Category: News

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/education/edlife/stress-social-media-and-suicide-on-campus.html?emc=eta1

The New York Times article “Suicide and the Pressure of Perfection’ discusses the enormous stresses placed on high academic achievers to compete with each other to reach even higher, as they move on to college and graduate school.   It can be disconcerting for the valedictorian of a small high school to move to a place where everyone is valedictorian and his/her prior straight-A’s become “below average’ based on the intensity of new curriculum (it was disconcerting for me); but this effect has existed for as long as the concept of college.   Two additional recent factors, however, have exacerbated this effect: helicopter parents constantly explaining to their children how to solve their problems (or “lawnmower parents’ clearing away administrative obstacles) and the artificial public displays of social media, where posts and images only show other students at their best.

My current teaching position is a college-like environment already, as students move away from their parents and are suddenly self-responsible.   Moreover, the schools throughout Alaska have such wide variation in curriculum that many of the high achievers in each town suddenly find themselves completely in over their head.   I’ve learned techniques to disguise the different paces of learning, and to enable students to compete with themselves rather than noticing how fast anyone else is doing: worksheets and quizzes too hard for anyone to turn in within the allotted time (but graded on a curve); fill-in study guides with the answers on the back so students are memorizing as they flip back and forth; Password-style trivia where the students pair up and quiz each other so the class is not competing as a whole.   Hopefully these methods can show that learning is an unending process, and give the high achievers a sense of the pace of college without demoralizing them.

The start of next year, I’ll need to teach the meaning of responsibility and how to manage tasks without adult supervision.   (The fact that I will have a better classroom management plan of my own should help with organization, and show students the nature of responsibility by example.)

 

NOTE: This was copied and pasted from a word document, some of the figures do not show up in this document. (In particular one figure that shoes a diagram of the classroom safety information located around the classroom in the safety section). The formatting is completely off, a lot of the work done was in the formatting of the document, but that will be seen in the final draft.  

Thank you  

 

 

Classroom Management Plan

 

 

 

 

 

Triston Nyquest

EDSC 658

Classroom Management Plan

December 8^th, 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents

 

1. Introduction
2. Preparation before the School Year starts
3. Routines & Procedures
4. Rules & Policies
5. Safety & legal requirements
6. Planning & Conduction of Instruction
7. Student Diversity
8. Engagement
9. Differentiation
10. Collaboration & Communication
11. Cultural & Community Resources/ Connections
12. Summary
13. References

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

• Document why CM is important (3^rd person). Cite current research on CM.

Effective learning takes place when students feel safe and are willing to take academic risks. In order to facilitate this type of learning, a comprehensive classroom management plan that benefits all students is needed … (You may use previously written material in our course; include citations, APA).

• State your personal view of effective CM in your subject area and how your CM plan aligns to your philosophy of teaching.

 

I teach to positively impact students by giving them the tools and support they need to learn and rise to life’s challenges. Teachers should be a caring advocate that holds to boundaries, and has the ability to challenge and motivate students to do their best. The purpose of education is to give students the basic tools they need to accomplish their goals in life, and to be productive, courteous members of our society. The essentialist view point is most congruent with my own, but I believe in universal truths, so I also align with aspects of the Perennial ideology as well. I believe there is a basic moral and social standard in which all people should understand for our society to function. There are a diverse and ever-increasing number of different identities, perspectives, and ideologies in our world, and I respect students as young adults, people with varying opinions, ideas, and cultural backgrounds.

The importance of letting students discover on their own often gives us a set of diverse pathways to a single solution, and this is why diversity is so valuable. I have an expectation in my classroom that all of my students should be proud of where they come from, each with unique cultures, ideologies, and identities. I believe that all students should have equitable access and opportunities to an education, and that right should not be determined by gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, or race. I bring non-gender biased science learning to my classroom in which females or other specified genders are believed to be as equally capable of doing science as males. I believe that diverse cultural perspectives, such as our native subsistence culture in Alaska, is important to draw from and share with our students. Curriculum is like a unique pathway that teachers choose to get their students to reach a certain goal. Differentiating curriculum to include culturally relevant topics, like King salmon population dynamics on the Yukon River, give students a more personalized learning experience. Technology is one of the tools that can be helpful in creating a differentiated pathway, so that students can learn in a way that best fits their needs. Technology is a great tool, but it has to be balanced with traditional face to face instruction, it’s not always the answer.

Learning is being able to take the information given to you and applying it. If you can’t apply something that you know, it is questionable whether you really know it at all. I use interactive materials, hands on labs, group work, and book work to help students see information through more than one medium. I prefer to have a varied assessment style with written tests, verbal and oral presentations, as well as skills based labs where students apply their knowledge. Students that struggle will always be able to come to me for help. I constantly observe my classroom to ensure that if students don’t want to come to me, that I make myself available to them. If I am unable to assist them through alterations in assignments, breaks, communication, or any other various interventions, I will equip them with the proper tools and resources they need to succeed.

 

 

Preparation before the School Year starts

• Organizing your classroom and materials (Section 6)
• Getting off to a good start (Section 6)

 

 

 

 

Routines & Procedures

• Beginning and ending of the day
• Transitions, use of materials
• Group work and teacher led activities

 

Rules & Policies

• What rules / procedures will you establish in the classroom, why, and how will you enforce them?
• Management at the school level

 

Students will see this list posted over the teacher’s desk, but the students will be able to discuss the rules with the teacher and give their opinion of the rules, if they think they are applicable to the classroom or not.  The class rules will be discussed and reviews at the beginning of the year.

1. We will respect our elders
2. We will respect our peers
3. We will respect our time
4. We will respect our resources
5. We will show mercy

&

6. We will build up our peers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Safety & legal requirements (Section 2, 7)

• Discipline an consequences (Section 2)
• *Safety rules and procedures in place at your school/ school district (7) (Fire safety, lab safety, code yellow….) * this is an extension to the section before

 

 

Crisis Management Plan

The Crisis Plan is put in place to assist in procedures during an active medical or behavioral emergency. The crisis plan is located near the door, pinned up on the wall at eye level. The crisis plan packet also has a current list of all class rosters and allows the teacher to take role in a situation and determine if there are students missing. In the case of an emergency that requires the other students to be evacuated from the classroom they will exit and proceed to the pit, (the commons area in front of the library, students know where this is). If that area is occupied then they will go to the Library. As students are exiting the teacher will assign a student to go to the office and give a red card stored in the crisis packet to the secretary or principle, (the office is only a few seconds away from any high school classroom in Nenana, it is a small school). Under the teacher’s desk there is a bucket of snacks blankets and board games for students to keep themselves busy that the last student out of the room will bring, (there is more of these crisis materials stored in both the library and the office). The plan will be practiced and reviewed at least once a month, and will be acted out at least once a semester, or twice annually. The first week of school will include a short lecture on the importance of the plan, and will introduce it to the students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classroom Arrangement

Material Supply

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Planning & Conduction of Instruction

• Teacher student relationships, Maintaining Appropriate Student Behavior (Section 3)
• Withitness and emotional objectivity

 

1. Students will receive tasks or responsibilities if they show responsible behavior throughout the class.
2. Students will receive public individual praise.
3. Students will make quarterly goals for themselves.
4. Students will be given freedom of bathroom breaks if shown to be trustworthy.
5. Students will be given extra credit when they go above and beyond on an assignment.
6. Students will be in the running for a student of the month/quarter/semester (depending on the number of students) that the teacher will decide and then praise in front of the class and make a call home to parents about how the student has been performing in class.

 

 Student Diversity

• Cultural diversity
• Special Needs students

 

 

 Engagement

• Personal interest in students, Engagement strategies

 

 

 Differentiation (Sections 3, 4, 5)

• Differentiation need and strategies

 

Replacement Behavior Menu

1. Instead of getting frustrated and quitting on an assignment, raise your hand or come to my desk and ask for help.
2. Instead of putting down your peer, think about how you would like to be treated and give them the respect that you want others to give you.
3. Instead of bragging about how well you did on the test when your neighbor didn’t do so well, wait to celebrate with someone else in a more appropriate time.
4. Instead of determining someone’s character based upon their looks, wait to get to know them
5. Instead of procrastinating, just set a goal for yourself and take one step at a time instead of trying to do the whole assignment all at once.
6. Instead of interrupting the teacher and disrupting class, write down your question if not called upon and ask the teacher later after they are done speaking
7. Instead of sleeping in class, try to get to bed sooner tonight so that you aren’t so tired
8. Instead of shutting down and pouting, remember that it’s what people do in times of struggle that really show their true strength of character
9. Instead of wearing your earbuds during instruction, listen to instructions and then listen to music while you work
10. Instead of texting during instruction, take advantage of your time to learn and then text on a break or at the end of class

 

 

Collaboration & Communication

• parents
• educational stakeholders

 

Cultural & Community Resources/Connections

• Working with parents and community. List of five community resources (e.g., classroom speakers, museum, organizations that support education, field trip possibilities). Include a 200-word paragraph describing how you would work with parents and how to use community resources to enhance instruction and create interest in learning.

 

 

 

 

Summary

• Summary about how you will utilize the CM plan
• Formative evaluation strategies that will be used to inform updates and revisions to your classroom management strategies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

 

Classroom Management Plan – Swagerty

 

Here is my classroom management plan.

Of course, there are benefits to personalized learning, but definitely consequences.  The benefits I see are the ability to allow students to progress at their own pace, meeting them right where they are whether that is ahead of other students or behind them.  I love the idea of tailoring education to fit each specific student so that it is not a “one size fits all” approach.  Most of the US education system is built around the middle road and getting everyone to walk along that road together. The consequences are that it is SO MUCH work for the teacher…  Meeting every single student and finding the right road for them?  I can’t even begin to imagine trying to do that for every student in a 30 person class, much less a 300 student school!
I can give one example of a successful program for a specific student- Tanana Middle school is trying a program called Synergy.  For two days a week and about 3 hours each day their students work on a project they have dreamed up on their own.  While some students had no idea what they wanted to do, my daughter knew exactly her interests and goal.  She is working on learning how to use a computer animation program coupled with a WACOMM tablet.  The tablet allows her to directly draw into the computer program so she is moving her own characters and creating short animation videos.  They are amazing- first steps in what I expect to be a long process for her.  She has struggled with making them do exactly what she wants, and she loves the struggle.  Last year she hated school and fought us every morning.  Now she goes even if she feels bad.

So, I can’t say that recreating every aspect of school to create an entire personalized learning education for every student would be the right choice.  However, I can say that adding elements can harness the creativity and energy and interests of my student.  I like that it has been introduced slowly, and not taken over the entire curriculum.

I thought this article had some good ideas:  https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/high_school_and_beyond/2016/05/personalized_learning_more_than_technology.html

I’ve had a hard time processing this material because it makes me so upset.  As someone who worked in Fort Worth Texas with English Language Learners, I worked with students who I’m sure had family members who were not in the US legally.  I didn’t hear many stories from my students about where they were from, or where their family was from…  I had one 16 year old pregnant student who was staying with an aunt so that her baby would have US Citizenship… She was smart, hopeful, and had made some bad choices.  She wanted to stay away from the dangerous elements from back home in Mexico, get her high school degree, and be a good mom.  She believed that her future had to be away from her home town.

I don’t have a good solution for this problem.  I wish I did!  I wish I could wave a magic wand and just fix this for all the kids and their families…  Some of them should stay here, and some of them should go to their parents’ home country…  I don’t think it is fair for children who grew up with the US as their home to be permanently punished for their parents’ choices, even if they were illegal choices.  I think this is a way more complicated problem than a lot of people with simple straightforward answers believe it is.  Most of the dreamers are so afraid of getting caught and being deported that they rarely broke the law, or got noticed at school.  Their goal was to hunker down and just pass through the system without any ripples.  However, there are always students who mess up and make bad choices…

I read an article about a woman who is teaching in Houston- she has a secondary education degree from a university down there and has been teaching for a few years, maybe 3, and she is one of the dreamers.  She is afraid to tell her students that she might be forced to leave.  One of her co-workers who is also a dreamer already left because he didn’t want to be forced to leave.