Classroom Management Plan

The 9th grade English Language Arts classes have between twenty and twenty-five
students. Approximately two-thirds of the students are white, with the remaining third consisting
of students who are black, Tongan, Latino/a, Muslim, and Asian. The gender of the students is
split up fairly evenly. There are no special-education students as far as I know. The creative
writing class has about fifteen students in a variety of grades; most of the students are freshmen
or sophomores, but there are a few juniors and seniors as well. About two-thirds of the creative
writing students are female and one-third of them are male.
The classes are all fairly well-behaved, but there are a few students who have trouble
staying focused and remembering which comments are and are not appropriate for school. I plan
to continue Ms. Noyces management strategies because theyre simple and surprisingly
effective. To avoid side-conversations, Ms. Noyce walks around the classroom throughout her
lectures and announcements, hovering near students who are distracted. When the majority of the
class is having side-conversations, she stands at the front of the classroom with her arms folded
and says loudly, Ill wait. The students always quiet down within a few seconds. When a
student says something inappropriate, she tells them, Keep it school appropriate, or Weve
talked about this, if theyre a repeat-offender. When a student says anything negative about
themselves or another student, she reminds them of the Friendly Commons rule simply by
saying, Friendly Commons! When students are in her classroom, theyre in the Friendly
Commons, which means that they must be friendly to themselves and others at all times.
These management strategies will ensure that students remain attentive and participate
during class, whether theyre actively listening to me lecture or working on a project. I expect

that theyll be more motivated to learn since the classroom will be a safe, friendly space. The
main reason Im continuing Ms. Noyces methods is that her students understand whats
expected of them, and they also understand that she has put these rules and expectations in place
in order to help them not to punish them. They respect her and her classroom, and they know
that she respects them too. This rapport encourages students to ask questions in class and come to
her for extra help after school, which leads to higher rates of student success on assignments and
assessments.
These strategies are simple enough to be applicable to students from many different
cultural and linguistic backgrounds. If my management plan were to be unsuccessful for
whatever reason, I would first try to understand which part(s) of it wasnt working and why. I
would also determine whether it was wholly unsuccessful, or just unsuccessful with a particular
student or group of students. I would begin by consulting Ms. Noyce to find out how shes
handled more serious and/or persistent behavioral issues in the past. I would hang up a list of
classroom rules to serve as a reminder, I would use a louder and firmer voice when reprimanding
students or asking for their attention, and I would make the consequences for not following the
rules very clear so that students are well-aware of whats expected of them.