Introduction:

Once I have graduated with my EC-6th grade teaching certificate, I hope to teach either
second self-contained or third grade science and math, and eventually move my way up to
becoming an elementary art teacher. When I begin teaching, I understand I will have to be
flexible with the classroom management strategies I implement, but I also know it is important to
start out with a plan. Some of the aspects that must be considered include, but are not limited to,
what will take place on the first day, what my classroom will look like, what my policies and
procedures will be, and how I will motivate and discipline my students.
First Day:

On the first day of school, I will greet each one of my students and their parents at the
door and welcome them to their new classroom. Each desk will have an All About Me activity
placed on top like the one pictured above. On the board I will have a procedure for the studnets
to follow as they are getting settled in: 1) Place lunch box in front Lunch Box Bin, 2) Empty
backpack, 3) Place supplies in desk, 4) Put backpack in closet, 5) Fill out All About Me mini
poster. After all of the students come in I will Introduce myself and tell my students a little about

who I am, why I like to teach, what a couple of my hobbies are, etcetera. For example I may say,
Good morning everyone! My name is Ms. Gerke, but you all can call me Ms. G. I will be your
math and science teacher this year. These are my favorite subjects, does anyone here like math or
science? If you dont, thats ok because I am sure you will by the end of this year. I will then
gather the students into a morning meeting circle and explain that every day after
announcements, this is where they will go. We will play various ice breaker games such as
Telephone, Name-Animal, and The Clap Game. My goal is for everyone to start learning
each others names and become familiar with one another. I also hope to get to know my students
as people by finding out things such as what their favorite food is, what their favorite hobbies
are, other favorite things, etcetera. Additionally I will not call out any students by making them
share, but rather learn who likes to share in front of the class and who does not.
I then will explain that the groups my students are in will be called teams and the theme
of my room is careers. Above each group will be a job title and description that will change
monthly. Starting jobs: Doctor, Astronaut, Zoo Keeper, and Mechanic. Then I will ask my
students to tell their team members a little bit about themselves using their All About Me mini
poster. While the students share I will walk around and visit with each table. Afterwards I will
ask for volunteers to share one thing they learned about another person from their community.
By doing this, I hope to have my students start getting to know one another.
Once there have been several volunteers, I will tell the students about the class schedule
and some of the things they will be learning this year. I will include classroom procedures such
as how every morning they will have something to work on at their desk right when they come
in; this is called your warm-up. It will help your mind wake up. I will also teach the 25 second
carpet transition song: Everybody have a seat, have a seat, have a seat. Everybody have a seat

on the floor. Not on the celling, not on the door. Everybody have a seat on the floor. A, B, C, D,
E, F, G, lets see who can spell with me (Spell school name). What does that spell? Later the
spelling word will become an academic vocabulary word. Additionally students will practice
lining up in 10 seconds quietly. Lastly, I will teach the students that when I use the lightning
flash (turning off and on the classroom lights) it means they are getting to loud. The students
will practice with this song, count down, and light to get a feel for them throughout the first day.
I feel it is very important to begin getting students into the habit of certain classroom routines
from the start of school. These will be reinforced and practiced throughout the first couple of
weeks of school until my students have gotten the hang of them.
The students will then come to a morning meeting circle again and I will have them do
some sort of hurtful words activity such as wrinkled hearts, or no more gel so that my
students understand from the start that saying or doing mean things can hurt others. I will have
the class help me create a classroom constitution that they will all sign that day. Here I will also
address my classroom policies, explain the consequences for breaking the rules and the stress
ball waring system. It is important that I address this plan from the beginning of the year in
order, according to Lee and Marlene Canter, to be an assertive discipliner. I will also talk about
our class website. Before we have to go to block or recesses, I will make an effort to leave at
least five minutes early so the students can practice walking down the hall according to the
schools expectations. Finally, I will show my students my mailbox and have the students all send
me a quick letter that starts with This year I want to learn... They will put this letter in the
mailbox on their way out. If I switch classes, I will shake every students hand as they leave my
room and thank them for coming to school that day. When the next class comes into my room I
will repeat the same or similar routine.

For pack-up, all of the students will sit at their desks writing or drawing in their personal
journals until their table is called to pack up. These journals will be used for the students to
reflect on their weekly goals and write or draw about anything that comes to mind. Once all of
the students are packed up, we will all meet on the carpet for a closing meeting. I will ask the
students to share their roses (or good things) of the day and today I learned Students will
then line up at the door and will say goodbye to each.
Classroom Environment:

If my school allows me to, I will paint my walls to make my classroom more inviting.
My classroom will be extremely neat and organized, and to keep it this way I will ensure all of
my students know exactly where everything goes and will have each do a find it fix it as part
of the pack up procedure. The student desks will have multiple arrangements depending on what
is required of the students for that day. However, they will be arranged in groups for the majority
of the time, as seen in the figure above. There will be no books, folders, or notbooks allowed
inside the desks, only a large bucket with pencils, markers, crayons, glue, scissors, and erasers in
it. When I do not need the supplies for a days lessons, I will turn the desks around so that the
openings are facing away from the students. This will prevent the temptation of playing with the

items within the desks. Each student will receive a book box where they will keep the folders and
notebooks required for my class inside. Each class will have a shelf or two where they will store
these book boxes. The classroom will also include a carpet area, a library, workstation areas, a
teacher and student meeting table (half circle table), places for the students to put their backpacks
and lunchboxes, and a teacher area. I will have a small section of the room that I will mark off
with red tape; signifying the students are not allowed to cross over. Finally, each community will
have a designated color which will be indicated by the color of their name tags on their desks and
the job sign above their desks.
Classroom Policies:
My classroom policies will be determined by the group of students I have in my
classroom (grade level, advanced/regular, etc.). I will communicate all of my policies to the
students on the first day of class. Additionally, I will discuss my policies and rules with my
parents on open house and post them under the classroom policy tab on my class website. The
class rules/ constitution, will be determined by the students on the first day of class. Some of my
policies will included only allowing healthy snacks and water bottles, and giving my students
class bathroom breaks before block (specials), after lunch, after recesses, and any other time I
deem necessary. If it is an emergency, then the students may use the appropriate hand signal
when I am not teaching to indicate they need to go. My students will be expected to complete
their work in a timely fashion. If they do not, they will place their work in their Parking Lot
folder to finish in their free time. Homework menus will be handed out Friday and will be due a
week later.

Classroom Procedures:
Class will always begin with a warm-up that the students will receive as they walk in the
room and shake my hand. If they finish the warm-up early, students will read a book quietly. This
will then be followed by community discussions about the warm up, the pledge, and a morning
meeting. Additionally, as a class we will change the calendar and look at what the weather will
be for that day. Then I will redefine expectations and discuss and classroom business. Class will
end with a closing classroom meeting and discussing the things they learned with their peers.
Then I will tell the students to Be Good, Be Safe, Have Fun, and Learn A Lot! Finally, the
students will line up at the door, shake my hand and exit as I thank them for coming to school
that day.
Transitions and signals will be taught on the first day of school and practiced throughout
the first week. These will be indicated by an announcement, followed by either the carpet song or
10 second count down in different languages to indicate that the students must be ready for the
next thing by the time the transition signal has finished. If my students are getting too loud
during their activities, I will flash the classroom lights to signal them to quiet down (the
lightning). All of the supplies that the student need will be inside of their desks. I will teach the
students to turn their papers into their class color tray located in the front of the room. I will have
table managers who will be in charge of collecting papers and turning them in. My students
will use various hand signs which will tell me their specific needs: (raising their hand when they
have a question, raising a fist to signify they have to go to the bathroom, and raising both hands
if they have a comment). Additionally, when I want my students attention, I will raise, clap three
times, and collapse my hands above my head to signal them to copy me and turn their attention
to me (this will symbolize the class coming together as a whole). Other attention getters I may

use include, Oh ClassOh Yes, Hands UpSeven Up, and One, Two, Three, Eyes on
Me.
I will have a mailbox on my desk where the students may write me stories, draw me
pictures, write me what they liked or did not like about class, write if they have a problem with
someone, or anything else they would like me to know. I will explain to my students that if there
is something that I need to read immediately, they will put the mailbox flag up (as if to flag me
down). I will incorporate this to solve the disruption of tattle telling (prone to elementary
students), and teach them to distinguish between what is important to tell right away and what
they just want me to know. In order to ensure all of my students are participating I will use a
table go-around-cup system where I will draw one stick to indicate the table that will respond or
do the action required. In the matter of a needed response, I will first have the students discuss
among their teams the topic I have given them and then if their table is draw, two people from
that table must give me some sort of answer.
Addressing Misbehavior:
I will teach my students a certain breathing exercise where they think about breathing in
blue skies, and out gray skies. The first step to addressing misbehavior in my classroom will be
for me to go over to the student or students who are misbehaving and have them do this exercise
to either clam them down or grab their focus. However with minor misbehaviors such as goofing
off, talking to a neighbor, etcetera, I will either ignore the misbehavior or use proximity, or eye
contact to control the situation. I will also train my students to know that if I take a deep breath
next to them, then they need to take a deep breath and get focused. This way when my students
are causing minor disruptions I can go over to them, take a deep breath and continue teaching.
Additionally, if the student does not catch on, I will place a small red rock on the students desk

or in their hand discretely, and take it off/ away once I feel they are paying attention again. These
things will not require me to say a word, nor will they be distracting to other students.
If my students continue to misbehave I will have a clip system that I will enforce. At the
beginning of each day, each students clip will be placed on the sun. If a student misbehaves after
three warnings, their clip will move down to the gray cloud. On the gray cloud, the student will
be given the option to go to the time out corner (something that will be seen as a positive thing in
my class) to take a breather and gain control of the situation. If a student misbehaves again after
one more warning, he/she will move their clip down to the lightening cloud and will have to
write or tell me in one-two sentences how they will improve their behavior. Involving parents
will be my last resort, but if the student is on the lightening cloud and has been warned yet again,
I will have that student call his/her parent. My students will only be sent to the principals office
if their misbehavior is extreme. On the other hand, if a students behavior stands out in a positive
light (helping another student, being a role model, doing a good deed without being asked, etc.)
then that student may move his/her clip up to the rainbow. This will depend on my schools policy
on managing misbehaviors.
If one of my students is having a very bad day, I will sit him/her in the time out corner
where I will give him/her a level chart that has five color dots with face expressions on it (blue,
light blue, yellow, orange, red) and have the student point to the face that represent how they are
feeling (Blue- sad to Red- very angry). Once the student identifies this I will have a private
conference with the student to problem solve how we can make that day better for him/her.
Student Motivation:
I will motivate my students by learning what they are interested in and using those
themes to teach around. I also will incorporate a weekly hands on discovery center that the

students will be allowed to go to if they finish their work early before the other students. This
activity will be real world and job based in which I will emphasize that the students will learn
more and more about as they advance through school. The students will understand that if they
do a sloppy job with their classwork, then they will not get to go this center. Additionally, I will
implement a rainbow system in which when a single member of or the entire team does
something good, I will reward the whole group with a color of the rainbow. Each community will
have a laminated rainbow that allows me to color in individual arcs. Once the community has
completed their rainbow, all of the members will be rewarded with school or classroom currency.
I also will use encouragement rather than praise in my classroom and do my best to
involve the community and family. I will provided opportunities for parents and family to
volunteer and participate within my classroom, according to my schools policy. I will send home
complement notes and keep my class website updated weekly. I will also incorporate strategies
such as going home and telling three to encourage family involvement. Here the students will
have to write down on a piece of paper who the three were and return the paper to school the
next day. The three may include mom, dad, cat, dog, brother, sister, friend, toy, etcetera. Finally, I
will give my students choice in the things they do. Whether it be controlled choice where I give
the students options, or open-ended choice where they decided everything. I believe that the
more choice students have in their education, the more motivated they will be to learn.
Conclusion:
All of the above strategies come together to create a psychological and physical safe
learning environment. Classroom management is key to ensuring students learn not only the
content a teacher teaches them, but also live lesson. Having this classroom management plan for

when I begin teaching, will help me stay organized so I may better prepare myself for the
challenges I will face.