Managing Your Classroom

A majority of classroom management occurs before the students enter the classroom

Teachers with effective classroom management skills*: O Physically arrange the classroom in a way that minimizes distractions and facilitates teacher- student interaction O React logically, not emotionally O Create a climate in which students feel they belong and are intrinsically motivated to learn O Set reasonable limits for behavior O Plan activities that encourage on-task behavior O Continually monitor what students are doing O Modify instructional strategies when necessary O Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

General Principles O Correction should be instructive, not punitive O There can be no management without relationship O The student should be a participant in the correction, not just a recipient O A student’s background is point of understanding, not an excuse O Expectations should be overt O Correction should be private when at all possible O Your two greatest tools are silence and proximity

Tips for Classroom Management O Have a plan ahead of time. O Have clear expectations – NO HIDDEN RULES! O Remember you are the adult. O Take care of yourself. O Treat students like people. O Look at the ABCs of the classroom O Get to know your kids. O Be well planned. O Find a mentor. O Be consistent. O Have guidelines you believe in. O Get a life. O Remember why you are there in the first place.

WARNING! O Good classroom management does not always mean good teaching! O S54bbX6eA S54bbX6eA

Scenario #1 O You are concerned about behavior in your lower level class. Several students are always late while others frequently forget their books, paper, pencils, or assignments. During presentations, students call out answers or comments, leave their seats to throw away paper or sharpen their pencils, and they often talk or write notes. During seatwork assignments, students work the first problem or two while you are watching but then turn to their neighbors as soon as you turn your back to work with individual students. Some complain about having to do any work and many do no work during the last ten minutes of the period as they get ready to leave and spend the time talking. You tried to establish order by using a system of fines in which students had to write out and turn in definitions of problems if they were caught misbehaving. This system had worked well with your average classes, but in this class you find you are constantly handing out fines and are unable to keep track of whether they were turned in. What other strategies could you try?

Scenario #2 O Joe manages to get most of his work done, but in the process he is constantly disruptive. He teases the girls sitting around him, keeping them constantly laughing and competing for his attention. Joe makes wisecracks in response to almost anything you say. When confronted, he grins charmingly and responds with exaggerated courtesy, leading you to feel as if the student is patronizing you. However, his antics delight the rest of the class. What will you do to curb such behavior?

Scenario #3 O When you were absent yesterday, your fourth- period class gave the substitute teacher a hard time; according to the note he left for you (with a copy sent to the principal), many students refused to work at all, four or five left the room for the bathroom and never returned, and a paper-and-spit wad fight raged most of the period. The substitute left the names of some, but not all the students involved in the misbehaviors. As the tardy bell rings, you enter the room to greet the fourth-period class.

Scenario #4 O As you are moving from the main building of the high school to one of the portable classroom buildings for your sixth period class, you notice students congregating around two tenth-grade boys confronting one another. Quickly moving into the group of onlookers, you observe one of the boys remove some of his jewelry and the keys from his pocket. The other takes off his jacket and says, “Come on, I’m ready for you.” You realize you don’t know either of the boys, so you ask one of the onlookers for their first names. She says, “Ernie is on the left, Mark on the right.” How do you proceed?

Scenario #5 O Sixth period, the last period of the day, has just started when Kim walks into your classroom and slams her books onto her desk. Kim is a student who is usually moody, but in general has not caused many problems (or disturbances in your classroom, although you have heard of her being disrespectful to other teachers). You can’t help but think that first she comes late and then interrupts your review of yesterday’s material with the slamming of the books. You continue your lesson, but hear heavy sighs coming from Kim. A few moments later, you clearly hear an obscenity. What do you do?