Zach Vaughn's Classroom Management Plan
Time Management
I remember my 9th grade English teacher always said that we have so much to do and so little time, which is a true statement because it feels like there is never enough time to get things done. Nevertheless, as a teacher, I will need to manage my finite class time as best as I can because there is a lot of history to cover in 40-minute periods. The following are strategies I will use as a teacher to manage class time:
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Daily Agenda: As I explained in the "Routines & Procedures" section of this plan, I will have a daily agenda up on the board which I will go over at the beginning of class. (Consisting of the learning objectives for the day's lesson, the tasks that the students will be working on, and the homework that they will have on the day's lesson.) This would allow my students to get a sense of what is going to happen in the class period.
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Bathroom Breaks: Since I will be teaching adolescents in 40-minute periods, I cannot schedule bathroom breaks for my students nor would I ever do such a thing because, as I explained in the "Class Policies" section of this plan, students cannot truly control or train themselves to eat or go to the bathroom at a certain time. So, I would have them sign out a hall pass. They do not need to ask me to go, just get up and sign it out.
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Mental Breaks: If students complete an activity early, I will check in with them to make sure that it was done correctly and, if so, they are free to start on their homework (if possible) or take a mental break for the rest of the time allocated for the activity. I decided on this because I know, from personal experience, that students need breaks in between activities or tasks or else they can get overwhelmed and mentally shut down.
Material Management
Cell Phones: As I previously stated in the "Class Policies" section of this plan, I would allow students to use their smartphones during their work time for individual and group tasks as a research tool or for music (as long as neither I or their neighbors can hear it). During lectures or non-work time, students are expected to have their phones out of sight (i.e. in their pockets or in the electronics pouch in the front of the room) and either silenced or off.
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Laptops/Chromebooks: As with cell phones, I would have my students use Chromebooks during class to work on activities or watch short videos. I got this idea from observing my school based educator at East Rochester, who has his students watch videos on their Chromebooks so they can go at their own pace instead of having to set the whole class back because a few students didn't catch the answer to a certain question. (If they are watching a video on YouTube, they can turn on closed captioning so they can see every word that is said in case they don't understand what the person is actually saying.)
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Class Folder/Binder: It is expected that students will have all of their materials when they come to class. I have both observed and had teachers who have either strictly monitored whether or not students had their materials by observation, collecting students' notes every once in a while for a participation grade, or by calling out students who do not have their materials and telling them to go get them. I have also had and observed teachers on the other end of the spectrum, who let the students regulate themselves or just not monitor whether or not they have their stuff. I believe in giving students as much autonomy as possible in their education so, therefore, I would like to not collect their binders or folders to check if they are writing notes (I would only consider it as a last resort if I determine that I need to do so). If a student forgets their class folder or binder, they would not necessarily be required to go get it as my class would utilize Google Classroom (with all of the course materials, including the day's notes, PowerPoint, and assignments), so they could just lo onto a Chromebook and follow along using a digital copy and print it out to put it in their folder or binder when they do get it later on.