Teach English in Wutong XiAng - Chongqing

Discipline in the ClassroomDiscipline is extremely important to maintain order in the classroom and to make sure every student gets the most out of the class without disruption. It is essential to ensure that the environment is fun and positive for students to learn in. Setting classroom rules at the beginning of each class, rewarding positive behavior, setting catch phrases that re-direct the students back to paying attention, and standing in silence with a smile on your face are the keys to success when it comes to creating and maintaining discipline in the classroom. Setting classroom rules and expectations at the beginning of each class is crucial in establishing discipline. In my classroom now, whether I am covering for another teacher, starting a new class, or whether I am continuing a class I have been teaching, I make sure to physically show the classroom rules and verbally announce them. In fact I make sure the classroom rules reach every student so I implement them in a visual, auditory and kinesthetic way. For example, at the beginning of each class I put up a poster that I have pre-made. The poster says classroom rules: 1. No fighting 2. Only speak English 3. Don't talk when someone else is talking. If it is a new class I haven't had before I put it up and let the students look at it for a couple of seconds and read it to themselves. Then I ask who can read me number one, number two and number three. I normally call on different students. Putting it up for them and leaving it throughout the classroom is a great visual for them to have and a great tool to refer back to and say remember we talked about this. After I put the poster up, I then ask can we fight in the classroom? I pretend to physically fight with a student. They normally start laughing and say no. I ask if you can raise your hand in the classroom? They answer with yes. I come up with yes/no scenarios for the students and act it out and they tell me if it's allowed or not. Thus, when you set the expectation at the beginning and show seriousness about it, it really helps the students know what to expect and there is no confusion. Rewarding positive behavior in the classroom is very important to maintain discipline and implement classroom management. To start every class, I usually start with a routine of introductions. It is a great way to take attendance, have their names on the board for everyone to see so they can get to know each other and a great way to reward their positive behavior with stars next to their name. To regain control of the class when certain students are out of line, I repeat the directions I want the students to embark in and then I start saying thank you to the students who are doing what I asked. I acknowledge their name and say thank you for "turning the page to 45, " "for putting your book away," or for "sitting quietly and listening." I then proceed to the board and put stars next to their names. I go down the list and say "Mark closed his book, good job" and put a star by their name. I skip the names of the students who aren't paying attention and/or I say "John doesn't have his book open, does Sarah? Yes she does, she gets a star." I go down the list and reward those who are paying attention with stars and then normally all the students end up doing it and I give everyone stars. It is such an effective way to get everyone focused and back on track. It's not negative, it's not condescending and it's not yelling, on the contrary it's rewarding positive behavior. In addition, I also reward the students who have maintained their stars throughout the classroom with stickers at the end of the class or in certain cases candy or pencils/pens. Hence, in addition to the star rewarding system, I also reward students who are behaving and paying attention with high fives as well. Depending on the age group I vary between star system, high fives and verbal acknowledgement. This method not only motivates the students to continue performing well, but it also maintains discipline in the classroom. Setting catch phrases for the students is a great tool in re-directing focus in the classroom when things start getting out of hand and classroom discipline starts falling apart. For younger students having catch phrases that you teach in the beginning of the classroom works wonders for bringing the attention back to the curriculum. I use the phrase: 1, 2, 3 all eyes on me, and then they say 3, 2, 1 all talking is done. It's fun for younger kids to have routines like that and it always brings their attention back to the task at hand. With middle age kids, a phrase like that might be too puerile so I will abruptly say everyone stand up, put your hands on your head, jump once, turn around 3 times. Put your hands over your mouth, and then I say sit down. They get the hint. It's a way to re-direct their attention. In addition, for a bit older students, in Shanghai where education is valued and learning English is such a valuable tool that all parents want for their children, so I talk candidly with them. I let them know if they continue to not pay attention or continue to speak chinese instead of English I will just let their parents know that they don't want to be there and they prefer to speak chinese in English class. Normally when I say that they are refocusing their attention and they are well behaved. I don't say it in a mean and condescending way, on the contrary I say it in a matter of fact way and ask them for just an hour or two hours, depending on how long the class is, of their time. Or with any age group turning up music really loud and then turning it off quiets them down and they stop talking. If you you use that consistently it would function as a bell used to back in the day in the classroom. Getting their attention in a creative way and letting them know it?s time to pay attention and stop talking. Consistency is key. When you repeat the same strategies and let them know that's when you mean business they will know to be quiet and do the task at hand. Thus, depending on the age, having a catch phrase that you always refer back to, in addition to the classroom rules will maintain the discipline in the classroom. Standing in silence with a smile on your face when the whole class is going crazy and out of control is one of the most effective strategies in classroom management and brining discipline back to the class in my experience. When the person in charge, the leader, the teacher just stands there with a slight smile on their face carrying a stance of waiting for the class to finish their silly or foolish behavior it really makes students uncomfortable. The key to this strategy is to not be afraid of silence. Even when the students quiet down, giving it a few extra seconds of silence is important to just keep them in suspense. In this situation usually the good students in the class start quieting down the problematic students and try to get everyone in order. It's empowering for the students to re-direct their attention without any negative comments or yelling from the teacher. If you established the classroom rules at the beginning and implement this when things get out of hand, the students will have a certain respect for you and the authority you bring to the class. They will quiet down and pay attention. This is a great strategy to keep the class disciplined in a very peaceful way.