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11 Techniques for Better Classroom Management Here are eleven techniques that you can use in your classroom that will help you achieve effective group management and control. They have been adapted from an article called, "A Primer on Classroom Discipline: Principles Old and New" by Thomas R. McDaniel, Phi Delta Kappan, September 1986. 1. Focusing Be sure you have the attention of everyone in your classroom before you start your lesson. Don't attempt to teach over the chatter of students who are not paying attention. Inexperienced teachers sometimes think that by beginning their lesson, the class will settle down. The children sill see that things are underway now and it is time to go to work. Sometimes this works, but the children are also going to think that you are willing to compete with them, that you don't mind talking while they talk, or that you are willing to speak louder so that they can finish their conversation even after you have started the lesson. They get the idea that you accept their inattention and that it is permissible to talk while you are presenting a lesson. The focusing technique means that you will demand their attention before you begin. It means that you will wait and not start until everyone has settled down. Experienced teachers know that silence on their part is very effective. They will punctuate their waiting by extending it three to five seconds after the classroom is completely quiet. Then they begin their lesson using a quieter voice than normal. A soft-spoken teacher often has a calmer, quieter classroom that one with a stronger voice. Her students sit still in order to hear what she says. 2. Direct Instruction Uncertainty increases the level of excitement in the classroom. The technique of direct instruction is to begin each class by telling the students exactly what will be happening. The teacher outlines what he and the students will be doing during the class period. He may set time limits for some tasks. 3. Monitoring The key to this principle is to circulate. Get up and get around the room. While your students are working, make the rounds. Check on their progress. An effective teacher will make a pass through the whole room about two minutes after the students have started a written assignment. She checks that each student has started, that the children are on the correct page, and that everyone has put their names on their papers. The delay is important. She wants her problems to have a problem or two finished so she can check that answers are correctly labeled or in complete sentences. She provides individualized instruction as needed. Students who are not yet quite on task will be quick to get going as they see her approach. Those who were distracted or slow to get started can be nudged along. The teacher does not interrupt class or make general announcements unless she notices that several students have difficulty with the same thing. The teacher uses a quiet voice and her students appreciate her personal and positive attention. 4. Modeling "Values are caught, not taught." Teachers who are courteous, prompt, enthusiastic, in control, patient, and organized provide examples for their students through their own behavior. The "do as I say, not as I do" teachers send mixed messages that confuse students and invite misbehavior. If you want students to use quiet voices in your classroom while they work, you too will use a quiet voice as you move through the room providing help. 5. Non-Verbal Cuing A standard item in the classroom of the 1950's was a clerk's bell. A shiny nickel bell sat on the teacher's desk. With one tap of the button on top, he had everyone's attention. Teachers have shown a lot of ingenuity over the years in making use of non-verbal cues in the classroom. Some flip light switches. Others keep clickers in their pockets. Non-verbal cues can also be facial expressions, body posture, and hand signals. Care should be given in choosing the types of cues you use in your classroom. Take time to explain what you want the students to do when you use your cues. 6. Environmental Control A classroom can be a warm cheery place. Students enjoy an environment that changes periodically. Study centers with pictures and color invite enthusiasm for your subject. Young people like to know about you and your interests. Include personal items in your classroom. A family picture or a few items from a hobby or collection on your desk will trigger personal conversations with your students. As they get to know you better, you will see fewer problems with discipline. Just as you may want to enrich your classroom, there are times when you may want to impoverish it as well. You may need a quiet corner with few distractions. Some students will get caught up in visual exploration. For them, the splash and the color is a siren that pulls them off task. Have a quiet place where you can steer these students. Let them get their work done first and them come back to explore and enjoy the rest of the room. 7. Low-Profile Intervention Most students are sent to the principal's office as a result of confrontational escalation. The teacher has called them on a lesser offense, but in the moments that follow, the student and teacher are swept up in a verbal storm. Much of this can be avoided when the teacher's intervention is quiet and calm. An effective teacher will take care that the student is not rewarded for misbehavior by becoming the focus of attention. She monitors the activity in her classroom, moving around the room. She anticipates problems before they occur. Her approach to a misbehaving student is inconspicuous. Others in the class are not distracted. While lecturing to her class, this teacher makes effective use of name-dropping. If she sees a student talking or off task, she simply drops that student's name into her dialogue in a natural way. "And you see, David, we carry the one to the tens column." David hears his name and is drawn back on track. The rest of the class doesn't seem to notice. 8. Assertive Discipline This is traditional limit-setting authoritarianism. When executed as presented by Lee Canter (who has made this form of discipline one of the most widely known and practiced), it will include a good mix of praise. This is high-profile discipline. The teacher is the boss, and no child has the right to interfere with the learning of any other student. Clear rules are laid out and consistently enforced. 9. Assertive I-Messages A component of Assertive Discipline, these I-Messages are statements that the teacher uses when confronting a student who is misbehaving. They are intended to be clear descriptions of what the student is supposed to do. The teacher who makes good use of this technique will focus the child's attention first and foremost on the behavior he wants, not on the misbehavior. "I want you to…" or "I need you to…" or "I expect you to…" The inexperienced teacher may incorrectly try "I want you to stop…" only to discover that this usually triggers confrontation and denial. The focus is on the misbehavior, and the student is quick to retort, "I wasn't doing anything!" or "It wasn't my fault!" or "Since when is there a rule against…" and escalation has begun. 10. Humanistic I-Messages This I-Messages are expressions of our feelings. Thomas Gordon, creator of Teacher Effectiveness Training, tells us to structure these messages in three parts. First, include a description of the child's behavior. "When you talk while I talk…" Second, relate the effect this behavior has on the teacher. "…I have to stop my teaching…" And third, let the student know the feeling that it generates in the teacher. "…which frustrates me." 11. Positive Discipline Use classroom rules that describe the behaviors you want instead of listing things the student cannot do. Instead of "no running in the room," use "move through the room in an orderly manner." Instead of "no fighting," use "settle conflicts appropriately." Instead of "no gum chewing," use "leave gum at home." Refer to the rules as expectations. Let your students know this is how you expect them to behave in your classroom. Make ample use of praise. When you see good behavior, acknowledge it. This can be done verbally, of course, but it doesn't have to be. A nod, smile, or a "thumbs-up" will reinforce the behavior. Classroom Management Techniques that Backfire 1. Raising your voice 2. Yelling 3. Saying, "I'm the boss here" 4. Insisting on having the last word 5. Using tense body language, such as rigid posture or clenched hands 6. Using degrading, insulting, humiliating, or embarrassing put-downs 7. Using sarcasm 8. Attacking a student's character 9. Acting superior 10. Using physical force 11. Drawing unrelated people into the conflict 12. Having a double standard - expecting students to "do what you say, and not what you do" 13. Insisting that you are right 14. Preaching 15. Making assumptions 16. Backing the student into a corner 17. Pleading or bribing 18. Bringing up unrelated events 19. Generalizing about students by making remarks such as "All you kids are the same" 20. Making unsubstantiated accusations 21. Holding a grudge 22. Nagging 23. Throwing a temper tantrum 24. Mimicking the student 25. Making comparison with siblings or other students 26. Commanding, demanding, dominating 27. Rewarding the student |