Welcome back! The other day I wrote about how to teach the kids you have as opposed to the platonic ideal of a student. Today, I wanted to share a few ideas about classroom management.
The biggest challenge to new teachers – and the thing that scares many prospective teachers - are classroom management challenges. When our mentors begin, they most often report that they are worried about kids being disrespectful of them, talking over them, and losing control over a class.
Trust me, you will lose control of a class. It happens to even the most experienced teacher and it doesn’t just happen when you’re teaching children. Here are some tips to keep you sane but remember, the only way to learn how to do this is to get out there and work with some kids. Teaching, like so many good things in life, doesn’t happens in practice not in theory.
1) Just go into every new classroom, especially K-12 classrooms, expecting that kids will try and establish and then push boundaries. It’s kind of their job so don’t think that they’re being “bad” or “disrespectful”. They’re just testing you out and most will try a few times and then accept the rules.
2) I expect an individual child to push a boundary three times. After I’ve said the same thing three times, I switch into “What’s going on here?” mode. “What’s going on here mode” is what you spend most of your teacher training learning how to do – there’s no blog post in the world that can cover that.
3) Learn everyone’s name ASAP. Put a nametag on yourself and then put one on everyone else. People are must more likely to pay attention if you call their name than if you just shout for everyone to be quiet. I can’t stress this one enough and a simple name tag or tent card with their name is an easy solution to the problem.
4) Don’t be hesitant to separate groups of students who are disruptive or talkative. Don’t make a big deal out of it, just switch their seats around.
5) If you have an individual who is disruptive, just stand near them. Hovering is a great way to give a kid attention and refocus them on their work.
6) Yelling is never really a good way to get a class’s attention if it is heading to chaos. Speaking softly, turning the lights out, and having a “quiet down routine” is very effective. You’re never going to win a shouting match with 25 eleven year olds.
I began my teaching career as a substitute teacher so I know a thing or two about classroom management. In my mind, the basics of it revolve around getting to know everyone, letting them get to know you, and stopping misbehavior before it starts.
Let me assure you that bad things are likely to happen at some point in your teaching career but don’t let the fear of bad things get in the way of you learning how to manage a classroom.
