Procedures

Starting with the first day of school, we will practice our procedures for everything we do, from turning in classwork, labeling our papers, using the restroom, and walking in the hall. Part of this will be utilizing a common (or several) attention signals. My favorites are counting down from 5 (“And we’re quiet in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1”), clapping a rhythm to have the students clap back, and call-backs (“All set?” “You bet!”). The last two are especially effective because it gets the class involved, so all students know what is going on (versus the teacher trying to reach all students at once).

Learn about students

Before the first day of school, I want to learn about my students so there are no surprises. I can do this through home visits, talking to previous teachers/staff, and by reviewing their file. I will try to keep an open mind about every student and use what I learn to help plan our daily routines and lessons. This will also give me an early opportunity to build a relationship with each student, which will help with the first day of school. This will also continue throughout the school year, because people change and our students are no exception. Once I have the relationships established, I will work to maintain and grow those relationships through check-ins, daily conversations, and schoolwork like journals and writing assignments.

Establish Classroom Norms

In the first week of school, we will establish our classroom norms (rules). A few of the norms I will require (such as raising our hands, respecting others, etc.). I want to involve the students in producing the norms, so they will be more connected and willing to conform to the classroom norms. The norms will be signed by all students and posted in the room for easy reference. Students will also help establish consequences for not following the norms and every person will have a hand in upholding the norms.

Lessons

I will do my best to provide challenging and engaging lessons for students. I want them to learn to push themselves to grow, but in a way that works for them. I will provide differentiated learning for those who need it so each student has the best opportunity for them to learn at their full potential. I will support the students in any way that I can. I will help my students understand that mistakes are ok and are expected. As a class, we will push past our frustrations and mistakes to reach a deeper level of understanding in everything that we do.

Rewards and Incentives

Students need to be supported in creating good behavior and academic habits. I want to help my students become internally motivated while still celebrating extrinsically as appropriate. To do that, I will work to help students realize that they should be doing the right thing for themselves, not to make me happy. We can do this through our routines and our classroom norms, helping each student to grow as a person. Examples of possible extrinsic rewards include lunch with me, special classroom roles (like teacher’s helper for a day), or other activities as generated by the students, to help them become more motivated. Students can be excluded from rewards if necessary, depending on behavior and performance, to help motivate them to make the right choices the next time. Positive reinforcement is key to the reward/incentive system and will be utilized throughout the day.