Classroom
Management
Plan
 
 
 

Rationale
 
In order to run an efficient classroom, there must be procedures in place in 
order to establish a sense of routine and consistency. The students will learn 
and follow these procedures in order for the classroom to become an 
effective learning space. Once classroom procedures are established, then 
discipline issues and wasted time will be reduced significantly. This 
document outlines the extent of my plans and procedures to make my 
classroom an effective and safe place for learning. 
 

 
 
 
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First day of school 

How I present myself and how the class starts on the very first day of school is 
crucial to success throughout the year. I have a plan to get the class started 
off on the right foot 

What the classroom will look like: 

● Students will see me standing by the door to greet them 
● My name and the class description on the board 
● Desks arranged according to a seating plan, 
nametags on desks 
● An introductory assignment (not for marks) waiting 
on each students’ desk for them to start working on 
immediately 
● A powerpoint slide will be ready with instructions for 
the introductory assignment and how to find their 
seats. 
● I will have a statement prepared to ready the class 
and I will have a powerpoint prepared with classroom procedures and 
expectations. 
 
 
 

 
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Seating arrangements
Construction of seating arrangements throughout the year will largely 
depend on students and what is going on in class at that time. The 
arrangement of desks and/or chairs and tables will determine the focus of the 
class, and these things should be used to the advantage of the teacher, not 
the disadvantage.  
 

Teacher or student presentation 

Any time a teacher or student is sharing information, 
the whole class should be structured to focus on the 
speaker. I would likely use this arrangement with 
paired rows. This way, partnered discussions are easier 
and students have the opportunity to get to know 
each other, but the teacher is still the focal point of the 
room. 

Class Projects 
Group projects are an excellent tool for learning, but 
during these projects, the focus should no longer be 
on the teacher. During group projects I would likely 
rearrange the desks so that groups could have a space 
to discuss and learn. I would have the desks arranged 
this way beforehand to avoid wasted time with 
students moving desks around. 

 
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Class Debates 
Whether in relation to a current event or a particular 
topic, class debates are an important tool for helping 
students learn to defend their ideas or to discuss 
important issues. This desk structure is ideal for 
debates as it helps the students focus on and listen 
to each other. 
 

Other 
Of course, there are many other arrangements which could be used during 
particular classroom events. However, these three are the most common and 
are the ones I would use most often in my day-to-day classes. 
 

Seating Plans?? 
What about seating plans for students? Who will sit with whom? How do you 
avoid student issues? Of course this will be based on every class and their 
dynamics. I believe that changing seating plans on a regular basis is healthy 
to create a classroom dynamic which functions. However, it is possible to 
make this too complicated and messy. The key is to get to know the students 
and to arrange them based on skill and knowledge of how they work 
together.  
 
 
 
 

 
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Taking Attendance
Any teacher knows that much time can be wasted with roll-call in the 
morning. I myself have had negative experiences where students would 
enter high energy and off-task and I would fight to get them out of that 
mindset. So what’s the solution? Well the following procedures can be set in 
place to make attendance an easy and manageable system for every day in 
the classroom. 

School-work first 
The key to effective role taking is to make it part of the everyday flow of the 
classroom. The classroom is meant to be a place of learning, not a place of 
sitting around and waiting for the teacher to get organized. If students come 
into class, and have a routine assignment ready to go, they can effectively 
start before the teacher even enters the classroom.  
 
My plan is to have duotangs for each student in a designated location in the 
classroom. Each day, students will be expected to come into the classroom 
and grab the folder with their name on it. This folder will be updated daily 
with a new assignment for the start of the class. These need not be complex 
assignments, but can simply be brain joggers to get the ball rolling. Many 
websites like T
​ eachersPayTeachers​ will provide booklets of bell-ringer 
assignments for any grade level. In a social-studies classroom, one could find 
an article from the morning news to share and discuss. There are many ways 
to make this work in any classroom at any age. 
 

 
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Using the ‘schoolwork first’ focus for attendance 

If students know they must grab their folder and get started as soon as they 
walk into the classroom, then taking attendance can be as simple as marking 
down the names from the folders which get left behind. This can even be 
done by a designated student each day, and the report can be handed to the 
teacher.  
 
This process makes for a smooth, work-focused start to every day. It reduces 
wasted time and helps students start the day off in the right headspace. 
 

Absent Students 
I read about a very clever procedure in the book F
​ irst Day of School: How to 
be an Effective Teacher​ by Harry Wong. One teacher would have a stack of 
dedicated “missed work” folders for students who are absent. These can be 
placed on each absent student’s desk and filled with homework from the day. 
At the end of every class, these would go to a designated location where the 
absent student could find the work right away when they return. 

Possible Student Attendance Takers 

This process could also be made more efficient by incorporating “attendance 
takers” into the classroom structure. Students would be on a rotating 
schedule to take attendance (or possibly one student who is trustworthy). 
Having a student in charge of attendance can make attendance reports 
straightforward and simple everyday so the teacher can get on with setting 
up other aspects of class. This also would make attendance easier for 
substitute teachers, as the routine would be set in place. 

 
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Rules and Expectations

At the start of my teaching career, the first time I was in charge of a 
classroom, I was very loose in my classroom structure. Although the more 
relaxed format might have been enjoyable for some students, it was often 
difficult to maintain control of the classroom. I realized that structure and 
rules were important for managing student behaviour.  
 

Making rules 
I believe that student involvement is necessary in creating rules, in order to 
improve accountability. I did incorporate student involvement into my 
creation of rules in my practicum and, although I did not make reference to 
them as often as I should have, I found students were passionate about 
incorporating rules specific to their classroom dynamic. I will likely repeat this 
practice in future.  
 

Enforcing Rules 
I am a strong believer in ​natural​ consequences to behaviour and the 
employment of positive reinforcement rather than positive punishment. If a 
student breaks a rule, rather than enforcing some meaningless consequence, 
I hope to establish a sense of accountability and help students to understand 
that breaking rules affects them beyond just consequences enforced on 
them by their teacher. 

 
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Example: 

Let’s say that the classroom has established a rule about talking during 
individual work. The rule states that some low-volume conversation that 
pertains to the work at hand is allowed, but conversation should not get out 
of hand or off topic. If the class breaks this rule, I would make a comparison 
between how much gets done in 15 minutes of loud work and 15 minutes of 
silent work. Constant reiteration of this will remind students that the 
consequence of talking isn’t making their teacher mad, it is actually losing 
time that could be better spent. Doing so can reduce homework loads and 
so-on and so-forth. 
 

Rules for my classroom: 

Students will be...

1. Respectful​ - towards teacher, classmates, school, and property 
2. Effective ​- show up on time, don’t fool around, work hard 
3. Clean​ - keep personal and public spaces neat and organized 
4. Accountable​ -​ ​ ​take responsibility, no excuse making 
 
 
 
 
 

 
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How to leave the classroom

Bathroom and drink breaks 
Every class, there will be students requesting to use the washroom or grab a 
drink. It can be hard to mentally track which students are gone and how 
often they make these requests. I saw a brilliant sign-out sheet idea in one of 
my practicums that I will use in mine as well. It will look something like this… 
 

Student Name  Date  Time Out  Time In 

       

       

       
 
A chart like this will allow me, not only to be able to keep track of who is out 
of class, but also to keep track of how many times each day students have 
requested to leave the class.  
 

Working in the hallway/library/common area 

It is true that students often get overwhelmed by noises in the classroom 
during project work and may need a quieter space to get work done. Some 
schools will have a common area supervised by teachers. However, if this is 
not available, then it is my job to maintain that students are getting work 
done. Likely, most work will be done in classroom spaces with lowered 
volume expectations. However, older students may be able to work in the hall 
only if the teacher stays on top of monitoring their work regularly. 

 
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Taking in Assignments
Consistency is key 
Students lose assignments all the time, but so can teachers if there is not an 
efficient, practiced system for collecting assignments. Having sets of bins for 
collection in the classroom is integral. They can be set up as follows 
 

 
 
In the illustration, there is a separate bin for each type of assignment and for 
each class. The colors are corresponding and the boxes are labelled. This sort 
of efficiency can help maintain organization and keep students from losing 
assignments. I also can aid substitute teachers in knowing where to collect 
assignments. 
 

Student Mailboxes 
Any missed assignments or notes home can be placed in student mailboxes. 
Students will be taught to be aware of their mailboxes at all times and to use 
them consistently every day. 

 
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Classroom Transitions
Timeliness is key 
Students need time to transition properly. If the teacher gives warnings for 
transition time, then students have enough time to prepare and no time is 
wasted. On screen timers are effective for maintaining this, so student have a 
visual aid to refer to. 
 

Signaling transitions
There are many ways to signal transition without the teacher needing to raise 
his/her voice. Some examples are: music, chimes, or some other agreed upon 
noise. 
 

Consistency 
This should become a regular habit that is 
practiced during EVERY transition. If this is 
the case, students will become climatized 
to change and it will reduce stress and 
time wasted in the classroom. 
 
 
 
 

 
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Efficient Group Work

Selecting Groups 
Selecting student groups should never be a grueling process, but should run 
as smoothly as any other classroom procedure. Consistency is also key here. 
Group selection should become part of procedure and be an expectation 
each time group work commences. 
 
PowerSchool actually has an auto-populate tool that can aid 
in group selection, but there are many other ways to do this. 
The classic popsicle stick method is surefire as well! 
 

Group efficiency 
Students should always have roles in group work. There are many different 
formations of group work (i.e. The 7 Hats, interview, jigsaw, etc.) which 
maintain a specific role for each student. If students are given roles in groups 
then there is no wasted time trying to determine how to get stuff done.  
 
If this is done with enough consistency, students will be able to fall into roles 
very quickly and group work will become incredibly efficient. 
 
 
 
 
 

 
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Class Dismissal
Who dismisses the class? 
It is integral to establishing a smooth end to the day that the class becomes 
aware of who is in charge of letting them go home. If students immediately 
jump out of their seats and leave when the bell sounds, but the teacher was 
mid-sentence, then classroom management is not being used effectively. 
 
It is ALWAYS the teacher who dismisses the students, not the bell. However, 
the teacher should always be aware of the time and prepared to close out the 
period effectively. Students should have their work handed in, their binders 
closed, their bags ready and be sitting silently when the bell goes. This comes 
with practice and consistency, but is extremely important to maintaining a 
smooth end to the day. 

 
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