Classroom Management Strategies,
Tips and Techniques
Dorit Sasson
• What happens when your lesson doesn't succeed?
Here are a few classroom management techniques and
strategies to help you regain that class control.
• As a new teacher, you might find some of your hard
prepared lessons do not go as smoothly as planned.
Classroom management or loose class control is usually
one of the main reasons for why this happens. It is easy
for a new teacher to enter a panic mode when thirty or
so heads aren't exactly listening to you. So what can
you do?
Always consider the classroom seating arrangements
It may just be that your classroom seating
arrangements need rethinking. Social dynamics is a big
factor for rowdy behavior. Look at your seating chart.
Disruptive students who have been sitting next to each
other may now need to be separated. The minute you
neutralize the social dynamics of a classroom seating
arrangement, you might find it easier to teach.
Stop the Lesson
• Your lesson plan is not grounded in stone. While trying to cope with a
difficult classroom situation that seems like hell, stop and take a few
seconds of time out. New teachers often think that stopping the lesson
shows a sign of weak classroom management. For some odd reason, they
think they should be doing all the talking to gain class control. Those few
seconds are like gold offering you other solutions.
• You just need to be more open and give it all a chance. Observe the class.
What is going on? What needed to be changed? Listen to your teacher
intuition. It is often precise and on track. For example, too much
explanation can be sometimes too preachy, and you can teach something
more inductively.
Don't Forget Discipline
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Good teaching is a mix of classroom management strategies and interesting
teaching approaches that motivate students. Again, if you find the class is not
attentive for learning new material, stop and wait. One option is to remind and
perhaps even reteach classroom rules and procedures. Illustrate what happens
when they don't abide to the classroom rules. They should realize that poor
behavior will create a wider gap in terms of your classroom teaching and their
learning. They should understand that the responsibility rests on their shoulders.
Another option is to stop the class and use body language such as eye contact.
Sometimes eye contact is a very effective nonverbal way to regain class control.
When you eye that one disruptive student, she or he will come to realize that he
or she is the reason why you stopped the lesson. This will give the rest of the class
a message of your expectations for a simple classroom procedure. They should be
attentive when you are explaining!
Final Words
• Deep down inside, kids do want to learn and
succeed; they just have a very hard way of
showing it. But by using a variety of classroom
management techniques and strategies,
hopefully you will improve your lessons and
gradually know what works and doesn't work for
your particular classes.
• The Teacher as a Classroom Manager
• How to Use Classroom Management Activities
and Techniques
Dorit Sasson
• When new teachers enforce procedures
consistently, teachers acquire more effective
control of their classrooms.
• An effective classroom organization plan involves
advance planning of a lesson, from beginning to end,
using a variety of procedures. For the teacher, this
means utilizing classroom management techniques all
throughout the lesson in order to maintain a consistent
learning atmosphere. Such techniques involve focusing
on the whole class, rather than on individual students
and their behavior.
• Because teachers are watched by thirty five or more
pairs of eyes at a time, it is crucial that teachers focus
on procedures that enforce his or her role as a
manager.
• To review, procedures are classroom methods for
accomplishing daily routines and other specific
activities that recur frequently in classrooms.
They usually apply to a specific activity, and are
usually directed at accomplishing something. An
effective classroom plan usually has 90%
classroom management and 10% teaching new
material.
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Some examples of classroom procedures are:
admit late students
how to greet and seat students
collecting and reviewing homework
methods of informing the class of the day’s lesson
leaving the class.
Students will constantly test the teacher’s reaction to all
classroom management issues. In this respect, consistency
is the key.
Content Based Procedures – Beginning the Lesson
• Once the teacher has acquired control of the class, she or
he is ready to teach new material. Some useful techniques
include writing the lesson agenda on the board during the
first five minutes of the lesson and discussing them. Others
include doing something that will catch their motivation
right away. Starting the lesson with taking the attendance
roll often has the effect of loosing the students. Once the
students are on-task, more menial routine procedures can
be done quietly, such as checking the roster.
Maintaining On-task behavior
• Students should be prepared for the main task of the
lesson. If they are expected to read a historical
narrative, they should be given enough background
information. If they are to read a text that is not in
their mother tongue, the teacher should pre-teach the
new vocabulary. In short, the main task of a lesson
should follow some prior activity, in order to elicit what
students already know. Brainstorming is a good
classroom management technique because every
student participates on his or her level and every child
is involved.
• The blackboard (or whiteboard) could have all the
components of the lesson, including the times, denoted for
each part of the lesson. When the students have completed
the tasks, the teacher can check them off.
• Teaching is a mixture of “ups” and “downs.” In one lesson,
they can work at a high level and another they go down
and forget all the things a teacher has taught them. But this
shouldn’t cancel the actual classroom organization plan,
which should be based on reviewing and reinforcing
classroom procedures as consistently as possible.
• It is important to avoid repeating the same kind of lessons
within a period of a month. Give the students a feeling of
diversity and excitement.
Final Words
• With time, students should know the basic routines and procedures of a
lesson. They should also know which punishment a teacher normally gives
for such things such as not handing in homework or making noise in class.
At the same time, they should also know what they need to do in order to
receive positive reinforcement.
• Classroom management techniques and activities in conclusion, should
be focused on the whole class rather than on individual students in order
to maintain an ongoing effective and consistent classroom organization
system. Only later, can a teacher shift his or her attention to individual
students and start using the more individual approach. Once a teacher
passes this stage, he or she knows his/her class from inside to outside.
Should individual problems with discipline persist, it is preferable to deal
them in an alternative way.
Strategies for Effective Classroom
Management
The Positive Teacher and Classroom Control
• The teacher is the biggest influence on how well students behave in
a classroom. It's not the quality of the students, the involvement of
the parents, or the administration that make the most impact. It's
the teacher's attitude.
• Students tend to live up to the teacher's expectations. Expect great
things and they rise to the challenge. Expect poor classroom
behavior and again, they will meet that challenge.
• Since the teacher is the number one influence on classroom
control, it's imperative to leave personal problems at the door.
Once in the classroom, having a positive attitude and outlook
makes the students feel secure. They relax in that security and are
more willing to adhere to the classroom routines. When the
teacher is positive, the students are able to be positive and more
successful, too.
Firm Classroom Routines and Procedures
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Building effective classroom discipline becomes almost a non-issue with firm procedures and
routines in place. In a well-run classroom, the routines make it look as if the class runs itself. When
students walk in the door, they know exactly what to do. As they work, they know the proper
procedures for everything that needs to be done, from sharpening pencils, to passing in papers, to
taking a restroom break.
Procedures and routines are two different things. A procedure is how something is done, such as
passing in papers. Plan for an orderly procedure that will prevent students from running around the
room, or bopping each other on the head with stacks of papers. If there is no procedure in place,
these things will happen, guaranteed.
Routines are the order in which things are done. Plan a regular daily schedule beginning with
bellwork. Bellwork is a morning procedure students are expected to do the minute they walk into
the classroom. This serves two purposes. First, students have no reason to loiter in the back with
friends, saunter around the room, or ask, “What should I do?”
Second, it gives the teacher time to deal with the morning influx of papers, notes, and taking
attendance. After bellwork, begin the daily routine. A classroom management strategy for
elementary school is to post the daily routines on the board. A middle school or high school option
is to have each student use a planner.
Having procedures and routines in place for everything reduces the need for classroom
interventions for misbehavior.
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Give Consequences That Make Sense
Make the punishment fit the crime, as the old saying goes.
Positive classroom discipline reflects clear expectations and
fairness. Justice and fairness are of major importance to
adolescents.
Some examples of punishment fitting the crime:
If a student sticks chewing gum on a desk or chair, he must
put on protective gloves and spend a recess period cleaning
gum from school surfaces.
If a student shouts out and interrupts others in class, she
loses the privilege of participating for the rest of the period.
Students appreciate consequences that are simple and
straightforward because they make sense.
The “Are You All Right?” Technique in Classroom
Discipline
• Often students misbehave when they have problems to
deal with. Keeping this in mind, if a student is
disruptive, it can help to take the student aside and
privately ask if everything is all right. Let him know his
behavior is surprising and out of character and is
causing concern. If a teacher lets a student know she
cares, it often resolves the behavior issue. If there is a
problem, the student now knows there is someone to
talk to about it.
Praise Openly, Discipline Privately
• Everyone loves to get recognition for things done well. When things go
smoothly in the classroom, praise the class. If an individual does
something that shows good behavior, praise the student. When the praise
is scattered around the room evenly, no one will feel the teacher has a
pet.
• No one likes to be disciplined in front of others. As much as possible, take
the positive discipline conversations to a private level. Be clear about
expectations and avoid nagging. Even if a student becomes agitated and
yells, (and this does happen,) the teacher must still remain calm. Yelling at
the student only escalates the problem. Students appreciate teachers that
stay calm and in control.
• Effective classroom management begins with a positive teacher, firm
procedures and routines, and techniques that show respect to the
students. With these in place there will be very few behavior problems.
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Foundations for Positive Classroom Behavior
by Pearson Education Development Group
• Think About Your Approach
Take some time to think about the strategies you plan to use to
encourage positive classroom behavior. Clarifying your strategies
will make it easier for you to lead the class confidently and
effectively.
Visualize Possible Challenges
Imagine possible classroom challenges and review your strategies
for dealing with them. Having clear-cut strategies will help keep you
grounded when these challenges do arise.
• Make Your Expectations Clear from the Beginning
Make sure that students know what you expect of them. The
classroom rules you present should be positive, specific and
concise. You may wish to post them in the classroom or distribute
them for students to sign. You should also spell out what will
happen if students do not meet expectations.
• Model Positive Behavior
Occasionally, you may have to remind yourself to follow your own
rules. For example, if you ask students not to drink beverages in
class, refrain from keeping a cup of coffee on your desk, even if you
do not drink it during class.
Encourage, Encourage, Encourage
When you praise students who are excelling, don't forget to
encourage those who are trying, but struggling. These students
often lack confidence and need more positive reinforcement.
• Show Respect
Showing respect for your students includes listening to their needs
and preserving their dignity. It also means living up to their
expectations of you, such as greeting them at the beginning of class
or returning corrected homework in a timely fashion.
• Be Consistent
Be sure to address student behavior in a consistent manner. Be
wary of shifting strategies when misbehavior occurs. To students,
this may show a lack of decisiveness. Find a strategy you like and
stick with it.
• Keep Students Busy and Challenged
Busy students are far less likely to exhibit disruptive behavior. Be
sure that students are working at appropriate levels; boredom and
frustration often lead to students' acting out.
• Listen to Students' Suggestions
When building your foundation, you may be able to draw from
students' and other teachers' past classroom experiences. Ask
students to make suggestions about what should be expected of
them and how misbehavior should be addressed. Students are
often more responsive to rules they helped create.
THANK YOU