Romanova
E.S.
(Karaganda
State University)
CLASSROOM
MANAGEMENT
Classroom
management is the process by which teachers and schools create and maintain
appropriate behavior of students in classroom settings. The purpose of
implementing classroom management strategies is to enhance prosocial behavior
and increase student academic engagement (Emmer & Sabornie, 2015; Everston
& Weinstein, 2006). Effective classroom management principles work across
almost all subject areas and grade levels (Brophy, 2006; Lewis, et al., 2006).
When using a tiered model in which school-wide support is provided at the
universal level, classroom behavior management programs have shown to be
effective for 80-85 percent of all students. More intensive programs may be
needed for some students.
Effective
classroom management:
·
Establishes
and sustains an orderly environment in the classroom;
·
Increases
meaningful academic learning and facilitates social and emotional growth;
·
Decreases
negative behaviors and increases time spent academically engaged.
Although
effective classroom management produces a variety of positive outcomes for
students, according to a 2006 survey of pre-K through grade 12 teachers
conducted by APA, teachers report a lack of support in implementing classroom
management strategies. Chaotic classroom environments are a large issue for
teachers and can contribute to high teacher stress and burnout rates.
Therefore, it is important to use effective classroom management strategies at
the universal level in a tiered model, as they serve as both prevention and
intervention methods that promote positive outcomes for students.
Today,
we know more about teaching than we ever have before. Research has shown us
that teachers' actions in their classrooms have twice the impact on student
achievement as do school policies regarding curriculum, assessment, staff
collegiality, and community involvement (Marzano, 2003). We also know that one
of the classroom teacher's most important jobs is managing the classroom
effectively.
Research
not only supports the importance of classroom management, but it also sheds
light on the dynamics of classroom management. Stage and Quiroz's meta-analysis
(1997) shows the importance of there being a balance between teacher actions
that provide clear consequences for unacceptable behavior and teacher actions that
recognize and reward acceptable behavior. Other researchers (Emmer, Evertson,
& Worsham, 2003; Evertson, Emmer, & Worsham, 2003) have identified
important components of classroom management, including beginning the school
year with a positive emphasis on management; arranging the room in a way
conducive to effective management; and identifying and implementing rules and
operating procedures.
What
are the characteristics of effective teacher-student relationships? Let's first
consider what they are not. Effective teacher-student relationships have
nothing to do with the teacher's personality or even with whether the students
view the teacher as a friend. Rather, the most effective teacher-student
relationships are characterized by specific teacher behaviors: exhibiting
appropriate levels of dominance; exhibiting appropriate levels of cooperation;
and being aware of high-needs students.
Student
behaviors like shouting out, not paying attention, task avoidance, disrespect,
refusal, and engaging in power struggles take your focus away from teaching and
students’ focus away from learning. In order to create and maintain a
productive classroom setting and bring the focus back to teaching and learning,
use these classroom management strategies to decrease disruption and increase
compliance.
Effective
teachers are passionate about educating their students. They want to spend
their time teaching, not dealing with classroom disruptions.
Here
are some classroom management tips to help teachers settle problems, or prevent
them from occurring, so that they can spend more of the classroom hour on
teaching and learning.
1.
Take Charge of Your Class
Get
everyone’s attention before beginning class. That means the lesson won’t be
started, the lecture won’t begin, and nothing will be written on the overhead
until everyone is in his or her seat paying attention. It doesn’t take a shout
of “Let’s be quiet” or “I won’t start until everyone is ready” to get them to
focus on you. It can be just as effective to walk to the front of the room and
engage them with something interesting to them such as “My thermometer said it
was zero this morning. It must have been freezing out there waiting for the
bus” or “How many of you saw the Hunger Games?” Open with couple attention
getting comments and continue until everyone is with you. Remember, don’t start
teaching until all eyes are on you and everyone is in their seat.
2. Focus
on the Disruptive Students
If
students aren’t paying attention or busy doing other things, get them focused
by using nonverbal signals of disapproval. If they are talking, pause and look
toward them. If in front of the class, continue with the lesson but walk toward
the problem students and stop near their seats, while still teaching. Having
you so near usually shuts off the unwanted activity as the rest of the class’s
attention is directed toward the misbehaving students. If there is a discussion
going, direct a question to the student who is not paying attention or
misbehaving. For example, say “Kevin, would you agree that the Battle of New
Orleans was the turning point of the War of 1812?” Hearing his name will snap
Kevin back to the class activity having the same effect without embarrassing
him as if you had said, “Kevin, pay attention!” Remember to use his name when
you begin to speak, otherwise he may not hear the question. Calling on a person
by name brings almost anyone out of his or her reverie.
If
non-verbal cues are disregarded, the next step will be imposing discipline
measures within the classroom such as having them stay a few minutes after
class or changing their seat.
3. Let
Students Choose Their Seats
At
the beginning of the school year, let students sit where they want for a few
days. Then about the third day tell them that the next class period they should
find a seat that they will keep permanently all year. When students choose
their seats, they have “ownership” in those seats and tend to behave well in
order to avoid being moved.
4.
Give Incentives to Do Their Best on Assignments
If
an assignment will not be collected and graded individually, students may feel
they have no reason to make an effort to do a good job on the no-credit
assignment. For instance, a teacher will often do an ungraded warm-up exercise
to begin the class hour.
Here’s
a strategy to elicit better performance on an ungraded assignment: Tell
students you will randomly collect one person’s warm-up assignment and correct
it. If that paper has no mistakes, then the whole class will have a shorter (or
no) warm-up the next day. If a randomly selected paper is perfect, that student
instantly is the class hero.
If
the student has not made a real effort, then that student will be given a short
homework assignment, due the next day. He or she will be penalized if it is not
done. (This homework cannot be done during class time.) In most cases, students
will work for peer approval by doing the assignment.
Another
strategy to motivate students to stay on task would be to have students who
have not stayed on task remain after class for a minute. If there is no penalty
for not working, they have no reason to work.
5.
Keep an Eye on Your Students
Class
goes so much better when you can see your students. Turn your back on them and
you may get surprised. Position your so that most, if not all of the class is
visible. Watch out for shelves, computer equipment or class supplies that can
block your view. When teaching, try to be facing students as much as possible.
As you
work with a student at his or her desk, place yourself so you can see most of
the class. As you move around the classroom, don’t follow the same pattern. By
varying your routine, it becomes harder for students to be disruptive if they
don’t know where you will be.
6.
Establish Consequences for Misbehaving
Good
classroom management starts the first day of school. Once students learn there
will be consequences for misbehavior, they usually come around.
Here
are three steps to help you set up consequences:
Determine
what consequences will be effective with your students. Ask yourself what
students don’t want to have happen—for example, adolescent students hate
staying after class, being moved from a seat they’ve chosen, or receive the
disapproval of their peers. Make those your consequences. (The reverse is also
true,” Find out what students want to have happen and make that a possibility.”
Classroom management doesn’t have to be negative.)
Tell
students that there will be consequences for misbehavior. First, you will put
their name on the board. Tell them that how long they stay after class depends
on how the rest of the hour goes. They now control their own destiny. If they
behave, they will stay perhaps only a minute. If they continue to cause
problems, they will stay longer. Tell them if they become a “model citizen,”
you might even erase their name.
Follow
through with consequences for misbehavior. Show students that you are serious
and they will take you seriously.
Classroom
management, especially with elementary and junior high age students, never
ends. It is an ongoing process, but once the foundation is laid, it only takes
occasional reminders.
References:
1.
Janet
R. Moyles Organizang for Learners in the Primary Classroom; A balanced approach
to classroom management / Open University Press Buckingham, Philadelpia / Published
in 1992
2.
Rob
Barnes The Practical Guide to Primary Classroom Management / Paul Chapman
Publishing / Published in 2006
3.
Ronald
L. Partin The Classroom Teacher’s Survival Guide / Foreword by Stephen G.
Barkley Third Edition / Published in 2009
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