Anna Ward

EDUC 370
3 December 2013
Classroom Management Model
Providing a quality education for students requires effective strategies
to manage student behavior. In fact, without effective classroom and
behavior management, schools and teachers fail to do one of their most
important jobs. Teachers need a mastery of the content, but to deliver it
effectively, they need to have a handle on student behavior. Students learn
best in a safe and caring environment with set routines and clear
expectations. It is the job of teachers and schools to provide these things for
students on a daily basis.
Behavior management in schools serves several purposes. Students
need a safe environment; a lack of behavior management can put students
in potentially harmful situations. Unsafe behaviors can also disturb the
learning of other students and interfere with teaching. Managing behavior
helps to set students up for success. However, how a teacher manages
behavior determines to some degree the success available for students.
Managing behavior extends beyond basic discipline. Behavior management
includes daily routines and expectations that help guide students to make
good choices. Furthermore, these guidelines help to create an environment
in which students can learn and grow. Effective behavior management can

also help develop respect, responsibility, social skills, and problem-solving

abilities in students.
Encouraging positive behavior promotes a healthy learning
environment. Preventing problem behaviors through effective management
clearly decreases the number of disruptions throughout the day. Clear
expectations about student behavior also increase the responsibility of the
student to follow the guidelines set by the teacher/school. As previously
mentioned, effective behavior management impacts the classroom learning
environment. Encouraging students to behave positively and encouraging
them when they do can boost their confidence. If a student feels confident
and successful, they will have a more positive learning experience.
Every school faces an enormous task in terms of behavior
management and development. Parents entrust their children to school
systems and teachers to help their students learn and grow. Many people
may say that school exists to teach children what they need to know to be
successful. These people would be correct, however they fail to see the
detailed and complicated aspects of the jobs that schools and their
administrators are given. Schools do not exist simply to give students the
content they need to be successful; they provide a safe and supportive
environment that should serve to educate the whole student and prepare
them for citizenship. Management serves to help students develop life skills
(Nelsen, Lott, & Glenn, 2000). That means that students learn social skills,

problem solving, appropriate behavior, as well as content. Schools provide

the basis for effective management and therefore hold the key to the
success of their teachers and students.
Families hold another important role in the management of behavior as
well as student success. They indirectly influence these aspects because
students also learn from their family. The way a student interacts with
classmates or other adults can be influenced by their family. They learn
about interaction from what they observe at home and in their community.
Teachers have the responsibility to learn about their students home/family
life in order to understand their students and help them be successful.
Families also directly influence behavior management and learning based on
their attitudes about school and their management style. If students
experience indifference towards school from their caregivers, they may be
more likely to feel the same. Family involvement and partnership with
educators also determines student success and well-being (Nelsen, Lott, &
Glenn, 2000). Caregivers partnering with teachers can create clear and open
communication about a students needs, strengths, and weaknesses.
Students may feel that they have little control over their educational
experience, but in reality they have one of the most important roles in their
education and success. Classroom management, or classrooms for that
matter, would not be necessary without students! From a Positive Discipline
standpoint, they have equal responsibility for their behavior, and therefore

their success (Nelsen, Lott, & Glenn, 2000). I believe that students have the
power to shape their education. Theories like Positive Discipline and
Restorative Discipline put a lot of responsibility in the hands of students.
Positive Discipline puts the students in control of solving problems and
conflicts through mutual respect (Nelsen, Lott, & Glenn, 2000). Restorative
Discipline aims to develop responsibility in students through a long-term
discipline approach (Amstutz & Mullet, 2005). Students can positively or
negatively impact others around them and change the learning climate. They
have the potential to help others grow and learn in ways that a teacher
cannot because they are working with their peers. More obviously, students
need to manage their school work, learn the content, get help when
necessary, and interact with their peers. While they hold a lot of
responsibility for the things mentioned above, teachers drastically influence
the way these things happen.
More so than schools, individual teachers hold the keys to student
behavior and success through management. Teachers interact daily with
students and their families. They also need to create a caring and safe
environment (Amstutz & Mullet, 2005; Nelsen, Lott, & Glenn, 2000).
Consistent routines, expectations, and guidelines help to increase feelings of
security and decrease ambiguity and fear of the unknown. Colorosos six
critical messages provide the basics of a caring classroom environment; they
address that teacher believes in the students, trusts the students, cares for
the students, listens to the students, knows they can do it, and respects

them (Blosser & Grandle, 2013). Beyond teaching content, teachers need to
fill the basic needs of students. Glasser states that students have five basic
needs: love and belonging, power, competence, freedom, and fun (Warner,
2013). These needs also relate to Nelsens reasons for misbehavior because
misbehaviors stem from unmet needs (Nelsen, Lott, & Glenn, 2000).
However, when misbehavior does occur, teachers have the difficult task of
choosing how to manage the behavior. A teachers management style has
the ability to teach life lessons and social skills or tear down and take away
student confidence and dignity (Amstutz & Mullet, 2005).
Schools, families, students, and teachers all have important roles in the
management and learning process. More importantly, each of the individual
roles constantly interacts and overlaps with the roles of another group of
people. Schools, teachers, families, and students have to work together for
successful management and education. Aspects of each group impact the
success, function, and motivation for the other groups. Essentially, effective
behavior management depends on all of these groups collectively rather
than individually.
While I appreciate and strive to emulate the classroom management
theories of people like Jane Nelsen and Judy Mullet, I think that my personal
style and inclinations differ from their theories. My own differences do not
mean that I cannot use their management styles, but it means that their
reactions to misbehavior will be difficult for me to learn. I often see in myself

the need or desire to punish bad behavior. A need for control sometimes
leads me to focus on nonproblems mentioned in our textbook (Evertson &
Emmer, 2013). I will need to work on maintaining control without being a
tyrant or unfair. Along with control, I notice that I allow my emotions to
dictate my reactions to misbehavior. As a sensitive person, I do get my
feelings hurt by some comments that students make. I too have the same
needs as students; I need to feel a sense of love and belonging, power, and
that my students care about me. Despite some of my shortcomings, I also
have attributes that will help me be a good teacher. My sensitivity and
compassion help me to understand and empathize with hurting students. I
also care deeply for any children in my life and want the best for them. I
hope that those feelings and passions will help me to grow in love and
patience for my students and impact how I manage their behavior.
Personally, I need organization and order to function effectively. The
cleanliness and organization in my classroom will affect my management
style. I tend to work better, feel more positive, and less anxious in an
environment that stays organized and neat. Working with kids, I understand
that things will get messy and chaotic at times. However, I know that there
are things that I can control to maintain cleanliness. For example, the ways I
choose to store materials, arrange my classroom, and manage student work
are things that I can manipulate and organize. If I keep my area clean and
organized, I know I will feel more prepared and confident.

To set class rules and guidelines, I intend to include my students in the

process. I think that the students need to have ownership and responsibility
for the rules of the classroom. They will be more likely to understand,
respect, and hopefully follow them if they helped to create them. By
including the students on the rule-making process, what they find important
will be included in classroom rules. Naturally, the collaborative rule-making
process varies based on grade level, but I feel that my fourth graders could
be given a lot of freedom when deciding on the rules. Before asking for
classroom input, I would set basic guidelines for our classroom rules. The
rules for our classroom will be based in fairness and respect. Rules created to
shame or punish other students will be discarded, because our classroom
focuses on building one another up and solving problems.
During the rule creation process, I will also introduce the idea of class
meetings. The class meeting format will follow the guidelines created by
Nelsen and her colleagues. Any problems the students encounter throughout
the day can be written down and added to the class agenda. During class
meetings, the students can take turns discussing the problems. Those
involved begin the process, and then other students are included to express
their experiences and thoughts about the situation. Students will be asked to
come up with solutions, all of which the teacher will write down for all to see.
Any solutions that are created to punish or shame those involved will be
thrown out, because they will not provide an acceptable outcome for all
parties involved. Any students involved in the conflict with decide together

on a solution they can agree on. The next week during the class meeting, our
class will check in with those students and see if their chosen solution was
effective (Nelsen, Lott, & Glenn, 2000). Student knowledge of these class
meetings will help to guide them in the rule creation process.
Preventing misbehavior and encouraging positive behavior coincides
perfectly with the implementation of classroom meetings. Initially, classroom
meetings may not prevent misbehavior, but misbehaviors will be discussed
by the class as a whole during the meetings. Solutions will be brainstormed
and those involved will decide on a positive solution that they can agree on.
Regular class meetings will develop within students the ability to solve
problems on their own. They will take the skills that they learn from class
meetings and implement them without needing to put problems on the class
agenda. Nelsen explains that many conflicts within the classroom eventually
never made it to the class agenda because students were able to solve the
problem without intervention (Nelsen, Lott, & Glenn, 2000). Additionally,
because the solutions must be non-punitive, all parties involved only
suggested solutions that would be agreeable for everyone.
The wheel of choice created by Nelsen and her colleagues provides
another behavior management strategy I will implement with my students.
Allowing students to use the wheel of choice increases their independent
problem-solving skills. It also puts the responsibility to resolve conflict on the
students involved rather than the teacher. Choices on the wheel include

options such as: Use an I message, walk away, shake hands and take
turns, count to ten and cool off, go to another game, apologize, put it on the
agenda for class meetings, or tell them to stop (Nelsen, Lott, & Glenn, 2000).
This wheel provides many options for students about acceptable reactions
and choices for their problems. It also allows the student to have control over
the outcome and acknowledges their need for power. I can encourage
students to use the wheel of choice when a problem arises and celebrate
with them when they find an acceptable solution.
Aside from allowing students to problem-solve, I will also ensure that
our classroom provides a caring climate. Nelsen suggests that using
encouragement should undergird all interactions in the classroom (Nelsen,
Lott, & Glenn, 2000). Amstutz and Mullet elaborate and extend this idea with
Restorative Discipline; the class should be focused on building positive
relationships (2005). My behavior policies will also follow two of their other
central ideas: discipline should focus on hard done rather than only rulebreaking and policies should address the underlying causes of behavior
rather than just the symptoms (Amstutz & Mullet, 2005). Identifying the
causes of misbehavior allows the teacher and students to understand the
needs of all students as well as find long-term solutions.
Of course, it would be unreasonable to believe that my prevention
strategies will completely eliminate problem behavior. When misbehavior
occurs, I have a few strategies that I can use. I naturally tend to lean toward

applying punishment or natural consequences for misbehavior, but I hope to

move away from that approach. Theorists like Nelsen and Mullet have given
me hope that there are other ways to manage behavior that are more
effective and life-giving. In some instances, there are behaviors that I need
to learn to ignore because they are non-problems. Other times, intervention
may be needed. First, I intend to use non-verbal cues. Next, I can address the
problem directly to the student(s) that it involves and ask them to stop
(Evertson, 2013). I believe that the students should be given a choice that
sometimes may involve a consequence. For example, if a student refuses to
do their work, I can ask them if they need help now or if they would rather
stay after school to finish the assignment. While I like Mullet and Nelsens
theories, I do feel that there are times in which it is appropriate for students
to face consequences. At the same time, I think my job as a teacher includes
being empathetic to student needs which may be driving their misbehavior.
A student may simply need encouragement, assistance, or someone to listen
to them. Before assigning any consequences, I would ask the student
questions to better understand the situation at hand. Then students will feel
cared for and listened to (Blosser & Grandle, 2013).
When addressing misbehaviors, I will fall somewhere between problemsolving and restorative discipline on the discipline continuum. As noted
previously, there may be times when a student faces a consequence, but
they will have the choice to change their behavior or accept a consequence.
Students will not just be handed a punishment or consequence; I will speak

with them privately to understand their particular problem, ensuring to

remain kind yet firm (Nelsen, Lott, & Glenn, 2000). Problems involving more
than one student will most likely be handled in class meetings so that the
whole class becomes involved in solving the problem. Further, if I am having
a problem with class behavior as a whole, I can add my concerns to the class
agenda. Using class meetings that focus on non-punitive solutions coincide
with Restorative Discipline practices as well. All people involved in conflicts
will agree on solutions together. This removes the possibility for unfair
consequences or hurtful statements from being part of the resolution
process. Students will build one another up and encourage each other to find
an acceptable and positive solution.
Overall, I feel that management needs to come from a heart of love
and compassion. If I can disengage my feelings from some situations to hear
what students are saying, I know that our class can be a positive and caring
place. Furthermore, I hope that my classroom serves as a safe place where
students can be themselves. I want to be a caring and available teacher that
students know they can trust to listen to their needs and respond in a caring
way.

References
Amstutz, L. S., & Mullet, J. (2005). The little book of restorative discipline for
schools. (1st ed., pp. 9-79). Intercourse, PA: Good Books.
Blosser, J. & Grandle, J. (2013). Lecture on Barbara Coloroso. Personal Collection of
J. Blosser and J. Grandle, Bridgewater College, Bridgewater VA.
Evertson, C. M. (2013). Managing problem behaviors. In P. Bennett
(Ed.), Classroom management for elementary teachers (9th ed., p. 185).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Nelsen, J., Lott, L., & Glenn, S. (2000). Positive discipline in the classroom. New
York: Three Rivers Press.
Warner, A. (2013). Lecture on William Glasser. Personal Collection of A. Warner,
Bridgewater College, Bridgewater VA.