Discipline and Classroom Management Plan First, establishing authority and creating a learning-conducive environment are vital at the

beginning of the school year. Without the proper establishment of rules and procedures, students will not have any direction in the classroom. Del Guercio states that classroom management, however, should not take place only at the beginning of the school year: Classroom management is [an] ongoing process; it can be difficult to sustain because it requires attention to detail on a daily basis. Just because students abide by the rules in the fall doesnt mean they wont test the boundaries later in the year (2011, p. 240). Therefore, I plan to be as consistent as possible in my classroom management; otherwise, students will see that certain taboo behaviors are tolerated, and they will push their limits as much as possible. When discipline problems do arise, however, I plan to use Del Guercios method: give the students a warning, repeat the warning twice, and tell the students what the consequence will be. At this point, the student must decide which action to take, thus assuming more responsibility for their actions (2011, p. 40). Parent phone calls are also effective (Del Guercio, 2011, p. 41), and I plan to continue calling parents not just for bad news, but also to share major milestones in class. Related to consistency is creating a safe learning environment. Not only does this include establishing equality among all members of the classroom setting, but it also involves allowing students to see the effort that the teacher is putting forth to build rapport with them. When students see that the teacher cares, they are more likely to put forth extra effort, and they will be more eager to learn the material in class. Del Guercio adds a future benefit of building positive relationships with students: Future conflicts can be avoided if you know a little bit about your students and observe how they interact with others (2011, p. 42). However, inevitably there will be situations i n which the same pattern of behavior is recurring. In this case, I plan to take students aside individually, discuss what the major issues are, and work with the student to determine how the behavior can be modified (Del Guercio, 2011, p. 42). My ultimate goal, however, is to let my students see how

interested I am in the material so that they too will be more motivated to learn Spanish. Once relationships with students have been established, teachers must pay attention to the academic needs of individual students. One group of students that tends to be overlooked is gifted students. These students require more intellectual stimulation, and the foreign language classroom provides numerous opportunities to do so. VanTassel-Baska and Stambaugh suggest: Educators can accelerate the curriculum through the substitution of more difficult texts or the incorporation of real world content (2005, p. 213). Since modern foreign language pedagogy advocates contextualization and real-world application, providing enrichment activities for gifted students can be easily achieved in the foreign language classroom. I plan to incorporate these kinds of enrichment activities for students who would like to further investigate different ideas discussed in class. Like VanTasselBaska and Stambaugh, I also plan to have my gifted students collaborate with me in these interest areas so that I too may learn more about target cultures (2005, p. 213). Hopefully this will prevent any disruptive behavior or disenchantment from my gifted students while they are in class. Another group that I strive to serve in my classroom is students with learning disabilities. One of the key aspects of teaching this group of students is the importance of building relationships. Kronenberg and Strahan explain that knowledge of ones students directly lends itself to fostering success for students: Based on their growing understanding of students strengths, interests, and needs, teachers scaffold lessons that focus explicitly on learning strategies. Positive lesson experiences give students the confidence they need to assume more responsibility for their own learning (2010, p. 80). The researchers also found that when teachers utilize responsive teaching and assist students in making personal connections to material, the students retain more information (2010, p. 80). My goal for my students with learning disabilities is to find their interest areas so that students will not only have more interest in the target language and culture, but also to foster a higher self-esteem. If all students (regular, gifted, and special education) can make personal connections to what we are learning, then they will not be tempted to intentionally disrupt the learning process, thus

gathering more knowledge and appreciation of Spanish and its cultures.

References Del Guercio, R. (2011). Back to the Basics of Classroom Management. The Education Digest, 76(5), 39-43. Kronenberg, J., & Strahan, D. B. (2010). Responsive Teaching: A Framework for Inviting Success with Students who 'Fly Below the Radar' in Middle School Classrooms. Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice, 16, 77-87. VanTassel-Baska, J., & Stambaugh, T. (2005). Challenges and Possibilities for Serving Gifted Learners in the Regular Classroom. Theory Into Practice, 44(3), 211-217. doi: 10.1207/s15430421tip4403_5