Creating and Maintaining a Productive Classroom Environment
The way we design our classroom can make our nine months there terrific or
punishing.
Effective Classroom Environment
• Classroom management is about creating a classroom environment
conducive to learning & achievement.
• Students are consistently engaged in useful learning activities
• Students’ behaviors rarely interfere with achieving instructional
objectives
Effective Classroom Environment
• Physical arrangement of room
• Climate in which students have a sense of belonging & intrinsic
motivation to learn
• Reasonable limits for student behavior
• Activities that encourage on-task behavior
• Continuous monitoring of students
• Modification of strategies as necessary
Arranging the Classroom
• Minimize distractions
• Interact easily with any student
• Survey the entire class at any time
Creating an Effective Classroom Environment
• Classroom climate has to do with the psychological environment we
create.
• Communication of acceptance, respect & caring about students
as people.
• Developing a practical, nonthreatening atmosphere
• Appropriate messages about subject matter
• Giving students some control over activities
• A sense of community among students
Personal/ social needs can be met in class
• Need for relatedness comes in 2 forms:
• Need for affiliation
• Need for approval
• Teachers can meet both needs with warmth, attention, recognition for
achievement, interest in students’ activities.
• Effective teachers are warm, caring people who show respect &
acceptance of students.
Businesslike, nonthreatening atmosphere
• Goals need to be clear.
• Students need to be held accountable for their achievement.
• Feedback needs to be tempered with respect for their dignity.
Giving students a sense of control
• Giving advance notices of assignments
• Regular routines
• Some leeway & allowance for students to set deadlines
• Choices about how to complete some assignments or spend class time
Creating a sense of community
• Sense of community is the idea that we share goals, are respectful of
one another, everyone can contribute.
• Competition between groups of students can create community if all
groups have an equal chance of winning & the outcome is determined
by student effort.
• Individual competitions skew students’ attention to performance, not
mastery.
• Competition creates an environment where some people must be
losers, which decreases self-efficacy & intrinsic motivation.
Creating a sense of community
• Students are more productive when they cooperate rather than
compete.
• This also contributes to peer relationships.
• It reduces fear of ridicule, embarrassment.
Creating a sense of community
• Interactive & collaborative teaching strategies- discussion,
cooperative learning
• Ask for student input, ideas & use them
• Assign & rotate helper roles to students
• Ask students to help answer peer questions
• No exclusion policy for activities
• An inclusion policy- look for students to include in activities who may
be isolated
• Teach social skills to those with deficits
• Recognition of those who contribute to class
• Note that all students deserve respect & are important
Setting limits
• Establish a few rules/ procedures in the beginning of the year. Keep
them simple.
• Present rules in an informational way
• Practice procedures
• Review the rules for improvement as needed
• Acknowledge students’ feelings about class requirements
• Establish a few rules/ procedures in the beginning of the year. Keep
them simple.
• Present rules in an informational way
• Practice procedures
• Review the rules for improvement as needed
• Acknowledge students’ feelings about class requirements
Possible class rules
• Bring all needed materials to class.
• Be in your seat, ready to work when the bell rings.
• Respect and be polite to all people.
• Respect other people’s property.
• Obey all school rules.
Presenting rules as information
• “You will get your assignments done more quickly if you get right to
work.”
• Not: “Please be quiet & do your own work.”
• “As we practice for our fire drill, it is important that we line up
quickly & quietly so we can hear the instructions.”
• Not: “When the fire alarm sounds, line up quickly & quietly &
wait for instructions.”
Class meetings
• Take time to review & revise rules & procedures.
• Review the week’s successes & students’ achievements.
• Ask for feedback about various activities.
Keeping students on task
• Be sure students are always busy & engaged
• Choose tasks at an appropriate academic level.
• Provide a reasonable amount of structure for activities & assignments.
• Make special plans for transition times in the day.
Strategies to keep students engaged
• Have specific activities every day
• Have materials organized, set up before class
• Have activities that assure all students’ involvement & participation
• Keep a brisk pace
• Keep student comments on-track & don’t allow some students to
monopolize
• Spend only short bits of time with individuals, unless other students
are working productively
• Have a system for students who finish projects quickly- class journal,
reading a book, drawing, computer program
How much time is actually spent learning?
Strategies to keep tasks at an appropriate level
• Students are more likely to stay on-task when assignments are
appropriate for their ability levels.
• Begin the year with relatively easy tasks to give students high selfefficacy. Give clear structure.
• As students learn procedures, introduce more challenging
assignments.
• Introduce new procedures like cooperative learning, with simpler
material so students master the interaction skills.
Plan for transitions
• Transitions are times ripe for misbehavior.
• Have an introductory assignment for the moment students come into
class.
• Rituals also minimize distractions at different times of day,
transitions.
• These plans can include group reviews, writing assignments, new
assignments.
Monitoring what students are doing
• With-it-ness is teacher alertness to the extent that teachers seem to
have eyes in the back of their heads. They let students know they are
aware of their covert activity.
• Scanning the classroom, making eye contact with students.
• Working with one person while keeping awareness of group behavior.
Modifying strategies
• Consider how you can change to effect changes in classroom
behavior.
• How can I change strategies to capture students’ interest?
• Are materials so difficult that students are frustrated? So easy
they are bored?
• What are the students’ primary motivations?
• How can I link students’ goals with academic goals?
Dealing with Misbehaviors
• Misbehavior is any action that can disrupt classroom learning or
activities.
• Minor- talking out of turn, writing notes to a friend, turning in
assignments late.
• Major – interferes with others’ learning- screaming, hitting,
refusing to participate, threatening the well-being of others.
What can teachers do to respond to misbehaviors?
• Ignoring the behavior
• Cueing the student
• Discussing the problem privately with student
• Promoting self-regulation
• Using behaviorist approaches
• Conferring with parents
When is it best to ignore a behavior?
• When the behavior is rare & not often repeated
• When the behavior is unlikely to spread
• During unusual circumstances- last day
• When the behavior is typical for an age group
• When the behavior’s result is aversive
• When the behavior doesn’t affect learning
When is it best to cue a behavior?
• When a misbehavior is interfering with learning & must be
discouraged
• Do it unobtrusively, with a signal to recall the rule or to note
awareness
• Body language- frowning, eye contact
• Ringing a bell or flicking the light
• Physical proximity to student
Discussing a problem privately with a student
• It should be private:
• In order to call little attention to problem by others
• To reduce embarrassment
• To take as little time away from entire class as possible.
• To discern reasons for misbehavior & generate solutions if they
are legitimate.
• To clarify students’ own maladaptive interpretations – hostile
attributional biases
Minimize the potential for a power struggle
• Listen empathically to the student & accept her feelings & opinions.
• Summarize what you believe the student has told you & get
clarification.
• Describe the effects of the problem behavior, including your own
feelings.
• Give the student some choice in resolution.
Self-regulation
• Self-monitoring- a reality check about severity of the problem
• Self-instructions- reminding themselves of appropriate actions
• Self-evaluation- checklist or other means to evaluate progress &
reinforce themselves rather than teacher being source
• Self-imposed contingencies
Using behaviorist approaches
• You may first have to determine the function or purpose of the
repeated behavior
• Identify reinforcers for the on-task behavior
• Make the reinforcers contingent on performing specific behaviors.
• You could give student so many “passes” at first for the undesirable
behavior, reducing them regularly.
Using behaviorist approaches
• Teacher must be explicit about the response-consequence
contingency.
• Contingency contracts make this clear.
• Consistent follow-through every time.
Conferring with Parents
• When there is a pattern of misbehavior, parents should be alerted.
• This may be informational, so that you know the parent knows the
problem.
• It may require a conference, not just a phone call.
Diversity comes into play
• Create a supportive climate
• Responsive to all students’ needs, structured & dependable
• Define & respond to misbehaviors
• Cooperation on tests must be defined as not appropriate,
tardiness must be addressed
• Accommodate students with special needs
• The more orderly a class is, the better children can adapt &
conform. State the expectation clearly.
Working with Other Teachers
• Communicate & collaborate regularly with one another.
• Hold common goals about what students should learn & be held
responsible for
• Identify obstacles to learning, develop strategies
• Promote equality & multicultural sensitivity
Sense of School Community
• The message that we are working together to help students become
informed, successful, & productive citizens.
• They should help one another as well.
• It results in more positive attitudes toward school, greater motivation,
more prosocial behavior, greater interaction among diverse students.
Collective self-efficacy
• As teachers work together they gain greater self-efficacy, believing
they can have a positive impact on students’ learning.
• Team spirit also offers a support structure for new teachers, especially
as they work with at-risk students.
• Teachers gain greater confidence in themselves & their students.
Working with parents
• The better we can partner with our students’ primary caretakers, the
more we promote learning and achievement.
• Communicating with parents
• The better we know our students, the more effectively we can
motivate & assist them.
• Parent-teacher conferences
• Written communication
• Telephone conferences- when the matter is immediate
• Parent discussion groups
Parent-teacher conference
• Schedule a time that works for the parent.
• Prepare for the conference with notes & examples of student work.
• Create a nonjudgmental atmosphere- Oreo
• Express yourself honestly. Avoid jargon.
• End conference on a positive note- review student strengths, progress
made.
• Follow through on any determinations.
Parental involvement
• Parent involvement relates to student attendance, higher achievement,
more positive attitudes toward school.
• Parents respond to invitations showing their help/ attendance is
desired. Make the invitations personal.
• Parents from some ethnic groups may be shy about attending.
Encouraging reluctant parents
• Lack of involvement does not necessarily mean lack of interest.
• Make an effort to establish trust & comfort.
• Encourage parents to ask questions.
• Invite other important family members.
• Give suggestions of learning activities that could be done at home.
Encouraging reluctant parents
• Ask parents to share their own skills.
• Find people who can translate for those who speak little English.
• Use home visits if necessary.
• Help parents make contacts with resources & services: social services,
literacy classes, home services, etc.
• Reinforce the parents as well as students when students do well in
class.
Discussing Problem Behaviors with Parents
• Teachers are more effective when they set a positive tone. Describe
the good things the child is doing.
• Don’t place blame; acknowledge that parenting is rarely easy. Use
various formats for communicating.
• Show your desire for parental support.
• Ask for information & listen carefully.
• Acknowledge the strengths of the family’s background.
• Agree on a strategy.
• Understand the limits of a parent’s influence.