Classroom management starts months before you or your students step into the classroom. Experienced teachers end each year troubleshooting their classroom management strategies from the previous school year. While not a comprehensive guide, here are seven tips that can make classroom management a little less challenging and help you fulfill your goal of keeping all students safe, engaged, learning and on task. Here are some tips to remember on how the experienced teacher manages the classroom. First tip is to establish relationships. As a teacher, your relationship with a student starts the moment you meet them. No matter how difficult a student may be, you need to embrace the challenge of getting to know him or her. Every child deserves love. Life has enough hard knocks in store for a child who struggles socially, and you may be one of the few people that child believes cares about him or her. This could make a difference in his or her life choices, or at least in his or her decision not to disrupt your class. Second tip is to create a positive learning climate. One of the most important things you can do to proactively manage your class is to establish a climate that encourages learning. Teachers need to be aware of students’ intellectual, emotional, physical and social needs and establish rules and procedures to meet them. Students should be recognized as individuals, each of whom has something to offer. Encourage helpful hands is the next tip. Letting students take part in the classroom helps them feel invested—and it can be a help to you as well! Some experienced teachers use task cards on which students’ names rotate weekly. Strategies such as this provide fair ways to distribute classroom jobs. It can also be helpful to post a sign that tells how to do a job. For instance, if you assign students to straighten and clean a bookshelf, you might place a list of steps to follow on the bookshelf. Teach a needed skill is another tip. You should teach students the skills needed for success in your classroom. Often, teachers think about teaching content, without realizing how important it is to teach other skills, such as social skills, thinking skills, study skills, test-taking skills, problem-solving skills, memory skills and self-regulation. Another important tip is to set up structure and procedures. Structure and procedures are vital parts of classroom management. Every part of the day needs to be thought through and brought into alignment with what works best for your teaching style, your students’ personalities, the age group and any special challenges that could cause a distraction. Organize the lesson is also significant tip. A lesson that engages all students, moves forward smoothly and allows the teacher to talk to every child can only be accomplished through preparation. You need to design your lesson with classroom management in mind. And last but not certainly the least is to use effective discipline. Classroom management can help you avoid most discipline problems. At the beginning of the school year, be sure to explain and post your discipline plan, establishing that no one will be put down, bullied or made fun of in class because it is a “safe zone” where everyone, including the teacher, is allowed to make mistakes and learn from them.
By: Priscila Concepcion | Master Teacher I | MNHS – Poblacion | Mariveles, Bataan
