Module 3: Classroom Management and Organization

Article: Eleven Organisational Skills that Every Smart Leader Needs

§ Organisational skills as a leader are important as they prevent chaos and high
levels of stress.

§ Eleven effective organisational skills are:

o Time Management – it is the leader’s responsibility to have a firm

understanding of what is to be organised so as to ensure that time
management is optimal. Poor time management is often times the cause of
many organisational issues. Leaders should be aware of tasks to be
completed, deadlines and the time it requires to get tasks done.

o The ability to Plan – poor planning leads to disorganisation and adds undue
pressure on the leader. Smart leaders are aware of the plans of others and
how those plans fit into their own approach if they are to make a difference.
A complete absence of planning will only ever lead to problems.

o Scheduling – having a schedule and adhering to it helps leaders to organise

their lives. Scheduling helps in balancing several projects and activities and
it proves to others that you are aware of what they are doing. Scheduling
time blocks is also a great technique to help you get organised.

o Resources Organisation – organisation allows for you to maximise the use

and management of available resources.

o Delegation – delegation allows for the smooth running of a project though

not all leaders have mastered this art. Delegation of tasks prevents the
feeling of being overwhelmed as a leader. In order to effectively delegate,
you must be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your team members.

o Priorities management – creating and using a ‘to-do’ list helps you to work
towards established deadlines. This also helps in determining which tasks
are most important. Disorganised individuals tend to cope in a haphazard
way and deal with things as they arise.

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 o Cooperation Skills – an organised leader is able to facilitate correct
collaboration, allowing for individuals to work on tasks based on their
skillsets. It is more than delegation. Before the need arises, leaders must
know with whom they will collaborate.

o Setting Targets and Goals – an organised individual will find it easier to set
goals and targets and then achieve them. Similarly, a smart leader is able to
show others that they too can set goals and targets and attain them.
Notably, it is imperative to first identify the target or goal.

o Maintaining Efficiency – organisation and efficiency go hand in hand.

Efficient planning often results in few problems. To master this skill you
must breakdown each major task, understanding the progression and the
responsible person for each part. Efficiency is a skill that develops over
time.

o Clear Communication –strong leaders need to communicate clearly at all

times. Organisational skills help you to communicate exactly what you
need. To have good communication, you have to be confident in your own
abilities as a leader.

o Self-care – in order to master the abovementioned skills, you must first be

able to be organised in your own life. A healthy balance in your life includes
eating and sleeping well, as well as general good health.

Article: The Importance of Organisation for Teachers

§ The key to success in the teaching profession is an educator’s ability to organise

him/herself, his/her classroom and his/her students.

§ Before implementing an organisational system, teachers should have a clear

outcome in mind of what this system will achieve.

§ Here are some concepts that can help:

o Punctuality means students are ready to learn

o Students learn important life habits

o Good ‘housekeeping’ keeps the focus on learning

o Good organisation leads to fewer discipline problems

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Article: Organisational Skills: Recommendations for Teachers of Students with
Organisational Problems

§ A strong classroom management system helps all students develops positive

classroom behaviour, study habits, and organisational skills.

§ Design classroom rules that encourage organisation.

§ Develop a routine for organisation of school materials.

§ Have charts or posters that explain directions for using specific materials in the
classroom.

§ Model being organised and prepared for different activities.

§ Help students to get into the habit of making reminders of what they need to do.

§ In addition to verbal checklists, verbally remind students of the materials needed

for specific activities.

§ Encourage self-monitoring.

§ Provide materials to assist with organisation.

§ Allow time at the start of each day and during transition periods during the day.

§ Provide transitional clues so as to prepare students mentally.

§ Reinforce the child when he/she is organised.

§ Encourage students to ask questions when they are uncertain about something.

§ Engage the student in conversations about your expectations as it concerns his/her

organisational skills and how they can be improved.

§ Pair students with less developed organisational skills with students who are more
proficient.

§ Break down assignments into mini-assignments.

§ Clearly describe the sequences of actions required by the student for each activity.

§ Permit natural consequences to occur when student does not organise his/her
materials or time appropriately.

§ Picture prompts may also be effective to establish a ‘look then do’ sequence.

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Article: Priority Management: Put First Things First

§ There are many methods of time and priority management.

§ Actions can be prioritised based on four possibilities:

o Important/Urgent – These tasks and responsibilities need to be done

immediately and personally.

o Important/Not urgent – these are tasks and activities that have been
planned. They, too, require personal action.

o Unimportant/Urgent – These are tasks and activities that are easy to

delegate.

o Unimportant/Not urgent – These are time wasters and represent trivialities.

§ It is essential to be able to distinguish what is not only urgent but also truly
important.

§ Every plan should start with two questions:

o What do you hope to achieve?

o How do you hope to achieve it?

§ It is crucial to determine what the priorities are and what’s the essential to
accomplish in any given day.

§ It is imperative to weigh priorities regularly and put first things first.

Article: Organisation in the Classroom

§ Classroom organisation goes beyond putting things into place and maintaining a
physically organised space. It involves effective class management, creating
positive learning environment and the physical set-up of the room.

§ Effective class management is vital to having a classroom run smoothly. This

includes establishing rules and routines, addressing potential disciplinary actions,
developing relationships with and among students and administering engaging
education (Garrett, 2013).

§ In creating a positive learning environment, educators have to present themselves

in a way that shows that they not only care about what they are teaching, but that
they care about who they are teaching.

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 § One way of creating a positive learning environment is to encourage student
engagement.

§ The physical appearance of a classroom is important, as it is the first thing students

notice when they walk in.

Article: Classroom Organisation: The Physical Environment

§ Warm, well-run classrooms begin with the room’s physical layout.

§ Creating a caring, child-centred environment takes lots of thought and planning.

§ Classroom layouts should reflect the nature of the activities in which students will
be engaged. For example, clusters will facilitate collaboration; U-shaped desk
configuration will facilitate frequent whole group discussions; learning stations
will facilitate individualised, self-pace curriculum.

§ Personal teaching style and specific educational needs should largely determine
how you design your classroom space.

§ Easily accessible materials and supplies can eliminate delays, disruptions and
confusion as students prepare for activities.

§ Environmental factors such as temperature, lighting and noise levels are directly
related to students’ learning styles.

§ Below are tips to address environmental preferences in the classroom.

o Create both well-lit and dimly-lit areas in the classroom.

o Provide opportunities for children to move around.

o Establish informal furniture arrangements.

o Establish listening stations and quiet study areas.

o Help students become aware of their own temperature preferences.

Article: The Key to Effective Classroom Management

§ Making meaningful connections with students is one of the most effective ways to
prevent disruptions in the classroom.
§ Relationship-building may be broken down into three phases:
o the first meeting,
o maintenance throughout the school year, and

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 o points when a relationship may suffer damage.
§ These strategies are useful for starting the year on a positive note:
o Schedule meetings with students to get to know them better.
o Encourage student-led activities.
o Welcome students into the classroom.
o Use positive communication techniques.
§ The following strategies may be used to maintain relationships:
o Take note of positive and negative interactions with students.
o Regularly check in with students.
o Acknowledge good behavior.
§ Teachers may use the following strategies to repair relationships:
o Avoid holding mistakes over a student’s head, instead giving them a
chance to start each day with a clean slate.
o Avoid blaming students when things go wrong.
o Show empathy.
o Focus on solutions, not problems.
o Criticize the behaviour, not the person.
§ When students feel a greater sense of belonging, they’re more likely to be
academically engaged and demonstrate positive behaviour.

Article: Sixteen Effective Classroom Management Strategies

§ Classroom management is a set of strategies that educators use to prevent

disruption, while also encouraging and fostering learning.
§ By utilizing positive and specific strategies, a teacher can have an orderly
classroom and one that succeeds in the primary goal of improved learning.
§ The following techniques are useful:
o Use routines to encourage compliance.
o Establish class rules together.
o Empower students to take ownership of assignments.
o Establish routines for transitions.
o Provide tangible rewards.
o Provide positive specific praise.
o Be passionate in your delivery of the content.
o Discipline students outside of the classroom.
o Provide added responsibilities to particularly difficult students.

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 o Avoid extreme consequences for minor infractions.
o Avoid group punishment.
o Take time to get to know your students individually.
o Make positive phone calls to parents.

Article: Online Classroom Management: Five Tips for Teachers in Transition

§ Online classroom management is in some ways easier than managing a live

classroom.

§ Online classroom management requires a different approach than traditional

classroom management.

§ Being pragmatic is key to effective online classroom management.

§ To teach effectively online, we need to see ourselves as leaders, rather than

managers.

§ Students need to understand the reasons behind our directions and they need to
feel that they have a voice in creating classroom norms.

§ Demanding compliance without buy-in reduces intrinsic motivation.

§ Classroom management often starts with extrinsic motivators but teachers should
build trust and ownership before their students become desensitised to classroom
management tricks.

§ When teaching online, we need to make the transition to student ownership much
more quickly.

§ If we do not motivate our students, they may not turn up for online classes or they
may tune us out.

§ Here are five tips to avoid sources of frustration when teaching online:

o Test the technology beforehand.

o Involve students in establishing norms.

o Emphasize engagement.

o Create connections with small group sessions.

o Start slowly.

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 § A supporting and understanding approach from teachers will yield greater
rewards when engaging students in online teaching.

Article: Cultivating Classrooms with Heart

§ Our students will remember how well we helped them become who they are.

§ One way to help students learn to work with all kind of people is by asking them
to work in teams.

§ Students must learn about the importance of balancing relationships and

understanding that a group of people in one place must enter into a social contract
and agree upon the kinds of behaviour (norms) that they will accept from one
another.

§ Relationship building in the classroom is incremental. Daily acts of connection

become the building blocks of trust. Our students need the relationships that they
develop with each other and with us.