KENNICKER MASTER PORTFOLIO: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Master’s Portfolio Project: Classroom Management
6/29/2020
Brenna Kennicker
University of Alaska Southeast
Beth Hartley
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Abstract
A teacher creates and maintains a learning environment in which all students are actively
engaged and contributing members. The Candidate demonstrates their understanding of how to
connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical/creative thinking
and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues, as well as
demonstrates their ability to integrate a variety of instructional approaches for all members of the
classroom; considers learners’ needs, interests, and goals in determining instructional strategies
to engage students as both learners and teachers
Management Statement
For this section of my portfolio I would first like to discuss my original ideal classroom
management plan, developed for ED 619 in the spring of 2014. I had been substitute teaching
for several years at this point, and was comfortable using the classroom management system my
district used. However, I was only familiar with this one system, and as I moved districts and
learned more about different classroom management systems, I have come to realize that one
packaged classroom management system does not have all the answers, and if taken directly
from the book and not adapted to individual classrooms doesn’t work.
The school I did the majority of my substitute teaching and methods coursework based
the entire school’s management system on the Love and Logic system (Fay & Fay, 1995). The
philosophy of the system states that it is key for adults to provide limits in a compassionate way
and that it is important to build students up emotionally, even during discipline. In the classroom
this involved a lot of offering choices, repeating said choices, and using realistic, enforceable
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statements. I based a lot of my ideal management system off Love and Logic, but I now see some
issues. At the time, and given the community I was in, Love and Logic was revolutionary in
diffusing situations. However, I often saw students have difficulty with the repetition teachers
used. It often times removed any possibility for a conversation with the student, who more times
like not in a primary room didn’t understand how or why their behavior was disruptive. For so
many of the primary students I worked with, they were still behaviorally very egocentric and it
took a lot of explicit explanation for them to even begin to understand how their behavior
affected others. I still agree students need to have consequences for their actions, but a large part
of their behavioral development and moral development is learning to understand other’s points
of view, and how their behavior affects others (Lickona, 1994). So that component must be
included when looking at discipline.
Another book that was highly recommended for classroom management purposes was
Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov. Several teachers used suggestions from this book like
cold calling, the action of calling on students regardless if they raised their hand, and using tight
transition times (Lemov, 2010). I read this book per the suggestion of several of my mentor
teachers and implemented a lot of the ideas into my substitute teaching. However, as I’ve learned
more, I’ve made adjustments. For example, with cold calling. I once used cold calling in a class
and had a student completely shut down on me. Unbeknownst to me at the time, this particular
student had severe anxiety about being called on in class. Studies done on the subject of anxiety
in the classroom have shown that cold calling is anxiety inducing to the majority of students
(Cooper et al., 2018). If my goal is to provide a classroom environment where students feel safe
enough to take risks, I need to adjust how I expect answers. In my first year of teaching I used
Kagan structures like turn and talk (2009), or exit ticket structures so students could share or ask
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questions in a low stress manner. There has also been a lot of critique of Lemov’s work since its
original publication, primarily that his methods value obedience and order over learning
(Latreuhaftali, 2016). It’s interesting to me how quickly educational philosophy changes, and
reminds me of the importance in keeping current on research, and being flexible in how I
implement procedures and processes in my classroom.
The procedures I had written down in my original management plan I think are quite
strict now, but made sense for a primary classroom. As a 5th grade teacher I did not regulate
student water consumption to a specific number of gulps as I did in this plan. Since most students
now bring their own water bottles to class, I simply ask they don’t refill while I am giving direct
instruction and it worked. The student rules I included are I still agree a good baseline for an
elementary classroom. Even with older students, it can be easy to get bogged down in minutiae,
(they love looking for loopholes) and by keeping the list short and simple, it allows for case-by-
case discipline.
Something I did specifically with my 5th grade students, and I find appropriate for
intermediate grades is creating a class constitution of rights and responsibilities. Having students
identify their rights and responsibilities in the classroom not only allows me as the teacher to see
what they view as important, but also gets students to buy-into the activity. Since they are major
contributors, they are more likely to follow the responsibilities they as a class designed (Smith et
al., 2015). As the school year progressed, if there was a behavior committed that went against
our rights and responsibilities it was easy to discuss why that wasn’t appropriate and students
were quick to adjust behaviors.
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I think my biggest failing in my original management plan wasn’t that I was too strict, or
only followed one philosophy, it was that I failed to acknowledge the true difficulty of classroom
management. It is an area of my teaching I feel like I will always be learning, never truly
mastering. What works with one group of students one year will not necessarily work the next
year. Honestly, what worked with my class one day didn’t always work the next! This means it is
all the more essential to learn a wide variety of strategies and procedures, and keep current on
new research on behavior, brain science, and management. It’s also essential to know your kids!
Though I may never be a master of classroom management, I look forward to the journey and the
lessons I will learn along the way as I continue teaching.
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References
Cooper, K. M., Downing, V. R., & Brownell, S. E. (2018). The influence of active learning
practices on student anxiety in large-enrollment college science classrooms. International
Journal of STEM Education, 5(1), 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0123-6
Fay, J., & Fay, C. (1995). Teaching with love and logic: Taking control of the classroom. Love
and Logic Institute, Inc.
Kagan, M. (2009). Kagan Cooperative Learning. Kagan Publishing.
Latreuhaftali, L. (2016, May 7). The power of pedagogy: Why we shouldn't teach like
champions. Cities, Suburbs and School Choice.
https://citiessuburbsschoolchoice.wordpress.com/2016/05/07/the-power-of-pedagogy-why-
we-shouldnt-teach-like-champions/.
Lemov, D. (2010). Teach like a champion.: Grades K-12. Jossey-Bass Inc Pub.
Lickona, T. (1994). Raising good children: Helping your child through the stages of moral
development. Bantam Books.
Smith, D., Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2015). Better than carrots or sticks: Restorative practices for
positive classroom management. ASCD.
