My Classroom Management » Back to School

Rethink Your Classroom Rules

jenniferw — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:02:22 +0000

My husband is preparing his classroom for the start of a new school year and told me that he doesn’t want to call his class rules “rules” anymore because it seems too negative. So instead, he is using the word “Expectations” and a list of four succinct rules: Be polite, Stay seated, Listen and Be Creative. This works for his music classroom because he has seen most of these kids each year.

There are three things I like about his new class rules:

They are short and succinct. It is so easy to get caught up in making your rules positive that you might lose sight of a child’s attention span. Remain in your seat at all times is cumbersome for young children to read and extraneous for older children. Short and sweet: “stay seated” works much better.
They are open to some interpretation. While this may seem counterproductive to some, having rules or “expectations” that are open to some interpretation can not only help students obey, but teach them about how to act in the real world as well. Be Polite can mean a variety of things on any given day –raise your hand instead of interrupting, scooting in your chair to prevent another child from tripping, helping a child pick up books or saying please and thank you.
There is a rule to encourage creativity. Teachers fail if students pass tests but do not enjoy learning because once the tests are finished, so is learning. The ultimate job of a teacher, despite what the government would have us believe, is to create life-long learners through making learning fun. Creativity needs be in every classroom. Having this as a rule or expectation can help encourage children to problem-solve, work out squabbles, figure out a new way to learn something or find a way to entertain themselves quietly while the teacher helps another child.

As school is getting ready to start, take a gander at your class rules. Are they too wordy? Do you teach life skills through the class rules? Are you encouraging children to love learning?

Two Keys to Starting the School Year off Right

jenniferw — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:19:16 +0000

Key One:

Know your expectations.

You need to know what you expect of yourself and your students above all else. You cannot implement a behavior plan, manage discipline problems and keep students focused on learning if you do not know exactly what behavior you expect both from your students and yourself.

It is a good idea to write down your expectations for each part of your day. Consider printing out a schedule and writing in a list of expectations right on the schedule. Only then can you create an effective classroom management plan.

Key Two:

Teach students your expectations.

While knowing your expectations are vital towards creating a behavior management plan, students cannot possibly fulfill your expectations if they do not know them. Take time the first few days of school to explicitly teach, preferably through demonstration, your expectations for students. Be sure to have students practice these expectations and allow chances for them to ask clarifying questions.

Only after these two keys are completed, can you move on to teaching a well-managed classroom.

Behaior Management After Break

jenniferw — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:16:49 +0000

When students come back to school after a nice break, the are often reluctant to enter back into the normal routine and may be more disruptive at first. They may have been out of town or otherwise unable to talk to their friends and will want to catch up on what everyone did, causing a lot of talking in class.

One great way to handle this behavior issue after a break from school is to designate the first half hour or so of class time for catching up. The teacher can start by sharing what she did over break and then ask if any other students would like to share as well. After a time of sharing, the teacher should then explain to the children that they can continue to share and catch up with their friends during lunch and recess time.

Ideas for Improving the Classroom

jenniferw — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:27:01 +0000

Keep a clipboard with you at all times for informal assessments – use sticky notes with each child’s name.
Keep a mailbox on your desk so that students can write notes to you – no more tattlers!
Color code!
Use vocab words when teaching a lesson and then add them to the word wall.
Build a simple puppet stand for shows.
Have students create hand-made signs for areas in the classroom.
Use a story telling apron made out of flannel board felt.
Purchase transparent Highlighter Tape!
Make boxes out of 2 milk cartons – make one side name, arrow up for I understand, arrow down for I don’t understand, green light/red light for answering questions.
Use a thinkmark – This allows students to write their thoughts as they read a book.
Journals – split into color folders and collect a different color every day to write back.
Hedgehog desk – “I need space” place for children to choose to go to instead of getting into a fight.
Color code baskets for each subject for assignments.
Read books aloud on tape for the library.

Checklist for Writing Class Rules

jenniferw — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:16:10 +0000

Writing class rules is a simple procedure that can make a huge impact on classroom management. In fact, class rules are so important that a teacher who realizes that the class rules are a problem should take the effort to change those rules even if it is mid-school year. Use the following check list to ensure your classroom rules are effective.

How many Rules do you Have?

Be sure to have at least three rules
Class rules should be kept to five at the very most
Combine rules to reduce the number and clarify more specifically to have more rules.

Positive Language for Class Rules

Do the students know what to do after reading a rule?
Each rule should state what students need to do rather than what they need to avoid doing.
Reword rules as necessary

Class Rule Clarity

Be sure there is no question as to what students are to do after reading the rules
Analyze each rule – can it be stated more clearly?
Can any rules have additional details added in order to ensure proper student behavior?

Teach and Reinforce Class Rules

Did you teach students what each rule meant?
Can students explain to a visitor what the class rules are?
If faced with a hypothetical situation, could students explain which rule applies and why?
Did you practice each procedure including lining up, preparing for lunch and recess and cleaning up at the end of the day?

It is never too late to go back and add or correct the classroom rules. In fact, starting fresh in the middle of the school year may make all the difference in the world and turn your problem class into a success story!

The Physical Environment and Classroom Management

jenniferw — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:00:57 +0000

While organizing the classroom might not seem like an important part of classroom management, in fact the physical environment is as important as the rules and consequences in keeping students focused.

Seating Chart

The seating chart has a huge impact on the classroom management strategies of a teacher. While the actual seating arrangement is based more on the teaching style of an individual teacher than on the management strategy in place for students, there are two things that are important to keep in mind:

All seats need to be positioned so that each student can clearly see the teacher. To ensure this, the teacher can take a moment to sit in each seat.
All seats need to be positioned so that the teacher can quickly reach each student at a moment’s notice to handle any academic or behavior problem that may come up.

Classroom Decorations

It is very important to have the room decorated appropriately for students. The posters and other decorations aid in boosting student enthusiasm, increasing student motivation and reinforcing academic skills and concepts. At the same time, though, it is important to not overdecorate a room. Too much decoration can overstimulate student’s and cause them to become distracted. An important rule of thumb for decoration is to ensure that there is blank wall space around each decoration. If in doubt, take something down.

Obama’s Speech Opportunity for Behavior Management

jenniferw — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:29:57 +0000

President Obama will speak to the students in the Nation on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. This is an excellent opportunity for teachers to take the words of the President of the United States and turn them into a more well behaved, on task classroom.

While President Obama talks to students about setting and meeting goals this school year, teachers should look for ways to incorporate the class expectations into those goals.

Teachers can have class discussions about how students can meet the goals they set, using real goals as examples, and guide students into understanding how the class rules will help them meet those goals.

One possible activity is to have students pair goals with each class rule. So if the class rule is to raise your hand before speaking, a goal that can be paired with that rule is to learn to be more respectful of others in the classroom.

Some other ideas for pairing class rules with student goals:

Stay seated in class – Do your best on all seat work/complete all assignments
Always Walk in school – work slowly and carefully on assignments just as you walk slowly and carefully in the halls
Be respectful of others – Respect the teacher’s time and write with neat handwriting

Have students help in pairing up goals with the class rules.

Read on for more extension ideas, or check out lesson plan ideas for President Obama’s Speech.

Back to School Checklist

jenniferw — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:28:00 +0000

As teachers and students prepare to join once more in the classrooms, it is vital that teachers are ready with their classroom management plan in place. Here is a quick and easy check list for teachers to ensure that they are ready to handle any behavior problem that might walk through the classroom door.

Class Rules:

Are the class rules posted at the student’s eye level?
Are there only 3-5 class rules posted?
Are the class rules stated in the positive instead of negative?
Is time set aside each day for the first week to review the class rules with the students?

Student Movement Around the Classroom:

Do you have a plan for allowing students to use the bathroom?
Do you have a plan for allowing students to sharpen their pencil?
Is the trash can located in a place that will not interrupt a line at the door or disturb students working?
Are student work bins located in a place that will not interrupt a line at the door or disturb students working?
Do you have a plan for allowing students to get a drink of water?

Handling Behavior Problems in the Classroom

Do you have a place to utilize for time-outs?
Do you have a place to speak to an individual student privately without disturbing other students?
Do you have a class telephone that you can use to call a student’s parent while keeping an eye on the rest of the class?
Do you have a hedgehog desk for students to go to and work when they feel annoyed/upset?
Do you have a reward/consequence plan in place?

Classroom Management

How will you get student’s attention?
How will you ensure students know what homework they have?
How will you arrange the student desks to optimize learning and minimize distractions?
How will the students be motivated to follow the rules? (rewards)
How will the students learn from their mistakes? (consequences)
Do you have administrative support for your classroom management plan?

Do serious behavior problems worry you? Find strategies for dealing with these behaviors.