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Classroom Management and Motivation Plan

Classroom Management and Motivation Plan

By Parker Tiffany

Educational Psychology EDFD 2100

Dr. Pollard

11/26/2016
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Classroom Management and Motivation Plan

Classroom Procedures

1. Entering and Exiting the Classroom

a. Students are expected to be in the classroom before the bell rings. On most days,

they are to be going to project storage areas and retrieving the tools, materials,

and partially completed projects they will need for that day. If this is not the case

and I need to make an announcement I will tell students as they are entering the

classroom to sit at their table and wait until I speak to the entire class before

starting to work on their projects. Students will not be allowed to exit the

classroom at the end of the period until it is clean to my standards, because I

dismiss them rather than the bell. If a student needs to exit the classroom during

class they are to get my attention and ask permission/notify me of where they are

going. It will be stated at the beginning of the year that in case of an emergency

they do not need to obtain permission to leave.

2. Classroom Clean Up
a. Because working in a woodshop is messy, there will be a clean-up time at the end

of each class period. I will gain students attention by yelling CLEAN UP!!

simply because that is the easiest way for everyone to hear you when the

ventilation system and different tools are on. Depending on how messy the

classroom gets, this will occur 5-10 minutes before the end of the class period.

Students will then put away projects and tools in the appropriate areas before

cleaning. There will be a list of cleaning duties on the wall and a students name

next to each duty, so they will know what area or tool to clean that day. These

duties will change daily for each student. Students will not be let go until the

classroom is clean enough.

3. Turning in Completed Projects

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Classroom Management and Motivation Plan

a. When students have completed a project whether it is a quarter-long, or semester-

long project, they will obtain the appropriate grading sheet from the classroom

filing cabinet. There are general and specific grade sheets that correspond to

different projects, depending on if students used premade plans or created their

own. Once grading sheet is obtained, students will then do a self-evaluation on

different areas of the project. They will the tape the graded portion of the sheet to

the project and leave it in a teacher-designated area at the end of class for final

grading from me.

4. Using a New or Dangerous Tool/Machine
a. All beginning students will need to be checked off on the safety test for each

machine before using it. After demonstrating that they can use it in front of me,

they will then be able to use it on their own from then on. However, tools such as

the table saw, board planer, and panel saw will always require my assistance to

use simply because they are the most dangerous in the shop. If there is a tool that

a student is using for the first time, whether its simple or not, they will need to

have me guide them through using it for the first time.

5. Behavior Expectations
a. The behavior expectations of students will be clearly defined in the syllabus given

to students on the first day. I will also explicitly go over them the first day to

make sure students are clear on the subject. Other procedures and norms will also

be gone over at the same time. Expected behaviors will be reinforced and

reminded of daily in the classroom through instruction and discussion.

Safety

6. Personal Protective Equipment

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a. Having the proper safety equipment is an absolute must. Students are expected to

have safety glasses and closed toed shoes to work during class time. If students do

not have the equipment and cannot find any to borrow, they will not be allowed to

work. If this is the case, they will lose their daily participation points and not be

able to make them up. They will be able to work on other homework in an area of

the classroom where power tools are not being used.

7. Horseplay
a. In an environment where there are potentially dangerous tools being used

constantly horseplay and screwing around will not be tolerated. If such behavior

occurs, students will receive a warning for the first time. The second time will

result in a loss of daily points, and the final warning will result in an office

referral.
8. In the Event of An Emergency or Accident
a. All students will know the location of the emergency power shut off if there is a

major accident involving a student and a tool. Surrounding students will need to

immediately obtain my attention to let me know what happened so the situation

can then be dealt with. For accidents such as cutting your hand with a chisel,

something that isnt life threatening but will require exiting the classroom, the

student will need to obtain my attention so I know what happened and can

document it for reference. The student will be able to leave and go to the nurse

after I am notified of what happened.

Behavioral Problems

9. Cell Phones
a. Leisure use of cell phones in the classroom will not be permitted. They cause a

distraction which is not a welcome element in a classroom where there are

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potentially dangerous tools being used. If a student needs to research something

directly related to what they are working on, they will be allowed to use their

phone to research what they need to. If there is a chronic non-permitted use of a

cell phone, daily points will be taken away after the second offence. Any offences

after that will result in an office referral and any other disciplinary action outlined

by the schools handbook.

10. One-on-One Dialogue with Students Who Are Acting Out
a. For students who normally do not have behavioral problems and begin acting out,

beating around the bush is not the way to go. It is best to be direct and upfront

with the student. This shows that you respect them and want to treat them like an

adult. Often this will allow you to get to the root of the problem a lot faster and

easier than taking away points or referring them to the office would.
11. Office Referrals
a. Referring a student to the office the moment there is a single behavior issue

almost never solves the underlying cause. Unless the problem is habitual and

distracting/threatening to others, dealing with the behavior in class is usually the

better solution. A daily points system in which points will be taken away if

misbehavior occurs does a great job at keeping behaviors and attitudes in check

for most students. However, this doesnt work for all students and sometimes

other actions will be necessary.

Classroom Philosophy

12. Respect
a. Students will treat everyone else with respect and are expected to hold each other

accountable. The same goes for me. I will treat all students as adults and show

them respect in the same manner that I would show an administrator or mentor.
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When students feel they are respected they are much more eager to learn and

listen to constructive criticism from myself as well as their peers. Because without

mutual respect between teachers and students, education cannot occur.

13. Feedback
a. Along with respect, there must be a large amount of feedback between teachers

and students. There is no way for a student to learn how to do something

correctly, especially in a shop setting, unless the instructor is there guiding and

correcting the student when using a new tool for example. This not only ensures

safety, but allows for students to learn and ask any potential questions a lot easier

and quicker. But student feedback about mine and other teachers performance is

just as important. With older students, there is absolutely no shame in asking what

you as a teacher, could do differently to help further their learning. You may think

you are doing a great job at explaining something, but you are missing the mark

with several students in all actuality. I wont be afraid to use a monthly or maybe

even weekly recap of sorts to ask the students what I could do to make things

easier for them to learn and understand.

14. Amount of Teacher Control
a. In most classroom setting, I believe a medium teacher control approach is the best

because it allows for students to have some power in decision making. In a shop

type setting there is a need for a bit more control, but not quite to the extent of a

high teacher control approach. There are certain rules and procedures that the

students will not have a say in such as; clean up responsibilities, teacher

assistance on dangerous tools, and cell phone use. However, most of the other

procedures and rules will be developed with student assistance at the beginning of

the year. This creates a classroom where students feel as though they are being
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treated as adults and will want to reciprocate to the teacher. Also, in a high teacher

control shop students would need permission before using any sort of power tool.

Whereas in a medium control approach, my students will know that they do no

need permission for things like the scroll saw, sander, and lathe once they have

passed the required safety tests.

Motivation/Management

15. Student Praise

a. Praising students is very important when attempting them to motivate them.

Students may come into class in a poor mood and just wanting to waste time and

not got anything done, which is very easy in a shop class. If this occurs I have

found that it is best to praise some of the previous work a student has done on

their current project. Not only is this going to brighten their day, but it will

probable help get them to do some work that day rather than just sitting around.

Students may also mess up a certain part of their project and be discouraged from

continuing to do their work for the day. When this happens praising previous

work also does a great job at motivating them to either work on another part of the

project or making another attempt at the part that was messed up.
16. Expect Excellence
a. Many times, students who are lacking in motivation will not put in their best

effort. If a student knows that I will not expect anything less than their best effort,

than they are more likely to put in maximum effort on their project. Hopefully

they will realize that attempting to turn in shoddy work is not only a waste of my

time, but theirs as well. I want students to be proud of what they created and

turned in so that is why I wont let them turn in anything that isnt their best.
17. Be Energetic
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a. Lets face it, high schoolers are tired people and almost never want to do much if

they arent fully awake. If the teacher in a classroom isnt energetic about what

they are teaching that day, then students will not only be uninterested in the

subject material, but will also likely be disruptive. That is why it is important for

me to always be ready to go and not presenting myself in a manner that seems

uninterested in the material.

18. Mix It Up
a. Students today get bored so quickly when a lesson is only presented in one

manner. Once students lose interest, they will either shut down and not try to learn

at all, or start causing distractions to get a reaction out of you as well as other

students. In a shop environment, you have a large classroom to utilize, so use it!

Instead of doing large and boring lessons for students in a classroom with lots of

distractions, do several micro lessons so the students have plenty of time to work

and practice what they have learned. Constant movement for both myself and the

students will help keep students from becoming bored when instruction is given.

Use a variety of teaching methods to help reach all the different students, who

prefer to learn in different ways.

19. Relate Lessons to Students Lives
a. So many times in core classrooms, students dont think they will ever use what

they are being taught in their everyday life. While this may be true for the

calculus student who ends up being college football coach, it doesnt mean they

cant be interested in it. Because woodshop is a vocational class, there is a large

chance that everyone will somehow and somewhere use a skill they learned down

the road. Show them that knowing how to properly operate a miter saw will be a

skill to use later in life for home improvement repairs. While the physical skills
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are very relatable to everyday life, so are some of the ideas pickup up in a shop

classroom. For example, if you dont put your best effort forward, you are likely

to not enjoy the end product. It is okay to get off subject if it means I, as the

teacher, can learn something about my student that will be able to help me reach

them better.
20. Humor
a. Keeping student attention and participation can be quite difficult in todays

classroom. Fortunately, most teenagers really enjoy the element of humor when it

is introduced into the classroom. In conjunction with micro lessons, making jokes

and being funny really helps aid in keeping students from causing a disruption. It

can also help motivate and alleviate frustration when they make a mistake on an

important piece of their project. Humor helps students show that you are a human

being as well, and makes you more relatable. This allows you to make a

connection with the student more easily, and therefore teach them in a much more

efficient manner.