essential instruction time can be lost. In order to make lining up to leave the classroom an effective part of the school day, I plan on having jobs that revolve around lining up, I plan on having two door holders, a line leader and two massagers. I will get the classes attention and ask each table to line up one at a time. While we are all in the hallway each student will have a bubble in their mouth and their hands at their sides. If we go up or down stairs students will use ther railing hand to walk safely up/down the stairs.

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STRATEGY # 1 CLASS-YES
The first strategy of Whole Brain Teaching is the attention getter that relies on the involvement of the whole class. To get my classes attention I simply say Class! and then they reply Yes! When I say Class! and they say Yes! they have to say it the way I said it. If I say Classity-class-class! they have to say Yessity-yes-yes! If I say it loudly, they have to respond loudly. If I whisper, they respond in a whisper. They have to match my tone and intensity. This strategy works effortlessly, its fun, entertaining and it gets the whole classes attention without raising your voice, yelling, or getting angry.

STRATEGY # 2 TEACH-OKAY
I will use this second strategy when I am instructing the class about fundamental concepts. This technique allows you to simultaneously engage your students in all four learning modes -- seeing, saying, hearing and doing. Twenty years of education research tells us that the most effective learning takes place when a student engages the brain's primary corticesvisual, auditory, language production and motor- at the same time (Whole Brain Teaching, 2013). This strategy is used by presenting a small amount of information, complete with gestures. When you finish, look at the class and clap two times, say Teach! Your students clap twice and respond OK! This strategy can be adapted to read alouds or morning meeting, you

CLE Plan can have the students teach their turn-and- talk partner a concept or piece of information that we just learned or discussed. This strategy helps me monitor comprehension of what we just discussed or learned.

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STRATEGY # 3 HANDS AND EYES

This strategy is simple and effective when you want to get your students attention and have them listening actively. IF you notice that the class has drifted off you simply say hands and eyes and the student then will focus their eyes on the speaker and put their hands in their laps or on their desk. This command is easily recognizable and allows the students to regain composure and focus on the lesson or speaker.

STRATEGY # 4 MIRROR
This strategy is used when you want your class to mimic your gestures or motions to grasp a concept through kinesthetic learning. As students imitate your motions, their motor cortex, the brains most reliable memory area, is automatically engaged. Use mirror when telling a story, giving directions, describing the steps in a procedure, demonstrating a process, or simply anytime you want your class locked in to what you are saying (Whole Brain Teaching, 2013).I will implement this strategy when I am teaching a new concept, I will use gestures that

CLE Plan can be used to help students remember the information later. The catchier the better. This strategy requires some planning ahead of time if you use it for science or math.

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Charles, C. M. (2002). Linda Alberts Cooperative Discipline. In Building classroom discipline. (pp. 67-84). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Denton, P., & Kriete, R. (2000). The first six weeks of school. Turners Falls, MA: Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc.

Levin, J. Nolan. J. (2010). The principals of classroom management: a professional decision making model. Boston. Pearson.

Weinstein, C. S., Romano, M. E., & Mignano Jr, A. J. (2011). Elementary Classroom Management (5th ed., pp. 57-211). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

(n.d.). In Conscious Discipline. Retrieved November 3, 2013, from http://consciousdiscipline.com/

(n.d.). In Whole Brain Teaching. Retrieved November 3, 2013, from http://www.wholebrainteaching.com/

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