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You are trying your hardest to get the students to just pay attention for a few minutes, but of course, no such luck. Sound familiar? Well, the good news is that you are not alone, many teachers go through the same problem day in and day out and sometimes, it can be really frustrating.
But it doesn’t have to be like this.
There are effective classroom management strategies that you can implement to ensure that your students learn what they should and have fun at the same time without making it sound like a human stampede is going on. Here are a few easy and practical classroom management strategies that will help you.
You know, when they said lead by example, they weren’t really being light about it. One of the most effective strategies that you could implement would be to model the behaviour that you would like to see in your students. There are many studies that stand testament to the fact that this approach can actually help your students imitate that behaviour. How can you do this?
Instead of you dictating the rules that you would like the students to follow, involve them in the process. Substitute the words “You must do this” with “Let’s all do this from now on, is that alright?” While to a seasoned teacher this may seem like you are asking permission from the students you are actually using positive psychology to help them fall in line with the classroom rules.
Now that you and your students have agreed to the classroom rules and guidelines, put them on paper and keep it in the class where all of them can see it. It is actually very similar to handing out the curriculum. Usually when the curriculum has been given students will abide by it, the same rule goes for the guidelines too. You can also include it in their student handbook if you want to and what’s more? When they break a rule, you can simply point out to the document.
If you are having any kind of issue with a student, address this separately. Avoid punishing them in front of the entire classroom. Otherwise, it could damage the trust and relationship that you have with your students. For example don’t say “stop interrupting others” instead say “Have you got a question?”
Your lessons variety, nurture a mindset that allows your students to take initiative. If there are natural leaders in the class recognise them and ask them to take up leadership tasks. If there are students who are struggling give them a bit more attention and convince them that they can.
Inspire your class and offer reward and praise to the students when they do good work. This will also help build the self-esteem of students. Reinforce in them the values that you would like to see and don’t shy away from giving them extra praise when they have earned it. Everybody likes to be appreciated.
Another effective classroom management strategy is to use non-verbal communication in the class. Complement your words with actions and something visual like images for example, to help students focus better and pay more attention to the lessons. If you have a young class you can incorporate fun activities like painting, counting items and the likes into your lessons, for an older class you can always make use of multimedia and the likes.
While you may have to get permission from the management of the school for this, it is definitely an effective classroom management strategy. Because you are new teacher, it will also help you break the ice with your students by indulging in some fun with them. It doesn’t have to be anything big. When they have had a good day and all the students have done well, throw a small party for maybe 15 minutes. Tell them that you are celebrating because the entire class did well and encourage them to keep doing good work.
Not all rewards should come in the form of praise alone. Sometimes kids expect tangible rewards as well. Simply choose a day when the class has done well and give them something small like maybe raffle tickets. If a few students have done well, give them the rewards so that others will be motivated to do their best too.
If you want to make behavioural changes in your students, just the classroom alone won’t do. Tell the parents that you will be expecting their assistance too. For example, if a student has performed well, surprise them by calling or writing a letter to their parents about the good work and ensure that the parents also praise the child when he or she gets home. They will come back to class more eager to learn.
As soon as you go into the class, don’t pick out the most boring part of the lesson. If you know that it is boring, chances are that the students will also get bored. Instead, pick out the most interesting parts and gradually mix in the boring elements with them so that students do not lose interest in the lesson at hand. Ill also help you curb misbehavior.
Children love to feel like they are grown-ups. This is why group contracts will work well. Divide the classroom into small groups and give each group a contract. Let them decide what happens when they violate the terms and get them all to sign. This can include clauses for behaviour in class, homework and the likes.
Assigns open ended projects to the students and encourage them to tackle them and overcome challenges;
One of the best strategies for classroom management would be to encourage your students to ask you questions. Not only will this help their cognitive development, they will also feel welcome in class and will enjoy learning. Did you think our blog was helpful? Give us your feedback. You can also contact us on [email protected]