Classroom Management Plan

The primary issues I am facing in my classroom currently are those of excessive talking, disorganization, and finishing the material too early. All of these are issues I feel I can control through the process of successful classroom management.
To contain the unnecessary talking I can establish rules for the students. What I plan to do is express to them that while class is in session talking is inappropriate, however; if they remain on task throughout the note-taking and activity time, I will give them the last five to ten minutes to chat. This way, I am compromising with the students and letting them know that I understand school is a social experience, but I am also letting them know that what I am teaching them is important and requires their attention. I think that through using this method the students will feel respected and therefore give me further respect in return. If this does not work, assigned seats will serve as my back up option.
The disorganization I find primarily has to do with the fact that I am a student teacher and therefore do not have my own desk or area to keep materials. This forces me to keep up with all materials while bringing them home every night and back to school every morning. To remedy this, I will approach my cooperating teacher about possibly acquiring more of an area in the classroom that I can take over as my own. This way I will be able to leave items that would be best left in the classroom at school overnight. If this turns out not to be a viable option, I think I will simply have to make do since this situation is somewhat out of my control.
Regarding the issue of finishing class early, I will need to better plan for my daily lessons, “over plan” if you will. I will also set aside two or three activities I can always call on to fill class time. This will allow me to always have a back up plan ready to go if I finish material too early. I do think that my plan to allow the last five to ten minutes of class to be “student chat time” will be beneficial for filling this time as well. I do not mind finishing a bit early as long as things to do not get out of control, ninety minutes is intense for a single class in my opinion. If I can get a solid seventy to eighty minutes of quality work out of my students, I do not see the harm in giving them ten minutes to clear their head before their next excessively long class.
I feel as if these methods will aide me in having better classroom management. By working on these things I will build a stronger relationship with my students, accomplish more in class, and feel more in control of the class environment. All of these strategies I feel will be beneficial.

Association of Social Studies Teachers

This organization, abbreviated ATSS and UFT, strives to provide a network for social studies educators to advocate for Social Studies education. They also provide a basis for teachers to share scholarship, information, strategies, and other practices relevant to Social Studies instruction. ATSS develops these practices by providing workshops, publications and conferences, maintaining a website, and consistently supporting the rights of individuals and educators through the use of the professional committee. The most useful aspect of their website seems to be the “New Teacher” page where they have ideas for lesson plans, advice and stories from other new teachers, information regarding professional development, discounts to various teacher supply stores, and the like. These examples would be useful for student teaching, though I do not think that I will be joining the organization.