CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Classroom management is a term teachers use to describe the process of ensuring that
classroom lessons run smoothly without disruptive behavior from students compromising the
delivery of instruction. The term also implies the prevention of disruptive behavior preemptively,
as well as effectively responding to it after it happens.
It is a difficult aspect of teaching for many teachers. Problems in this area causes some to leave
teaching. In 1981 the US National Educational Association reported that 36% of teachers said they
would probably not go into teaching if they had to decide again. A major reason was negative
student attitudes and discipline.
Classroom management is crucial in classrooms because it supports the proper execution of
curriculum development, developing best teaching practices, and putting them into action.
Classroom management can be explained as the actions and directions that teachers use to create
a successful learning environment; indeed, having a positive impact on students achieving given
learning requirements and goals (Soheili, Alizadeh, Murphy, Bajestani, Ferguson and Dreikurs).
In an effort to ensure all students receive the best education it would seem beneficial for educator
programs to spend more time and effort in ensuring educators and instructors are well versed in
classroom management.
Teachers do not focus on learning classroom management, because higher education programs do
not put an emphasis on the teacher attaining classroom management; indeed, the focus is on
creating a conducive learning atmosphere for the student (Eisenman, Edwards, and Cushman).
These tools enable teachers to have the resources available to properly and successfully educate
upcoming generations, and ensure future successes as a nation. According to Moskowitz &
Hayman (1976), once a teacher loses control of their classroom, it becomes increasingly more
difficult for them to regain that control.
Also, research from Berliner (1988) and Brophy & Good (1986) shows that the time a teacher must
take to correct misbehavior caused by poor classroom management skills results in a lower rate of
academic engagement in the classroom.From the student's perspective, effective classroom
management involves clear communication of behavioral and academic expectations as well as a
cooperative learning environment.
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
How can you avoid making that technique your own and create a "climate for learning"? This
week, Education World looks to the experts -- teachers who've "been there, done that" and found
a better way -- for answers.
Howard Miller, Associate Professor of Education at Lincoln University (Jefferson City, Missouri)
suggests 12 steps teachers can take at the beginning of the year to promote effective classroom
management.
1. Develop a set of written expectation you can live with and enforce.
2. Be consistent. Be consistent. Be consistent.
 3. Be patient with yourself and with your students.
4. Make parents your allies. Call early and often. Use the word "concerned." When
communicating a concern, be specific and descriptive.
5. Don't talk too much. Use the first 15 minutes of class for lectures or presentations, then
get the kids working.
6. Break the class period into two or three different activities. Be sure each activity segues
smoothly into the next.
7. Begin at the very beginning of each class period and end at the very end.
8. Don't roll call. Take the roll with your seating chart while students are working.
9. Keep all students actively involved. For example, while a student does a presentation,
involve the other students in evaluating it.
10. Discipline individual students quietly and privately. Never engage in a disciplinary
conversation across the room.
11. Keep your sense of perspective and your sense of humor.
12. Know when to ask for help.

TIPS FOR BETTER CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

1. LOVE YOUR STUDENTS

Love them -- and stand firmly against behavior that doesn't meet your expectations or
reflect their inner greatness. Too many students have internalized a profound sense of
their own inadequacy, and it is incumbent upon us to remind them of their infinite value
and counteract the many messages that they receive to the contrary. By loving our
students unconditionally, we remind them of their true worth.

Our students know how we feel about them. Ifc we don't like them -- or if we see them
as a behavior problem -- they know it. Even if we don't say it, they will know it. And
then that student is justified in resenting us, for we have failed to see the beauty that
exists within that child. Maya Angelou said, "I've learned that people will forget what
you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made
them feel."

2. ASSUME THE BEST IN YOUR STUDENTS

If a student chose not to meet one of my classroom expectations, they needed to know
that I loved them but not their misbehavior. They needed to know that I cared for them
and would not accept their poor choice because it would ultimately hurt them and didn't
reflect how wonderful they truly are.

For instance, a minute and a half into the first day, I gave one student a verbal warning
for whispering to another student as he was searching for his seat. Assuming the best in
this young man, I told him, “I know you were probably talking about your seat, but you
can't even talk about that, so that's your verbal warning. Go back to your seat and
silently start your work." By assuming that he was trying to do the right thing -- find
his assigned seat -- I affirmed that he wanted to meet the expectations. And yet I was
firm with him that his choice to whisper after he had been told to silently begin his work
was not OK. Similarly, at the end of class, I kept behind a student who was sighing to
herself over the course of the period. By letting her know that I wouldn’t accept her
subtle expressions of boredom or frustration, I also let her know that I thought she was
great and her expressions of negativity wouldn't fly because they'd hurt our collective
learning environment -- and because they didn’t square with the wonderful person I
knew her to be.

3. PRAISE WHAT AND WHEN YOU CAN

Call attention to the things your students are doing that meet your expectations. The
power of this is stunning for a number of reasons. Here are two:

 It enables you to restate and reinforce the expectations for student behavior in
a non-negative way. By narrating on-task behavior, you enable students who
may have misheard you the first time to hear exactly what you expect of them.
It's easier for students to meet your expectations when it's amply clear what
those expectations are.

 It shows your students that you're with it, that you're very aware of what's
happening in the classroom. When they see and hear that you see and hear
pretty much everything, they know that you mean business and that even their
smallest actions matter.
4. DO SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF
In those first few minutes, hours and days in the classroom, you are essentially creating
a world. And you want a world in which students do things that will keep them or put
them on a path to a life replete with meaningful opportunities. Behaviors or actions that
will detract from that world should be nipped in the bud. If you only "sweat" major
misbehaviors, students will get the sense that minor misbehaviors are OK. If, on the
other hand, you lovingly confront even the smallest misbehaviors, then it will be clear
to students that, inside the four walls of your classroom, things that detract from what
you're trying to achieve – even in small ways – just don’t fly.

5. IDENTIFY YOURSELF
Tell your students about who you are and why you're there. A classroom where each
student deeply trusts the teacher has the potential to be a great environment for learning.
To build that trust, tell your students who you are and why you chose to be a teacher.
Tell them about your background, what you did when you were their age, and why you
want to be their teacher. The more your students know about you and your intentions,
the more they'll trust you to lead them.

6. FORGE A CLASS IDENTITY

Begin the year by forging a positive, collective identity as a class. During the first few
days, I often complimented my classes as a collective. For instance, I'd say something
like, "Period 3, everyone I’m looking at is meeting expectations." In many instances, I
praised the entire class so that they began to feel they were part of something special in
that room. They began feeling a sense of pride at being members of Period 3.

Conversely, I often chose to redirect individual students rather than the whole class.
Instead of saying, “Period 3, I'm tired of hearing you talking when you shouldn’t be" -
- which would introduce an oppositional tone, creating a divide between teacher and
students -- I found more success correcting students individually.
7. HAVE A PLAN
Your lesson plans need to be crystal clear. You need to begin each day with clarity
about what students should know and be able to do by the end of the class period, and
every second of your day should be purposefully moving you toward that end.

In addition to clarity about student knowledge and achievement, you should have a clear
sense of the behavior you expect at each point in the class period. When you see them
making the choice to behave as you expect them to, narrate it. And when you don't see
it, confront those misbehaviors clearly, directly and with love.