You can throw all your credentials out the door. Every one of your letters of recommendation and pats on the back from professors won’t do you any good. If you suck at classroom management, you won’t be successful in the classroom.
Fortunately, classroom management is not complicated. While establishing good management habits is hard enough (old habits die hard), if you just keep a few things in mind and make them a habit, you’ll be hitting home runs in your classroom in no time.
1) Love and laughter are powerful potions: If students are convinced that you love them, they are much more likely to cooperate with you than if they think you don’t. This does not require you to act as his “friend.” That will quickly backfire on you. Rather, learn to take a genuine interest in their lives. Remember your hopes, dreams and what you are good at. Ask questions about their lives. Smile and laugh often. Show them how funny and quirky life can be, and they will enjoy coming to your room.
2) Your door is the door to two different worlds: the environment, the shape and the decoration of your room are tremendously important. No desktop mazes please! Desks should be arranged so that you can reach any student quickly, because it’s crucial that you keep moving. Misbehaving happens more often with fixed masters, so moving around will help keep a limit on interruptions. Also, think creatively when decorating your room. Go beyond some hackneyed school slogans. Students should see a very clear difference between their room and what is beyond the door.
3) Master the Art of Nonverbal Kungfu – Have you ever “watched” a student going back to work? If so, you probably found it more effective than barking at a student. “Tim, this is the third time that… if I see you do that again, I…” We all know what you’ll say five minutes later: exactly the same thing. Nonverbal skills communicate a great deal to potential wrongdoers. Even where your toes point makes a difference! Also, in an effort to entertain, many students seek to engage you in a back-and-forth verbal exchange. Don’t give up on this! Instead, nip it in the bud with your body language.
4) Let the procedures do the heavy lifting for you: The structure begins immediately after the student enters his room. In my room, for example, the first thing the students do is take their notebooks from a table by the door, then they immediately sit down and complete the work on the bell, which is written on the door. If a student wanders, I put an end to it quickly. Things like this put a lot of “organic” order in your class so you don’t have to be a classroom cop.
5) Quality instruction is your gasoline: When students aren’t engaged in the lesson, they tune out. This leads to interruptions. Students must participate bell to bell, and must be active frequently. If you talk for 30 minutes straight, of course they’ll get frustrated quickly. Instead, break up the lecture: give a three minute Power Point, then have students ask a partner about it. Continue with the presentation, then ask them to answer a question in pairs. There are many ways to do this. The key is to make them interact with the information often in multiple modalities.
This is just a treat. *Tools for Teaching* by Fred Jones and *The First Days of School* by Harry Wong go into greater detail. I highly recommend both books. Consistency is key: If you are consistent in implementing these pillars, you won’t feel so helpless at the end of the day.
