classroom management plan

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Serena Behrens
Classroom Management Plan
A teacher’s philosophical orientation to education is reflective of what beliefs and values
are important for students, teachers, curriculum, and knowledge. This is not to say though that a
teacher’s philosophy will not change as he or she gains more experience. For now, I will take an
existentialist approach to teaching and strive for individuality for my students, but who knows
what my philosophy will be ten years into teaching. Existentialism is more focused on tailoring
the curriculum to the needs and interests of each child. Existentialists, such as the late
philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, feel that individuality should be the focus of education for the sake
of every student becoming an authentic individual. I think this approach to teaching allows me to
use students’ funds of knowledge to build my curriculum, lesson plans, and most importantly my
classroom.
In order to set the tone for an inclusive classroom culture, I want to get to know various
aspects of the community I will be working in. After analyzing the community for what the
values and characteristics of the community are, I want to display posters that represent those
values and cultures. I want my classroom to be fluid, so that I can adjust for any student I need to
adjust for. Ideally, I would love to have a bulletin board full of community events that are
happening, information on classes that parents can take in the community, and programs that are
available not only through the school but also through community centers or local support
services. I think that the tone of acceptance of individuality will primarily be set by the
appearance of the classroom. Having literature and classroom décor that represents multiple
cultures will help me to radiate the feeling of acceptance and support of all students that I am
trying to go for. Along with the appearance of the classroom, I want the environment and

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classroom culture to be one of inclusion.
One example of setting expectations in the classroom with elementary students that I
have heard time and time again is having the students come up with the expectations themselves.
I love this idea because I think it gives students the feeling that they are responsible for their
actions and in control of their learning environment. While I definitely feel that this should be a
guided activity to ensure that the expectations I have are somehow illustrated among the
expectations the students have, I do want to make sure that I allow the students the freedom to
express their opinions of what matters to them in the classroom. I think that this is a tool I can
utilize throughout the school year to create an inclusive classroom by reminding the students of
the expectations that they collectively came up with such as respecting one another, trying your
best, listening when others are speaking, and so on and so forth. I think it would be fun for the
students to create posters in small groups about what it looks like to portray these values and
expectations that we could hang in our classroom so that the students feel like the classroom is
an environment they were a part of creating.
When these expectations are not being met, I want to make sure that the consequences
directly link to the expectation not being followed. I have been in many classrooms where the
consequences of misbehavior are always the same – missing recess, sitting in a corner to work by
yourself, or being sent to the office. I want to do my best to make sure the consequences when
necessary are a reflection of the misbehavior. I want my students to feel responsible for their
behavior so my first warning will be to remind them to check themselves to see if they are
following the expectations they came up with and if they aren’t following them that they should
refocus and follow that expectation. When we create those expectations, I want them to
brainstorm with me what they feel would be appropriate consequences if they do not adhere to

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our classroom rules. Again, I want to make the classroom as much as I can gear toward the
students, and forming consequences and rewards seems like a place where I can guide their
thought a little but also allow them to be authentic individuals.
Because I am aiming for an upper elementary grade level, I would ideally like to have
different roles and responsibilities for my students in the classroom. I would like these roles to be
inclusive, so my initial presentation of the roles to my students would be allowing the students to
analyze the classroom and decide where they think help is needed and what roles they would like
to take on. I would also like for the students to decide how they would switch roles throughout
the year. Creating jobs in the classroom I feel again brings responsibility to the students and
makes them each feel that they are important to our classroom community. I will of course
provide them with example jobs and ways of rotating through the jobs, but I want it to be the
students primarily because they are who I am building a classroom community for.
Overall, I think that building an inclusive classroom is going to take some practice. I
think it will be a challenge to hold to it throughout the school year when it could be easy to get
caught up in other things, but that if I do stick to it, I will achieve the inclusive environment I
want to create.