Zach Vaughn's Classroom Management Plan
Building a Classroom Community
To me, there are three main components of a classroom community: (1) the students and the classroom, (2) self-management, and (3) communication with parents (see next page).
Community Building
Monthly Class Meetings: As I stated in the "Routines & Procedures" section of this plan, I would conduct monthly classroom meetings in order to create some sense of community in a high school setting (which doesn't lend itself time wise to community building). The questions would be based on the students' personal lives in order to show them that I do not just care about their academic progress, but their lives outside of school as well. Isn't that what building a classroom community is all about? (Giving students a place, inside the classroom, where they can be more than just a student, but a person as well?)
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In-Class Collaboration: In-class group work is another way for students to build a classroom community because they are not just independently writing down notes or assignments, but interacting with others towards a common goal (usually completing an assignment). I would use group work frequently in class and for outside of class projects. However, the negative of group work is that there may be a discrepancy in the amount of work a student actually does in their group (see image on the left below). In order to avoid this type of situation, each student will be given a specific task for the group work, without which, the final product would be incomplete (which also gives students a specific purpose for the activity).
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Self-Management
Graphic Organizers: Graphic organizers provide students with a visual form for organizing their thoughts. They "help students see relationships and pattern new information for memory storage" (Rapp, 2014, p. 101). I would use graphic organizers for pretty much any type of work my students would do in my class (notes, homework, projects, and essays). I have created a DBQ essay graphic organizer that I would give to all of my students to use for planning the essay. (Each student would determine their own amount of time for each section with me. I also included boxes for those who need to check off parts when they are done with them.) If students need a different organizer, they can come to me and we will create one that helps them succeed.
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Planners: According to Dr. Whitney Rapp, "the use of highly structured planning tools helps build organizational skills, time management, memory, and task completion skills" (p. 97). If the purpose of a planner is to help students organize themselves, why should they have to use a planner that the school provides if it doesn't work for them? I will offer different types (pocket planners, planner apps, writing on their arm, really anything that helps them organize themselves).
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Rubrics: An alternative rubric is one “[...] that offers a visual for a student to scaffold the skill of breaking down a long-term assignment and planning the time needed for each step” (Rapp, 2014, p. 145). I would offer a variety of rubrics (grid, checklist, and pie chart) to all of my students because every student learns (and organizes) differently so having a variety gives them choice and adds to differentiation in the classroom. I would also take time out of the class before we start working on the first essay to create the rubric with student input (what they consider fair expectations for an essay at their grade) as well as with my expectations (based on the Common Core Standards for Writing) and distribute the rubric at the beginning of the next class, which can help community building because students have a say in the expectations for their essays.
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Google Classroom & Class Website: Another self-management skill that can help with executive function development is posting class materials online on the class website and Google Classroom. This can give students all of the information they will need in one convenient place (so they don't have to worry about keeping track of a lot of handouts, notes, etc.), they can double-check what they do write down, online information can be easily adapted for visual and auditory learners as opposed to hard copy notes and handouts, and it saves trees (Rapp, 2014).
