“Classroom management” is a phrase that makes many aspiring educators cringe. We all know it’s one of the greater challenges of the teaching profession, so what are a few strategies for creating a respectful and organized learning environment?
Bring it in
Getting a noisy classroom to quiet down is a real skill, but it can be done very well. My sponsor teacher has two strategies to command the attention of the room.
- He counts down from five slowly, and when he reaches one all students should be silent and have their attention focused on him.
- He calls out: “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” to which the students respond immediately in unison, “Spongebob Squarepants!”
Not only does this always make them smile, it is a friendly and engaging technique.
Move, move, move
When I asked my mentor teacher how I could improve as a student teacher, he mentioned one thing: “Move around the classroom more.”
He went on to explain how powerful it can be to simply keep moving. “They get used to you being in one space. When students are being noisy while you are teaching, simply walk to stand next to them. Your presence alone is usually enough to quiet them down,” he said.
Materials have a home
When students know where to find materials, they don’t need to ask the teacher every time they need something.
In my sponsor teacher’s classroom, students have no problem taking their own initiative to get their materials. There are folders tacked to the wall where students can get spare copies of worksheets. Extra pencils and pens can be found in a cup at the front of the room. Students who are restless know where to find fidget stools. Noise cancelling headphones for individual work times are found in a designated cupboard above the sink. Because students know where to find everything, a lot of wasted time and interruptions are avoided.
Caring makes a difference
One of the greatest pieces of advice I received from an educator is: Do not see your students has defined by their behaviour. Remember that every action has a reason behind it.
Although it is easy to categorize students as “good” and “bad” because they behave a certain way, we need to see students for who they truly are: which is so much more than their behaviour. Often times, inappropriate actions have a plethora of possible reasons behind them, such as frustration, boredom, or insecurity (to name a few).
Although there are many other ways to manage a classroom well, these are the few I have observed and reflected on in the past few weeks.
What are some of your favourite classroom management strategies?
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Sarah, I love how you structured your post, it made it easy to read which is a great instructional tool. Way to go! The one thing that really stood out to me was how much time is saved by having students get their own materials/know where they are. My practicum classroom has a similar organizational method and I have noticed how the students have a sense of pride when they know where materials are and I don’t. In elementary school a lot of time is spent on transitions between activities which includes taking the time to get the correct materials out and ready to use. Having things labeled or colour coded really speeds up the process so there is more time for the students to actually work on what they are supposed to be doing. This is something that I am going to be intentional about in my future classroom and having examples of how it works in the real world is super helpful.
Hi Sarah,
I enjoyed your blog. I especially like the Sponge Bob call and response! I feel like the clapping call and response method to get student attention sometime gets a bit old, so this has got me thinking about alternatives. With the countdown method, does the teacher set any consequences if this fails? The “move” method is very effective and your reminder has got me thinking about how some students are not engaged in my band classes. The teacher tends to conduct from the front of the class on a podium. I think being more mobile while conducting the rehearsal might make students more aware that I can hear if they are playing their instruments or if they are just goofing off or staring into space!!!
Empathy for students with bad behavior is important. I think retaining that empathy is heavily reliant on enthusiasm for teaching and if teacher burnout is occurring this could greatly impact how you feel about “bad” students. Have any of your mentors given advice on avoiding burnout?
Lee
Lee, thanks for your comment and thoughts!
Surprisingly, the countdown method hasn’t failed us yet! My mentor teacher is very good at taking pauses if students are being disruptive and talking when he is giving instructions. Even though the silence feels like ages, the students eventually realize what they are doing and go quiet! It IS their own learning time they are wasting.
As for advice on burnout… I haven’t actually had the chance to talk to my mentor teacher about that yet. I know that Nina Lui gave our EDUC 321 class some advice about teacher self-care from her own experiences, which I found meaningful. I agree that this is an important thing to keep in mind as educators.
This is a memorable post. I appreciate the structure and the way you organized the information. It’s true, appropriate proximity leads to better focus, engagement and formative assessment!
Sarah,
This is a wonderful post! I really appreciate how you organized and categorized different elements of the classroom and then expanded on them. It’s also cool to hear that you’re having beneficial interactions with your mentor teacher and learning from him! Moving around the classroom definitely makes a big difference, and I’ll have to remember to incorporate that more, too. What is the dynamic between the two of you regarding responsibility for managing the classroom? I find in my classrooms there can be an awkward boundary where sometimes the classroom could be managed more effectively, but I haven’t been given permission to help students engage better.
Sara, I appreciate how much thought you put into your blog post. You provided not just one example but multiple examples of how a teacher can create a respectful and organized learning environment. I found this to be helpful because not every strategy will prove to be effective in a group of students. In my experience, the teacher standing next to a talkative student did not quiet him down, but for some reason the count down proved to be the most effective. In other cases, I noted that the count down didn’t work on the class as a whole, but when my mentor teacher raised her voice the classroom went silent. This is why I observed it is important to have more than one strategy for classroom management. Have you noticed some of your mentor teacher’s strategies not working effectively?
Lastly, I love your greatest piece of advice which was, “Do not see your students as defined by their behaviour.” I have frequently heard this statement in my education classes and agree fully with it, however, I do see how this can happen. We too often are distracted by the frustrating behaviour and label a child, not understanding where they are coming from. Thank you so much for your insights and observations, they were very helpful.