Classroom management refers to the wide variety of skills and techniques that teachers use to keep students organized, orderly, focused, attentive, on task, and academically productive during a class.
1. CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Introduction:
Classroom management has been cited as one of the most serious
obstacles in promoting effective learning. It is also the most common reasons for
job burnout and attrition of first-year teachers.
Definition of Classroom Management
Classroom management refers to the wide variety of skills and techniques
that teachers use to keep students organized, orderly, focused, attentive, on task,
and academically productive during a class.
It is a term used by teachers to describe the process of ensuring that
classroom lessons run smoothly despite disruptive behavior by students. It also
implies the prevention of disruptive behavior.
When classroom-management strategies are executed effectively,
teachers minimize the unwanted behaviors that impede students’ learning
development, while maximizing the behaviors that facilitate or enhance
learning. Generally speaking, effective teachers tend to display strong classroom-
management skills, while the hallmark of the inexperienced or less effective
teacher is a disorderly classroom filled with students who are not working or
paying attention.
Importance of Classroom Management
To establish and sustain an orderly environment so students can engage in
meaningful academic learning; and
To enhance student social and moral growth”.
Effective Classroom Management
Classroom management is maintaining order in the classroom. Strategies and
techniques for classroom management enhance students’ academic skills and
competencies, as well as their social learning environment for the student.
2. 1. Teachers need to create an environment that promotes learning.
2. Teachers are responsible for helping students manage and direct their own
learning
The Do’s of Classroom Management
1. Establish Rapport. Building rapport with your students reduces
misbehavior because they want to please you. By greeting students at the
door with a simple “hello” and a “goodbye” after class, you demonstrate
care. Nurture relationships by taking an interest in students’ lives. Talk
with them about their likes, dislikes, hobbies and interests, and then find
appropriate ways to share in them. Providing positive recognition and
calling on a range of students can also help build rapport and minimize
disruptions.
2. Achieve Consensus on Rules. Developing rules with students also creates
rapport. It expresses that you value them as partners in the classroom
while also establishing expectations. By facilitating a discussion about
what constitutes acceptable behavior and why it is needed, you give
Set Clear
Expectations
Emphasize
Positive
Behavior
Make
Learning
Purposeful
Stop
Unwanted
Behavior
Immediately
Model
Courtesy and
Compassion
to Student
3. students a sense of ownership. Limit rules to 3-5 and be sure they are
specific and visible.
3. Use Mobility. Many teachers are attached to the blackboard. While
students in the front might be engaged, a larger majority are free to tune
out. Instructing from different places in the room throughout class keeps
students on-task and discourages off-task behavior. Some teachers
configure their room in a way that makes mobility impossible, so be sure
to have a room arrangement that encourages movement to all areas.
4. Try Non-verbal. If you can’t move toward a misbehaving student, try
some nonverbal cues. Sometimes a well-practiced “look” can redirect him.
Holding eye contact with him is another simple way without calling
attention to him. In other instances, a well-placed pause in your instruction
or directions can refocus students because there is a noticeable break in
what was occurring. Hand signals and gestures work too.
5. Offer Rewards. Many teachers experience success by implementing
reward systems in their class. You could reward individuals or the entire
class with small tokens, prizes, or privileges for exhibiting positive
behavior or staying on task.
The Do’s of Classroom Management
1. Publicly Discipline. Many believe that giving consequences in front of the
class “sets an example.” The example you are setting, though, is that you
are willing to embarrass a child. While you might feel a sense of control by
publicly disciplining a student, he loses dignity in the process. Although
you might win a small battle, you unconsciously create a larger struggle:
he’ll want to save face, leading to more off-task behavior or direct
provocations. Instead, talk with him quietly at his desk once everyone is
working or motion him outside for a conference.
2. Lose Control. The moment you lose control of your emotions, you lose
control of the class. You’ve unwittingly shown students what buttons to
push. Losing control takes a variety of forms, including insisting on having
the last word, saying something regrettable, or crying. Instead, learn to
take a deep breath and emotionally detach yourself from the behavior or
words, making sure your emotions don’t register on your face.
3. Refer Every Infraction. Disciplinary referrals should be the exception, not
the rule. Reserve them for major infractions, not minor ones like side-
talking, off-task behavior, or being unprepared for class. When you refer
students for these kinds of infractions, you convey the message: “I don’t
know how to deal with you, so I need someone to do it for me.” In
essence, you hand over control of your classroom.