The ultimate goal of any teacher is an academically productive classroom with students who are engaged and focused. Classroom management encompasses a wide variety of skills and techniques that teachers use to ensure this happens.
Good classroom managers make sure all students understand and comply with rules. They also know how to keep kids interested in their classes by getting to know them and incorporating their interests into lessons.
1. Establishing a positive classroom culture
One of the most important things teachers can do is to create a classroom culture that makes students feel valued, accepted and supported. This is a huge part of ensuring that students have the motivation to learn and are able to focus on their work.
Creating this positive classroom culture begins with building relationships with your students. This can be done in a number of ways, such as through icebreakers and group activities. However, it is also important to take the time to get to know each of your students individually. This will help you to understand their learning styles and needs better. It will also enable you to give them more targeted instruction. For example, if your students are not performing well in class, you can ask them questions about why they are struggling and offer additional support.
Another way to establish a positive classroom culture is by providing students with clear and consistent rules and guidelines. This will ensure that everyone knows what is expected of them and what the consequences are for breaking these rules. It will also help to reduce disruptions in the classroom.
It is also important to provide a range of rewards and deterrents for good behaviour. This will encourage students to try their hardest and will make them feel like they are working towards a goal.
2. Setting clear expectations
Good classroom management requires clear, consistent, high expectations. Research shows that this can improve student abilities, motivation, and learning outcomes. It also promotes a classroom community that supports students’ self-regulate skills, which are vital to their overall development as learners.
A good way to set these expectations is to start off the year with a class discussion on what it means to be part of a healthy classroom culture. This will help students buy-in to the guidelines and allow teachers to focus more on curriculum delivery. It’s important that these guidelines are mutually respected and not used as punishment tools.
Once the rules are established, it’s a good idea to display them prominently in the classroom and to go over them together. This ensures that they are understood and can be referenced when students misbehave. It’s also important to remember that it’s best to criticize the behaviour rather than the person who performed it. When we blame the student, they can sometimes take it personally and feel like they’re being targeted.
It’s also helpful to keep in mind what outside factors can affect a classroom and how they may impact the teacher’s ability to manage the class. For example, if a student is consistently irritable in the morning, could hunger be the culprit? If so, it may be worth making sure they have a granola bar before class.
3. Maintaining a positive attitude
Teachers should aim to maintain a positive classroom atmosphere by promoting positivity, recognizing small victories, and encouraging students. They should also avoid fostering negativity and instead encourage their students to overcome challenges with resilience. They can do this by using a positive dictionary and eliminating negative talk in the classroom, teaching their students how to identify when they’re having a negative thought and offering them steps to help themselves stay motivated.
The way a teacher acts in the classroom can have a huge impact on their student’s attitude and overall performance. They can set the tone for their class from the moment they walk in, greeting them with a smile and asking them questions like ‘What is your favourite food?’ or ‘How do you feel about school today?’. By setting a welcoming and positive mood from the get-go, they can make the rest of the day smooth sailing.
They can also keep a sense of humour in the classroom by telling the odd joke, and even having students perform a funny skit for them. This is a great way to build strong relationships with their students and promote positivity in the classroom. They can also motivate their students by sharing optimistic quotes, motivating them to push their boundaries and work harder, and recognizing their achievements.
4. Keeping a sense of humour
Humor is a powerful classroom management tool that can make students feel more comfortable and increase their engagement. However, it can be difficult to know how to use humor in the classroom effectively. Humor should be used to complement learning, not distract from it. When used effectively, humor can engage students, promote creativity, and encourage discussion. In addition, laughter can be a great stress reliever and help improve concentration.
To be effective, humor should be appropriate and sensitive to student culture. Teachers should avoid using offensive jokes, or any humor that could cause offence or embarrassment. In addition, teachers should ensure that their use of humor does not denigrate or ridicule any particular group or individual. Teachers should also be cautious about incorporating any humor that is not age-appropriate for their students.
Some teachers have a natural knack for making their students laugh, while others struggle to be funny in the classroom. This is usually because they try to force humor or they have an unrealistic idea of what will make their students laugh. For example, some instructors attempt to be funny by drawing on the whiteboard even though they are not artists. This often backfires and makes the instructor seem awkward and rehearsed. Other teachers may try to be funny by using slang or jargon that does not appeal to their students’ generation.