This document provides guidance on effective classroom management strategies for teachers. It discusses establishing clear rules and consequences, preparing engaging lessons, maintaining organized routines and transitions, and gaining parental support. The key aspects of classroom management include having an effective discipline plan with rewards for positive behavior and penalties for misconduct, as well as establishing consistent procedures and routines to minimize disruptions.
2. What is Classroom Management?
It’s effective discipline
It’s being prepared for class
It’s motivating your students
It’s providing a safe, comfortable learning environment
It’s building your students’ self esteem
It’s being creative and imaginative in daily lessons
And…
3. …It’s different for EVERYONE!!
Why
Teaching Styles
Personality/Attitudes
Student Population
Not all management strategies are effective for every
teacher
Try different strategies to see if they work for you
4. Why is Classroom
Management Important?
Satisfaction and enjoyment in teaching
Highest concern for beginning teachers
5. The Ideal Teacher:
Enjoys students.
Uses different teaching
techniques.
Has a great sense of humor.
Acts like an adult and not a child
(or high school student).
Keeps promises.
Is organized.
Knows the subject matter.
Admits when he or she is wrong.
Uses a pleasant voice.
Is enthusiastic about the subject.
Is willing to listen to both sides
of an issue.
Has a reputation for giving
challenging work.
Isn’t a pushover. Keeps
misbehaving students in line.
Keeps everyone busy.
Does not have favorites.
Is polite to everyone all of the
time.
Is friendly and fair.
6. Dressing Appropriately
According to Harry
Wong, “We are
walking, talking
advertisements for
who we are.”
Educators should
dress for respect,
credibility,
acceptance, and
authority.
7. Ideas for the Beginning of Class
It is ESSENTIAL that
the students have an
activity to complete as
soon as the bell rings.
Take roll while the
students are working
on the assignment.
Have your students:
Create a test question.
Illustrate important
information.
Scan the day’s reading
assignment.
Take a mini-quiz.
Draw a cartoon.
Summarize the previous
day’s topic.
According to Julia G. Thompson, author of Discipline
Survival Kit for the Secondary Teacher
8. Managing Transitions
Julia G. Thompson suggests the following techniques:
Time students between transitions.
Provide students with a checklist of the day’s
activities.
Give students activities to “sponge” any dead time.
• List ten words associated with the lesson today.
• Defend your position on…
• Make flashcards for this unit.
• Circle the key words from yesterday’s notes.
9. Ending Class Without Chaos
The end of class should
be as structured as the
beginning.
Closing exercises will
provide a constructive
review of the day’s
lesson.
Be sure that you
dismiss the students
and not the bell.
Some more ideas to try from
Julia G. Thompson:
Chain Games
Rapid-fire drills
Predict the next lesson
Review homework
directions
Show a relevant cartoon
Play a game for bonus
points
10. An Effective Discipline Plan
The 3 most important
student behaviors to
teach on the first days of
school are:
Discipline
Procedures
Routines
“If you do not have a plan, you are planning
to fail.”
From The First Days of School, by
Harry Wong
11. Class Rules
Abide by the Rule
Positive Consequences:
REWARDS
Break the Rule
Negative Consequences:
PENALTIES
Your Discipline Plan
12. Creating Your Class Rules
Only have 3 to 5 rules
State rules positively.
Make the rules easy for you and your students to
remember.
Be able to enforce the rules consistently.
Remember:
Rules deal with behavior, not procedures.
13. Rewards
Harry Wong emphasizes,“The best reward
is the satisfaction of a job well done.”
Some examples include:
Praise
A note home (Good News Cards)
Student of the day, week, or month
Tangible rewards
Work posted
Certificates of Honor
Coupons
14. Penalties
Time out
Demerit or fine
Detention
Assignment to write ways to correct
problem
Being last to leave
Loss of reward
Exclusion of class participation
15. Enlist Parent Support
Be sure to send a copy of your discipline plan
home to parents the first day of school.
Make positive parent contact before you need their
assistance with a problem.
Contact parents as soon as you see a change in
their child’s behavior patterns.
Parents can be one of your biggest allies in
managing the student’s behavior.
16. Procedures and Routines
Harry Wong writes in The First Days of School, “The
number one problem in the classroom is not discipline;
it is the lack of procedures and routines.”
Wong also states, “A procedure is simply a method or
process for how things are to be done in a classroom.”
Procedures answer the question, “What do I do
when…?”