LEarning Environment & Classroom Management

Classroom Management and the Learning Environment are closely connected with Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports (PBIS), Trauma-Informed Practices, and Restorative Practices. Having a positive and safe learning environment is necessary when thinking about both Trauma-Informed Practices and Restorative Practices. Through good Classroom Management, we can produce a safe environment with clear expectations in which the students are set up for success.
How do you create a productive learning environment?
A well managed classroom -> Student engagement -> A productive learning environment
What is Classroom Management?
Good classroom management helps build trust, respect and collaboration between the students and the teacher. This helps to build a positive relational foundation upon which restorative practices can be built off.
-> Students Must Trust What Happens in the Classroom <- 
Agenda:
  • Students know the structure and plan everyday. This is also a Trauma-Informed practice as it gives students structure and stability as they always know what is coming. 
    • Remember, if there are changes to the schedule or agenda, it is important to let some students know beforehand so they do not become unregulated upon suddenly finding out about changes.​
Procedures:
  • Procedures are predictable, reliable, consistent
  • Procedures create clear expectations and classroom routine.
  • Procedures are not rules! If a student is struggling with the procedure, the response is more practice time and reminders of the procedure.
Wong & Wong’s The Classroom Management Book is a critical resource for Classroom Management Procedures.
Use it to help you think of and create lesson plans for all the procedures you might need in your classroom. Here are a few:

  • ​How to enter the classroom and what you should immediately do
  • What to do when the bell rings/at the end of class
  • What to do with HW 
  • What to do when a pencil breaks 
  • What to do when you finish work early
  • How to get the student’s attention
  • Where to find make-up work
  • How to collect or hand-in work
  • What to do with personal technology 
Remember! 
Procedures are not rules. They should be taught and rehearsed numerous times so that students know them and they become routine. If students are struggling with the procedures, practice them again so that all students are successful at all the procedures.
Rewards and Penalties
Another aspect of Classroom Management to think through are Rewards and Penalties. This is also closely related to restorative practices. In your classroom, it is important to build social, emotional and behavioral skills. It is important to build care and connection so that you have a basis of trust and respect with your students and they with you. How can you be a warm demander? What are some good classroom practices for this?
  • Morning circles
  • Class check-ins 
    • This can be down with faces showing different emotions
    • Fist to Five, how are we feeling?
    • Short sentence to share how you are feeling 
  • Build Emotional Connections with Students
  • Have a calm corner (don’t forget to include expectations around the calm corner: when can a student go? What can they do there, how long can they stay?)
  • When a student is unregulated:
    • Do a writing exercise
    • Offer water
    • Reading
  • Class conversation and discussion
  • Restorative conversations
​Regulate, Relate, Reason
->
Have a picture of your brain in the calm corner in your classroom and explain to students how our brains work to help them with self-regulation skills. 
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Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports
Tier 1: Universal, Primary Prevention (All)
Tier 2: Targeted, Secondary Prevention (Some)
​Tier 3: Intentional and Individualized, Third level Prevention (Few)

Five Elements of PBIS:
Head here for more information on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports -> -> -> 
Trauma-Informed Practices
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It is important that all schools and teachers are informed of Trauma and Adverse Childhood experiences (ACES) so that they can create safe classrooms for all students.
Here are important and helpful videos on childhood trauma and trauma-informed practices:

Restorative Practices
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Restorative practices are a proactive and reactive system, it cannot be only one or the other. It also must be something that is implemented school wide as a system of handling conflict so that students can feel the trust, respect and safety that systematic restorative practices brings. Restorative practices start with the classroom environment, as discussed earlier. Ultimately, the goal is to create a community in which we resolve conflicts and repair relationships. 
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Click on the article below to learn more about key elements of Restorative Practices.