Seeking Assistance
· “Help Me, Please” signs to place on top of desk for assistance while working individually
· “Can I try?” signs to hold up during class discussion/lectures (in place of simply raising their hand)

Turning in work
· Each student will have a color-coded “Homework” folder and a “Writing” folder that will be turned in to corresponding trays.

Receiving work
· There will be a hanging file box with individual folders for me to return all homework to them.
· I will hand out all tests at them time designated to go over them.

Restroom
· I will expect my students toask my permission before being excused to the restroom.  This is to ensure that I am aware of their whereabouts at all times.

Getting the Class’ attention
· I may flicker the lights and/or use a cadence to gain the students’ attention.  These “attention getters” will depend on the students’ responses.

Jobs/Responsibilities
- Calendar Helper
- Pledge Leader
- Teacher Helper
- First Quiet Mouse (first person to start the "Quiet Game")
- Water Plant or Feed Animals
- Line Leader
- Caboose

Dealing with Misbehavior
I believe that a child should be responsible for his/her own behavior, as well as, his/her influence on others.  I think that they should be actively involved in conflict resolution and managing their behavior.  Therefore, I believe the following is appropriate for dealing with misbehavior:

· The “Conflict Corner” will be utilized in cases such as:  personal squabbles, “cool off time”, or like situations.  In cases such as personal arguments, the involved students will retreat to the “Conflict Corner” to work toward resolving the issue.  They will be allotted 5 minutes to answer the following questions: What is the problem? & How can we agree?  When they have answers to both, the may return to the class.  They should do this on their own, unless they cannot agree.  I will step in if needed.  As for disturbances needing “cool off time”, the student must take 5 minutes to calm down.  During this time, the student must think of answers to the following:  Why am I misbehaving? & What needs to be done to stop it from happening again?

· I also plan on using the “turn your card” method of managing misbehavior.  Even though this is characteristic of Canter and Canter, I feel that it can be applied to Drieker’s ideas that children should “know and understand the rules and consequences for misbehavior,” as well as, “taking responsibility for their behavior as well as their influence on others.”  Using this method, the students are rewarded when the majority of the class is on their best behavior.  Therefore, “tattling” or blaming another student would not be beneficial for the whole class.  We also, developed the rules as a class.  The broad rule is “RESPECT,” and it is broken down into more specific rules for respecting each other, school property, and ourselves.  They should understand these rules because they helped make them up.  The rules are also posted on the wall incase we need to be reminded.  If any of these rules are broken the student will turn his/her card.  The following are the colors and consequences of the cards when checked at the end of the day.

• Green- Students start off with this color, and if at least 3/4 of the class has a green card a star is hung on the wall (around the ceiling).  This will be further explained in the “Reinforcing Good Behavior” section.
• Yellow- This card calls for a note to the parents and 10 minutes taken off of Friday free time.  The number of yellow cards will be tallied on Friday.  Monday starts a new week… a clean slate.
• Red- This card calls for a note to the parents, 10 minutes off of Friday free time, silent lunch, and student-teacher conference at the end of the day.  The student must answer the following questions:  Why am I misbehaving? What can I do to stop?  How am I going to behave in the future?  Depending on the situation, other questions may be added to the list.
• Blue- This card is for extreme cases and calls for silent lunch, 10 minutes off Friday Free Time, student-teacher conference, parent conference, and an optional principal visit.

Plan for Reinforcing Good Behavior
As previously mentioned, I think that students should be accountable for themselves and their influence on their classmates.  The following are various methods of reinforcement.

· In order to keep the students accountable for each other, as mentioned in the previous section, I will reward the class with stars to hang as a border around the room.  For everyday that the class has 3/4 green cards they will get a star.  At the end of the semester (at Christmas break and Summer Break), if they have at least 60 stars (which is 2/3 of the number of days in a semester) they will be rewarded with a party.  This will help the class hold each other accountable.
· During “Family Group” on Fridays, the students will be given the opportunity to “Catch Acts of Kindness Everywhere (CAKE).”  Throughout the week, I will have a box available for students to stick notes in describing the act of kindness they caught.  For example, a student may write “Mary caught Sarah helping someone pick up their books on Thursday.”  For every five “acts of kindness” that is mentioned (a student can only be named twice for kind acts in order to spotlight other students), a letter in CAKE will be added.  Once we have spelled out CAKE we will have some sort of kindness celebration.  I will also include CAKE News in my newsletter each week to the parents to that they can see all of the wonderfully kind things their children are doing throughout the week.

I believe that clear communication between parents/guardians and teachers is imperative.  I hope to have open lines of communication with all parents/guardians.  The following are my goals for communicating with parents:

· Parent-Teacher conferences twice a year
· Meeting with all parents, as a group, to introduce myself and to outline my goals for the year
· Open invitation to observe my class
· Monthly Progress Reports
· Weekly Newsletter
· Invitation to chaperon field trips

I do believe that parent involvement is beneficial to the child’s educational experience, but too much involvement can hinder the child’s success and my ability to conduct the class in the manner that I see fit.  Therefore, I plan on addressing this issue in the group meeting with the parents at the beginning of the year.  I will encourage involvement, but I will make clear the line of involvement and “in the way.”

· The desks are in groups of 4-5 desks in order to promote the “community” environment.  This will encourage cooperative learning, mentioned by Glaser.

· My desk is in the front corner for a clear view of the class.  I have two sets of bookshelves for my personal reference library.  The files for homework and writing folders will also be located on the bookshelf closest to the front dry-erase board.

· The dry-erase board at the front of the room will used to aid in teaching, and the one on the far side of the room will have homework assignments listed.  I think that a list of what is due should always be posted for those students who have special needs or are simply unorganized.

· The bookshelf in the back will have a library of books available for students to use during free reading time.  I think it is necessary to have a coat closet, too, in order to keep the room as clutter-free as possible.

· Both my students and I will use the computer.  I hope that it will be Internet ready, as well as, equipped with educational games and graphic arts programs.  It will be used as an educational aid for both gifted and learning disabled students.

· A restroom in my classroom would be much more convenient for those “emergencies.”

· I plan to cook various foods from different cultures in order to expose my students to a multicultural environment.  I hope to have ESL students in my classroom, and I plan to especially focus on their native countries.  I also plan to bake a cake at the end of each month in celebration of all the birthdays.

· The “Conflict Corner” was described in the “Misbehavior” section.  It will be used in situations such as personal squabbles and “cool off time.”

· The “Family Group” will take place each Friday.    During this time, each student, and I, will tell our “high” and “low” of the week. This is a time to get to know each other and become more of a “family” than just a “class.” We will also use this time to “Catch Acts of Kindness” as described in a previous section.  Note:  The “Conflict Corner” and “Family Group” are on opposite sides of the room.  Students may associate the two corners as “good” and “bad,” therefore; I want to make sure that “Family Group” is not in the vicinity of the “bad” corner.