Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Effective Classroom Management

Effective Classroom Management

I have been teaching in K-12 classrooms for over 15 years. During this time, I have seen a great deal of classroom management and discipline policies that I would put in the category of "Epic Fail." When the techniques you use cause more disruption to the learning process than they relieve, it is obviously time to try something different. I am sharing some of what I know works.
  1. Make sure students know that they are a valued member of the class and the school community. Many students feel like an outsider, particularly if they don't have any friends in the class. Making them know that what they contribute will be valued encourages class participation, and when students are participating, they are staying on task. You can do this by greeting them at the door to acknowledge their presence, including them in class discussions, asking questions, etc. Also, encourage your students to ask questions. I tell my students the only "dumb" question is the one that you don't ask.

  2. Be respectful. Teachers can be the worse bullies in the classroom and not even realize it. Take care to correct students without "calling them out" in front of their peers. Singling out a student in a public way can cause a number of problems including:
    • putting a dent in the student-teacher relationship.
    • causing classmates to gang up on thestudent.
    • making the student feel less valued as a person.

  3. Try to pull students aside or even go out into the hallway with them if you need to correct a behavior or some other issue. Often, just establishing eye contact with a distracted or disruptive student or is all that is needed to get him/her back on task.  Another way to reach a student who lacks class participation is to offer them a chance to contribute something to the classroom environment. Perhaps they could run an errand for you, pass out papers, or help another student who is struggling.

  4. Be consistent. It is comforting to students when they know what to expect. If possible, establish classroom routines and expectations on the first day of class and do not stray from them. Make sure that what you are doing in your classroom matches what is expected throughout the building. If students go from one class to another and the rules change, they get confused and frustrated.
  5. When you introduce a lesson, explain what you will be teaching and why. Let students know ways the material will benefit them in the future. Ask them what they already know about the topic, or if they know anyone who uses it. For example, when I teach students about the bank routing numbers on a personal check, I explain that they will need this information if they get paid by direct deposit and to file their taxes. I ask them who had to provide an employer with a voided check or fill out a direct deposit form for their job.

  6. Give warnings. Not every infraction of the rules is punishable by death. I have found that it is best to give students the benefit of the doubt in certain cases. It often may seem like a student is cutting class, but then I find out the next day they were held by another teacher, in guidance, or had some other legitimate circumstance that kept them from my class.

  7. Use proximity to keep students on task. Instead of calling across the classroom to get the attention of a student who has become distracted, just go stand near them as you continue the lesson. This keeps the focus on the learning instead of classroom management activities. If the situation calls for it, you might want to ask a question of a distracted student to pull them back into the learning activity.

  8. Offering students choices can go a long way to improving the classroom environment. High school students in particular are often frustrated by the lack of control they have in school. When students have choices, they feel empowered and often much more comfortable in the classroom setting. There are a number of ways teachers can overcome this.

    • Allow students to sit by friends, listen to music while they work, or some other request they have as long as they stay on task, complete their classwork, and do not bother anyone else. 
    • Offer students some choice in the classwork or projects they work on. For instance, I have students complete projects following a grading rubric that is not topic specific so students can choose the subject matter.
    • Let students choose whether to complete an assignment on paper or on the computer. Some students do better when they have an opportunity to add some creativity to their work.
    • Some students may prefer to stand during lessons rather than sit. This is true of many kinesthetic learners who need to be moving in order to learn. If possible, have a few standing desks in the classroom, or perhaps even a stability ball that students can sit on rather than a stationary chair.

  9. Keeping in mind that we are the adults and the students are the children can minimize anger and frustration, and help in maintaining an attitude that leads to a positive classroom environment. And remember; never take what students say personally. They are, after all, children. As an adult our self-worth should not be dictated by what a child thinks of us or what we do.

1 comment:

  1. I wish I had teachers like you.I'm sure that I would have been much more successful. What an intelligent & compationate approach.

    ReplyDelete