A Range of Effective Classroom Management Strategi

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1. Attention Seeking Behaviour
- Tactical ignoring (balanced out with lots of proximity praise)
- Get up close - move into their space and run the lesson from this position for a while
- Remain very calm and avoid getting wound up and rewarding the behaviour with negative attention
- Agree non-verbal cues in advance with known trouble-makers
2. Swearing/verbal abuse
- Have rules and routines in place and remind them of the consequences for bad language
- Consistent approach - ALL incidents of bad language need to be followed up so as not to allow excuses for 'accidental' swearing.
- Tape record outbursts of foul language and explain that it can be played back to parents
- Take out a note pad and say "I'm now recording what you're saying
- Have a meeting with the pupil/s involved and ask them to suggest alternative ways of expressing/dealing with anger or alternative words to use when they are angry.
3. Noisy class (start of lessons)
- Allow some cooling off time of a few minutes after transitions and breaks to allow them to settle.
- Use the countdown technique with lots of proximity praise... "5; OK it's time to stop and look this way. Excellent, very quick on that table. 4; pens should be down, books and mouths should be closed, very good you two, you're listening to me. 3; still too much noise over here, that side of the room are perfect. 2; Just waiting for the last few people now, all conversations should be stopped, hands on the desk in front of you. Well done, you've got it. 1; thank you.
- Have a visual reminder of noise levels such as coloured cards/traffic lights. When green is up the noise level in the room is fine. Orange - warning, level is too high and needs to drop immediately. If it doesn't drop after an agreed time, red card goes up. Red. Stop the activity, take a minute off break and insist on silent working for 5 minutes.
- Take control at the door - don't let them in the room until they're quiet
4. Confrontation
- Adopt non-threatening body language (body to side, open arms).
- Avoid threatening hand gestures (pointing), facial expressions and verbal language (shouting, accusing).
- Diffuse and de-escalate - use humour, change subject.
- Calmly offer support... ("How can I help?" "I'm listening.")
5. Disruption
- Remove the audience factor, try and talk to them quietly on a 1:1 basis where possible and remind them of past successes and capabilities - try to find something positive to say first.
- Give them a responsibility
- Language of Choice
"Do you want to move closer to the board or remain where you are?"
"Do you need me to help you or can you get on with things on your own?"
"What are you supposed to be doing? What happens if you don't do it? Is that what you want? What are you going to choose?"
- Calmly warn them of consequences and follow up using the '3 requests'...
§ "Jordan sit back down on your chair and finish the work please"
§ "Jordan, I'm asking you for the second time to sit down and get on with your work."
§ "Jordan this is the third and final time I'm going to ask you."
§ "Jordan you've chosen to ignore me. Go to Time Out."
6. Ignoring you
- Give very clear instructions so there is no room for confusion or argument.
- Try using humor to change their state from being angry or sullen
- Refuse to get drawn into confrontation - "I've told you what you need to do and you know what happens if you don't. It's your choice, I'll be available after school if you want to discuss it then."
- On a 1:1 basis with a pupil you normally get on well with try to find what is bothering them by calmly repeating statements such as "Tell me what's wrong so I can help you." "You talk, I'll listen." "tell me what's bothering you, I'll listen."
7. Lack of Equipment
- Offer to loan them some of your equipment in return for 'collateral' such as a shoe.
- Give a brief period of time at the start of the lesson for pupils to borrow items from other members of the class
- Reward those who bring required equipment
- Focus on teaching right action and correcting behaviour of persistent offenders: Offer them support in the way of special reminders and inform parents that this key issue is causing concern; get them to follow up at home and issue reminders at home.
8. Lack of motivation
- Set short term mini-targets. "By the end of the lesson you need to get down to here in your text book." "In the next ten minutes you need to complete numbers 1-4. I'll be back to check in ten minutes."
- Make lesson activities more active
- Include fun starters, video clips, educational games, energizers, magic tricks and brain teasers in your lessons from time to time to break up monotony.
- Use loads and loads of effective praise and encouragement.
9. Late
- Have clear rules on punctuality and consistently apply them
- Always follow up lateness and ensure pupil makes up missed work
- Have a reward system which acknowledges those who come on time
- Keep records. Get pupil to fill in a form giving reason for late arrival and the time they arrived. Send copies home with notification of consequences if it continues.
10. Off-Task (low level disruption)
- Use pre-agreed non-verbal signals
- Get close up - sit or stand close to them and say nothing, carry on with the lesson
- Use proximity and personal praise - Look for opportunities to catch them being good.
- Look for opportunities to offer help... Offer choices, adjust the work, adjust seating
11. Defiance
- Offer support - often pupils are defiant because they are afraid of failure - adjust the work, offer help, ask them what's bothering them.
- Remind them of past successes and capabilities
- Remind them that you are there to help them and ask them for help in how to bring that about. "I need your advice. I want to help you - what is going to make this easier for you?"
- Go through stepped sanctions as per school behaviour policy e.g.
§ Give them a warning (verbal/name on board etc.) and remind them of consequences
§ Move them to an isolated seat
§ Take time off them at break/after school
§ Notify them of a letter/phone call home
§ "park' them in another class
§ Send them to senior staff
12. Shouting out
- Ignore those who shout out and reward/praise those that don't
- Play class team games/quizzes where answers will only be accepted by those who put their hands up. Penalize team-members who shout out by taking a point off the team.
- Have a clear policy on how questions are to be answered in class
- Keep those who shout in at break and explain that shouting won't be tolerated
13. Flatulence
- Ignore it. By reacting you give them exactly what they were trying to elicit.
- Explain that if they do it again they will have to stay in at break for a lesson on healthy diet and the effect certain foods have on digestion.
- Show great concern for their health and tell them it might be a good idea if you were to talk to their parents about it immediately by telephone if they are having trouble controlling it.
- Follow normal procedure for disruptive behaviour but be careful not to appear confrontational or you will get the classic response "That's not fair, I can't help it."
14. Failing to follow instructions
- Explain very clearly the consequence of not following instructions. Tell them you expect immediate compliance and then give them a few moments to save face by walking away.
- Record the details of the incident and follow up with senior staff.
- Warn them that you will be contacting parents. (Make sure you do so if the defiance continues).
- Have the pupil removed from the classroom
For us, Halloween was here. Some of the older folks were concerned about tomorrow night, which was really Halloween night. We had been told, "Tomorrow night you are not leaving this house." The story was the same with all of us. There was a conspiracy among the older folks. They had it in their heads to spoil our tricking, but our plans were already made,Seven jeans, and we had taken what our folks had said into account. We would do our tricking on this night, the night before Halloween and forget about the treats of tomorrow night.Our plan was for all of us to get out of the house as quickly as we could after supper. If your folks raised suspicions, then you were to sneak out before supper. After all, what is a meal missed when the fun of Halloween was about to begin?
Just before supper, Wizzer gave our signal then hollered for me from outside the kitchen door just like we had planned. Mom never could say no to Wizzer. I had never told Wizzer about this, but one day I had heard Mom say that she felt sorry for him, what with him being a change of life baby and all. It wasn't my intent to spy on her. This particular conversation was overheard at one of her gabfests with her friend Julia. I was only trying to do what I had been trying to do with no luck at all for as long as I could remember. Namely, it was to see Mrs. Wetzel sleeping and doing something that took some watching and being careful. Just now, they was pitting and peeling peaches and getting them ready for canning.