Classroom Management Professor Andrea Nielsen, M.ED. 2012 Brigham Young University Excerpts taken from “Disrupting the Disrupter” by Dr. Gib Binnington and “Conscious Classroom Management” by Rick Smith.

Hold Your Ground Be firm without being mean. It will affect every area of your teaching. When addressing issues: Lower your voice Lower your tone Squarely face the students

Practice Get into partners of two. One will be the student. The other will be the teacher. Student: You will try to leave the classroom. Teacher: Communicate with the student that they can’t leave.

Part 2 Practice Teacher: You are now limited to responses. I understand, and the answer is No. What did you Experience? What went well? What wasn’t successful?

Don’t Over-explain You don’t need to explain. Sometime you might need to explain, but don’t go overboard. Students are born to argue. To avoid this, explain later. Explaining now will only keep students off task. Give them options: Talk to me after school At lunch tomorrow My lawyer is available for discussion between 3:15-4:00. Be silent Make an gesture to what the student should be doing. Basically get the issue off the center of the stage.

Doing what’s best, not what’s the easiest If you truly care, they will feel it no matter how they act. Be direct and to the point. You must be committed to what the student might need, even if you experience feelings of dislike or not appreciated. Direct it to them, with regards to head, heart, and gut Head= we think Heart = we feel Gut = we know

Caring The students will know if we truly care about them. They will appreciate it no matter the classroom management/teaching style. It doesn’t mean that they’ll be good. You do what is best for the student. Always assume the best.

So what can we do? 1. Relate it to them 2. Ask them about them 3. Take an interest in them 4. Let them get to know you Make sure that you maintain the Teacher to Student relationship. Don’t ask too much Don’t give them your cell phone number, personal email, or become Facebook friends.

Involve the Students Allow them to express opinions Create the classroom rules Honor their cultures Allow them to evaluate themselves

Balancing We must balance personal connections with willingness to hold our ground. Structure success Be realistic Anticipate the worst Give appropriate independence

You’re the Boss You provide the opportunities, they choose to do it. Allow the consequences to speak for themselves. Success = Strong Positive Connections