It's December 1st already, and just in case you forgot...Christmas is in 24 days!
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We can be sure that our students are well aware of this fact concerning the calendar. These classroom management ideas have helpful tips and useful reminders about how to create a calmer December with your kids.
1. Head over to Classroom Management and Holidays for ideas on how to use your face and voice to help kids maintain self-control in the classroom, as well as a couple of useful tips on engaging students as the excitement of the holidays sets in.
2. Plan now for homework provisions for the break. Two weeks is a long time to go without some structure and learning opportunities for kids, and Homework Ideas for Winter Break contains printables and additional ideas to send home with kids as Christmas break begins.
3. This time of year provides a valuable opportunity to build relationships with your students through gift giving. However, as teachers, we don't have money for gifts for students. Wrap those worries way - Free Gifts to Give Students provides fun and simple ideas for Christmas gifts you can offer the students in your classroom!
All teachers crave a well behaved classroom, where they are able to get on and impart all of their knowledge to a room full of interested students. However, keeping a class in order is one of the main issues that any teacher will face - be they a veteran of many years or a newly qualified teacher just starting out. Below we outline some key tips for making sure a classroom can be the fun and informative place it should be - these may be especially useful for those in the supply teaching industry, who often find that classes will try and be more unruly than usual.
Positive Reinforcement
Establishing a set of rules for the classroom is a very good idea, the list should not be too long - usually four or five will suffice - and most importantly they should say what pupils should do, as opposed to what they should not. For example, rather than saying do not shout out, a rule could say raise your hand and wait to speak. Praise good behaviour - but obviously don't go overboard - and when a rule is broken, remind the student about the rule and what it is they should have done instead.
Nip it in the Bud
If you can see that a class or individuals in a class are getting out of hand, then it is important to deal swiftly with a problem before it spirals out of control. This is important because bad habits can be hard to break, so if there is a particular problem - for example chatter when the class is supposed to be silent - you should ensure that this will not be tolerated, so the class know not to take liberties.
Be Clear with Consequences
Make sure that students know what the consequences of their actions will be. This could be a code where repeated bad behaviour will result in more serious punishments or making sure that adequate warning has been given, either verbally or referring them to the list of rules they need to comply with. A gradual escalation such as removing their liberties e.g. not letting them choose where they, to taking away their free time, can be a good strategy for demonstrating that actions do have consequences.
Establish Start and Finish Routines
Having a solid routine for the start and finish of a class is an extremely useful tool in any teacher's armoury. A good starting routine can be to set a class to work straight away such as silent reading of a text book, a dictation exercise or for something more light hearted a pop quiz to recap a previous lesson. All this can help avoid unnecessary distractions at the start of lessons and mean that pupils know that work has to happen in the classroom. At the end, always make sure you leave to time wind down, in order to be able to clearly state what homework is required and hopefully to be able tell the kids what a good lesson you have just had.
Be the Boss
The teacher is the adult in the classroom and you need to be in charge. Students will often think of numerous ways of getting out of doing work, showing off to their peers or otherwise not doing what is required of them. Therefore, it is important that you stand head and shoulders above them - like a boss - and that they know that you are the one who is in control but equally someone they respect and can be approached to help them.
These are just a few tips, there are undoubtedly many more but we think if you stick to these principals, you are sure to have a harmonious classroom.
Jonathan is a freelance writer with interests in the education industry, including supply teaching, primary and secondary education and education news.
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Winter Madness
We all know that during the winter holidays our students are thrown off schedule. Maintaining good classroom management is important, especially when they may have surges of excitement from the sugar cookies a parent brought in, anticipation for a special guest or Christmas play.
Right now is a good time to re-think and re-visit our classroom management. While I taught K-2nd grade, I developed strong classroom management skills. All my previous years of substitute teaching and working as a middle school counselor surely helped with this learning process. I also love learning from experienced teachers, and I used many techniques I saw in other classrooms when I got my own classroom.
The Eyes Have It
The most effective means of communication is face-to-face. It's easy to be busy multi-tasking and forget to look our students in the eyes. If we have a positive attitude, look them in the eyes (scanning the room to several children at a time) and let them know we see them, (and we are not looking through them towards the next task at hand) we are much more likely to get them to hear us. Really, who wants to listen to someone who doesn't even look at you? Many teachers are very good at this already. However, in the midst of winter madness we may forget this effective strategy. Please note that I am not talking about the "teacher stare" I remember so well while I was in grade school from my mean 2nd grade teacher. I am talking about smiling, caring and really paying attention to each of the students as we explain the next task.
Your Voice
Imagine the voice of the witch, Ursula, in The Little Mermaid telling you to get out a pencil and paper. Yuck. Who wants to listen to that raspy, bossy and scary voice. Many kids just tune this out over time.
Now, imagine Ariel telling you in a sing-song voice to get out a pencil and paper. Just the way she would sing it makes you want to listen and respond.
Don't get me wrong, sometimes it takes a stern voice to get someone to listen, but most of the time we need to be surrounded by positive energy. Allowing our voices to change pitch and be almost like a song keeps the kids listening for longer periods of time. Yes, I'm sure if we talked like Ursula once or twice they would listen, too. Yet, over time they would learn to tune the Ursula voice out because it's just too negative.
The Importance of Knowing and Saying Each Child's Name
Have you ever had anyone spell or say your name incorrectly repeatedly? After a while you start to get annoyed at the person. Maybe you feel like they don't really care about you, and they just care about what they want from you. Kind of like an old principal I worked with who kept spelling my name with an "e" after two years of me politely correcting her.
Even as a substitute teacher, I made a special effort to get to know each child by name. This always gives the speaker power. Children want to be known and cared for. Forgetting or never saying a child's name with care and compassion is a recipe for disaster. This child will probably learn not to respect the teacher because she can't even remember her name. If you walk into a class as a substitute teacher and in a short amount of time correctly say many of the children's names they will begin to respect you and listen to you more attentively. Of course, this can work in any classroom.
Also, saying a student's full name with dis-content is not only disrespectful, but may even make the student dis-like you and his name. It's important for us to say our students' names with care and respect.
Daily Schedule
A daily schedule is crucial. It was very important for my students to see the schedule on the white board each day. It was actually nice to have them keep schedule with me. It was nice to have it on the white board, because I could easily erase and re-arrange the schedule in a matter of seconds, if necessary. I tried to keep it consistent, but sometimes we had to make adjustments in the middle of the day. If it was written only in my plan book I could have easily forgotten something because I was busy walking around the room. I enjoyed having my students involved in keeping us all on schedule.
Keep It Interesting
Yes, it's true that if we allow the kids to do what they love they will pay more attention. I learned this while doing writers' workshop. My students only wrote books about what they loved.
Finding a way to turn something I find boring around, like division, is a challenge. However, the best teachers know how to find the excitement in the most mundane and boring tasks. For example, if you are working on division and you know the student loves dolphins, try dolphin division.
Doing seasonal activities can be fun and keep it interesting. For seasonal lesson plan ideas and classroom crafts feel free to bookmark the classroom crafting page.
Job Board
How could a teacher survive without a job board? My students kept the room clean. Without a team effort the room would have been a disaster area. I used a bee hive job board. I drew and laminated a Bumble Bear as the Student of the Week. (If you don't want to draw one, you can copy and laminate one inside the front cover of the book.)
Every day the students did their jobs and every week the jobs rotated. I usually had 1-3 students doing each job, depending upon the complexity of it.
Possible Jobs:
- Sharpen pencils in the basket (No pencil sharpening during instruction. Students placed broken pencils in one basket and picked up a sharp one in the other basket.)
- Pass out papers.
- Collect papers.
- Sweep
- Feed fish
- Clean white board
- Organize books in leveled book library. Skim through boxes and make sure all the books are in the right leveled basket.
- Turn off computers.
- Wipe off desks with paper towels. (I sprayed them. I never let the kids near the spray bottle. I had also used shaving cream on the desks for the kids to clean. This works best for each child to do on his own desk.)
- Binders (Make sure all the Writers' Workshop binders are lined up nicely.)
Share Your Ideas
Feel free to share your classroom management strategies in the comments section below. Learning from each other and sharing our ideas saves time and energy.
