Rules/Norms Artifact
As a secondary teacher, I will have multiple daily classes with a different set of students each block period. With this in mind, each of my classes will have around the same type of rules/norms. For example, bring materials, sit in assigned seating, respect and be polite to other peers, etc. However, each set of rules/norms will be different based on my students with different procedures depending on their work. As mentioned by Marzano et al. (2003), “Different classrooms will have different rules and procedures depending on the needs and dispositions of the teacher and the students” (p. 18).
During the first week of school or the first week of the semester, my students help the class, and I develop our classroom rules/norms. This activity will be done within small groups, and then we will collaborate as a class with a class discussion. My students will be given a handful of classroom rules/norms and must select seven of the most important ones. As stated by Marzano et al., “about seven rules and procedures at the secondary level (pg. 18).” After finding them, my students will organize the rules from most important to least important. Afterward, we will come together as a whole class and have a class discussion about the rules we selected and the procedures that will take place.
Procedure One
Marzano states, “The manner in which the class begins sets the tone for what happens next.” (pg. 19). With this being said, as a secondary teacher, I plan to have my procedures very organized and consistent within my classroom. I want my future students to succeed in my classroom, which starts with having their routines and procedures organized and consent. “When the day is organized in classes taught by different teachers, the manner in which each class begins is critical” (Manrzano, pg. 19). At the beginning of each class day, I will be outside the classroom in the doorway, greeting each student. By greeting each student, I will be able to see how they are doing that day, give reminders about our beginning of class procedures, and have mini-conferences with my students if needed.
At the beginning of class, procedures will be very organized. Students will come into the classroom and grab any papers at the front of the classroom. These assignments will include their entrance ticket and classwork for the day. My students’ entrance tickets will have a review of their classroom rules/norms. As they are finished with their assignments, they will come back up to submit their papers in bins. I plan to avoid traffic jams at the turn-in bins by letting students turn in their work by sections. This gives my students the opportunity to move around before the start of class time, to follow a routine, and to have structure.
Procedure Two
As a future secondary school teacher, I know the main disruption during class time will be requests to go to the bathroom or to another area within the school. This may be guidance or the office. I want to limit the amount of disruption during class time as much as possible. This procedure may not work with all my classes, but it may work with some of them, depending on their needs and dispositions.
Students asking to leave the classroom to use the bathroom or go to another place in the school would be more disruptive to lectures or assignment directions. I will adopt a hand signal system in my classroom to limit the amount of time and disruptions. My hand signal system would be numerals. For example, a student raises their hand, showing the number one. This signal tells me that they need to go to the restroom. I will inform them that I see their signal, and then the student will walk over to a whiteboard by the door to write their name and the time that they originally left the classroom. Will students enter back into the classroom, they will cross out their name on the whiteboard.
Documentation Artifact
Documentation is the most critical aspect of the classroom. It not only protects you, but it will also protect your students. Most documentation will happen because of disciplinary issues—for example, a student is involved is in an altercation with another student who was verbal and physical. We, myself, administration, and families, would need documentation to show what happened, where it happened, when, etc., but we also need documentation to help support our students’ discipline.
In my future classroom, I will have a two-strike referral system. With this system, students who have broken a classroom rule, demonstrated disrespectful or threatening behavior towards another student, or have broken a school rule would result in a first-strike referral. If a student gets a first strike on a referral, they will first fill out the referral form. Then at the bottom of the form, they will write and sign: “If this behavior repeats or increases, then this referral will be submitted to administration.” The first strike on the referral is just a worrying. If they get two strikes, then the referral will be submitted. Following up with the two-strike referral system, students will complete a Tangible Recognition. My students will complete this for a couple of days after their first strike. My students will not be rewarded for their behavior. Instead, I will use Tangible recognition for my students to set goals for themself for the day and self-assessment of their behavior. I will add points to their form if they stay on task for their goals. If my students have stayed on-task with their goals and shown improvement, the points they gain could or can erase the first referral strike.
| Date | My Goals for the Day | My Self-Assessment | On-Task |
| |
Family Engagement
Family engagement with my students’ families is the best and most powerful way to help our students grow at school with their learning. Students will learn at school, but they will learn the most if I, their teacher, and their families work together as a team. Marzano states that family engagement “simply involves making parents aware of the positive and negative behaviors of their children (pg 39).” Family engagement can look like forms being sent home, phone calls home, emailing, or face-to-face meetings. With family engagement, I will always sandwich the negative reasons why I called home with the positive ones.
I want to have as much family engagement as possible in my classroom. At the beginning of the school year, I will email to introduce myself, get some information about my students, and explain the unit newspapers that I will be sending home for each new unit. My unit newspapers will discuss what we are learning in that unit, our objectives, projects, classwork, and homework that will be assigned, as well as their due dates. These newsletters will also include honorable mentions- for example, students who went above and beyond based on; this could be from test scores or kindness. However, cases in which I need to contact a parent or guardian about their student will be done via email first. Attached to the email will be a Google Form to see what schedule and form of communication will work best and for parents to communicate with me about what might be happening at home. The email will also be sent home on paper during that first week of school.
References
Marzano, R., Marzano, J. S., & Pickering, D. J. (2003). Classroom management that works: Research-
based strategies for every teacher. ASCD.