When you maintain order in a classroom, you create an environment that facilitates learning. A well-managed classroom also helps prevent disciplinary problems with students, which could avoid a precedent that leads to more misbehavior for some children. Effective classroom management techniques will monitor student behavior, minimize confrontations due to misbehavior, and provide both rewards for positive behavior and consequences for negative behavior.
Effective classroom management involves a proactive approach instead of a reactive approach. By using prevention strategies that help students avoid misbehaving in the first place, you create a more positive learning environment for your entire class. Your first impression on your students can have a powerful impact on the entire school year. Strong and fair leadership starting from the first day with students can set the stage for a successful school year. It's also important for every teacher to build a positive relationship with students. This personal connection serves as a foundation, enabling you to go on to establish and reinforce expectations for every student in the classroom. Tips for connecting with kids include using every student's name frequently during interactions, maintaining eye contact, and smiling and laughing frequently throughout the day.
Focus on building a positive environment in the classroom, with every student feeling accepted and supported. These feelings of community can be powerful motivators for students to behave responsibly and respectfully. Establish classroom rules such as raising hands for permission to speak and maintaining quiet so everyone can hear other speakers. Create a classroom signal that will quiet the room and use it frequently to train the students to respond quickly. It's also important to teach and model a positive example of communication and social skills in your supportive classroom. Teach students self-control, anger management, conflict resolution, personal responsibility, and decision-making skills with your positive example, also.
Rewards and consequences can be effective teaching strategies for managing a classroom. Develop a plan that communicates classroom expectations to the students so they understand how you want them to behave and interact. Some teachers utilize a classroom contract that outlines expectations, rewards, and consequences clearly, with lines for both students and teacher to sign to indicate agreement to the terms of the contract. When students perform according to the expectations, provide rewards to encourage this behavior. Rewards could include free time in the classroom or extra credit points. If a student behaves in ways that violate the contract, institute consequences. Consequences might include missing recess or an extra assignment.
Classroom control involves monitoring the students carefully to maintain a positive learning environment. It can be helpful to arrange the classroom so it meets the needs and style of the curriculum taught to students. Ensure that you can see every student from your desk. Managing difficult students makes this especially important. Keep the classroom neat and organized, adapting it to accommodate different student learning styles, also. Make supplies and materials easily accessible for students. Pay attention to the flow of the classroom arrangement to ensure that it feels comfortable and functional.
Some students may engage in disruptive activities in the classroom. These disruptions could be talking out of turn, arguing with peers or staff, or refusing to listen or perform work. Effective behavior strategies for these situations should focus on avoiding confrontation with the student and delivering the promised consequences for the misbehavior. A student engaging in these problem behaviors may be trying to create distractions that prevent learning. Confronting a student in this situation will only reward the student by reacting in the desired fashion. Instead, use behavioral strategies that discourage the misbehavior by refusing to reward it.
You might encounter some student behavior that requires special behavioral interventions. Angry outbursts and violent behavior will require a calm response from you. Instead of responding in haste to the student, take a step back and gather yourself to ensure that you respond effectively. Separate the student from the rest of the classroom and provide a few moments for the student to calm down. Once calmer, have a conversation about the behavior and institute consequences for the student's behavior choices. The consequences may involve loss of privileges, as well as reparations for the behavior, such as cleaning up a mess or replacing a broken item.
After implementing some of these teaching practices and behavioral techniques, take a self-assessment of your classroom and your management techniques to determine your level of effectiveness with your class. The test should indicate strong areas and other places where you might need to implement changes for better classroom management.
Find more about the author: Kim Hart
