Classroom Management Plan

1. Classroom Management Plan Music Education, Grades 7-12 Monica Kehrer

2. Management Philosophy • My philosophy is medium control. • Students and teacher will work together to learn in the classroom, but the teacher has ultimate authority in behavioral and instructional decisions. • Students will be allowed to assist the instructional process by choosing learning activities and helping select consequences for misbehavior. • This allows the teacher, who has more knowledge and maturity, to pass on knowledge to the students, while still remembering that the students are people too and have their own ability to contribute to the learning process. • My goal is to guide students into becoming self-motivated and self-regulating learners.

3. Classroom Rules • 1. Show respect to your teacher, your classmates, yourself, and your music. • Shows high expectations for behavior and covers a wide range of behaviors. • 2. Raise your hand to speak. • Prevents students from talking out of turn and keeps a calm environment in the classroom. • 3. Respond to directions immediately. • Shows students that hard work is expected and prevents unnecessary wasted time. • Teacher identifies rules and presents them to students on the first day of class. • Student help decide on consequences for breaking the rules. • Rules will be posted on the classroom wall and sent home for parents to read and sign.

4. Classroom Setup • Seats will be on risers because it is a choir and general music room, allowing students to sit next to others singing the same voice part. • Space on the floor in front of the risers allows for activities requiring physical movement. • Seats can be taken down from the risers and set in groups for group work.

5. Consequences • First offense: verbal reprimand. • This should get most one-time behaviors to stop. • Second offense: taking away of a privilege such as sitting with friends during class or participating in class games. • This often social isolation is a good motivator for most adolescents to cease the misbehavior. • Third offense: private conference with the teacher. Parents will be contacted. • A direct conversation with the student may allow the teacher to discover underlying causes of the misbehavior. • Fourth offense: sent directly to the office. Parents will be contacted. • For serious or ongoing offenses, allow a higher authority to handle the problem.

6. Communication with Parents • Main forms of communication will be through a webpage and frequent phone calls or emails to keep parents updated on class events, field trips, and concerts. • Letters at the beginning of the year introducing myself, explaining the disciplinary plan, and listing concert schedules for the semester or year, if known. Dear Parents or Guardians, I would like to introduce myself and express my excitement about working with your student this semester. I have a degree in Vocal and General Music Education from Bryan College, and I have participated in several choral, musical, and operatic productions. I believe that every student can learn to sing, and I am committed to working with your students to help them grow and mature, both as musicians and as human beings. The main goal of my course is to cover the fundamentals of music and choral singing, helping each student to improve their sight reading skills, rhythm, and pitch.Additional information about the class is provided in the syllabus given to your student. If you have questions or concerns, please contact me by phone or e-mail. To schedule a meeting, you may contact me via phone or e-mail.I am excited about working with your child. I welcome questions or comments, and I am looking forward to a great year!

7. Transitions—CHAMP • C – Conversation • While retrieving music folders before class, students may not talk. • H – Help • Come to the teacher desk and ask me. • A – Activity • Students will have their music and be seated and ready to sing. It should take five minutes or less. • M – Movement • Students may only retrieve music and go to their seats. • P – Participation • Silence and orderly lines to the music boxes.

8. Student-Teacher Relationships • Greet students individually. • Learn students’ interests through surveys and personal interactions. • Treat students with respect. • First day activity: Students will fold a sheet of paper into four quadrants. On the inside, students will answer four questions about their musical experiences, and on the front they will write their names.

9. Chronic Behavior Problems Behavior Reflection Sheet • What was my misbehavior? • Why did I act this way? • What were the consequences of my actions, for myself and for others in the class? • What will I do differently next time? • This document would be signed by the teacher and student and placed in the student’s file.

10. Individual Needs • Pair struggling learners and students with learning disabilities in groups with other students who can help them understand and complete the assignment. • For ELL students, provide plenty of opportunities to practice using English, and be prepared to rephrase instructions. • Modify movement activities for students with disabilities. • Speak to regular classroom teachers, specialists, and parents to understand students’ needs.

11. Individual Motivation • Find what the student is interested in and incorporate that into lessons or assignments in order to increase the student’s intrinsic motivation. • As an extrinsic motivator, use tokens that could be redeemed for privileges.

12. Classwide Motivation • As an intrinsic motivator, make each lesson interesting by connecting it with something the students are interested in, presenting it in an unusual way, or doing different activities and games. • As extrinsic motivation, give a token for each activity during which the entire class performed the target behavior. These tokens could then be redeemed for an activity that would be voted on by the class.

13. Class Period Opener • Each class period would begin with students picking up their music folders and going to their seats. • Students would then do the opening work written on the board while the teacher takes attendance. • Teacher would lead the students in a rhythm or vocal warm up to start the class.

14. Class Period Closer • Students will give a two-minute recap of what was learned during the class period, demonstrating on the board or by using instruments when appropriate. • Students will place their music folders back in their places and leave the classroom quietly.