Running head: OBSERVATION #3 CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT AND 1

ROUTINE

Observation #3 Classroom Management & Routine

Allison Gerlach

Raritan Valley Community College

Professor Kimberly Schirner

March 26, 2019

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EDUC 230 Education Field Experience

I. Observation #3:
Classroom Management and Routine

II. Grade Level and Subject Area:

Third Grade

III. Setting:
The Third-Grade classroom is located in the half circle building at the Willow School.
This building is where the Preschool to Fifth-Grade classrooms are as well as the
Library. There are six students, ages 8-9 years old, with two girls and four boys in
this class. There is one teacher in this classroom where the children learn Math,
Writing, Reading, and Social Studies. Science is taught by a different teacher in a
different building as a special.

IV. Pre-Observation:
Effective classroom management is imperative for effective teaching. If a teacher
does not have their classroom in order, often their students do not learn either. Under
the umbrella of classroom management, there is a wide array of techniques that
teachers employ to keep the behavior of their class in control (Rusk, 2016). Each
teacher has their own philosophy of education and although the two teachers in my
classroom may be on the same page, they will undoubtedly have different reactions to
behavior problems. Because of all this knowledge, I expect to see varied strategies of
discipline when I observe this time.
The main strategy that I assume will be used in the class is Positive Behavior
Support (PBS). This strategy is the best practice that works at effectively managing
85% of student behaviors. It is done by giving the most support that is needed for
each student to succeed in their learning environment. For example, most student can
learn with a universal instruction approach. This is a structure that is set school wide
and consistent throughout each class. Some students thrive in small group instruction
where they can still work with their peers but with more support from their teachers.
The most supportive approach that is needed for a small number of students, is the
individualized level where they work one on one (Kratochwill, DeRoos, & Blair).
While not all teachers are trained in PBS, through professional development and
collaboration with specialist in the school, it can be accomplished. Not only is PBS
supportive of the students’ academic needs, it also accommodates for their social and
emotional well-being. The best way to implement this technique is consistency.
Consistent rules and consequences will set a structure that students can identify and
frame their behavior around (Kratochwill, DeRoos, & Blair). To set these guidelines,
it is the teacher’s responsibility to be clear with what they expect to see from their
class. Research proves that teachers have the largest impact on classroom
management in the education of young children, not administrators or principals.
Working directly with the students gives you the most power over the guidance and
success of your children (Smitson, 2015).
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Something that I also noticed that was common throughout my research was that
teacher perception of their guidance had almost direct correlation to their student’s
success. Meaning, teachers who thoroughly believed in their management methods,
had the most success in their classroom (Smitson, 2015; Rusk, 2016). The only cases
where this was not true was when teachers were using the wrong management model.
Older teachers, for example, may be stuck in their traditional discipline practices and
be confident in them but this often breeds the least success having the opposite effect
of more modern techniques (Rusk, 2016). This is a great example of how teachers
need to constantly be developing and collaborating so they can grow as education
evolves.
Similar to consistent rules, routines are important too. Especially with young
children, clear expectations and set schedules help to cut down on transition time
which in turn cuts down on misbehaviors. By making sure that your students
understand these expectations, you are giving them the tools they need to begin self-
regulating. A way to help them in this process is to keep rules and the class schedule
posted and readable. Routines should be clearly outlined and demonstrated as well.
While guidance will still be needed, the amount of guidance will be drastically less.
When classroom management is not a struggle, teachers can focus on teaching
(National Education Association, 1999).
Something that I hope not to see in my observation, is the use of rewards and
extrinsic motivation. Use of these gimmicks are detrimental to the students’ intrinsic
motivation and will in turn limit their productivity, creativity, and self-regulation. A
study that I found even mentions that the use of praise for work and behavior that is
appropriate makes the student reliant on the approval of adults and of others. Guiding
the student is preferable because it helps students reach their own conclusions about
what works for them personally and teaches them to self-regulate rather than waiting
for someone to tell them what to do (Angeleque, et. al, 2004).

V. Data:
 Growth Mindset instead of thinking... try thinking…
 Compliment party: Students are so poorly behaved that the specials teachers do
not want them to come to specials. The teacher came up with the idea that if the
specials teachers give them a good report about their behavior and the class gets
enough compliments up to the number of letters in the word “compliment” they
can have a party. It took the class September to March to get 10 positive notes.
 Gratitude journal (write out what they are grateful for every day) in the morning
 No word work today because another class will be joining them for morning
gathering while their teacher has a meeting with a parent
 Conversation about skinny dipping “this is inappropriate third grade
conversation”
 Students were losing focus so the teacher shifted focus to a new activity
 Students lounging on the carpet and the teacher tells them to sit up
 “It is disrespectful to raise your hand while the teacher is asking for answers if
you have nothing to contribute to the conversation”
 “This is not a place I want you to be reading. Please go and sit in the other area.”
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 A student took an extra sheet of paper without asking and the teacher gave her a
lecture about how this is a sustainable environmentally friendly school and that is
not okay
 School Virtues posted on the wall:
September- Respect/ Responsibility
October- Temperance
November- Gratitude
December- Charity/ Service
January- Compassion
February- Honesty
March- Courage
April- Faithfulness
May- Prudence
June- Joy/ Wonder
 Enduring Understandings instead of rules
A healthy and sustainable future is possible; We are all in this together;
Healthy systems have limits; Recognize and protect the common;
Reconcile individual rights with collective responsibility; Diversity makes
our lives possible; Create change at the source of the symptom; Think
1000 years; Read the feedback
 Gratitude chart is posted on the wall. The children created a list of all the things
that they were grateful for at the beginning of the year to inspire them if they are
stuck on their gratitude journal
 One student could not come up with a positive saying to put on his equality
poster. Teacher pulled him aside to work with him.
 Discussion about how tribes respected each other and their boundaries while they
read The Sign of the Beaver and point out how Americans do not respect those
boundaries let alone people who were different and in competition with them
 Teacher asks one student to stop humming because she is distracting the other
child at her table. The student starts pulling her hair out and starts arguing with
the teacher. “I asked you to please stop singing because you are distracting your
friend from their work. I did not yell at you, you do not need to be upset. But, if
you cannot work without humming then that is a conversation you need to have
with me. You can say ‘Mrs. Zurlo, I can’t focus without humming. Can I please
go sit somewhere else by myself so I can do that?’”
 Teacher explained to me how this student will often pull out her hair if a teacher
is critical of her in anyway. The art teacher asked her to draw her picture bigger
and she started pulling out her hair. The classroom teacher had to take her back to
art during recess to apologize for her negative attitude and to communicate why
she was upset rather than just letting it go because it was unacceptable.
 Four out of six of the students in this class have a diagnosed learning, behavioral,
or emotional disabiliity
 One student was not doing his work and continued to distract the other students,
so she said he could not go to wellness until he finished the sheet. When he
continued to complain about that, she said you will either miss recess or wellness
to work on this and he chose wellness.
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 Schedule for A, B, C, D, E, F days

C Day:
Morning Gathering 8:05-8:25
Language Arts 8:30-10:00
Snack/Recess 10:00-10:20
Math 10:25-11:10
Wellness 11:15-12:00
DEAR 12:00-12:25
Lunch/Recess 12:30-1:15
Music 1:20-2:00
Interdisciplinary Studies 2:05-2:55
Dismissal 3:00-3:15

VI. Analysis:
The teacher does a relatively good job at managing the problem behaviors
present in this classroom. She provides the support that each student needs and
increases her involvement with the student when they are struggling. The use of
Positive Behavior Support really does improve the behavior for the most part
(Kratowill, DeRoos, & Blair). Unfortunately, there are still many problem behaviors
that need to be addressed. Because more than half of the students in the class have
been diagnosed with learning, behavioral, or emotional disabilities, and the teacher is
not trained in special education, this problem is understandable (Rusk, 2016). That
being said, the classroom teacher has the best outlook on the behaviors of these
students. She expects the best out of them and in turn they behave better for her than
they do for the teachers of specials. By working closely with the students
consistently, she has created a positive relationship where the students respect her and
in turn try their best (Smithson, 2015).
This classroom is complete with a display of expectations of the students as
well as the schedule for the day. With this concrete evidence of the what the structure
of the classroom should be, the students stick to the rules even better (National
Education Association, 1999). The students know what the daily routine is but they
are flexible and adapt to changes that are thrown their way. This positive trait can be
accredited to the teacher’s strong guidance (Smithson, 2015). When the students are
secure in their environment they are comfortable with slight changes because their
general consistency has given them a sense of security that is needed in an elementary
school classroom (Kratowill, DeRoos, & Blair).
Another positive trait that this classroom has, is the use of the growth mindset.
By encouraging students to alter their attitude towards challenges, the teacher is
helping the students to set goals and create a healthy relationship to struggles. A study
showed that a students’ attitude correlates to their success in learning. “Students with
a fixed mindset believe that they are born with their abilities and that they are
unchangeable. In contrast, students with a growth mindset believe that their abilities
can be developed and improved over time with practice” (Robinson, 2017). The
teacher strongly believes in this strategy when it comes to guiding her students and
she is seeing results in their work (Smithson, 2015; Rusk 2016). As they transform
their relationships to learning and their personal perspective of their skills, they are
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taking on new challenges and pushing themselves farther academically (Robinson,

2017).

VII. Recommendations:
A technique that could be helpful in this classroom is the “keystone
approach”. While being clinically diagnosed with a disability may give students
access to resources that they may need, this does not help the classroom teacher
with classroom management. To create behavior plans for more than half of the
students by performing assessments, analysis, and intervention strategies is
impractical. In order to create a functional guidance system, the teacher should try
the keystone method. “A keystone behavior is a relatively circumscribed target
behavior that is foundational to a rand of skills and related to other responses such
that, when modified, can have a substantial positive influence on those other
responses” (Ducharme & Shechter, 2011). By targeting a foundational behavior,
the teacher is effectively changing a wide array of problem behaviors without
having to directly address each one. The four skills that need to be taught in order
for the keystone approach to be effective are: compliance skills, social skills, on-
task skills, and communications skills. If a student is not sufficient in these areas,
they cannot learn to cope with their problem behaviors on their own because they
need more support (Ducharme& Shechter, 2011).

VIII. Post Observation:

Something that I want to work on with my next observation is finding
sources that are more current. While the studies and research that I found were
reliable, I think that more recent information would make my analysis stronger.
Education is constantly evolving and research is getting more in depth as well. As
an effective teacher, it is imperative to keep up with professional development so
practicing this as a preservice teacher would set up that habit and give me a strong
foundation to pull from when I enter my own classroom.

IX. Citations:

Angeleque A. K., et al. "Extrinsic Reinforcement in the Classroom: Bribery Or Best

Practice." School Psychology Review, vol. 33, no. 3, 2004, pp. 344-362. ProQuest,

https://ezp.raritanval.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-

com.ezp.raritanval.edu/docview/219653655?accountid=13438.

Ducharme, J. M., & Shecter, C. (2011, June). Bridging the gap between clinical and

classroom intervention: keystone approaches for students with challenging behavior.

School Psychology Review, 40(2), 257+. Retrieved from https://link-galegroup-

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com.ezp.raritanval.edu/apps/doc/A262495765/PROF?u=raritanvcc&sid=PROF&xid=

65b36c4b

Kratochwill, T. R., DeRoos, R., & Blair, S. (n.d.). Classroom Management. Retrieved from

https://www.apa.org/education/k12/classroom-mgmt.aspx

National Education Association. (1999). Set Up Rules and Routines. Retrieved from

http://www.nea.org/tools/15377.htm

Robinson, C. (2017). Growth mindset in the classroom. Science Scope, 41(2), 18-21.

Retrieved from https://ezp.raritanval.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-

com.ezp.raritanval.edu/docview/1942178538?accountid=13438

Rusk, R. B. (2016). A case study of classroom management practices and the influence on

classroom disruptions (Order No. 10015230). Available from Education Database.

(1767220699). Retrieved from https://ezp.raritanval.edu/login?url=https://search-

proquest-com.ezp.raritanval.edu/docview/1767220699?accountid=13438

Smitson, M. A. (2015). An exploration of teachers' early childhood guidance beliefs and

practice within early learning classrooms (Order No. 3745413). Available from

Education Database. (1753919786). Retrieved from

https://ezp.raritanval.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-

com.ezp.raritanval.edu/docview/1753919786?accountid=13438