CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

by

Ranulfo L. Visaya Jr., M.Ed. Dean, Arts and Sciences & Education
June 2, 2011

5 Effective Classroom Management Strategies

1. Have a Positive Attitude
A teacher who teaches with a positive attitude will often have students who have positive attitudes. A teacher who has a poor attitude will have students who reflect this and are difficult to manage in class.

Cont. 5 Effective Classroom Management Strategies

2. Set Your Expectations Early
Do not go into the school year trying to be your students friend. You are the teacher and they are the students and those roles should be clearly defined from the beginning.
It is important that your students know from the beginning what your rules and expectations are and who is in charge.

Cont. 5 Effective Classroom Management Strategies

3. Develop a Good Rapport with your Students
Even though you are the authoritarian in the classroom, it is extremely important to build an individual relationship with your students from the beginning. Seek out activities and methods to gain your students trust.

Cont. 5 Effective Classroom Management Strategies

4. Have Clearly Defined Consequences It is important that you establish consequences for your classroom within the first few days.

Each consequence should be clearly stated in that there is no question as to what will happen per offense.

Cont. 5 Effective Classroom Management Strategies

5. Stick to your Guns The worst thing that a teacher can do is not to follow through with the rules and consequences that you have set early on. Teachers who do not stick to their guns often are the ones that struggle with classroom management.

Cont. 5 Effective Classroom Management Strategies

6. Be Fair
Students have a distinct sense of what is and what is not fair. You must act fairly for all students if you expect to be respected. If you do not treat all students equitably, you will be labeled as unfair students will not be keen to follow your rules.

Cont. 5 Effective Classroom Management Strategies

7. Avoid confrontations in Front of Students
Whenever there is a confrontation in class there is a winner and a loser. Obviously as the teacher, you need to keep order and discipline in your class. However, it is much better to deal with discipline issues privately than cause a student to 'lose face' in front of their friends.

Cont. 5 Effective Classroom Management Strategies

8. Oveplan
Free time is something teachers should avoid. By allowing students time just to talk each day, you are setting a precedent about how you view academics and your subject. Write additional activities into your lesson plans just in case your main lesson run short. ou can also fill up any left over time with mini-lessons.

Classroom Management Checklist

A. Learning Activity
_____ Is the student able to do the task/activity? _____ Is the student able to understand your directions/instructions? _____ Do the learning tasks and instructions consider the students learning style?

_____ Is this the type of activity that helps to promote selfconfidence (instead of frustration)? _____ Does the student understand what completion means?

Classroom Management Checklist

B. Organization
_____ Are classroom rules clearly understood by all students? _____ Have the rules/routines been practiced and taught to the students? _____ Do you adhere to your classroom rules/routines without exception? _____ Are consequences enforced fairly and consistently? _____ Are there a variety of rewards and consequences? _____ Do all students understand your expectations? _____ Do all students understand consequences for inappropriate actions? _____ Is your room inviting and organized? _____ Do your students understand all transitional routines?

Classroom Management Checklist

C. Communication
_____ Do I always demonstrate respect for all students? _____ Do I praise my students and give them ample opportunities to experience success? _____ Do I ensure that I have student's attention before I talk? _____ Are my instructions and directions presented clearly and specifically? _____ Do I use appropriate voice intonation? _____ Do I regularly use positive reinforcement? _____ Do I use a sense of humor?

Think of these
The investment in time, creating the routines, is well worth while, since it means that children know every day what is expected

A second investment in time is teaching the routines: sometimes over teaching them, so they become second nature.
The beginning of the year is the best time to establish routines.

Creating routines
A classroom teacher needs to ask:
How will the children enter the room? Where will they place their backpacks? Their homework?

Who will take the attendance? How will the students record
their lunch choices? What does a child do when his or her work is completed? How does a child record his or her independent reading? How are seats chosen at lunch time?

Creating routines A resource room teacher will need to ask:

How will the children get from their general ed classroom to the resource room?

How will the children know when it is time

to move from their desk to the teacher's table? What role will a classroom aide play in the structure of the classroom? Who records homework? Work on computer drill programs?

Here's your checklist. Ask yourself how you handle each of these situations and do your students know what your expectations are?
1. What method do you employ to get your student's attention? 2. What are your students expected to do when they come in first thing in the morning? from recess? lunch? 3. What routines are in place when students finish work early? 4. How do your students ask for assistance? 5. What are the consequences for unfinished work? late work? sloppy work? the student who refuses to work? 6. What are the consequences when a student disturbs another student? 7. Where do students turn their assignments/tasks in? 8. What are your routines for sharpening pencils? 9. How does a student ask to leave the room to use the washroom? Can more than one go at a time? 10. What are your dismissal routines? 11. What are your tidy up routines? 12. How are your students aware of all of your routines?

To have effective classroom management, teachers have routines that are well known and that have logical consequences when they're not followed. If you and your students can answer all of the questions above, you're well on your way to creating a positive learning environment with minimal distractions.

Classroom Rules - - The Foundation of Good Classroom Management Rules should:

1. 2. 3. 4. Be limited to 3-6 rules. Be stated in positive terms. Address multiple situations. . Be Age Appropriate.

Classroom Rules - - The Foundation of Good Classroom Management

Once rules are established, be sure that you take time to teach the rules. Have students brainstorm ways that they would apply the rules. Then be sure to consistently enforce the rules. Nothing will undermine classroom discipline more quickly than a teacher who fails to enforce classroom rules in a way that is fair and consistent, no matter who the rule breaker.

Classroom Rules - - The Foundation of Good Classroom Management

Procedures
Since rules are meant to be general, they will require that you teach some specific procedures In the beginning of the year, spend lots of time teaching and rehearsing the procedures. Overteach. Send the children back to their seats if they do not line up quietly enough.

Classroom Rules - - The Foundation of Good Classroom Management

Example
Rule
During instruction, students will remain in their seats and will raise their hands and wait to be called on to speak.

Procedure
A color wheel chart will establish the three kinds of behaviors for the different classroom activities. Or, the teacher will establish the beginning and end of an instructional block with a clapping cue.

Ideas for Classroom Rules

1. Come to class on time. 2. Begin the warm up activity within one minute after the tardy bell. 3. Attend to personal needs before coming to class. 4. Remain in your assigned seat unless you have permission to get up . 5. Do not eat candy or other food in class unless you have been given special permission. 6. Bring required materials every day unless you are otherwise directed. 7. Talk only when permitted. 8. Use polite speech and body language. 9. Do not cheat. 10. Follow the teacher's directions immediately.

FIRST DAY OF CLASS: WHAT CAN/SHOULD WE DO?

1. Involve students quickly.

Having them introduce themselves Allowing them to think and write silently Having a whole-class or a small-group discussion, etc.

FIRST DAY OF CLASS: WHAT CAN/SHOULD WE DO?

2. Identify the value and importance of the subject.

Not all students come to all classes with a clear idea of why this subject is important. The teacher may need to help them understand the significance of the course.

FIRST DAY OF CLASS: WHAT CAN/SHOULD WE DO?

3. Set expectations.
appropriate amounts of study time and homework for the class, the importance of turning homework in on time, expectations about in-class behavior, how the teacher wants to relate to students, and how much interaction among students is desired.

FIRST DAY OF CLASS: WHAT CAN/SHOULD WE DO?

4. Establish rapport.

Almost any class will be more enjoyable for both the teacher and the students if they know each other a bit. This exchange can be started with introductions, sharing some background information, etc.

FIRST DAY OF CLASS: WHAT CAN/SHOULD WE DO?

5. Reveal something about yourself.

Sometimes students can relate to the teacher more productively if they can see him or her as a human being.

FIRST DAY OF CLASS: WHAT CAN/SHOULD WE DO?

6. Establish your own credibility.

Sometimes this happens automatically, but at other times students need to know about the teacher's prior work experience, travel experience, or research and publications in an area.

FIRST DAY OF CLASS: WHAT CAN/SHOULD WE DO?

7. Establish the "climate" for the class.

Different teachers prefer different classroom climates: intense, relaxed, formal, personal, humorous, serious, etc. Whatever climate you want, you should try to establish this early and set the tone for the rest of the semester.

FIRST DAY OF CLASS: WHAT CAN/SHOULD WE DO?

8. Provide administrative information.

Going through the syllabus, presuming you have a syllabus with this information in it: what reading material the students will need; what kind of homework will be involved; what your office hours are; where your office is located; how the class grade will be determined; what your policies are regarding attendance, late papers, make-up exams, etc.

FIRST DAY OF CLASS: WHAT CAN/SHOULD WE DO? 9. Introduce the subject matter. Generally this introduction will be facilitated by starting with some kind of overview of the subject.
What is it? What are the parts of the subject? How is it connected to other kinds of knowledge?

What You Can Do When Classroom Rules Are Broken?

Set Consequences for Breaking the Rules:

The rule is broken once: The rule is broken a second time: The rules is broken a third time: The rule is broken a fourth time:

What You Can Do When Classroom Rules Are Broken?

Set Consequences for Breaking the Rules:

Example Frequency The rule is broken once: Consequence Teacher conferences with the student
time out detention notice to parent student writes a note to parent a behavior journal

The rule is broken twice: