Effective Classroom Management

One area that causes the most chaos in classrooms is the lack of behavior management. Edutopia wrote about the Five Priorities of Classroom Management. Effective classroom management begins on day one and remains consistent throughout the school year. Behavior management starts with building positive relationships with students. By developing relationships and familiarity, educators soon learn what triggers specific misbehavior. Train you, students, how learning takes place in your classrooms. Children of all ages must know what is expected of them by their teachers. Never assume that the students understand what you want from them. 

To manage student behavior and reduce chaos in classrooms, teachers must model the behavior they want to see. Don’t forget to set norms, rules, and routines. Then, it would be best if you practiced the behaviors. Practice what you want to see students doing during transitions, independent work, and small groups. 

Most importantly, to curb student misbehavior, always be prepared. Do not wing it! Write your plans in advance. Write and practice what you will say and questions you will ask during the lesson. Make sure all resources and materials are readily available before you begin your lesson. Be clear with your instructions on what you want students to do. Explain the objective and purpose of the experience. Differentiate instruction and adapt your teaching to the learning styles of your students. Worksheets are boring if that’s all the children see every day. 

Relationships are Important

Another area that can cause chaos in classrooms is the lack of positive relationships with students. Why are student-teacher links meaningful? According to Education Week, “Students spend more than 1,000 hours with their teacher in a typical school year. That’s enough time to build a relationship that could ignite a student’s lifetime love of learning—and it’s enough time for the dynamic to go totally off the rails.”

Building relationships with your students can create feelings of trust and safety. Children need to know they are in a safe space, and their interests are valid. Building positive relationships is an opportunity for teachers to learn the strengths and weaknesses of their students. Also, relationships make social-emotional and cultural connections that can motivate students to behave in a particular manner.