My classroom plan is based around the idea of creating a community environment focused on learning. I have learned in my UNM classes about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and realize that the need to belong must be fulfilled before a person can achieve higher learning. In my field service, I am quickly learning that many students do not have a safe and healthy home environment and they must look elsewhere to meet the basic need of belonging. Classrooms provide an excellent place to build this community. As teachers, we have an awesome opportunity to give students the tools and provide the space for them to grow into culturally conscious, socially active and politically contributing adults. This is achieved by nurturing students’ ability to think critically. One important aspect of this nurturing is to give students a healthy community in which to expand their minds and question their surroundings –and what better place to do this than a classroom? The physical setting of the classroom builds a foundation for learning to take place. The classroom rules and procedures should also foster learning.
One way to provide a strong classroom community is to ensure the classroom as a safe and stable environment for students. A good way to do this is through routine and ritual in the class. Having a set schedule gives the students something to hold on to, or connect with. Routines in a class can be as broad as a whole semester, or as micro as a daily bell ringer activity. Many teaching books I have read this semester discuss the importance of supplying a set schedule for the class. This way no student will ask the dreaded question, “Are we doing anything today?” I plan on giving my students a syllabus explaining the basic routines for the class at the beginning of each semester. This will act as a guide for the students, but I will be sure to stress how important flexibility is and how our plans are subject to change as we see fit. I think using the idea of “our” plans as a class is another detail that adds to the classroom community. It is not my classroom and my class, but all of ours together. The agenda for each week will be written on the board every Monday before students enter the classroom. This will show students exactly what we have planned, what is due, and when. I will also start off each class with a bell ringer activity. The topic of these will change depending on what we are discussing in class and what the students need more practice with. I will start off doing a short writing activity to get students used to coming in the classroom, sitting down, getting all their materials in order and beginning to write. I think this will really help students get into the English mood and focus. Once the students are used to the daily bell ringer, I might change it to grammar lessons or common misspellings. I like the focus on writing though.
As for the seating arrangements, I think it is better to have assigned seating. I would like to let students sit wherever they like, but have been warned against this my many authors and teachers. My CT has students sit in alphabetical order and changes their seating whenever a new student enters the class or a student drops the course. The students have voiced how much they dislike always having to move their assigned seats. But the upside to this procedure is that it makes it extremely easy to take roll. I will assign students to their seats, trying to mix the male and female population as much as possible to create an environment which promotes diversity and makes it easy for the kids to focus. I would like to set my room up in a way to maximize accomplishment of learning and minimize behavior problems. I understand that I may have to try a few different configurations depending on the classroom size, number of students and resources provided. Ideally I would like to set up the desks in a horse-shoe shape for most of the class. This would let all students have access to the board, but it also encourages communication between students in a discussion style –not just talking to your friends (like the “island” set-up promotes). The horseshoe also allows me to see all students and what they are doing with their hands. This will cut down on texting underneath the desks. I will also take into consideration students who have special needs and place these students closest to the chalkboard. I would prefer to not really have a “desk,” but instead a podium or table with my supplies. This idea was gleaned from a summer course on teaching. An elementary school teacher came in as a guest speaker. She gave us lots of good ideas about kinesthetic learning and the importance of moving around. I have also noticed my CT barricades herself up at her desk, which is located in the back of the classroom. She is usually grading papers or playing on her computer while students are working. I think this makes her seem unengaged –like she doesn’t really care about the students. But I also think she takes refuge in her desk; it acts as her safe spot. I plan to make my whole classroom into a safe spot so I should not need this sanctuary behind my desk. I also plan to do a lot of group work in my classroom. For this group work, we will rearrange the desks into the appropriate sized “islands.” I begged my CT to let me put the students into groups in our classroom (instead of alphabetical by rows). She let me. Now I know how unfocused this makes students. I think groups are only appropriate when the class is doing group work or having small group discussions.
When setting up my classroom, I will take into consideration the following recommended by Dr. Wong in his book, The First Days of School (2009): enough space to move around the classroom freely, a regular location to turn in homework, a regular place for supplies that students can access without the need for the teacher, places for regularly used books, available storage for student projects, a place for written class rules, a place for the weekly agenda and due dates and a monthly calendar.
On the first day of class, I will put the seating chart up on the projector so students can easily find their seats. This will also help students (and me) become familiar with their peers and their names. Once the class is seated, I will explain the classroom rules and procedures and allow the students to do some bell work (like filing out personal information cards.)
Another useful procedure that was introduced to me by Dr. Wong is assigning each student a unique number for grading purposes. The students will receive their numbers within the first week of school. On all papers handed in, the students will write their number on the upper left hand corner. Then once the papers are turned in, I can put them in order by number quickly and enter grades into my grade book. I know it will take a while for the students to remember their numbers, but I think this will save me time and headaches for the rest of the year.
On the first day of school, I will present the students with the rules and procedures of our classroom. I want to introduce the idea that we are here to learn about English and that is our most important task. Our rules and procedures need to reflect that. I want to work with students to collect their ideas on what our classroom rules should be. This will immediately bring the students together as a community and encourage them to feel like they have a voice in our class. Together, we will create our classroom rules, but I will steer students into choosing the following rules:
1. Be in your assigned seat and working on the assigned bell work when the tardy bell rings.
2. Bring ALL books and materials to class and take them with you when you leave.
3. Treat each person in this room with respect and dignity. (discuss what this means)
4. Follow all procedures and policies as outlined in the AHS handbook.
Rule number three is a little broad, but the students will define what it means in class. I think it means to keep your hands and feet to yourself, do not interrupt when other people are speaking, no put-downs, and generally treat other like you want to be treated.
All of these rules are written in a positive form, and will have a positive outcome if followed. Once we have created our rules together, we will go over the benefits of following them and the punishments for breaking them. Students will receive a stress-free learning environment and a pleasant and orderly classroom atmosphere when these rules are followed.
When a student is not following the rules, I will give them a verbal warning or write their name on the board if I am in the middle of a lecture. After the warning, the student is given a Rule Infraction Notice –another idea from Dr. Wong. This is a small sheet of paper on which I will write how the student was breaking a rule. The student will sign the notice and keep it until the end of class. After class, the student will bring me the notice and we will discuss the problem. I will keep these on file in case a record of the infraction is needed later. If the student continues breaking the rules, we will create an Action Plan for their improvement and contact the parents. If this is not working, the student will be written up and sent to the office.
The procedures I will have in my classroom will cover how to properly enter the room, what to do when tardy, how I plan to get the classes’ attention, how to put a heading on papers, what to do when students are absent, what to do when they finish an assignment early, how to turn in papers, how to participate in class discussions, and how to move around the room when needed.
I especially like the idea for absences that I found in Dr. Wong’s book. I will assign a student from the class to be the attendance-taker. This person will place a yellow folder on the desks of any students who are absent that day. As the handouts are passed out, one will be placed in the yellow folder for the student who is absent. Then I will put a sticky note with the student’s name on the folder. When they return to class, the student will know to go and get the folder with their name on it and complete the make-up work inside. Although this seems like extra work, I think it will be helpful to me. My CT does not have a procedure like this in place. When one of her students misses a class, it is their responsibility to come in at lunch and do the make-up work. This seems like a fine idea, but nearly none of the students come in and I usually have to stop class to hand them whatever papers they missed when they were absent so they can keep up with the rest of the class. If the yellow folders are too much trouble, I will definitely have a make-up work folder in a specific place in the room. This will contain our agenda for the day, any assignments that were give, notes that need to be copied, and handouts that were given out. I think this folder system is more efficient than telling each student individually what they have missed.
Another procedure I would like to do routinely is to post grades every Friday. I think the students work best when they know exactly what their grade is and what assignments they are missing. This will save me time as well, since so many students come up to the desk asking for their grades. I will have a special spot on the wall for grades where students know to look on a weekly basis. While introducing my classroom rules and procedures, I will stress my high expectations for the students. Although I will have just met them, I plan to make it clear to them that I believe they can succeed. I want my students to focus on learning and growing in our classroom. I will express to students how much I value learning and critical thinking. I will encourage my students to question me and my reasons for doing things a certain way in class. I want to explain to students why we are doing what we are doing and how it will help them later in life. Working in a more transparent system will benefit the students as well as me. They will not think what I’m assigning is busy work or arbitrary if I explain my rationale. I will also encourage students to share their concerns or ideas with me on a regular basis. If they want to approach an assignment a different way or have ideas about how to improve the classroom, I am open to them. I will regularly ask for feedback from my students, mostly in short written form. The importance of feedback was drilled into my head by Jim Burke in The English Teacher’s Companion (2008). After a research project done in my fieldwork, I asked the students to answer some basic feedback questions about what went well and what could be improved. Their responses really helped me gauge an understanding of how the project went and what to change next time. Not only will I benefit from this feedback, but it also allows me to adjust future projects and assignments to benefit my students. I think the students will appreciate the large role they have in our classroom. I am trying to get the idea across that students are responsible for their own learning.
On the first day of class I will have the students do bell work, introduce myself and speak a little about me, introduce the class and what we will be learning (syllabus), create rules together, and go over classroom procedures. I will probably present most of this verbally and write on the board some. I like the idea of having my thoughts organized like a slide show, but I don’t think I’ll present students with the slide show. I think the slide show makes it seem like I am dictator of the classroom (and boring) instead of encouraging a healthy classroom community that students help build and maintain.
