BLOGGER TEMPLATES AND TWITTER BACKGROUNDS

Thursday, October 29, 2009

class management

When a new teacher steps into her classroom for the first time, one of the most important things that she needs to do is set the stage for positive behavior management for the entire year. The effectiveness of her behavior management will determine how much her students learn and how easy or difficult she will find her first year of teaching.

Classroom Management Expectations: Display Class Rules

Within the classroom there needs to be a clearly outlined list of rules. Ideally there should be three to five positive statements that show students what is expected of them in the classroom. These rules need to be posted in a place that is easy for students to see and easy for the teacher to refer to throughout the year.

Classroom Discipline and Management: Rules and Expectations

On the first day of class, students need to learn what is expected of them. While they may know in general what the rules will be and how to act in the classroom from previous years, it is vital that a teacher set up clear expectations for how the students are to act in this specific classroom. Different teachers are permissive about different behaviors and students need to not be expected to pick these nuances up without direct instruction.

Many teachers like to introduce the class rules by having students create the rules for the classroom. In this case, teachers already have done the work and as students give ideas and suggestions for the rules, the teacher molds the rules into what she has already decided upon. Even so, this activity gives older students a feeling of ownership over the rules in the classroom.

Introduce Classroom Consequences and Motivation Plan

That first day of school teachers need to explain to students what the consequences of their behavior will be. Some teachers will have a merit system in place where students will be able to earn certain rewards through positive behavior, while other teachers prefer a debit system where students lose privileges for inappropriate behavior. Regardless of the preferred method, the teacher needs to clearly explain the consequences and ensure that students have no questions about what is expected of them.

0 comments: