When setting up a plan for classroom management I will definitely include a tardy policy. I find it extremely distracting when students come in late or wonder in the classroom a minute after the bell has rung. I think being late is incredibly disrespectful, and I don’t think it should be tolerated. When students go out into the real world and get a job, they are going to need to be on time, and it should be that way in the classroom as well. Of course there are going to be times where something comes up which may cause a student to be late, so my policy will allow for a student to be tardy three times in a semester. After the three times have been used then the student will serve detention after school for twenty minutes. If the student misses detention or is tardy again, then the student will receive a referral.
I will also keep my desks in a formation that allows me to move amongst my students to monitor their work and keep their attention. I will not have my classroom set up in traditional rows because I think that excludes some of the students in the back. I think there are a few students that are so far in the back that they feel removed, and the trouble makers and those with special needs take up the front rows. I want the room to be set up for active participation and in a way that will let me move around the room. I think being able to move around the room will prevent students from misbehaving as well as keep students from feeling left out.
Since I’ve been student teaching, I have realized how hard it is to get everything done at the beginning of class while trying to keep my students from getting to talkative or off task. I will definitely have some kind of bell work in my management plan. I think that students should be expected to come in, sit down, and start on work immediately. I now know that unless the students are given something right when they walk in, then they will not take the initiative to get started on anything. I plan on giving my students some kind of activity or short task to complete when they come in so that they are immediately doing something productive while I take care of roll and other things.