Covenant Management - According to Froyen and Iverson covenant

management discusses the main teacher and students roles in the classroom,
what makes the classroom whole?
The teacher will...

Create a safe place where community can thrive.

o Have students come up with a class covenant
o Keep an eye out for bullying and act quickly when spotted
o Have a time at the beginning or end of class where students can
just talk about life.
o Treat the students with respect
o Ask meaningful questions
o Build a relationship with all of the students

Treat all students as image bearers of God

o Teach relevant and meaningful content
o Hold students accountable for their actions
o Provide ways for students to reconcile any harm they have caused
by their words or actions
o Encourage creativity
o Love every student as they are
o Have a daily prayer rotation
o Go to extracurricular events to support students
o Show tons of grace

Be aware of students culture, upbringing, needs, and dreams

o Set up a rotation of meetings whit students where they can talk
about what ever they want (maybe over lunch)
o Know the racial and ethnic makeup of the classroom and do
research about cultures you are not familiar with.
o Meet with parents to learn more about the home contexts of the
students
o Ask students what they want to do with their lives and then
encourage them to go for it!

Students are expected to...

Respect the teacher, all students in the school, and the property among
them
o Make a class covenant

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Hold each other accountable

Apologize when you are in the wrong
Forgive each other
Use respectful language
Do homework well and turn it in on time
Use materials correctly
Walk respectfully in the hallways
Talk at a respectful volume
Listen when others are talking
Turn off lights when you are the last person to leave the room
Recycle

Have a positive attitude towards themselves, focusing on what they can

do instead of what they cannot do.
o Write notes to yourself once a week sharing all the good things you
did.
o Make amends when you wrong someone so that you can move on
o Find what you are good at and do that

Show grace and compassion in their actions and words.

o Forgive when someone wrongs you
o Help your peers when ever possible
o Listen quietly while others are talking
o Give equitable space
o Learn to appreciate differences

Get to know their classmates, what they like and dislike, what their
dreams are, and how to best love their peers.
o Have lunch with each of your classmates at least once a semester
o Give one complement a week note to each of your peers.
o Focus on abilities not disabilities
o Ask one get to know you question a week

Content Management- According to Froyen and Iverson, Teachers are

managing content when they manage space, materials, equipment, the
movement of people, and lessons that make up a curriculum or program of
studies (1999, pg. 128).
The teacher will...

Create lessons that involve movement and group interactions

o Go outside for a lesson once a month
o Use the whole school as a classroom
o Use manipulative whenever possible
o Set up desks in groups so students can talk to each other
o Plan at least 10 minutes of yoga everyday
o Have students work with a partner whenever possible
o For unit reviews have students lead
o Plan lots of experiments

Be available to work with students one on one whenever possible

o Walk around the class looking for students that seem to be
struggling
o Have office time during recess or lunch where students can come
and talk about things

Learn from students

o Ask students what they want to learn about and do your best to
incorporate that into your lesson planning
o Adjust lessons to fit the needs of the students if you notice
something is not working
o Do not talk more than necessary

Encourage students to explore the world

o Have a question wall where students can write any thing they want
to learn about and then if they finish an activity early allow the
students to research something on the question wall.
o Plan as many field trips as possible
o Assign projects that encourage exploration
o Create lessons that are meaningful to the learners
o Teach one unit on outdoor survival and then go camping either
outdoors or in your classroom.
o Have as many material resources in the classroom as possible
o Have a large classroom library

Students are expected to...

Try their best

o Do your work to the best of your ability
o Do not be afraid to try

o Try to answer every question on the page

o If you think you know the answer raise your hand

Admit when they need help

o Ask teacher to clarify things you do not understand
o Schedule a meeting with the teacher during lunch or recess to talk
about things you do not understand
o Ask your peers for help when you need it

Be creative and try new things.

o Always try
o Think outside the box
o Try to think of things from a different perspective than your own

Conduct Management- Froyen and Iverson discuss how to develop procedural

skills in order to resolve discipline problems in the classroom; 1999, pg. 181.
The teacher will...

Provide a safe and bully free classroom and school environment

o Identify problems early so that they can be resolved before
problems occur
o Never shut a student down
o Encourage relationship building
o Have Zero tolerance for intentionally racist, sexist, or mean
comments

Give students opportunities to learn from their mistakes and restore

relationship with others (Smith, Fisher, Fray, 2015, pg.3)
o Have students fill out some sort of a plan of action form to resolve
conflicts
o Customize consequences to inappropriate behavior based on the
needs of both the person in the wrong and the person who was
wronged
o Focus on reconciliation instead of punishment
o Give students the benefit of the doubt
o Have students decide what a fair consequence of misbehavior is
whenever possible.

Encourage students to love and respect each other

o Encourage reconciliation of broken relationships

o Facilitate meaningful conversation between students

o Emphasize respect

Students are expected to...

Work towards a classroom and school environment that is marked by love

o Listen to each other
o Make the classroom as safe for other as you can
o Always respond with kindness and respect
o Confront someone who you feel has wronged you in a peaceful and
respectful way
o Follow the rules put in place by the school
o Be a role model to their peers and the school community as a
whole

Accept responsibility and the consequence that come from mistreating a

peer, your teacher, or yourself
o Confess that you did something wrong
o Apologize
o With your teacher, come up with an appropriate consequence for
your actions
o Learn from your mistakes
o Forgive yourself and move one once you have made amends

References
Froyen, L. A., & Iverson, A. M. (1999). Schoolwide and Classroom ManagementThe Reflective Educator-Leader (Third ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: PrenticeHall Inc.
Oakes, J., Lipton, M., Anderson, A. & Stillman, J. (2013). Teaching to change the
world (4th ed.). Boulder, CO: Paradigm.
Smith, D., Fisher, D., Frey, N,. (2015). Better Than Carrots Or Sticks (1 st ed.)
Alexandria, Va: ASCD
Stronks, J., & Stronks, G. (1999). Christian teachers in public schools. Grand
Rapids: Baker.

The Holy Bible: New International Version. 2005 (1902) Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Woolfolk, A. (2010). Educational Psychology (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Merrill.