Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 212: Classroom Management Part Two, Structure, Strictness, and Redirection

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Ep 212: Classroom Management Part Two, Structure, Strictness, and Redirection · New Teacher Talk

Hey, welcome back to New Teacher Talk.
I'm Anna.
And I'm Beth.
We built this show around one idea.
New teachers deserve real answers,
not just good intentions.
We're returning to a conversation with Abby Bartle on being
a warm demander, so let's get into it.
If you don't address classroom management from the start,
you are going to have a very difficult year.
My name is Abby Bartle,
and I am a fourth year English teacher at Oswego High
School in Oswego, Illinois.
Classroom management is something that is highly personal
to you and your students,
but it is also much different for newer and younger
teachers.
What works for the teachers online or veteran teachers
might not work for you and that's okay.
Here I will teach you some techniques to help you as you're
developing your unique classroom management style as well
as some things to avoid as a new teacher.
Once your room is organized and your students are seated,
the next part of classroom management is your actual
lesson.
At the beginning of the period,
have students get out all the materials they will need for
the lesson.
Be clear and specific with instructions here.
You'll often hear me say, get out your Chromebooks,
but keep them closed.
And when I say that,
I don't start the lesson until everyone has followed my
directions.
I include things like pencils, books, papers,
and other necessities in the list of things that students
need out.
This saves me time later in the lesson.
I have seen other teachers have the materials list posted
on the board when students walk in and students are then
expected to have everything on their desk before class
starts.
If you do this,
you can ensure that you are starting your lesson right
away.
However,
this is a procedure that you would need to teach students
and practice at the beginning of the year to ensure that
they have it.
Another thing to consider for your lesson is timing.
10 to 15 minutes is a decent rule of thumb for how long any
one student can focus,
but once you get to know your particular students,
you'll be able to more accurately see how long they can pay
attention for without getting restless.
Take that into consideration when you are building your
lessons.
When students start to lose focus,
that is when they may start to misbehave or cause
disruptions to your classroom environment.
If you have a longer activity,
consider adding in movement or other breaks to allow them
to refocus on the lesson.
This could be a short brain break, a movement break,
or allowing them to talk for a moment during a long
lecture.
With lesson planning,
it is key to anticipate how students are going to react to
your lesson and anticipating potential problems before they
arise is a great way to avoid having to deal with
behaviors.
Finally,
creating a positive classroom environment is another
important aspect of managing your classroom.
Maintain a positive tone,
let your personality shine through,
and decorate your classroom if you are able with student
work and posters related to your interests.
If you are unable to decorate or organize your classroom,
focus on the materials that you've used,
such as your slideshows or worksheets,
to show off your personality.
However, make sure to limit distractions.
If, for example,
your slideshows are so colorful that students cannot follow
what the slides say, then you need to make a change.
Again,
you need to find a happy medium that works for you and your
students.
It's okay to change things up throughout the year.
Personally,
my classroom starts off fairly empty at the beginning of
the year because I like to decorate with student work,
which I frequently change out based on what unit we're
working on.
Because my walls are covered by the end of the school year,
I keep my slides and materials very basic.
Figure out what works for you.
You could do everything right and you will still have
students misbehaving or doing things that they shouldn't be
doing.
They are kids.
There are many reasons for behaviors such as boredom or
things happening at home.
Getting to the bottom of why they're misbehaving may help
you prevent the behaviors in the future, however,
that doesn't always help you at the beginning of the year
when you don't have a strong relationship and it often
doesn't help you in the moment depending on the behavior.
Here are some tips to help you.
The first is to be strict,
especially as a new teacher and especially at the beginning
of the year.
Set expectations and follow through with consequences.
If you say that you will make a phone call home,
then make that phone call home.
If you say students will lose their recess,
don't go back on it later just because you feel bad.
Don't let things slide by.
Something that my student teaching supervisor always said
was sacrifice a lamb,
meaning discipline a student early to show them that you're
the boss.
It's often hard for new teachers to discipline students or
to dole out consequences,
but you need to do it to show the students that you mean
what you say and they cannot walk all over you.
By no means am I telling you to be mean or authoritarian in
your classroom.
Have rules and procedures that maintain order in your
classroom.
Expect students to follow them and have consequences when
your rules are not followed.
That allows your classroom to be a space for learning
rather than one in which you are constantly correcting
behavior.
You should also be praising good behavior.
As a high school teacher,
I personally don't give out rewards or prizes for good
behavior, but for teachers of younger students,
this could be something that you consider in your
classroom.
Extrinsic motivation works really well for younger
students,
but using it too much can decrease their intrinsic
motivation.
By the time students reach me in high school,
their grades are usually all the extrinsic motivation that
they need.
But for younger students,
they may appreciate a sticker or an extra 10 minutes at
recess for following directions.
That reinforces the behavior so it happens more often.
Also, consider a nice email or phone call home to parents,
especially for a student who has had discipline issues in
the past.
This goes a long way in building a positive relationship
with that student,
and it shows them that you see them working hard.
While I don't offer prizes or rewards,
I do praise students who are following directions when
others are not.
A blanket thank you to those who are working quietly can
usually get students who are not working quietly to fall in
line.
All of your students want to make you proud,
and if they think they are disappointing you,
they will usually get back to what they were supposed to be
doing.
But of course,
this only works if you have rules and procedures in place,
and students know that there will be a consequence if they
don't follow directions.
If they know that you won't do anything,
they will keep doing what they want.
If a student still does not do what they are supposed to be
doing after you've praised the good behavior,
that's when you start directly addressing those students.
Redirection is a great place to start.
Guide the student toward what they're supposed to be doing
by restating the expectations.
If they are talking with a buddy,
perhaps you say time to get started on number one on your
worksheet.
You may not always need to say something.
Sometimes eye contact and a raised eyebrow are enough,
or perhaps tapping a finger on their desk textbook or
worksheet will do the trick.
Proximity or standing near the student could also be a
successful classroom management strategy.
During student teaching,
my classroom had tile floors and more times than not,
the loud sound of my heels clicking on the floor was enough
to redirect the student to the task at hand.
All of these, again,
require that your students know you mean business and
following through with consequences early in the year is
key to that.
Making sure that students are quiet before you begin giving
instructions is a great way to show that you were in charge
at the beginning of the year.
Privately addressing behaviors always goes better than
calling out individual students in front of the class.
Publicly addressing behaviors can invite power struggles
where students argue with you,
or it could embarrass the student and cause them to shut
down.
For students who thrive on peers' attention,
it could even cause the behavior to increase.
That's why proximity is key for managing the classroom.
However,
you do need to determine the severity of the misbehavior
and whether or not it is something that can wait.
Off-task behavior during independent work time is more
often better addressed one-on-one while you're standing by
the student's desk than in front of the entire class.
On the other hand,
if a student is talking over your instructions,
pause and wait until they're quiet to move on.
A pitfall specifically when students are talking over you
is raising your voice or yelling over them.
Pausing and going silent actually works much better in
these situations and it keeps your classroom calm and
maintains order.
When you are silent,
students will usually correct themselves or one another
quite quickly.
On the other hand, if you yell,
you are telling your students that you're only serious when
you're yelling, you're creating a hectic,
aggressive environment,
and you are often damaging relationships.
Instead,
try staying quiet in tandem with proximity or nonverbal
cues with the specific students to curb the behavior.
If it happens often,
a conversation with the student is in order.
With misbehaving students,
don't be afraid to get others involved.
Ask other teachers if the student behaves the same way for
them,
ask counselors or other school professionals for assistance,
and email home to notify parents or guardians of the
behaviors.
Ultimately,
you need to use your best judgment when dealing with
students who are misbehaving or are off-task.
Use nonverbal cues like proximity, tapping on desks,
or eye contact to curb smaller behaviors like talking or
being off-task.
For more disruptive or potentially even dangerous behavior,
you need to take a more direct approach from the start.
Use conversations with the students to get at the root
cause of the misbehaviors to prevent them from happening
again in the future.
Remaining calm and authoritative is key for managing your
classroom and creating an environment where students can
learn.
Figure out ways to be proactive about classroom management.
You can prevent the behaviors from happening in the first
place by making your expectations clear for students,
building strong relationships with them,
and designing your classroom and lessons in a way conducive
to student learning.
With classroom management,
it is imperative to find what works best for you and for
your students.
And what works for you now might not work for you next
year,
or what works for you in one class period might not work
for you in the next.
Try out these tips, get as much advice as you can,
and don't be afraid to shake things up.
If you follow some of my advice and avoid all the pitfalls,
you will be able to successfully manage your classroom.
Thank you so much for listening.
That's our show for today.
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miss what's next.
We've got more new teacher conversations coming all season.
Thanks for spending this time with us.
Take care of yourself out there.
We will see you next time.