Classroom Management: Enforcing Discipline Among Students

Shaping My Future Classroom

As a future teacher, I am constantly thinking about how I want to shape my future classroom and classroom management. I have been given many opportunities as an Elementary Education major to observe a variety of different classroom managements. Every time I enter a new classroom, there is always something unique and special about each classroom management that appears to be the perfect fit for the individual teaching the class. Although it seems that the educators I observe have a beneficial classroom management, I know that I do not want to use their same techniques. I have thought out an ideal morning routine for my classroom, my classroom norms, and my classroom procedures, that I believe will be favorable for my students.

“The beliefs we hold as teachers shape the beliefs children take up about themselves as learners, the learning process, and the world around them” (Mills as cited in Glover & Keene, 2015). Mills (as cited in Glover & Keene) further stated: “Our beliefs actually underpin the moves we make as teachers, regardless of where or whom we teach” (pg. 31). My beliefs about my morning routine, my classroom norms, and my classroom procedures, are going to shape my students into better learners, as well, shape me into a more improved teacher.

I believe that routines are the backbone of a classroom. I believe that keeping the same morning routine everyday will allow my students to stay more concentrated on my teaching, my students will know what is expected of them, and I will be able to focus more on my teaching and less on giving instructions.

The Planned Routine for the First Day of School

On the first day of school, I will be standing at my door waiting for my students to arrive with their parents or from the buses. As my students enter my classroom, I will direct them to their cubbies and tell them to look for their name above the cubbies. I will inform them that that is where they will be putting their backpacks and coats every morning before class begins. I will then direct my students to our classroom library and ask them to pick out a book and then to sit at the desk with their name on it and to begin reading their book. During this time, I will be interacting with my student’s parents. I will introduce myself by shaking their hands and mentioning how happy I am to be teaching their child. I will also explain my objectives and expectations I have in my classroom. Once class has begun, I will elaborate to my students the morning routine and what is expected of them. They will enter the classroom quietly, place their coats and backpacks in their cubbies, grab a book from our classroom library, and begin reading until we start class. When it is time to begin class, I will take attendance and they will remain silent during this time unless their name is called on. Breakfast will be provided to the students for free by the school. Students will have the opportunity to eat breakfast if they have arrived at the school at an appropriate time. They will have to finish their breakfast by 8:15 a.m. because that is when our first lesson will begin. I will also be doing breakfast checks as I am taking attendance. My students will respond if they have or have not eaten breakfast during this time.

Fostering Discipline with Classroom Norms

On the first day of school we will be going over our classroom norms. The class norms are the behavior expectations of the students and our classroom rules. We will make a list of what is expected of them throughout the entire day of school. This will be a classroom discussion, so my students will be responding to my questions and communicating their ideas. Our main classroom norms are: respecting, sharing, trusting, and belonging. We will discuss each of these concepts and how they will be exercised in our classroom. I will be writing down our classroom norms on the chalkboard and they will stay up all year.

1. Respecting means that my students will be considerate of their classmates’ feelings and their teachers. As a class, we will not judge each other or say hateful things. My students will be kind and fair in our classroom. Being mean or rude is not tolerated.
2. Sharing is my students giving, using, or enjoying something with their classmates or friends. For example, the term sharing can be used in different ways. If my students are collaborating in a group project, they will have an effective outcome if they are all sharing their ideas. It can also mean sharing their school supplies if their neighbor left their pencil at home.
3. Trusting is my students always believing that their classmates are good and honest with them as well as their teachers. My students trusting is them believing that their teachers and friends are leading them in the right direction. It is important for my student trust each other because it builds relationships with their peers.
4. Belonging means that our school is a safe space and my students are here for reason. I want my students to feel secure in our classroom.

By stating our classroom norms in the beginning of the year, I will be building a foundation of collaboration. Collaboration is very important in a classroom. Collins discussed the idea of collabrovisation, which is collaboration enhanced with improvisation. Collins (as cited in Glover & Keene, 2105) stated: “rather than simply resulting in effective decision making through cooperation and strict compliance, collabrovisation allows for innovation, deeper understanding, and customization for one’s classroom” (p. 199). I want my students to have a deeper understanding of life and an understanding of where they belong rather than just entering my classroom and strictly learning math and reading.

Personal Classroom Management Practices

My classroom procedures will be the most important part of my classroom management.

1. At the end of the day, my students will be packing up fifteen to twenty minutes before their parents or buses arrive to pick them. This will create less chaos in the classroom. I will break up the students into groups and give each group a task to do to clean up the classroom. After they have cleaned, I will challenge my students to reflect of what they had learned that day. Each day will be different. Somedays we will do an activity such as, sharing their insights with a partner or discussing their insights with the entire class. Other days my students will read a book quietly until the bell dismisses them.
2. For lining up for transitions to another class or area of the school, my students will form in a single file line before entering and leaving different areas of the school and they are not allowed to talk during this time. If they are being disruptive, they will spend more time at the end of the day reading and cleaning rather than our regular classroom activities. My students will only be lining up for lunch, recess, and art. Three times a day we will discuss how they should act outside of our classroom.
3. I will have hall passes available when students need to use the restroom. I will be lenient towards bathroom breaks because I know children have small bladders. I also know when students are taking advantage of bathroom breaks, so I will be strict about it as well. My students will sign out on a piece of paper when they want to use the restroom, so I can keep track of how many time they use the bathroom. This will allow me to see if they are taking advantage of restroom breaks.
4. All of the pencils in my class will be shared by my students. My students are not allowed to keep pencils at their desk. The pencils will be supplied in a caddy by the pencil sharpener, and at the end of each day the student responsible for sharpening pencils that week will sharpen the pencil and put them back in the caddy. The student responsible for sharpening pencils will also be responsible for handing out pencils when it is time to use them.
5. I will inform my students about how they should act in the hallway. I will teach them the three key conditions for hallway procedures. They need to be respectful, be responsible, and be quiet. They need to be respectful by listening to adults, and being safe in the hallway. They need to be responsible by walking in a single line, to be careful opening doors, and walking on the right side of the hallway. They need to safe by making sure their shoes are tied and keeping their hands to themselves. We will discuss our hallway procedures in the beginning of the year and go over them throughout the semesters.
6. I will pass out homework assignments and as students finish them, I will stamp their papers. I will provide my students with a binder where they will keep all of their assignments. Their binders will be organized by the subjects their assignments belong in. At the end of each month, they will turn in their binders and they will be graded. There will be 7 points if an assignment has a stamp, 4 points if an assignment does not have a stamp, and zero points for uncompleted assignments and missing work. I will randomly select two assignments for a grade.
7. When students do not follow our classroom rules, there will be disciplinary consequences. I have developed a procedure to handle it. I do not believe in taking away recess because Cassetta and Sawyer stated that, “taking away recess doesn’t show students how they should behave” (Cassetta & Sawyer as cited in No More Taking Away Recess, 2013). Instead of taking away from students, they will be given more responsibilities at the end of the day. For example, making the student clean off all of the desks at the end of the day.
8. Hand signal are another procedure I will have in my classroom. If I am teaching a lesson and I want to ensure that my students are understanding the concepts, I will use the thumbs-up procedure. Students will show me a thumbs-up if they understand the lesson, a thumbs-down if they do not understand the lesson, and place their thumb sideways if they are unsure of the lesson. Hand signals will also consist of students raising their hands if they have a question.
9. I will have a calendar set up in my classroom that the students will follow along in their own planners. My calendar will consist of the assignments for that day and what we will be doing. My calendar will also consist of important dates during that month. By having a calendar set up in my classroom, students will be able understand what is expected of them and what they need to get done.
10. Giving my students tasks each day will give them responsibility for cleaning up after themselves each day. I will have a bucket of sticks with my students’ names on them and I draw names to give them a certain responsibility for each week. Every week students will have a different task. The tasks will include, cleaning the classroom library, sharpening the pencils, whipping off the chalkboard, taking care of the breakfast caddy in the morning, picking up objects off of the floor, passing out papers, and the messenger, who will deliver messages to the office.

References

1. Cassetta, G., & Sawyer, B. (2013). No more taking away recess and other problematic discipline practices. (pp. 1-78). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
2. Collins, K. (2015). Collaborate or compliance. In Glover, M. & Keene, E. (Eds.), The teacher you want to be: Essays about children, learning, and teaching (pp.195-207). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
3. Mills, H. (2015). Why beliefs matter. In Glover, M. & Keene, E. (Eds.), The teacher you want to be: Essays about children, learning, and teaching (pp. 31-48). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.