Aleta McGovern

Management Plan

Interpersonal Connection

When leading a class, I want to present confidence and respect towards my students while
developing positive relationships with them each day. I believe that it is important to connect
with students each day because it shows that you care about them and their progress as
students as well as general human beings. To know that someone like a teacher, cares about
you, and wants you to succeed can be a huge confidence booster to anyone. Even to some kids
who don’t seem to like you, it is important that they know they are welcomed and are an
important member of the class. Each student is unique, and they all bring something special to
class that no other can contribute but them.

I intend to put myself/my energetic and friendly personality into my teaching. In order to begin
brightly, I plan on: smiling, learning names quickly and addressing students by their names,
giving them a handshake or high-five when entering the classroom, saying hello, how are you,
or nice to see you, and doing check-ins at the start of class. I have learned that check-ins can be
very beneficial at the start of a class because it creates a sense of trust and open
communication. I want my students to know that they can talk to me if they need to; that I am
here for them. Check-ins are not a part of the curriculum, however, they are great for mental
health and creating a supportive environment where everyone can feel safe. It is all about
seeing where people are emotionally at, at the start of class, and adapting the day based on
that. You can get a real sense of how the day will go, based on the moods or situations that the
students have brought to class with them.

I can also be calm in the face of chaos, and this is important because teachers need not elevate
sensitive situations and make things worse when students are acting out with disruptive
behaviour. I have been told that I am good at remaining calm, re-directing, individualizing,
having good response time, making sure everyone feels seen, and ensuring the safety of all
students. Re-directing was stated for my ability to bring the conversation back to the topic at
hand, or for relating discussions to other school subjects. Individualizing refers to taking the
time to talk to students individually, away from others, in a teacher-low status manner, to
check in and see how I can help them. This relates to making the students feel seen, meaning
that even if my attention is currently on another student, that others are aware that I recognize
their presence, and am not ignoring them.
 Aleta McGovern

Monitoring

Scanning the room refers to being aware of your surroundings as a teacher, and keeping your
eyes open, looking for situations that require your attention or assistance. For example, if
students are working on group projects during class, the teacher should be scanning the room
for students who are having trouble and need help. Perhaps you notice that one student is not
participating and engaging with their group. As the teacher, you should approach that student
in a low-status teacher manner, and see if you can determine the issue by talking to them one-
on-one. As another example, if one group of students is getting far too noisy or rowdy in the
classroom, the teacher should be able to detect this from scanning the room and addressing
them calmly to keep their volume down.

Teacher “with-it-ness” refers to your focus and attentiveness in the classroom, as well as your
preparedness and ability to adapt. For example, a prepared yet flexible teacher comes to class
ready with a lesson plan for the day, however, they are willing to adapt their lesson to student
needs. This adaptation can occur at the start of class during a check-in, or perhaps during an
activity when the students aren’t quite grasping a concept the way you wanted them to. You
can change your priorities for the students and shift around some activities to the level that
your students are at. For a teacher to be able to catch on to and focus on the level of their
students shows that they are effectively aware and “with-it.”

Whole class instruction refers to teaching the students all at once. For example, when
introducing the students to a new game or project, it is far more beneficial for time
consideration and understanding to speak to the class as one whole, rather than small groups
or one-at-a-time. This way, students can also clarify any questions they may have with the
teacher, in front of the group so that if other students have the same questions, the teacher
doesn’t have to repeat themselves many times. During whole class instruction, it is important
for the teacher to use a strong and loud voice so that directions are clear and heard. These
factors can easily fall under having a “teacher high-status:” showing power, being in-command,
high neck, shoulders back, hands at your sides.

One-on-one interaction refers to moving to a “teacher low-status” and approaching a student

individually, aside from others, to talk to them and see how you can help them out. “Teacher
low-status” is about physically lowering yourself to their level, getting more personal, showing
care, and showing that you can also be a friend, not just a teacher. Often one-on-one
interactions occur when students are misbehaving or are not engaging with anyone or
anything. In order to avoid embarrassing the student in front of the class, you may want to take
the misbehaving student out into the hall to have a quick chat with them about what is / isn’t
respectful in the classroom, how you value their presence, and the kinds of options they have
moving on from there. A couple options could include: staying out in the hall for a couple
minutes to cool-down, going to get a drink of water, coming back in and starting their work, and
anything else that seems appropriate for the time.
 Aleta McGovern

Politeness refers to behaviour that is respectful and considerate of others. Politeness is critical
for developing a positive atmosphere, especially in the classroom. No one wants to be treated
badly, but sometimes emotions build up too much and cause a domino effect, hurting other
people in the classroom. It is important that we understand boundaries, and what important
rules there should be to make a healthy classroom of caring people. For example, being polite
includes: greeting people kindly, saying sorry when appropriate, smiling at others, shaking
hands, keeping our negative opinions to ourselves, being civil with someone even if we don’t
like them, etcetera. I think that it is very important on the first day of any class to lay out some
ground rules, with student involvement, so that they have a say and so that we all are aware of
what the classroom expectations are every day.

Remaining calm refers to the ability to present yourself in a relaxed manner, so to not escalate
any situation or provoke students to emotionally overload. This is extremely important when
teaching a class. Students will try to push your buttons as much as they can in order to get a rise
out of you. If we as teachers stay calm and not let the things that students say bother us, then it
shows our maturity and authority in the situation, and perhaps may prevent their behaviour
from continuing because they didn’t get the reaction they wanted. For example, if a teacher in
low-status happily greeted a student who walked into class and said “F*** you” right back to
the teacher, it is crucial that the teacher adjust themselves to stand in a high-status manner,
and compliment the student for showing up to class that day. The teacher could say for
instance: “nice you see you (student name).” This shows that even though the student was
disrespectful, they are still welcome and cared for in the class.
 Aleta McGovern

Behaviour Chart

It is important with all of these behaviours to keep a cool, calm, and collected voice so that no
more fuel is added to the fire.

Level Example Teacher Action

Low Eye rolling and exasperation Smile, “Nice to see you”
sound when entering class
Low Wait in silence, looking at
Talking during instruction them, call their name if they
do not stop talking, low-
status check-in with them
after instructions are done
Low Call name again to check if they
Not responding to teacher / heard me, let them pass if it is a
silent treatment / ignoring question, go talk to them
afterwards in low-status and give
them a couple options like: go for
a walk, I am here if you’d like to
talk to someone, get a drink/take
a break now and then do work or
the other way around
Low Passive aggressive comments (student name) not in my
or actions classroom please, do you need
to go for a walk(?), or if it is in a
greeting then: it’s good to see
you (student name)
Medium Refusing to do work / Can you keep that to yourself
distracting others please(?), if you need to talk
about anything I’m here,
please go for a quick walk or
go get a drink and come back
when you are ready
Medium Talking / Sassing back Try to calmly answer questions
they have, re-direct them to the
topic, take them out into the
hall and try to find out what is
causing the problem (why do
they feel this way? Frustrated
with the task, unable to do it,
etc.), then try to find a solution
that would help them
Medium Swearing (student name) give them a
look, you know I don’t like the
use of that language in my
classroom, please speak
 Aleta McGovern

respectfully or go take a walk if

you need to, or go get a drink
please and then come back, I
would love for you to stay in
here with us, but if you can’t
stop swearing then I need you
to go out into the hall
High Throwing / destroying things (student name) not in my
classroom, please go take a
walk or go get a drink and
then come back and you will
be welcomed
High Yelling / Dramatic Crying Approach them softly and off to
the side to see what is wrong, if
they won’t say and keep going
then ask them to take a walk, go
have a drink, or take a couple
minutes out in the hall to
breathe and come back in when
ready to participate nicely
 Aleta McGovern

Bumps

Bumps are steps that a teacher can do at the start of a class to ground oneself and command
attention from the students. There are 8 bumps (steps), and they are helpful for building
confidence and leadership. You can adapt the following steps for your own classroom as you try
them out. It is all about what fits best for you and your students, however, it is a great way to
start out. I do plan on implementing a variation of these steps into my classroom. It is very
important to command the attention of your students in such a way that it is not too harsh, not
too soft, but enough that you gain the respect that a teacher should have from their students. I
will definitely ground myself before I start to speak so that I can gain some stability, take a
breath to calm myself, and present myself with confidence as I begin. I will also use an
attention-getter like “attention class,” and I will not start my instructions until all students have
stopped talking. If I were to continue while students were talking, it could potentially cause
them to believe that they can get away with things while I teach. I must be firm with my
expectations. The power of silence as I wait allows for thinking time, as well as the ability to
take on a power stance. I will call on certain students if they are still disrupting class, and will
definitely check-in with them after giving out the instructions for the day. The check-in is just to
emphasize in a friendly way that it would be beneficial for all of us if we can stop the chatter
when I need to give instruction.

1. Collect yourself
2. Attention class
3. Wait
4. Step forward
5. Call a name softly if someone is still talking
6. Thank you
7. Tell them instructions
8. Go sit with the person and softly say “_______, I did have to call on you”