Taylor Wilmoth

Having procedures and rules implemented in a classroom are essential components in order to have a well-working and efficient environment; however, those aspects also need to be connected to a behavioral management plan. I have three variations to my own behavioral management plan that incorporate individual, whole class, and differentiated expectations. These three behavioral management plan systems coincide with my initial rules created, which are to be respectful, always put forth your best effort, be responsible for your own learning, and treat others the way you want to be treated. These rules follow best practice, according to theorist Kagan, because I have listed only 3-5 rules that are followed within my classroom, thus leading to less confusion and a more concise outlook on the expectations overall (Kagan, 2004). If these rules are broken, a student will earn a consequence, and if a student shows outstanding effort following those specific rules, they will be praised and rewarded. According to Evertson and Emmer, it is important to monitor the student’s involvement in learning activities and their ability to follow classroom rules when monitoring student behavior, which are both incorporated within my classroom rules (Evertson, 2013).

Individual Behavior Management System

A clip chart will be implemented for my individual behavioral management system. I chose the clip chart because it allows for student improvement if a student clips down, while also reinforcing positive behaviors when exemplified by students. The clothes pins will have the students number on the inside part so that their clothes pin is discrete from others, which is different than the traditional pocket chart that is visible for all students to see and only focus on negative behavior (Morris, 2009). The students will start out on “ready to learn” everyday. Based on their behaviors, they will move up or down. If the students were to clip down, they have time throughout the day to exemplify positive behavior, which can earn them to move their clip back up. If the students land anywhere above the ready to learn (Good choices, great job, super student) they will earn a points that can be accumulated over time to earn prizes. If a student lands on the “good choices” section, they will receive two points. The “great job” section is worth 3 points and the “super student” section is worth 4 points. The students have to collect 35 points before they can receive a prize from the prize box (which will be explained more in the positive reinforcement section). By starting the students out in the middle verse the highest color, it allows for students to feel achievement and have motivation to act positively in the classroom because they are given the opportunity to move up (Morris, 2009). If the students fall below “ready to learn”, they will have varying consequences. If the student clips down to “think about it”, they will have a discussion with the teacher on what they could have done differently instead of the choice that they made. If a student clips down to “teacher’s choice”, I will decide the consequences. If the behavior was not severe, I will keep the student in from recess and have them reflect on their behavior by writing what they could have done differently, while also having a discussion with me after their reflection. If a student clips down to parent contact, a note or a phone call will be made to the parent or guardian discussing the behavior that occurred. With any parent contact, I would log my conversation in my parent communication log and then follow up with the parent or guardian after the initial contact. When a student reaches “parent contact”, I will discuss with them the behavior that occurred and then follow up with them after the parent contact has been made. If a student shows a trend of falling under “ready to learn”, I will create and differentiated behavior management plan with them.  

Whole Class Behavior Management System

My whole class behavior management plan I intend to use is the points system. Besides the students being able to earn points individually, the whole class will also have the opportunity to work towards points. The idea to this method is to have the whole class collaborate together to reach a goal. I will have three points up on the board and if the whole class is not following directions or is too loud, I will walk over and erase a point. The students have opportunities throughout the day to earn any points back by exemplifying good and positive behavior. According to the text, “Positive Discipline”, it is best practice to “put everyone in the same boat” so that students have the opportunity to be involved in problem solving on what to do in a particular situation (Nelson, 2013). For example, if a teacher walks over to the board and erases a point, the students know that they need to work together in order to gain that point back. After each day, the teacher will add up the total points that the class has earned. Before the class starts a new points system, the teacher will create a goal with the students on the number of points they need in order to win a class prize. The class prize will be chosen based off of a group vote (class prize will be explained more in positive reinforcement section).